Category Archives: Online Copywriting

The right keywords: The backbone of your web strategy

Written by Merrill in Online Copywriting, Online Marketing
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Using the right keywords in strategic places on your website can help propel your site to the top of the search engine rankings, but…

If you don’t know what keywords to use, use the wrong keywords, or just put them in the wrong places, and you might as well kiss any chance of a successful website goodbye.

Simply put - keywords and keyword phrases are what Internet users type into the search engines to find sites that have relevant information about the words they search on.

The results that Google, MSN, and Yahoo displays are based on those keywords, and that’s where your traffic will come from.

And they decide which sites to display based on the sites incorporating the keywords in the headlines, the copy, title tag copy, and other places.

Granted, keywords are only one part of the complex formulas search engines use to figure which sites to display, but they’re vital to web success.

If you just whip up your website without any regard to how your prospects will find it using keywords, you might as well give your money to charity.

In order for your website and strategy to have the best chance for success, you need to research keywords and keyword phrases.

You can find the best keyword phrases for each of your web pages using free keyword research tools such as:

http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/
http://www.seochat.com/
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
www.spacky.com

After you figure out which keywords you think will be most successful, make sure you use them in the title bar, page headlines, link copy, and sprinkl them throughout the body copy.

Just don’t overdo it in the copy by repeating the keywords over and over. Write the copy for your readers first, and for search engines second.

It’s a balance (and a lot harder) to write for people and search engines, but I firmly believe it can be done successfully.

After it’s in use for a few weeks, check your traffic stats. You also may find other keywords that might work better, so it’s always a good idea to test them, too. Just don’t make any othere changes at the same time.

In summary…search engine optimization and keywords is a whole industry by itself, with many so-called SEO experts often providing inaccurate information.

So be careful. Most times, simple, consistent application of SEO and keyword basics end up working better than “expert” advice.

For more information about keyword strategy, check out these resources:

http://www.searchengineworkshops.com/
http://www.seomoz.com/
http://www.wordtracker.com

What are your thoughts? Let me know.

To get more information about keyword strategy, SEO, the benefits of powerful copy, about this post, web/online advice, or about my direct response web copywriting services, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.

And if you need offline direct response marketing copy and advice, go to www.crestviewmarketing.com

To your website’s success!

Merrill Clark
Website and Direct Response Copywriter
Crestview Marketing Services LLC

Your website needs traffic AND conversion to sales to succeed

Written by Merrill in Online Copywriting
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Don’t you want to get more traffic to your site?

It’s not a trick question – hell yea you do!

You see ‘em all the time…emails, ads, books, and programs promising to get bazillions of new visitors to your web site in 30 days or less.

And that may be great – as long as it is a legitimate method of increasing your traffic (but it probably won’t be 30 day).

Plus, it must be qualified traffic that’s somewhat interested in what your site has to offer.

But there’s also a problem with traffic.

Now you’re thinking: “How can getting traffic be bad?”

Actually, there are two things.

The first is getting tons of untargeted or unqualified traffic, which does nothing but possibly overload your website, and the second – more typical, more important reason is -

You get a bunch of new visitors that are interested in your site – then, just as fast as they get there, they leave and head over to your competitor’s website.

Many business owners incorrectly think getting more traffic is the “Holy Grail” of determining the overall success of their websites (don’t get me wrong – more high quality is important – even vital) but what usually happens next is…

Once your site gets all this new traffic – the copy and/or the site design does nothing to quickly a) tell them they are in the right place, b) how your products or services can benefit them and c) give the visitor any reason to stick around and continue reading to learn more.

Most sites do a terrible job at converting a new visitor to a qualified prospect you can follow up with or to make a sale.

And isn’t that the whole purpose of having a website? To make money!

Yet, almost every day I talk with business owners who are concerned more about how pretty their sites are and how they need more traffic, when, if they really want their sites to be profitable, they need to worry about converting traffic they already get to paying customers with better sales copy.

A million visitors a month is useless – unless you convert a percentage of them to sales.

On the same token, without traffic – you get zero conversions.

So you see, your site must get traffic AND convert some of that traffic in order for your site to make money for you.

Isn’t that what you really want?

Or do you want a site that matches your image and just sits there, doing absolutely nothing but looking pretty.

You really have to decide in your own mind whether it’s more important for your site to look pretty or to be used as a successful money-making machine.

(And there’s no reason it can’t look good while getting more traffic and converting more sales)

So get some professional advice about why your site isn’t working as good as it could, and finally put your website on the road to success.

I’d love to hear your comments about this.

To get more information about the benefits of powerful copy, about this post, web/online advice, or about my direct response web copywriting services, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.

And if you need offline direct response marketing copy and advice, go to www.crestviewmarketing.com

To your website’s success!

Merrill Clark
Website and Direct Response Copywriter
Crestview Marketing Services LLC

Build your business online with persuasive incentive copy

Written by Merrill in Online Copywriting, Online Marketing
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It’s a proven fact you can build a successful business online by building up a list of prospect’s contact information.

But there are 2 important details you need to get right first.

Number one:

On your web site, you need to offer something of value to your prospects for free (called an incentive or bonus) before they’ll part with their name and e-mail address. Most people understand that hey – nothin’s free. If they want whatever you’re offering bad enough, then they will give you their contact information to get it.

That’s the trade-off, they give you their personal contact details – and you give them something they want (usually important information) for free.

Now for the second part of the equation:

After you find the right incentive your prospects will climb all over each other to get, there has to be copy written that sells the benefit of your free incentive. You must describe the incentive and how it will benefit them or solve their biggest problem, or whatever.

And you need to “sell” them on signing up to get this information in a pretty small area, and remember the previous tip about headlines? Your incentive copy is basically a headline to sell your free report.

The nuts and bolts behind the scenes is called an autoresponder and it will track your prospects information and send them the reports so you don’t have to do it yourself. It’s also considered an e-mail management service. The one I use on my sites is www.aweber.com/?208362.

So if you have a) a great incentive that your prospects really want, and b) the incentive copy on your website or pop-up is compelling, then your list will start growing like wildfire.

And after they opt-in to your list, you can market to them and not have to worry about breaking any spam laws.

So whatcha waiting for? Start building a list today!

If you want me to write powerful subject lines for your email campaigns, to get more information about SEO, the benefits of powerful copy, about this post, web/online advice, or about my direct response web copywriting services, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.

And if you need offline direct response marketing copy and advice, go to www.crestviewmarketing.com

To your website’s success!

Merrill Clark
Website and Direct Response Copywriter
Crestview Marketing Services LLC

How to write Subject Lines that practically force your prospects and customers to open your e-mails

Written by Merrill in Online Copywriting
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Get more of your e-mails opened with compelling subject lines.

Haven’t you heard that e-mail is becoming more and more important as a lead generation and sales tool?

Then maybe you can tell me why more businesses aren’t taking full advantage of it?

After all, there are no postage and printing costs to worry about, so the total cost of sending a promotional e-mail is next to nothing. All you need is a list of names and e-mail addresses plus some e-mail copy.

I believe one big problem is this – you can send out e-mails all day long, but the first step, and one of the keys to a successful e-mail campaign is getting the recipient to open the darned thing.

It’s called the open rate, and the percentage can be pretty dang low.

The best way to increase the open rates of your e-mails is to use a powerful subject line - one that makes them want to open it and see what’s inside.

Unfortunately, that’s where many e-mailers stumble.

You see, most e-mail subject lines are boring, uninformative, or full of words that shoot it right on down to the junk or spam folder, where you’ll probably never even see it.

And guess what? If your email isn’t seen, it sure as heck will never be read.

Here are some different tips anyone can use to create a subject line that will get your e-mails opened more often:

  • Inform them of something valuable or important
  • Use intrigue
  • Personalize it by using the recipient’s name
  • Include your “brand”
  • Ask a provocative question
  • Introduce a special offer

Your subject line has the same purpose as a headline – you need to get your reader’s attention and interest so they will open your email.

And another important thought is this: You need to test, test, test. Then you will know what headlines work the best in any given situation.

I’d love to hear your comments about this, good, bad, or ugly.

If you want me to write powerful subject lines for your email campaigns, to get more information about SEO, the benefits of powerful copy, about this post, web/online advice, or about my direct response web copywriting services, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.

And if you need offline direct response marketing copy and advice, go to www.crestviewmarketing.com

To your website’s success!

Merrill Clark
Website and Direct Response Copywriter
Crestview Marketing Services LLC

Web page headlines that grab your prospect by the eyeballs and force them to keep reading

Written by Merrill in Online Copywriting
1 Comment - Leave a comment!

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Compelling headlines in your web copy will increase response by 20%, 30%, 40% – or maybe even more.

It’s been proven time and time again by testing.

So why are there are so many web pages (especially Home pages) where the only headline in sight is “Welcome to XYZ Company”?

Didn’t they get the latest memo?

What’s up with a headline, anyway?

An effective headline accomplishes three important tasks:

First, it must command your attention, letting you know you’re in the right place, and I mean immediately.

Next, it needs to quickly convey that the site can provide the solution or product you are looking for.

And its third job is to give you a compelling reason to read the first sentence or paragraph on that page.

That’s it! No more and no less. If it accomplishes those three things – you have a successful headline…and every page on your web site needs a headline, no matter what the purpose of the page is, even a contact form.

And guess what? If it doesn’t do the first job right by getting your attention, common sense dictates you probably won’t stick around to read any more of the page.

The other aspect of this is SEO. Google gives a bit of weight to headlines, as long as they are relevant to your page content. There are actual heading tags such as H1 and H2 that you include in the html code. Google also checks those tags.

Tips for writing money-making, lead generating headlines

  • Trigger a strong emotional response to a subject your reader already has about your subject
  • Ask a question to get them nodding their head in agreement
  • Provide a benefit the reader just can’t pass up if they read further
  • Provoke the reader’s curiosity
  • Offer a reward or incentive to read more
  • How to…
  • Use your primary keyword phrase
  • Keep it simple – only offer one main idea

You see, there’s many, many “formulas” or ideas that will help you write a powerful headline, and I haven’t even scratched the surface. There are complete books on just how to write great headlines.

The bottom line is all web sites, and all pages in them should have a unique headline designed to get the reader to take the next action step, which is to read the next line.

With a great headline, the chance of your prospect reading your web page increases significantly.

And that’s the purpose of your web site, isn’t it? To get people to take whatever action you want them to so you can make more money.

Oh… and the other thing you need to do is test different headlines. That’s the only way you’ll know which one gets the best results. Try 5 or 6 different ones – the results may surprise you.

I’d love to hear your comments about this. If you want me to write some powerful headlines for your online materials, to get more information about SEO, the benefits of powerful copy, about this post, web/online advice, or about my direct response web copywriting services, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.

And if you need offline direct response marketing copy and advice, go to www.crestviewmarketing.com

To your website’s success!

Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter
Crestview Marketing Services LLC

Increase conversions from the search results with compelling and relevant page descriptions

Written by Merrill in Online Copywriting
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Another important on-page factor for maximum conversions is the description meta-tag, and like the page title tag, it also is quite simple and fast to create.

The primary benefit you’ll get from having a powerful description tag is that you’ll start getting more people clicking on your site link when you are listed in the search engine results page.

The description is usually (but not always, depending on the search engine) what is displayed immediately below each search result.

Its primary purpose is to display a short summary of the web page that’s being referenced.

Plus, each page on your site should have a unique description of 1 to 3 keyword rich sentences (generally less than 150 characters) that compel the searcher to click on your link because it is more relevant than the others.

It won’t get your site ranked higher on the search results page…but it will certainly help get more clicks to your site after your site is displayed – if you can show them what content they’re going to get.

Basically, it’s a short ad or brief description for your website, so by all means, include keywords and benefits, but don’t be spammy about it.

Like I said, make sure each page has a unique description conveying the purpose of that particular page.

There’s different ways to create the title tag, depending on your web site programming, the template, or even if you have a blog site, but it’s generally very easy to do, and if you don’t take the extra few minutes to create a compelling description for your pages, then your conversion rate will be lousy.

Next week, headlines in your web pages will be the topic. (Each page on your web site DOES have a powerful headline – doesn’t it?)

I’d love to hear your comments about this. To get more information about SEO, the benefits of powerful copy, about this post, web/online advice, or about my direct response web copywriting services, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.

And if you need offline direct response marketing copy and advice, go to www.crestviewmarketing.com

To your website’s success!

Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter
Crestview Marketing Services LLC

Get higher search engine results with a relevant page title meta-tag

Written by Merrill in Online Copywriting
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Search engines like Google display search results based on many factors. One of the most important on-page factors Google looks at is the page title meta-tag.

Now, this sounds kind of complicated – but it’s actually quite simple.

What surprises me is how many web sites don’t use them properly – or at all.

Let me explain:

Whenever you open up Internet Explorer or Firefox, or whatever browser you might use – at the very top of the open window, there is a dark blue bar with some text extending all the way across the top.

That’s the title bar – and there’s one on every open browser window or tab. And when you minimize a window to the bottom, the text in the title bar is what you see.

Now…the important thing to know about them is the words used in them are looked at by Google when someone does a search. It’s probably the most important copy on the page, even though it’s not really on the actual web page.

It’s a meta-tag that can be easily edited for each page on your site.

The best use of it is to include your most important keyword phrase, making sure it’s completely relevant to the content of that page, and that clearly communicates the contents of the page to your visitors.

In fact, when you do a Google search, you’ll see that the clickable link for each result is the page title for each result.

Try to keep it less than 70 total characters. Different search engines and different browsers only display a certain number of characters.

Also make sure each page has a unique title conveying the purpose of that particular page.

There’s different ways to create the title tag, depending on your web site programming, the template, or even if you have a blog site, but it’s generally very easy to do, and if you don’t take the extra few minutes to create a compelling title to your pages to get higher search placement, then you’ll have squandered a free way to help yourself rank higher in organic search.

Next week, I’m going to talk about another very important on-page SEO factor many people don’t take full advantage of.

I’d love to hear your comments about this. To get more information about SEO, the benefits of powerful copy, about this post, web/online advice, or about my direct response web copywriting services, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.

And if you need offline direct response marketing copy and advice, go to www.crestviewmarketing.com

To your website’s success!

Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter
Crestview Marketing Services LLC

A strong "call to action" on your web pages is vital to response rates

Written by Merrill in Online Copywriting
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A critical component of your website’s sales message is a powerful “call to action” or offer.

This is where you clearly tell your prospect exactly what you want them to do next and how to do it.

Sadly, many web pages I see either have one that’s really wimpy, one that’s difficult to see or too confusing. Heck, some don’t have one at all.

Here’s an example of a good call to action you could see at the end of a web page:

Call 111-123-4567 before April 28 to get a free copy of our report revealing the 7 biggest mistakes most advertisers make!

Now…here’s a wimpy one:

If you have a chance, please call us.

See the difference…

Usually you include them at the end of the sales page, but not always. And there should be one in ANY sales materials you use such as:

  • Sales letters
  • Postcards
  • Web pages
  • Space ads
  • Business cards
  • Any other written materials you use

By including a strong call to action that’s simple in your marketing and advertising, you could increase response rates by 20-30%, maybe more.

Prospects need to know what to do next, but if it’s not obvious, or too complicated – they’re not gonna do anything and you just wasted an opportunity.

To get more information about writing a strong call to action, about this post, web/online advice, or about my direct response web copywriting services, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.

To your website’s success!

Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter
Crestview Marketing Services
www.webcontentNH.com

And if you need offline direct response marketing copy and advice, go to www.crestviewmarketing.com

Why you need a powerful headline on every page of your website?

Written by Merrill in Online Copywriting
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You absolutely need a great headline!

Every page of your site should include a headline that attracts attention.

After all, a great headline has 2 major purposes. (actually it has a few but these 2 are critical)

#1. It quickly has to convey to the visitor that they are in the right place, depending on what they’re looking for, and…

#2. A great headline has to act as the “ad” for that particular web page, compelling your visitor to read further or to take the specific action that you intended them to.

I know I said 2 reasons, but a third one that’s also important is for SEO and getting organic (free) traffic from the search engines. The top ones such as Google often look at the H1 headline tags as part of their algorithm.

For more information, about how I can help you setup a more effective and usable site and improve your search engine results for your website, shoot me an email or call me at 603-686-5140.

To your website’s success!

Merrill Clark
Web SEO Copywriter and Online Strategist
www.webcontentnh.com

And if you need offline direct response marketing copy and advice, go to www.crestviewmarketing.com

Simple website design tips encourage visitors to stay longer

Written by Merrill in Online Copywriting
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Can your website visitors read and scan the pages easily?

An important factor in how long someone stays on your site is the ability to see the content without having to squint or magnify their screen.

The easiest sites to read have a white or light colored background with black or dark text. As a rule, the more contrast between the text and the background, the better.

The font should be a standard serif like Times Roman or a sans serif like Arial or Verdan, and the size should be big enough to read but not huge.

Far to often, people want to use color and font combinations that show off their artistic prowess but in doing so, make it difficult for the average person to read the words.

I understand certain sites are designed to enhance the product or company, and that’s okay – as long as you keep readability in mind.

The purpose of your website is to get people to read it, not force them away because they can’t read it.

Remember, not everyone’s eyesight is 20/20, so keep away from the purple background and blue text and moving pictures that completely distract the casual visitor.

For more information, about how I can help you setup a more effective and usable site and improve your search engine results for your website, shoot me an email or call me at 603-686-5140.

To your website’s success!

Merrill Clark
Web SEO Copywriter and Online Strategist
www.webcontentnh.com

And if you need offline direct response marketing copy and advice, go to www.crestviewmarketing.com

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