In my last post I discussed using personas to create content that targets your potential customer. In that post I defined the differences between personalities and personas:
Persona = motivation (what the visitor needs, why they are on your site)
Personality = temperament (how they navigate, what they need to see or read to find what they want)
Writing content for a website is easy. Writing good, search-engine-friendly content for a website is hard. Writing great search and user-friendly content for your website is, well, pretty dang difficult. There is a lot that has to be considered when trying to engage your audience because you’re not writing for an audience of one, but of many. And all of them have a personality and motivations of their very own!
When creating engaging content, there are two concepts that you must first understand: why visitors are on your site and what they want to find. These two concepts can be translated into two words: personas and personalities.
Sometimes getting conversions is like trying to capture mist in a jar or water with your fingers. No matter how hard you try, you just can’t seem to get a secure hold on them.
There are countless test you can do with your website to help increase your conversion rates. A/B and multivariate tests can help you increase your conversion rate a couple of points, which can often translate into thousands of dollars of increased profits. But in all that conversion testing, trial and error, banging your head against the wall and twisting customer’s arms until they cry “UNCLE!,” there is often one overlooked piece of information that can help you dramatically improve your conversions.
That piece of information is: information. Content, to be exact!
When more than 600 professionals in marketing, advertising and PR get together in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame City, you know the event is going to be a smash hit! Joe Pulizzi’s Content Marketing World 2011 was all that and more. The program agenda read like a who’s who in online marketing and included industry rock stars like Sally Hogshead, David Meerman Scott, Mike Stelzner, Brian Clark, Jay Baer, Lee Odden, Ann Handley and many, many more. Even at the end of two full days of seminars, panel discussions and content how-to’s, I was still trying to catch a waterfall in a water cooler cup.
For me, the focal point of the conference (beyond curiosity about Lady Gaga’s bizarre meat dress, currently on display at the Rock Hall) can be summed up in this phrase: fascinate, compel and convert your audience using the power of story. If you want to succeed in online marketing today, content must be a foundational pillar, not some website architect’s last-minute add-on.
Social media has changed the way we work, think and communicate. It must also, therefore, change the way we write.
Throughout history, communication has evolved. Common vocabulary has gone from “thou” to “you” to “u”, and in some cases, to “fu!”
Once common words change spelling, meaning and even become obsolete. (Anyone remember wearing “slacks”?) New is the new old.
Soundbites have become essential to anyone wanting to make a point. If it can’t be said in nine seconds, you’re SOL!
I think it’s policy that no policy is good policy unless it can fit on a bumper sticker.
I often write about the various jobs, skills and talents that go into optimizing a website for search engines. As the owner of a firm that specializes in website marketing strategy and leader of an awesome team of talented people, I’m quite biased as to the need and value of having such a team working on all the aspects of marketing your website.
Yet, optimizing a site isn’t terribly difficult. Anybody can be taught the basics, which many already know and are implementing on their websites right now. But SEO is more than basic implementation of strategies you’ve read about online or on Twitter. SEO is much bigger the sum of its parts.
When you deal with big projects, it is often easy to overlook small things along the way. It’s not that anyone is cutting corners, but rather some small detail gets overlooked. Sometimes even the smallest details can matter a great deal!
Web developers and SEOs often focus on the bigger picture but forget to do what we learned in Algebra: check your work.
A lot of people have trouble figuring out the “correct” way to optimize content for keywords. Copywriters are resistant to having to use particular words to get their point across and, rightfully, don’t want their content cluttered with dumb sounding “keyword” phrases.
It’s unfortunate that “optimized content” has somehow come to mean something other than “marketing content” for a website.
Optimizing content for search engine rankings is first and foremost writing marketing copy for your visitors. The key difference is we know what (key) words your visitors are looking for, and it’s just a matter of crafting the content to accommodate their interests.
When optimizing a page, we generally like to have something to work with. Most clients provide us some initial verbiage to use as a starting point. This information can help us better understand the client’s perspective on their products or services and is an excellent resource for the finalized product.
I wish I had a buck for every time my daughters have repeated a commercial “pitch” as reasoning for why we should buy the latest toy or food marketed to kids. I also wish I had a buck for every time I responded, “It’s an advertisement. Don’t believe everything they are telling you.”
I can’t help thinking, what’s wrong with THIS picture?
For the past 10 years, I’ve made my living as a marketing and PR writer, and – though I scorn pandering, hyperbole and truth twisting – I’ve had to spin some yarns from time to time. Traditionally, companies have attracted people to their product or service by hyping it. The more alluring or creative (or shocking) your advertisement, the more likely people are to notice it, for at least a second. However, the majority have clearly become jaded by and distrustful of this old approach.
Content marketing, on the other hand, appeals more to reason and relationships than to hype. That’s what happens when consumers – who are usually inclined to educate themselves before buying – now have the power to do so at their fingertips. They’re looking for solid advice, helpful conversations and enough useful information to enable them to make a well-informed purchase. That’s what the Web can deliver.
SEO used to be all about getting top search engine rankings. While that is still a primary function of an SEO provider, that’s not all there is to it anymore. Or, at least… it shouldn’t be.
If you’re in the market for a (quality) SEO, you’re going to find providers that go well beyond services aimed at achieving top search engine rankings. In fact, if your SEO only knows how to throw keywords you want to rank for onto your site pages, I can tell you that you’re NOT getting your money’s worth (even if you are only paying a few hundred dollars a month).
SEO, in today’s world, is much more about online marketing than it is about manipulating a site to achieve top rankings for a few keywords. Here are some key components to a well-rounded optimization campaign:
(Don't wait for the movie!)
E-Marketing Performance: Effective Strategies for Building, Optimizing & Marketing Your Website Online
