7/7/2011
The best experience site visitors can have is to find what it is they're looking for. They want easy access to quality, unbiased information, they want to compare prices and they want to know if the company, association, service provider or other site owner delivers the goods or services visitors are looking for. Unfortunately, site owners want something else – a sale, an opt-in, a...
11/10/2010
Language has always evolved, so sayth etymologists, aka word nerds. But in the past, it evolved slowly as cultures integrated and media was limited to the newspaper and Life magazine, a household staple in the ‘50s and yes, I used to read it every week.
Digital interconnectivity has sped up the evolution of language like a meth-crazed lexicographer.
6/3/2009
Whether you work from home as a web writer, or you go to the big corner office each day, web writers need to understand the science of search engine optimization and the art of writing to attract the attention of a human being – in 6.4 seconds, the average time a site visitor takes to evaluate the usefulness or interest of your client’s website.
4/7/2009
Bill Shakespeare – you know, The Bard – would have made a terrible web writer. He never gave a thought to keyword density and didn’t even know what strong text was or how to use it in web writing.
4/1/2009
Well, for awhile, the lower the stock market went, the more my business phone rang. 55-year-old guys wanted to reinvent themselves in a contracting economy, and a couple of college graduates wanted some info on starting their own business.
3/2/2009
Weird email requests lately.
One guy wanted a bid on 1,000 articles – all about apartments. I doubt there are 1,000 things you could even say about apartments, much less write 1,000 articles on the subject. And if tasked with such an assignment, any self-respecting copywriter would gouge out her eyes with a spork after a day or two. Tops.
1/8/2009
Okay, I’m supposed to be working but the fact is, I’m hiding out in my spare room office to get away from the family that refused to leave. I’ve had guests for over a week and I’m a little…ummm stressed.
12/22/2008
The recent, insightful post by Kenneth Dryer brought up numerous aspects of the changing role of SEO to the creation of dynamic SERPs designed with the user’s best interests in mind. And that got me thinking. (Sometimes good, sometimes not so much.) When search engine...
11/19/2008
Content syndication comes straight from page 63 of the Rules of SEO, so most Mozzarati know what it’s about. A brief primer: content syndicators accept informational content from writers (or at least people familiar with the alphabet) and post these articles for download by webmasters.
9/24/2008
I was looking at snow blowers last week, reading through the literature and trying to compare specs of different models. I don’t know squat about the tech specs of snow blowers, but tell me “this model can shred a big block Chevy” and I’m sold. Not specs. Benefits of snow blower A over snow blower B. That’s what the unknowing (me) want. For example… &nbs...
9/4/2008
I recently finished a job that changed the way I view what I do. The assignment was to revise operating manuals for a mainframe computer software company. For resource material, I was given the old manual and a summary of updates, upgrades, new procedures, and all of the new information that had to be included in the revised manuals. (Stay with me, this does have a point.) I mean, ...
8/5/2008
I was hacked! I feel so…so violated. And stupid. All of my business contacts, work in progress and other critical information were in the hands of some hacker, cracker or script-kiddie. And how did I find out? My credit card company called to ask if I’d bought a bicycle in Taiwan. Or clothes in Paris. Not only was I hacked, the black hat got m...
7/16/2008
Forget Google Analytics. Toss your SEO Elite. These tools can only go so far in writing text for a well-optimized site. The tools I find most useful aren’t digital. They’re 100% analog, guaranteed to cut any assignment down to size. Check your SEO copywriter’s tool kit for the following: A ball peen hammer. The ball been hammer ...
7/9/2008
If you’re a service provider, you know all about project creep. It starts out as a simple re-do of an out-dated site and suddenly you’re adding live feeds and, “oh, would you mind adding a blog?” Been there? It’s called project creep – a project that expands without additional compensation and it’s pretty common among consultan...
6/16/2008
As soon as search engines became relevant, copywriting changed. Maybe you didn’t notice it. Content quality took a back seat to SEO and today, copywriters have to understand the basics of SEO/M so the content they produce appeals to spiders and humans. A lot of SEOs sub-contract this facet of a job to professional copywriters who can produce optimized copy ...
6/3/2008
It happens. Even to the best. The job is completed; all deliverables have been delivered (and perhaps a few thrown in to build goodwill), and the client is still not happy. The small business owner relies on repeat business for long-term success and a disgruntled client is NOT going to build your client base. In fact, a dissatisfied clie...
5/26/2008
I’m lucky, sort of. I write four blog posts a week for web design companies and a hosting company. No complaints, here. However, because I’ve been undertaking these assignments for 18 months, that works out to over 200 articles on SEO/SEM topics. At that rate, you have to slice the baloney pretty thin. So, a...
5/19/2008
Despite some of the posts on SEOmoz, site optimization is NOT a science. Science requires accurate, contestable data. No metrics or analytics deliver empirical data so it ain’t no science. SEO pros don’t even agree on which weighting factors have the most impact on PR and TR. However, it doesn’t take rock solid numbers to identify dumb design decisions &nda...
5/14/2008
There’s a huge demographic bubble about to burst all over the web. The Boomers are coming! The Boomers are coming! Get ready or miss the herd as they pass by your site. Seniors Don’t Use the Web the Way We DoMy father is 82 and in the past 10 years he’s had 11 different computers. He blows them up like M-80s and proudly proclaims “That...
5/7/2008
Managing Customer Care:“It’s easier to keep a client than find a new one.” Yeah, it’s an old cliché, but it’s a cliché because it’s true. The key to long-term site success is an expanding customer/client base – repeat buyers of your goods or services. Keeping the customer satisfied, especially ...
5/6/2008
Marketing Channels:Integration = Local Synergies Most SEO professionals have worked with small, brick-and-mortar businesses seeking to drive local traffic to the office or store front. So, the client site is optimized for local search, launched and, often, fails to live up to minimum expectations. The local purveyor of goods...
5/2/2008
Trip-Wire Marketing:Stealth and Position Create Explosive Results Trip wires are used by guerillas and regular military to set off explosives or warn that a parameter has been breached. The enemy breaks the wire hidden in the undergrowth, detonating a grenade strapped to a nearby tree. Or, the intruder breaks a trip wire to set of a warning bell. Tr...
