SEO is complicated. How could it not be, when it involves trying to think like a search engine, think like a customer, and think like a client—all while writing like mad to meet the next deadline?
On the other hand, SEO is simple. In what other line of work do your clients know there are people looking for them, and just need someone to make the introduction?
So think of me as a matchmaker. I’m not trying to fool searchers, or outsmart Google (they have 20,000 employees, many of them PhDs; I know when I’m beat).
Who Needs SEO?
- New Startups: when you’re aiming for eyeballs, there’s no faster way to get them than to jump to the front page of Google for relevant searches. Better yet, it’s a way to establish yourself as an authority: if you show up in searches for a while, people will start to recognize your brand, even if they don’t click the first time.
- Regional businesses: local searches are much more likely to lead to an actual sale. Lots of people Google plaid shorts for information—they want to read or they want to gawk. But nobody Googles plaid shorts new york unless they’re in New York and ready to buy plaid shorts. And, as it happens, a company I’ve worked with is ready to sell (and ranked #1)!
- Large, established brands: take a look at the Businessweek / Interbrand list of most valuable brands: how many of these are the only brand a consumer would think of when they think of the company’s product? How many brand loyalists are aware of all of the products made by a company they like?
SEO is a way to reach out to consumers who love the brand but don’t know the product. In fact, it may be the best way.
- Nonprofits: the age of the One Big Donor is over. Nonprofits can use SEO to make sure they’re found by people who want to volunteer for them or contribute to them. Nonprofits have three natural advantages in SEO: people are more willing to link to them, search engines tend to trust them, and SEO agencies are often willing to give nonprofits a steep discount.
- Politicians and activists: for more people than ever, the truth is defined by whatever ranks #1 on Google. Politicians who aren’t aware of this risk having the issues framed by the media or by their opponents. Fortunately, this is a new subject—search engines are fairly generous to political campaigns and interest groups, but nobody is taking much advantage of it. Yet.
Who Does SEO?
- Independent consultants: “SEO consultant” looks good on a business card, and it certainly keeps some folks busy. But indendepent SEO consultants can be extremely hard to judge. Since they’re selling expertise, they have a natural advantage: they’re the only ones who can smell their own BS. I know lots of smart, effective SEO consultants—and lots of people who have given up on their online marketing because someone overpromised and under-delivered.
- Specialized firms: that’s me! (So I might be a little biased.) The online marketing I do is part of a package that includes web design, social media, and marketing strategy. Blue Fountain Media is big enough to have a long list of happy clients, but small enough to specialize in search-based marketing.
How Does SEO Copywriting Differ from Typical Copywriting?
Surprisingly, SEO copywriting uses many of the same techniques, in mostly the same ways. But while traditional copywriters are trying to craft something that appeals to a person, SEO copywriters also have to consider the search engines.
The result is something that an old-school copywriter couldn’t help but love: a focus on key terms, an emphasis on bringin in readers (or pushing them away) with headlines, and a just-the-facts, curb-the-fluff attitude that makes every word count.
- SEO Headlines pack a factual punch: A story like “Legendary lost productivity secret” might get someone’s attention, but a title like “Online calendar software increases your productivity” is the only way that article will be read by someone who googles [online calendar software] (a term which 2,900 people search Google for every month).
- The offer must be repeated: As long as the offer includes the keyword, lots of repetion—in bold, italics, bullet points, and headlines—will make the point, keep your readers interested, and make sure Google knows what you’re writing about.
- SEO article writing requires consistent output and constant testing: A good SEO campaign is never “done”—it’s always adapting to new search engine rules, new business requirements, and new data. Every article I write gives me more information on how people search, how people read, what prompts them to click, and what makes them buy.
The real difference between SEO copywriting and traditional copywriting is that the results are immediate and ongoing. The maximum results take time to achieve, but the immediate effect of each change is measurable.
