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 Nip and Tuck - Three Quick Tricks for Writing SEO Copy
by: Karon Thackston
Have you ever been to
one of those sites that has obviously been written to get high search
engine rankings? You know the ones… they have copy that sounds like
this:
"When you buy quality
silver jewelry from us, you know your quality silver jewelry is of the
highest quality because we only sell quality silver jewelry that is
top-notch. No other quality silver jewelry site on the Web offers the
selection of quality silver jewelry that we do!"
Want to take a wild
guess at what keyphrase they're targeting?
Copy like this simply
doesn't sound "real." It's very forced. Yes, it may very well get ranked
high in the search engines, but what then? When visitors click to your
site they'll be faced with stiff copy that sounds like a robot. It
doesn't flow… and it doesn't sell, either! With a little nip and tuck,
you can create copy that appeals to your target audience AND ranks high
with the engines.
So just how do you
get your keywords and phrases into your copy and still have a nice,
flowing sales message? It's really easier than you might think.
Here are a couple of
strategies I use when writing SEO copy.
Headlines and
Subheadlines
These make the ideal
place for keywords. Why? Because keywords are normally descriptive by
nature. Since headlines describe what the site visitor is about to read,
it makes perfect sense to include keywords within them.
Titles
Create a chart, or a
list, and give it a keyword-rich title. Just as with headlines, titles
should be descriptive… another perfect keyword/copy match.
Lists
In your chart or
list, include keywords in the headers and within the list descriptions.
For example, if your keywords include softball trading pins, employee
recognition awards, lapel pins, and lapel pin you could create a list
that reads like this:
<Keyword Title>
Creative Lapel Pin Uses
<Keyword Headers & Descriptions>
-
Baseball and
Softball Trading Pins - Lapel pin trading among baseball and
softball teams has dramatically grown in popularity… be sure to
support your team with custom-created baseball and softball trading
pins.
-
Employee
Recognition Awards - Employees take great pride in wearing lapel
pins that show their achievements, and they will treasure employee
recognition awards that they can frequently show to others.
See how the list uses
keyphrases within the headers and again within the list description
itself?
Using keywords in
carefully chosen places allows you to have more freedom with your copy
itself. So now, instead of the forced, unappealing copy we read in the
first example, you can have something more relaxed like this:
Quality Silver
Jewelry Is A Rare Find!
If you've been
looking for quality silver jewelry long, you know that quality is, in
fact, a major issue. Unfortunately, many companies combine low-cost
metals with their silver. That compromises the quality and the
appearance. That's a practice we never participate in!
How To Recognize
Quality Silver Jewelry
When shopping for the
best, look for these tell-tell signs of excellence.
-
Quality silver
jewelry that is truly created of pure silver will display a radiant
sheen.
-
When you touch the
surface, quality silver jewelry will immediately show a fingerprint.
-
Breathing on the
finish of quality silver jewelry will produce a fog, while breathing
on the finish of poor-quality silver will not.
And so on, and so on.
So you see, you can
have copy that makes sense, provides solutions for your site visitors,
and ranks high with the search engines. It's not impossible… it just
takes a bit of training and practice. Before long, you'll be tucking
keywords in all the right places!
Most buying decisions
are emotional. Your ad copy should be, too! Karon is President & CEO of
Marketing Words, Inc. who offers targeted copywriting, search engine
copywriting, and ezine article writing. Subscribe to Karon's free ezine
at http://www.marketingwords.com/ezine.html or visit her site at http://www.marketingwords.com.
You can also learn to write you own powerful copy at http://www.copywritingcourse.com.
About The Author
Copy not getting
results? Let Karon provide search engine copywriting, catalog
copywriting, or other types for you. Just visit
. You can also learn to write your
own SEO copy that impresses the engines and your visitors at
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