Social Media Does Not Stand Alone

One thing that many businesses today don’t realize when they start a social media marketing campaign is that social media does not stand alone. You can use it to interact with your clients, but you still need other, content-based points of contact. Social media campaigns can be a great supplement for email marketing campaigns, routine blog posts, press releases and other content relative to your business. But using social media to the exclusion of these other marketing tools will cost you money and business. The right marketing plan features a combination of channels.

Good Content Makes Your Website More Visible

Good content makes your website more visible. You can Tweet about your content; you can link to it on Facebook and Google+. If it’s really good, other people will link to it and share it with their friends. That’s how things go viral. But all the social media efforts in the world are futile if you don’t have good content that people *want* to read and share.

Boost Your Search Engine Results

SEO is a constantly-evolving field. The SEO practices of a few years ago, such as keyword stuffing and link-farming, won’t get you anywhere today – and can even get your site blacklisted. Instead, search engines today are looking for content relative to your business that naturally ranks for certain keywords. Good content writers have been practicing organic SEO all along, and that’s now what search engines are looking for.

Adding content on a regular basis boosts your search engine rankings. It expands the potential keyword basis that users can use to find your site. And good, high-quality content will get linked to by people who want to share it – increasing your site’s authority and boosting your search engine results. Good content is the new SEO hotness.

Consider Your Content an Investment

I see more and more businesses looking to churn out cheap content for something like $1 to $3 per 500-word article. For that price, what you’re most likely to get is something cut-and-pasted from somewhere else. You might get articles spun using article spinning software, but they won’t read naturally and probably won’t offer anything to readers. I have two words for businesses looking to go the cheap route: don’t bother. You won’t boost your site ranking or attract users with crappy content, and you can get your site blacklisted from Google for duplicating content.

Instead, think of your content as an investment. If you spend more money up front for high-quality, original content – you’ll organically boost your search engine results, give users a reason to stick around your site and share your content, and establish your authority in your field. This is an argument I’ve been making in favor of high-quality content for years; but the search ranking algorithms are finally catching up with me.

Think of the money you spend on good content as an investment for your business – and watch the dividends pile up as you expand your customer base and increase your sales.

Go to Google’s AdWords: Keyword Tool

You don’t have to have an AdWords account to use Google’s keyword tool. Simply go here to access the keyword tool, and you’ll see the form where you have various options to generate keywords.

Generate Keywords from Descriptive Words or Phrases

The default selection on the keyword tool is to generate keywords from descriptive words or phrases. You simply type in the word or phrase; one per line. Use phrases related to your article idea: for example, for a real-estate related article, your keyword search box might include:

• Real estate
• Home buying
• Home sales
• Selling a home
• Buying a home
• Real estate Atlanta, GA
• Home mortgage

Or any other words or phrases related to the content of your page. Then, type the validation characters from the validation image in the designated box, and click the “Get Keyword Ideas” button.

When you click the button, Google’s keyword tool generates a list of keywords related to the terms entered, and a second list of additional terms to consider. The search summary gives you two columns of results; local search volume for the preceding month, and global search volume. You can then choose keywords with a high search volume, niche keywords with a relatively high search volume, or keywords with low advertiser competition, depending on your goal. By using keywords from both the primary keyword list and the alternate keyword list, you can widen your search results and potentially increase the number of people who can easily find your page.

Generate Keywords from Website Content

The second option when using Google’s keyword search tool is to generate keywords from website content. You can enter the URL of an existing website, which the Google keywords tool analyzes and then suggests keywords based on your copy. For example, when I enter my own website URL, I get keyword results related to: copy writing, a copywriter, copywriting, writing, copywriter, copy, writer, freelance, writers, editor, copywriters, and miscellaneous keywords. In theory, I could use these keyword search results to optimize my website for popular keyword searches and thereby increase the number of people who click through to my website.

How to Use SEO-Friendly Keywords on Your Website

Once you have the keywords related to your niche or website, select specific keywords for optimization, depending on your needs. If you simply want to capitalize on popular keyword searches in order to increase the potential of readers finding your website, select the most popular keywords for your SEO. However, keep in mind that these popular keywords are typically highly competitive (as indicated by the advertising competition bar on the page) and your page might come up very low in the results on popular keywords.

More useful is selecting a niche keyword and pairing it with a popular keyword, or optimizing your page to appeal specifically to the niche. If you want conversion, appealing to the appropriate niche is more likely to land you qualified leads. Concentrating on the widest possible search range brings you leads, but they might not necessarily be qualified. The ideal combination for good SEO is to pair a popular keyword search with a niche keyword for optimal results.

What is Content Optimization?

Content Optimization is the practice of creating content that is targeted to perform well for specific keyword searches. For example, if I wanted to create a page that would pop up high in the search results when people looked for “Root Beer,” I’d want to optimize my content on the page to capture a high search engine page rank. The more competitive the keyword set, the more difficult it is to capture a high keyword page rank – because more people are going after the same page rank. One thing you can do to ensure you get a high page rank is to optimize your content so the search engine ‘likes’ it.

Long Tail, Short Tail and Alternate Keywords

When you’re optimizing your content for SEO, you’ll run across a few phrases that you might not have heard before: long tail keywords, short tail keywords and alternate keywords. I’ll give you a clue: these phrases have nothing to do with furry woodland creatures. These are the various types of keywords you can use in your content optimization pursuits:

Long tail keywords.

Long tail keywords are the exact keyword phrases that people search for on the Web to find their content. Long tail keywords might be awkward and difficult to work into your copy, but it helps to have at least one instance of a long tail keyword in your copy, as well as in your title. While long tail keywords are typically very specific, they also tend to target a demographic that is prepared to make a decision, which translates to a higher potential for conversion with long tail keywords.

Short tail keywords.

Short tail keywords are short, general keyword sequences that may describe the overall purpose of your page. While long tail keywords are very specific, short tail keywords are very general. A good example of the difference might be:

Long tail: business writer Cambridge, MA

Short tail: business writer

As you can see, the short tail is a much more general keyword set. When you use short tail keywords, you’re likely to come up on a wider range of websites, but because short tail keywords are so general, you’ll be competing with far more pages. That means you’re less likely to come up near the top of the search. Long tail keywords are much more targeted, but because they’re so specific, you’re likely to come up near the top of a long tail keyword search. You can use both long tail and short tail keywords in your copy, but where you place them plays a big role in how your page comes up.

Alternate keywords.

Alternate keywords are variations on a keyword set that people might use when referring to a product or service. For example, some people might search for “business writer,” while others might search for “corporate writer.” If you see variations on your primary keyword, you’ll want to find a way to work alternate keywords into your copy so you have a chance of getting traffic for those keywords, too.

How to Find Your Keywords

Don’t just take a stab in the dark as to what keywords people are using to find your website. You can use several tools to find your keywords.

1. Use a keyword search tool. Free tools exist and they’re easy to use. Try Google’s Ad Words Keyword Tool or Google’s Search-based Keyword Tool. You can also find other free or paid keyword search tools, so feel free to shop around.
2. Do a Web search for the keywords you might use to find your site. Think about it logically. How would you go looking for your product or service, if you were a client? Do a Web search, and see what comes up. If you see a huge website, such as Yahoo or Travelocity, you’ll know you need to use more long tail keywords to stand a chance of coming up high in the search results.
3. Install a Web tracking tool on your website. I use Google Analytics, which is free, but a friend of mine uses a paid Web tracking tool. Use whatever tool you’re comfortable installing and using. Most Web tracking tools tell you what keywords people are using to find your page, and whether or not they stuck around to read it after finding it. Capitalize on the popular keyword searches, and you might want to consider changing pages that don’t have high keyword hits.

Where to Use Keywords

Writing organically is a great way to provide human-readable content, but it might not rank the highest with search engines without a little help. When you’re optimizing your content for SEO, try to include the long tail keyword as close as possible to the beginning of your article. One rule of thumb is to make sure the long tail keyword occurs within the first 9 words or your article. You should also try to include the long tail in your title. After that, you don’t have to use your long tail keyword again at all! If you’re working with short tail or alternate keywords, try to work them into the content organically, and you get a bonus if you can work these keywords into titles.

How Not to Use Keywords

One mistake that people make is to overload their article with extraneous keywords. “Keyword density” is a phrase bandied about when people are talking SEO, but it’s becoming less and less relevant in SEO rankings – except to penalize you. That’s right – if you use a keyword too many times in your copy, you can actually be penalized in search engine rankings. When a search engine, such as Google, sees a high keyword density, it assumes the copy is written to ‘trick’ the search engine into ranking it well and actually gives it a lower placement because the data might not be valuable. Write your articles organically, and make sure you don’t overload them with keywords, or you can actually find your search engine rank dropping.

Note: Keep in mind that search engine algorithms change periodically, and aren’t exactly the same from search engine to search engine. Stay up to date with current SEO practices to ensure you’re putting your keywords in the right place and using them the appropriate number of times. If all else fails, write organically and see what the search engine thinks of your copy!

Formatting Your Content

Take advantage of the formatting tips I provided in the DIY article. Use Headers in your content formatting instead of Bold tags to break up the sections. You should also try to break up the text into manageable chunks, and use bullet points or ordered lists to make the text more human-scannable. While you want to get a high page rank to drive traffic to your page, there’s no point in driving traffic only to create a page that people can’t read, and will click away again immediately!

Target Your Pages to Specific Content

Finally, don’t try to cover too much content on a page, because you’ll dilute the message. Target the content on your page to a specific message or keyword set. You might need more pages on your website, but you’ll vastly improve your search engine results if you aren’t trying to cram too much on a page and confusing the search engines as to what your page is actually about. Less is more – try to keep your content in the 500-1500 word mark (although 1500 is a bit long) and use more pages if you need to talk about a variety of different topics or products.

Content Optimization.

Content optimization is one of the keys of overall SEO, and it’s a service that I regularly provide for my clients. To optimize your content, you should break your content down into digestible chunks that pertain to a specific topic. Make sure the content relates to the title. If you’re not sure what to write about, or what title to use, try a free keyword search tool, such as Google’s Ad Words Keyword Tool, Google’s Search-based Keyword Tool, or other keyword search tools. These tools can give you an idea of what people are searching for so you can optimize your content for popular keywords in your field.

Use headers in your formatting to improve SEO.

One of the most important things you can do to improve your SEO yourself is to use headers in your Web page formatting. Many people simply use a “<strong>” tag to bold important subheadings in Web page designs. This totally misses out on the optimization available by using targeted headings. If you use a “<h1>”, “<h2>”, or “<h3>” tag for your headings, search engines place more weight on those headings, and give you a higher page rank if your headings relate to your title and your Web page content. By using the <strong> tool instead, search engines read your webpage as having no subheadings at all, and you’ll miss out on the opportunity to take advantage of those headings to boost your SEO and page rank.

Pay close attention to Title tags in DIY SEO applications.

Title tags are perhaps the single most important part of providing good SEO for your Web pages. Search engines look at title tags for keywords, and compare the title tags to your page to see if the content supports the title. If you don’t get your keywords in the title tag, you might not get ranked at all for that content – in spite of optimizing your content. The closer the keyword to the front of the title tag, the more it can influence your page rank. You should also make sure that the important title keywords appear at least once in your copy – bonus if you can work it into your subheadings and use the appropriate heading tags.

Leave the styling for CSS.

We’ve already looked at what opportunities you miss when you bold your headers instead of using header tags. Similarly, you should try to forgo styling in HTML as much as possible and leave the styling to the CSS. When you use CSS to style your page, you can specify how headings should look, how links should look and what visual styles you want to apply to your website. That means less code in your Web pages themselves, since the code is in the style sheet – and a better code-to-content ratio, which improves SEO.

Additionally, by keeping your styling in the CSS style sheets, you can implement standard HTML tags and code and capitalize on SEO functionality. You can also easily change styles via CSS to alter colors and other display properties, and test how these font and style changes affect conversion. This gives you an easy way to improve your conversion rates without having to spend hours changing every page’s HTML.

Deciding when to outsource SEO.

SEO isn’t something that everyone wants to do. Even though much of SEO is simple enough for anyone to implement themselves, it does still take time and requires you to tinker with the website. If you simply don’t want to deal with managing your website, or making the little tweaks that improve your SEO, it might be worthwhile to outsource your SEO.

Beware of expensive firms that charge you thousands of dollars for relatively minor SEO tweaks. Find out exactly what a firm’s SEO services entail, and decide whether it’s worth the cost for you. Much of what SEO companies do breaks down into these SEO categories: optimizing content, optimizing title tags and adjusting formatting. The technical aspects, such as title tags and formatting, are relatively easy tweaks and shouldn’t cost you an arm and a leg.

For more info on things to look out for when you’re outsourcing your SEO, check out my article “Beware of SEO Firms.”

What is dynamic content?

Dynamic content has different connotations depending on the application. For our purposes, a dynamic website is one where the Web design calls content from a database when it’s requested. Without content, it’s just a basic, blank page, but with that call to the database (and content in the database), the page comes alive.

A blog is a great example of dynamic content, because you’re constantly adding new blog posts with new content. When viewers check out your blog, the default view is to pull X number of posts from your database and display them. Viewers themselves can interact with your content; selecting tags to view all posts linked to that tag, or doing the same things with categories.

Compare this to a static website, where every viewer who comes to the page has the same viewing experience. The only interactivity in a static website is the ability to click links or browse a page, which is far from the experience that you get from a dynamic Web site. A static website might be appropriate in some cases, but in most cases, it simply serves as a decent starting point for a website. In fact, some individuals and companies are moving away from static websites altogether, and using Content Management Systems with dynamic Web sites to communicate with readers.

Traditional blends of static and dynamic content.

More and more businesses these days are blending static and dynamic content on their Web pages. Static content can provide a decent way to introduce your company, mission, overview and service description – things that don’t change often. I’ve incorporated this strategy in my website; my main website is static HTML and CSS, but this blog represents dynamic content. More and more businesses are adding blogging platforms to share articles, post content or even share news updates. Dynamic content can be seamlessly integrated into static pages – like my blog looks like my website and has the same header. It also provides a lot of benefits.

The benefits of dynamic content

Dynamic content is wonderful for a few reasons: it helps to improve SEO and page rank, it provides additional ways for you to reach clients, and it gives you a way to communicate with clients and improve your conversion rates.

Dynamic content improves SEO and page rank.

Search engines like it when new content is added regularly. They view this as a sign that the website is active, and so your page has more value than an inactive website that hasn’t been updated in years. Therefore, you’re likely to get a higher page rank if you’re constantly adding new, valuable content. If you optimize your content to appeal to certain keywords, you can also capture searches targeted to those keywords.

Dynamic content adds new ways for you to reach clients.

Dynamic content can help you drastically expand your content base and gives you new ways to reach clients. Compare a basic company website with a company website that has a blog. In a basic company website, the only way you have to reach clients is if clients actively do a search for your services. For example, if you have a plumbing website, you’ll get hits for “plumbing” searches (or whatever keywords you’ve used on your webpage), but that’s all . However, if you have a plumbing website with a blog about fixing common plumbing-related issues, your blog could come up when people search for “How to unclog a toilet,” or “How to clear a clogged sink.” People who would never have seen your website are now looking at your website (via the blog) and you can nudge them toward your services, or you can simply provide useful information so that you can reach those clients and you’re there when they do need your services.

Dynamic content provides opportunities to increase conversion rates.

Finally, dynamic content provides opportunities for you to increase conversion rates. Let’s stick with the plumbing example. Say that a client is looking for plumbers, and loads your website as well as a couple of other websites. Your website is a static website with basic company info, while another plumbing website provides dynamic content with info about clearing up issues, related news and regular updates. Because there’s so much more content available via the dynamic content, potential clients can clearly see that the other company knows what it’s doing. The company speaks authoritatively about related issues, and customers have confidence in that company to deliver the services it says it can provide. They’ll choose that website with dynamic content in 99% of cases, even if you have good static content, unless the price difference between services is drastic.

Managing static content vs. dynamic content.

Some companies simply create additional website pages when they want to expand their content, optimize the site and provide additional keywords. While that is an option, it’s rarely the best option. It’s much easier to add 10 blog posts that relate to specific issues than to design 10 new HTML pages to add articles to your site. Then you have to redefine your menus and link system, and navigating all of those links becomes cumbersome for readers.

Updating a dynamic content platform is simple. Many Web hosts have built-in support for blogs and other content management platforms. All you need to do is install the platform and begin loading your content. Adding content to a WordPress blog on your domain, for example, is as simple as logging in and typing text in a box right there in your browser. You don’t have to worry about adding HTML or CSS or any other type of Web code, nor do you need to worry about your link system or where it’s an appropriate place to add your content. You don’t have to wait for a Web designer to implement your new content, if you outsource your Web design.

You need content to make dynamic content worthwhile.

Keep in mind that if you do go to a dynamic content platform, you need content to make it worthwhile. For example, consider a blog. If you only post once a month, or post 5 times and then stop posting entirely, you lose the benefits of having dynamic content. In fact, it can actually backfire on you if people go to view your dynamic content and see that you haven’t updated in a year.

If you’re going to invest in dynamic content, invest in dynamic content. Many companies hire writers to populate their dynamic content so they can focus on their business. Good content writers can create quality, targeted content that can enhance your company’s reputation, improve your SEO and boost your conversion rates.

If you’d like to discuss dynamic content campaigns or content management programs, feel free to use the Contact form on my website to send me a note. I provide blog content, articles and other Web content for a variety of clients, and I’m happy to discuss a content campaign for your business, or consult on appropriate content management solutions.

BEWARE OF HIRING SEO FIRMS TO OPTIMIZE YOUR WEBSITE!

Why you don’t need SEO firms.

I study SEO all the time as part of my business. I can’t deliver SEO content without understanding current SEO practices, and a large part of my business involves writing SEO content. Since I’m already knowledgeable about SEO as a content producer and an occasional Web designer, I had no idea that SEO firms even existed. That is, until I was consulting with a Web client a couple of weeks ago and he told me that he was considering hiring an SEO firm. An SEO firm that wanted to charge him $80,000.

I was floored when he told me how much the firm wanted to charge. I charged pennies compared to that for his website design, and I provide ongoing maintenance for even less. I advised him, in my initial design, of certain SEO practices and content he should include – but he didn’t like the context or the way it looked, so I removed it. Upon hearing he was considering paying someone $80k to ‘optimize’ his website, I asked to see the proposal to find out what exactly they were doing for $80k.

It turns out – 90% of what they were doing was stuff that I’d already told him to do, or things that we’d already implemented on his website. The proposal broke out things into line items that aren’t really separate things at all – but part of the same thing – they just write it like that to make it look like additional items. In fact, let me excerpt some areas of the proposal so you have an idea of what I mean:

• Optimized Content: $800 per page – for 4 pages of content – a total of $3,200 for 4 pages. (Many professionals – myself included – charge between $50-150 for optimized content, depending on the length of the page and the content included.)
• Design/Code. They broke this section out into 5 different line items – all of which I had already provided to this Web design client myself – for $4,000. (I charged a fraction of that price for my design, with unlimited edits – they only allow 2 rounds of edits.)
• Video. $3,000-$6,000. (The client has the capacity to produce this video himself, and many people do – video editing software is inexpensive and even included for free in some operating systems, and professional-quality video equipment is extremely affordable in this digital world.)
• Reports/Books intended to be used for a conversion tool – $400. This is the first thing remotely resembling a reasonable price on the proposal. (I’ve written reports and books for Web clients to use as conversion tools at anywhere from $75 to $500, so depending on the length and the content, $400 might be appropriate.)
• Publish – $800. This was broken out into two line items: publish to search engines and setup Google Analytics. What they don’t tell you is that it costs NOTHING to publish websites to search engines (and is automated in most cases) and Google Analytics is free, too – just requires inserting a little code into websites. (I’ve already done this for the client for free.)
• A license for the client to access his own website – $2,000. Under this proposal, the SEO firm would maintain the website, and the client had to pay a LICENSING FEE to access his own website! This client currently has unlimited access to his website at no cost.
• Web hosting – $800 per year. The client is already hosting his website with a reputable provider for less than $100 per year, and has more features, space and functionality than the proposed hosting under this SEO firm for $800 annually.
• Content Management Program – $5,000 PER MONTH. (You can hire a reputable writer or SEO expert to create content for you for a fraction of the price – I currently offer CMPs for some clients for as little as $500 for a substantial range of services – services only available on this $5k per month plan.)

What to look out for when you’re considering an SEO firm.

In light of reading the ridiculous proposal that they sent to my client, I’m tempted to say you should never, under any circumstances, contract with an SEO firm. The line items in the proposal were misleading, at best, and the prices they charged were inflated beyond all reason. The company was a reputable SEO firm with a number of large clients, and they clearly trade on their name to gain new clients. However, the services offered were in many cases already extant, or easily implemented at a fraction of the cost.

Unfortunately, many clients who are in need of SEO have no way of knowing that this firm’s proposal is completely outrageous and highly overpriced. Without knowing what the line items actually are, or how they relate to what you might already have, it’s impossible to know that SEO firms are ripping you off. Instead, consider these factors:

• Check with an individual or small business for comparable services. In many cases, individuals or small businesses can give you significantly better rates than you’ll find at large SEO firms. Simply look for quality providers with verifiable references and a portfolio you can review in order to make sure you’re working with a legitimate professional.
• Place an ad on Elance or Guru to solicit bids. Elance and Guru are two popular online marketplaces where you can hire qualified individuals and businesses to perform SEO services. You’ll find a broad range of prices and quality levels on these marketplaces, but they’re great places to source potential providers. Users can leave feedback and information about their experiences so you have a way of verifying how satisfied people were with providers.
• Request bids from multiple SEO firms. Make sure you shop around if you’re considering spending cash on SEO. SEO dollars can be money well-spent, from a ROI and marketing perspective, but not if you’re spending 3-5 times what the service is actually worth. Make sure you solicit multiple bids and avoid a company that seems drastically overpriced. Also, make sure you’re comparing apples to apples – which may include a breakdown line-item by line-item to make sure you’re comparing the same functionality in a bid.
• Check for word of mouth in your business community. Check with other businesses in your area and find out if they used a quality SEO firm they’d recommend. You might have trouble getting recommendations from your competitors, but non-competing businesses might be willing to share their providers. Beware of firms that churn out pages that look exactly alike, though, as form pages don’t provide the quality you want from an SEO provider.
• Beware of SEO firms that own your content! Upon doing further research on SEO firms, I discovered some clients complaining that SEO firms retained their content when the clients eventually discontinued using the firms. Even content that the clients had created themselves. Beware of SEO firms that own your content! Examine the fine print closely, and make sure that you retain all of your own content, your domain name and the right to access and edit your account and website at any time.

The difference between SEO firms and SEO content.

SEO firms provide a broad range of features, depending on the firm. Some firms provide SEO for your page layout and design, but don’t provide content management packages, or CMP. This means that you’ll get a one-time SEO makeover, but you won’t get support on an ongoing basis. Even if you do get ongoing SEO, you might not be getting new content – you may just be getting people evaluating your page, stats and keywords to make sure your SEO is still working.

SEO content is both an SEO tool and a stand-alone feature. Many SEO firms don’t provide SEO content at all, or the SEO content that they do provide is static content designed to provide good SEO to your website pages themselves, but not provide ongoing support. SEO firms are largely unnecessary. You can do many of the same things that SEO firms do on your site on your own, without paying someone thousands of dollars.

SEO content, on the other hand, is a necessary and vital part of improving the ROI on your website. SEO content makes sure your website comes up high in relevant search rankings, and dynamic SEO content can expand your search rankings and further improve your page rank. Generating SEO content yourself *is* something that you can do, but your time is typically better spent elsewhere. It makes sense to hire a professional to generate SEO content for your website – especially dynamic content on an ongoing basis – because the SEO content professional is well-versed in current SEO trends and ways to improve your page ranking. SEO firms may include SEO content as a part of their packages, but they typically charge far more than an individual provider would charge – and you have less control over what you’re getting.

In short, beware of SEO firms.

In summary: SEO FIRMS ARE BAD! Not all SEO firms are out to rip you off, but the proposals I’ve seen from large, reputable firms charge FAR TOO MUCH for services that shouldn’t cost that much. Hire a small business or individual SEO professional for far better rates and the individual attention that your website deserves, and save your marketing dollars for other important marketing tools and campaigns.