Friday, August 10, 2018
Asana is a task tracking app. It is what one San Diego company, Press Wizards, uses to keep track of its remote workers' assignments. I found this job on Indeed.
Monday, February 19, 2018
SEO Copywriting from Bob Bly. It doesn't get any more plain than this. Bob lays out exactly what to do.
The second find this morning was of Adeo Ressi, founder of The Funded.
Okay, I am going to add this one by Bob Bly. "Why I Don't Believe in SEO Copywriting." He thinks that writing for two audiences--the search engine audience and his clients dilutes the copy.
Asana is a task tracking app. It is what one San Diego company, Press Wizards, uses to keep track of its remote workers' assignments. I found this job on Indeed.
Monday, February 19, 2018
SEO Copywriting from Bob Bly. It doesn't get any more plain than this. Bob lays out exactly what to do.
The second find this morning was of Adeo Ressi, founder of The Funded.
Okay, I am going to add this one by Bob Bly. "Why I Don't Believe in SEO Copywriting." He thinks that writing for two audiences--the search engine audience and his clients dilutes the copy.
"SEO (Search Engine Optimization) copywriting" requires that the copywriter concern himself with strategic placement of keywords within his Web copy to optimize search engine rankings of the pages he writes.
The problem is that to create really powerful copy, you have to have a single core audience in mind? and concentrate all your effort on writing to that one audience.
When I write copy, that audience is the prospect, the potential buyer of the product I am selling.
But with SEO copywriting, you are pandering to another "audience," the search engines and not the reader.
And by creating copy that's optimal for attracting search engines, you are, to some degree, weakening that copy's power to sell, diluting its strength because you are worrying about two audiences: the reader and the search engines instead of focusing every word on the customer.
And that's not how to write copy that sells.
I think the best approach is:
1. Write the strongest selling copy you can, aimed at the human reader and forget the search engines.
2. Once that copy is finished, go back and check to make sure keywords are appropriately placed, but . . .
3. Never change a word of strong selling copy if that change will make it even one iota weaker, even if SEO best practices would endorse that change.
In other words, write for the customer and not SEO.
My small poll of top copywriters writers with a proven track record of writing winners agree.
I'd rather invest my time and energy in [writing] interesting, informative, and fact-filled copy," says Gary Bencivenga [and more]. [Ben Settle has written on Gary Bencivenga.]
Parris Lampropoulos [and others] doesn't even think about search engines when writing copy:
When I'm writing the copy, I'm working at one task and one task only: to get whoever is reading it to place the order.
To which I add: Right on!
Of course, I'm sure you have your own opinion on SEO and copywriting.
So: what say you?
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
There are a few tools we're going to use during this course, so I want to quickly explain what they are and how to find them. First, now and then, I'll be using a utility that allows you to quickly look at the HTML code underlying the web page, so you can see exactly how specific components were created. You can even edit the page. You're not changing the original page, of course, just modifying the code that was loaded into your browser so you can see what a change would look like. All the major browsers now have this built in.
You should know that AdWords is Google's pay per click advertising service.
In all cases, you can right-click and select Inspect Element to open up the code. There are other plug-ins though such as Firebug that some people prefer. We'll also be using the Google AdWords Keyword Planner for analyzing keywords. To get to this you'll need a Google AdWords account. AdWords is Google's pay per click advertising service. You don't need to pay anything, but you will have to create an account and provide a little setup information before you can get to the tool.
Not sure why I'll need this, but at least now I have it handy. It's called XML-Sitemaps.com. Here are a few more resources.
SEO TOOLS
1. Majestic SEO.
2. Moz.
3. Semrush.
4. ahrefs, which has a huge index of links, one of the largest available.
5.
1. Majestic SEO.
2. Moz.
3. Semrush.
4. ahrefs, which has a huge index of links, one of the largest available.
5.
The ideal situation is to think about SEO before you build a website, but in most cases, SEO is an afterthought, something done to websites once they are finished, not something considered before they're begun--not a perfect situation, but that's just the way it is.
"You can in most cases modify a site to make it more search-engine friendly." Okay, how do you do this?
So this course is all about modifying an existing site, analyzing the site to see how it has been built, and modifying it to make it work better in the search engines, to make it 'friendlier' to the search engines, as we often say.
Really trying to get search engines friendlier to the site.
Important fact:
Well, Yahoo gets search results from Bing. What about AOL and EarthLink and Comcast? These sites get their searches results from Google.
I did not know that Ask.com was a search engine site. The point is that if you position yourself well on Google and Yahoo and Bing, you'll also do well as sites like Ask.com.
And the things you do to optimize your site for Google and Bing will help in the other search engine anyway, search engines such as ask.com for instance.
Okay, we're starting to get somewhere:
Consider what the search engines do when someone searches. They have to figure out which pages out of more than a trillion index pages are the most suitable ones to present to the searcher. And they do that in essentially two ways: by looking at the text in the websites and by looking at links pointing to the websites. Of course, the devil is in the details, and the search engines have literally hundreds of criteria that they look at. Are the keywords the searcher is looking for in this site, and if so, wherein the site: in the URLs, title text, page headings, body text? How are the words formatted? In bold text, near the top of the page or at the bottom.
This is key:
Are there keywords in the links pointing to the site? Where do the links pointing to the site come from? There are, as I mentioned, literally hundreds of things the search engines look at, and unfortunately, the search engines don't provide details. That's why there's so much misinformation in this business because there is so much hidden information, so much guesswork. It's like engineering without understanding the laws of physics. And every few weeks, by the way, the laws change. You may have heard the SEO field is constantly changing, and it's a full-time task trying to keep up.
Sounds like Bing and Google are the two biggies at the party with Google being the 800-pound gorilla in the room.
Another key point, "clients who ranked well years ago and rank well today without constantly worrying about keeping up with the search engines."
That's partly true. Of course, Google's and Bing's programmers are constantly innovating. On the other hand, most of the principles, the foundations of SEO, remain pretty constant. I have clients who ranked well years ago and rank well today without constantly worrying about keeping up with the search engines. So let's get started. Let's take a look at your site.
Sometimes SEO is not the problem with your site. It may be the site itself. They may need a new website. But how can you tell? A fair bit of traffic but not getting many calls. What, no call-to-action? Is your site a dog that won't hunt? You don't want viewers calling in with questions, you want them calling with orders.
Try this test.
"That's what I do." So here is an experiment. Find five competitors to your site and load them in different tabs in your web browser, then load yours in another tab, and move from tab to tab viewing each site in turn. Now be honest, would you buy from your site? If the answer is no then you are viewing the wrong course. It doesn't matter how much you optimize your site. If it doesn't create the right impression, it won't work. One other issue, usability. If your site is confusing or makes it hard to get things done, again, optimizing the site may not be the most important thing right now.
Here's the takeaway:
If it doesn't create the right impression, it won't work.
Rank site high on search results.
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Marketing your services as a web designer.
1. Finding Clients for Web Design.
2.
Marketing your services as a web designer.
1. Finding Clients for Web Design.
2.
Web design options:
1) Stand-alone.
2) Interactive.
3)
Of course, as a Web designer, you’re in a good place. Especially if you work with WordPress websites. It’s the world’s largest CMS with more than 70 million sites, and 20% of Internet sites use WordPress.
What’s more, many of these people aren’t experts on website design or technology. They just want a website that works so they can focus on their business. In most cases, they’re more than willing to hire someone to make that happen.
WEBSITE PURPOSE?
To succeed, a small business website must be a carefully targeted, wisely designed, pay-its-own-way tool which adds to the bottom line. To achieve this you need to ask: What is the purpose of our Website?
To succeed, a small business website must be a carefully targeted, wisely designed, pay-its-own-way tool which adds to the bottom line. To achieve this you need to ask: What is the purpose of our Website?
Be precise about what you want to achieve and you have a good chance for success. Let’s examine the concepts behind various types of Web sites as you look for the model that fits your organization the best.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Advertise: to announce publicly, especially by a printed notice or a broadcast.” Certainly Web sites fall into this category. But this concept is deceptively simple.
“Advertise: to announce publicly, especially by a printed notice or a broadcast.” Certainly Web sites fall into this category. But this concept is deceptively simple.
Websites differ sharply from traditional advertising. Unlike a display ad, billboard, or broadcast spot, a Web site is hidden. You need a Web address or link from a search engine, or Web page to get to it. While people can and do stumble across a Web site while “surfing,” (if your Web designer/marketer has done the job right), Website advertising is fundamentally different, and must be understood on its own terms.
Let’s move beyond the concept of advertisement to focus your purpose more sharply with an examination of:
Prospect generation
Direct sales
Business-to-business sales
Customer support
Education
Prospect Generation
Direct sales
Business-to-business sales
Customer support
Education
Prospect Generation
On-line forms make websites a wonderful source of leads and prospects. Once you get people coming to your Web site, make sure you get their name, address, phone number, etc. so you take advantage of this steady source of qualified prospects.
I know the phrase “online brochure” is used with contempt by elitists, but don’t count it out! You can offer lots of vital information — enough information to generate queries and leads — by putting together a 6-page Web site from a 2-sided, 3-panel brochure. You can even include a response form and still spend less than for a printed brochure. No printing, no postage, yet your brochure can be in the hands of hundreds of potential customers you’ll never reach any other way.
If prospect generation is your goal, and you don’t plan to consummate the sale online, then you design your Web site much differently.
DIRECT SALES
Are direct sales on-line your objective? Be clear about it, and think it through carefully.
Are direct sales on-line your objective? Be clear about it, and think it through carefully.
I believe that online shopping is the wave of the future, and with the agreement last week between major credit card companies about security standards, we’ll witness a huge move in this direction.
But don’t kid yourself. An online store needs the right furnishings and equipment to do a good retail business.
A fax or 800-number option? Yes, you’ll get some inquiries or sales. But seriously consider an option to promote immediate transactions. That way people don’t have to disconnect from the Internet — and your site — to make the order (since their home telephone line is probably tied up by their modem). People also enjoy the immediate satisfaction of a task completed when they are able to order directly over the Net.
If you’re marketing more than just a few different items, plan on “shopping cart” software, which allows your customer to put items in an imaginary “shopping cart” and see totals, tax, and shipping when they’re ready to “check out.” True, this adds perhaps $1,400 or more to the cost of the Web site. But do physical store owners really expect to conduct business without carts, counters, and cash registers? Neither can you.
BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS SALES
Your company’s purpose, however, may be business-to-business sales. You probably don’t need an online sales mechanism so much as a complete, up-to-date catalog. You can include literally thousands of products, prices, descriptions, and photos, at a cost far below that of printing and distribute printed copies. Your catalog can prompt ordering via phone or fax, or could or even online ordering if your product is right. With a desktop database program and the right Web software, you can keep your online catalog from ever going out of date without much expense at all. Again, the precise purpose of your business will dictate the sort of Web site you design.
Your company’s purpose, however, may be business-to-business sales. You probably don’t need an online sales mechanism so much as a complete, up-to-date catalog. You can include literally thousands of products, prices, descriptions, and photos, at a cost far below that of printing and distribute printed copies. Your catalog can prompt ordering via phone or fax, or could or even online ordering if your product is right. With a desktop database program and the right Web software, you can keep your online catalog from ever going out of date without much expense at all. Again, the precise purpose of your business will dictate the sort of Web site you design.
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
Is customer support your real purpose? If so, a website is a great place to provide all sorts of in-depth product information. Let’s say your customer has a technical question, a troubleshooting problem, or a special application. You can provide a huge volume of information at low cost. Microsoft’s Knowledge Base, for example, allows you to enter search words to locate detailed information on dozens of software programs, hardware platforms, and program versions.
Is customer support your real purpose? If so, a website is a great place to provide all sorts of in-depth product information. Let’s say your customer has a technical question, a troubleshooting problem, or a special application. You can provide a huge volume of information at low cost. Microsoft’s Knowledge Base, for example, allows you to enter search words to locate detailed information on dozens of software programs, hardware platforms, and program versions.
What if you offered spec sheets and repair manuals for each of your products on the Web? Wouldn’t that be a great selling point to put you ahead of your competitors? You probably have the information in computer form already, which is the bulk of the work involved.
But be sure about your objective — customer support — and keep your focus on it.
EDUCATION
These days, sales by education is proving effective. As you supply customers with more information, you get orders for upgrades and new products. You can provide up-to-date industry and product information on your Web site in the form of an online newsletter, which gives people a reason to come back month-by-month. This may be the Web version of a print newsletter you already send to your clients. You may find, however, that the Web audience that reads the newsletter grows much larger than your physical mailing list. And you pay no postage for those readers!
These days, sales by education is proving effective. As you supply customers with more information, you get orders for upgrades and new products. You can provide up-to-date industry and product information on your Web site in the form of an online newsletter, which gives people a reason to come back month-by-month. This may be the Web version of a print newsletter you already send to your clients. You may find, however, that the Web audience that reads the newsletter grows much larger than your physical mailing list. And you pay no postage for those readers!
When you archive the back issues on your Web site, you create an enduring source of information and increase its total value, which brings people back to your website, again and again, to look at your readily available information.
Remember your purpose, sales through education, and design your Web site accordingly.
Whatever your business, plan your Web site to fit a particular business strategy, and you’ll be much more successful than with a helter-skelter approach. Just why do you want to build a Web site? Answer this and you’re halfway there.
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