What is online or SEO copywriting? Well, SEO is the acronym for the phrase “search engine optimisation.” Search engine optimisation is all about doing specific things to your website to drive more traffic to it with the aim of getting a certain reaction from the people visiting your site. Whether it’s to get them to purchase something online or simply get them to enquire about your company’s product or service, their experience on you site needs to be interesting and helpful.
What are some of these things?
There are a few but here we will discuss how SEO copywriting as a style of writing achieves those results. SEO copywriting is unique from other forms of writing such as magazine writing or a newspaper writing. SEO writing focuses on specific “key words or phrases” that make your website or specific web page on your site emerge on the first page of a search list – which is essentially where you want to be. However this is only possible provided the writer has adhered to specific SEO protocol which includes:
Finding the correct search term or phrase for your product or service (there are a few online tools which online Copywriters use for this)
Using the search term or phrase only a certain amount of times without over using or misusing it
Avoiding very long words (words with multiple syllables)
Not writing very long sentences
Having an appropriate and appealing topic if writing an online article
SEO copywriting must still be readable and persuasive like any other style of writing
Styles of SEO writing
Online writers write articles, press releases and “optimise” existing web content. The copywriter must keep in mind all the above mentioned SEO “rules” when writing articles. Press releases are similar but cover more than just one topic. Optimising web content is simply increasing the use of a specific key term or phrase on a particular page of a website with the hope of making that page rank higher during a search.
Writing for magazines, news papers, pamphlets or even bill boards, the Copywriter writes easy to read, enjoyable and compelling copy with the aim of persuading you into taking a certain action. Whilst SEO copywriting is steered in the same direction, the online Copywriter has a goal of making a company’s website or specific web page on the site rank highly in a search.
The foremost goal of SEO copywriting is to produce succinct, effectively persuasive text for a well-written web page and to make it rank highly during a search.
Google has been slowly but surely changing the way in which we use Google Search. The design and overall user experience of Google Search, that is. This mainstream search engine recently revealed that Ads will now be placed at the bottom of the search results page, instead of the top.
This transition from “top vs, side” Ads to “top vs. other” Ads is said to perform better. This is because the viewer can easily scroll from the top of the page, down to the bottom, which is a natural action. In tests that Google have been performing, results show that Ad placement at the bottom of the search results page, received better click- through rates.
Google revealed that Ads placed at the bottom of the page and those placed on the side of the page, will be exclusive. This means that these Ads will not appear at the same time, reducing the amount of clutter, with regards to advertising.
Organic search results positioned at the bottom of the page have been known to generally have higher click- through rates than Ads in that portion of the page. However, now that Google Ads will be placed at the bottom of the page, there will more than likely be an increase in traffic to the Ads. This poses the question? Is Google planning on doing away with organic search all together?
One thing is for sure… The bottom of the Google results page provides plenty more space than the top and side of the page, allowing for more Ads to appear on one search results page. But what does this mean for the Ad campaign’s success? Well if most viewers find what they need on the first Google results page, it could mean dismal results for Ad campaigns on other pages.
At this stage, it is too early to judge the success of a specific Ad campaign at the bottom of the Google results page. However if certain keywords result in high volumes of paid Ads, then a specific Ad campaign will appear at the bottom of the Google results page.
Owning a Digital Marketing Agency can be a challenging task as well as an extremely fulfilling one at the same time. It is a very competitive industry and one that’s changing every single day. If you can’t keep up with the rate at which the internet and the digital world is advancing, I am afraid it’s quite easy to find yourself in deep waters without a life boat.
I caught up with Ceri James, the founder and Marketing and Sales Director of Talooma Digital Marketing Agency. Talooma has been in the digital marketing space for over 12 years and continues to set benchmarks.
The secret to Talooma’s success lies in its leadership and the quality of its staff. “Team dynamic, passion, a common purpose and unlimited potential to learn” this is what Ceri had to add to the ingredients of his company’s success.
With mobile internet devices like Smart Phones and Tablets becoming more and more affordable and therefore accessible to most people, the internet has become available to almost everybody these days. As a result of this, Digital Marketing Companies are becoming more and more relevant as most companies realise the huge potential for a great return on investing in online marketing. The future only has bigger and more exciting things to offer for the online space and digital marketing as a whole.
Talooma has grown tremendously as a digital marketing company over the last 12 years but the journey does not end there, in fact this is what Ceri had to say, “in the next two to three years we are certainly going to be a lot stronger in the hospitality industry…our aim is to hopefully be listed as one of the top 500 companies to work for”
The Talooma story is certainly a testimony that hard work and dedication pays off but for Ceri the sky is the limit and there’s still a long way to climb.
If you are battling to keep up with social networking and new media, I certainly don’t blame you – They are growing faster than we can get our heads around them! SpyderLynk a mobile marketing and technology company has just set the next level of advertiser and consumer interaction.Social Snap Tagsallows smart phone users access to a brand offer for special discounts, video clips, coupons, promotions, store locaters, free samples, etc.
Unlike 2D barcodes, Social SnapTags does not require the download of a special software application working for any consumer with a camera phone and messaging capabilities.
What are Social Snap Tags?
You will find Social Snap Tags on any advertisement. Using one’s mobile camera phone, a consumer can get access to brands’ information, specials, discounts, retail location and so forth. Furthermore consumers can ‘’like’’ or ‘’follow’’ a brand.
How Social Snap Shots work?
Social SnapTags turn your brand logo into an interactive marketing tool. Consumers with either a standard or smart camera phone can take and send a picture of the Social SnapTag to a designated short code or scan the Social SnapTag using a Social SnapTag Reader App to instantly access offers, content, promotions, and information.
Consumers may also begin to share these promotions and offers with their friends on Facebook, Twitter and via e-mail directly from their mobile phones. This is how Social Snap Shots extend their footprint into social networking and e-mail.
The wait is over; Google (Google Plus 1) has joined the extension bandwagon. If you are a Chrome user the Google Plus icon will become more and more visible on all your favourite web sites which will allow you to Plus 1 any web page. This ingenuity was developed directly by Google Inc. and it will function similar to the Facebook “like” button you see on most web pages today.
The concern for most, however, is the fact that Google Plus sends a list of all the pages that you have visited to the Google Server but this information will not be connected to your account as a user. Normally the company may keep some information about your visit to certain pages, usually for a period of about two weeks, to maintain and clear up its systems.
So how does Google Plus 1 button work?
Whenever you search for something on Google Chrome, you will find a small transparent Google Plus button in front of your search results. When you click on it, it becomes blue. This simply indicates that you have voted for that link, it’s like telling other searchers “hey! Check this webpage out”.
If you see 2 pages on Facebook for example – one having 100 likes and other having 100000 likes – without giving it much thought, you would go for the page with more likes.
This concept is similar with Google Plus, the number of “+1s” a site gets indicates its popularity.
Google Plus 1 extension
Not all websites have started making use of the Google Plus1 button, however the extension of Google Plus allows all Chrome users to Plus 1 any web page they desire whether it is using the in-site Plus 1 button or not. By installing the extension the user is able to Google Plus 1 the page and should you have already done so, it will turn blue. The number of Google Plus1’s are also shown.
Benefits of Google 1
The launch of Google Plus buttons literary means very effective steps has been taken that combine the power of search engine optimisation and Social Media in bringing massive free traffic to your website or web page. It affects the ranking of a website on Google Search results. The more “ 1s” your website gets, the better Search engine ranking it gets – it’s that simple!
Facebook: the universal platform for individuals and businesses. However there has been much speculation about how much of your information remains confidential and how much of it becomes freely available to the Facebook Headquarters and others.
Those using Facebook in the northeastern parts of Germany have been warned to avoid the “Like” button. All government sites within Scheswig- Holstein, (the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany) have been requested by the Independent Centre for Privacy Protection to dismiss every Facebook plug- in. If they do not comply with this request, they will possibly face a fine of about EU€50 000.
This request comes after a press release announced that by pressing the “Like” button or becoming a fan of a page on Facebook, Facebook users become victims of infringement laws. If a Facebook user takes this action their profile and all the information on it becomes available to the Facebook Headquarters in the United States. Germany’s online privacy laws do not under any circumstances support this.
German government websites have removed the “Like” button however other suggestions have been made, such as avoiding Facebook completely. In the mean time, German online authorities are working with Facebook to develop a common understanding and set of privacy issues.
Hosting Facebook competitions and promotions; what are you legally required to do?
Facebook has become one of the most common and popular platforms for companies of all sizes to advertise and host competitions on. Recently released, Facebook has notified these parties of promotional rules. (Promotion Guidelines)
These clearly state than anyone wishing to promote on Facebook is fully responsible for every part of that promotion. All promotions on Facebook MUST include all of the below:
Complete release of Facebook (every participant)
Clearly state that Facebook in NO way sponsored, administered, is associated with or endorsed the promotion
Disclose that participant is supplying information (not to Facebook)
Furthermore any promotion has to be administered within Apps on Facebook, (Canvas page or an app.) With regards to voting or entering a competition, companies cannot ask participants to “Like” a page and may under no circumstance, communicate to winners or participants by sending Facebook messages, posting a comment or using Chat.
For further terms and conditions regarding hosting a competition on Facebook read the Promotion Guidelines.
The ICANN board (Internet Corporation For Assigned Names And Numbers) overwhelmingly approved the gTLD program when they voted in Singapore on Friday afternoon. In the vote only 1 member voted against the new program, and one member abstained from voting.
The new gTLD Program will allow hundreds of new TLD’s (Top Level Domains) to be registered. The Top Level Domains are currently limited to 22 such as .com; . org; .gov; etc. as well as country domains such as .co.za; .nz; .uk; etc.
THe New GTLD program will be open for registrations from the 12th of January, 2012 and applications will close on April 12th, 2012. These applications will be reviewed and it appears that no new TLDs will be operational until November 2013.
This will mark the first round of registration and ICANN has previously stated that no more than 1 000 TLDs will be approved within any one round.
The last reported figure was that a successful TLD application will cost in the region of US$185 000; so while this may be a worthwjile exercise to secure your own company TLD; it is seriously going to put you out of pocket when you do.
ICANN has stipulated that applicants need to show a seriously vested interest in registering new TLD’s and that applications would be judged primarily on the supporting documentation and compelling reasons for ownership.
I am sure that in the near future we can expect to see many new TLD from big business such as : .coke; .apple; .bmw.
An interesting space to watch will be how the search engines rank and rate these new domains and if they are still use the same general guidelines.
The three top search engines, Google, Yahoo and Bing have collaborated in the hope to improve search engine results. Schema.org will assist webmasters who are looking to add markup to their pages and will create a better understanding of websites for the search engines.
A variety of schemas such as html tags can be used by webmasters so that pages will be distinguished by the search engines. This in- turn will make it easier for searchers to find the accordant web pages.
A number of websites are generated from assembled data which is generally stored in data bases and is formatted in html, making it difficult to recover original data. Search engines and various other applications will benefit from having access to this data directly.
Mark- ups allow search engines to understand the data and information on these website pages and then provide richer and improved results for search purposes, This valuable addition to search engines will certainly make web browsing more useful. Get started here.
What will Schema.org do for your website? Schema.org will assist website owners and improve on where they
rank on Google, Yahoo and Bing. Google has certainly been providing useful additions over the years, Rich Snippets (2009,) Expanded on Rich Snippets and a collaboration in 2006; Common standards for Sitemaps. However schema.org seems to offer more relevancies to the webmaster.
New markup types (over 100 new types have been added. Popular markups include: Recipe, Movie, Book, TV Series)
Use of microdata (primary focus to improve simplicity and consistency across search engines)
Support of existing rich snippets (Webmasters that have already done markup on the pages will still be supported)
Testing web pages’ markup (Test website pages with markup. Use rich snippet testing tool)
Webmasters are encouraged to start marking up web pages as soon as possible. Currently the schema.org website as well as the rich snippets testing tool are all in English however rich snippets are displayed in Google results around the world.
Schema.org has been launched with hope to extend and improve search engine results and ultimately grow the tool.
At any one time, there are 2 Million Blogs on the internet. These are just blogs, websites far exceed this number. To have a website floating around the millions of others is useless, unless of course you make your site work for you.
A business website is a door to the world. It creates an opportunity for a business to display products, services and their business as a whole 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Getting a website marketed is as important as marketing a business.
Website marketing will require spending money however, long term it is worth it. Web traffic is one of the most important goals to have regarding a website. To get this traffic through a site, people need to know that it is there. There are various ways to go about website marketing, all of which work well with one another.
PPC Advertising
Pay- per- click advertising can be set up and utilised to however much a business is willing to spend per month. In order to target the right keywords, a large amount of keyword research needs to be done around a specific business.
PPC is used on websites but more specifically on search engines. Adverts are placed next to the search results and when the visitor clicks on the ad, the advertiser is charged. Also commonly known as click- per- cost, CPC, pay- per- click offers variants such as placement and ranking.
Seo or Organic
Organic searches are the most important as they make up approximately 80% of searches. Search Engine Optimisation makes use of careful use of keywords in web design structure, content, submission of sites to search engines and directories and creating a strong linking strategy.
Links pointing to the website
Submitting a website to a directory helps the site to be found and increases search engine rankings. Finding a directory that is specific to the business industry is beneficial.
Writing monthly articles and adding links to those articles is also a common technique. This can however be damaging if the links are pointing to the wrong sites.
Offline website marketing
There are various effective techniques to use that create awareness around a website. Any one of these when used correctly will result in word- of- mouth advertising which is the most successful of all. However to get to that point, business cards, newsletters, TV and radio ads and even promotional items offer a great opportunity to get people interested in and aware of a website.
Website marketing is vital, there is no doubt about it. With millions of businesses serious about their online presence companies need to ensure that they do all they can to get recognised on the internet.
Without any doubt at all, the internet has become the most commonly used source of information. Companies are becoming more and more aware of the benefits to having an online presence. With this comes the importance of a business listing.
Google Places offers companies a quick, easy and free listing. This Google feature produces search results for local businesses that are listed. The marketing benefits of Google Places for any business offer numerous uses for both viewers and listed businesses.
Business information feature
Post business information: hours, contact details, photos etc
Customers can print out company coupons and win rewards
Build a relationship with customers online through posting detailed business information
Photos
Offers a transparent look into the business
Provides extra products and services information
Builds a trust with clients; a more solid business relationship
Customised code feature
Google Places generates a customised code for each business
Code can be placed on business cards
Clients scan code into Smartphones
Client is then directed to company’s Google Places page
Analytics feature
Find out who is searching for your business and how they are doing so
Find search terms customers are using to locate the business
Using those search terms in other online features, such as websites, social media, blog, will create traffic
Find out where customers are coming from based on Google Places search
Despite the fact that your business may already have an online presence and show up on Google, verifying your business listing ensures accurate details of the business location etc. Listing through Google Places is a convenient way of ensuring that your online presence is maintained at all times (even if you don’t have a website.)
Businesses are able to change information at anytime and keep track of how many people have seen and clicked on your business listing.
With Google Places being practical and easy to manage, this listing tool should be an integrated part of all businesses. Whether you understand the importance of having an online presence or not, Google Places will certainly allow customers to interact with your business and further develop their relationship with the company, online. This in- turn will assist in translating this online relationship into an off- line experience.
The ICANN board (Internet Corporation For Assigned Names And Numbers) overwhelmingly approved the gTLD program when they voted in Singapore on Friday afternoon. In the vote only 1 member voted against the new program, and one member abstained from voting.
