I recently had a conversation with a client during an SEO consultation that looked a bit like this:
John – why are less-developed, incomplete sites ranking higher for “Launceston plumbers” than our website is?
Me – do you use the term “Launceston plumbers” on your home page?
John – no
Me – do you use it elsewhere on the website?
John – not really
Me – then that’s why
Last Thursday I was invited to a presentation on LinkedIn by Julie Mason, the “social media princess”. She spoke to us about 5 key things everyone should do with their LinkedIn profiles if they want to generate more leads via that social network and enjoy success.
Her tips included the more obvious to the much less well-known, but very powerful. They were all great tips that I was excited to implement upon my return home that night.
But there was one tip she gave that left me feeling rather embarrassed. Mortified, even. Because as a copywriter, I should have known better. Here’s the full story…
A note from the author:
My dear friends,
In describing the vulgarities I have sometimes seen in others, I hope to always have the satisfaction of believing that such cannot be said of you; and I flatter myself that you will profit by my advice.
I am,
Yours, &c.
To be a successful copywriter, you need to be a concise, clear, clever, creative writer.
You must be able to write using all sorts of “voices”, you need a sound knowledge of grammar rules (and an understanding of when to bend them), and flawless spelling (or the ability to navigate a dictionary).
But if writing skills are all you have, then chances are the freelance copywriting life is not for you. This is a list of seven non-writing skills I’ve found I needed in order to enjoy success as a copywriter working the freelance lifestyle.
SEO is important. Very important. But it isn’t everything.
Sweet-talking Google is great, but Google won’t pay you money, it won’t use your services, and it won’t subscribe to your newsletter.
Humans might. The trick is to ensure they do.
Human optimisation is the art of ensuring that people stay on your website and do whatever it is you want them to do there. Is your website human optimised?
Thou shalt have no other words before the keywords in thy website’s title tag
Thou shalt not make unto thee any paid links
Thou shalt not take the copy from one page, and duplicate it on another
Remember your ALT tags, to always use them
Honour thy H1 tag and thy H2 tag, that thy days may be long upon the SERP rank that Google gives thee
Thou shalt not use meta keywords
Thou shalt not commit keyword stuffing
Thou shalt not steal content from another site
Though shalt not bear hidden text on thy website
Thou shalt not optimise for Google alone
Read on to learn why these commandments are so important…
‘I’ve heard of SEO, and I’ve heard that I need it. But what the hell is it all about and how do I get it?’
It’s a common question; almost as common as ‘where do babies come from?’
But today’s your lucky day, because today, your friendly Brisbane Copywriter – that’s me – has the answer for you. (The answer to the SEO question, that is, not the baby one.)
So, without further ado (and certainly without any more origin-of-babies questions), may I present to you your basic “Basic Guide to SEO”…
