Shortly after Google’s Mobilegeddon update last month that rewarded mobile friendly websites in smartphone searches, a small portion of domain owners began to report unexpected changes in their core Google rankings. Some of them almost instantly experienced increased visibility site-wide while others witnessed the exact opposite. Something had obviously changed behind the scenes- but what?
These speculations eventually became known as the “Google Phantom Update”.
And although actual proof of an update was virtually non-existent, one thing was for certain- it made the search optimization community extremely nervous. Google remained completely silent on the matter and outright denied any changes; some would say too silent. That has become standard operating procedure for the search engine giant, however, to prevent those who try to artificially manipulate SEO from gaining unfair advantages.
At first, it was believe to be a stealth form of a Penguin or Panda update, but dozens of Google executives quickly dispelled the notion. Neither Panda nor Penguin had changed…all of their search animals are still in the barn and behaving normally.
Gary Illyes of the Google Webmaster Trends Team finally broke the silence earlier this week at a marketing expo in Sydney. He claimed that the core algorithm had been updated to better identify quality websites, although he would not specify what those changes actually were. Since Google uses over 200 distinct signals to determine website rank, it is very difficult to pinpoint this type of “across the board” update when you’re on the outside looking in.
So what actually changed in the Google Phantom update?
That is still speculative at this time since it requires study of the websites hit hardest in the latest algorithm change. For example, Paul Edmondson, the founder of HubPages, reported seeing a 22% decrease in search traffic literally overnight. Popular tutorial sites like WikiHow, Answers.com and eHow also saw dramatic changes in their natural traffic patterns, making search experts believe that the latest algorithm update was designed to discredit informational websites.
Rest assured though, this is certainly not true…sort of.
Instead of focusing on a particular type of industry, the latest algorithm change is simply taking into consideration the content provided at the sub-domain level across a website. It appears that the companies seeing the hardest hits are the ones with a wide range of content stemming from numerous sources, with many of the pages falling below what would be considered professional standards.
For example, HubPages has tens of thousands of contributors worldwide that discuss almost every imaginable topic. And with any large organization that focuses on mass production of content, quality assurance often takes a backseat to quality. Since HubPages obviously misinterpreted Google’s intentions when it harshly penalized their weaker content in other recent updates, it appears the search engine giant is now delivering site-wide penalties to make their requirements perfectly clear. They do not appreciate spammy content- if you have it on your website, get rid of it quickly.
What can we learn from the Phantom Update? That’s a good question…but also one that you should already know the answer to-
Clean up all of your site’s content
Either replace or delete under-performing pages
Give your visitors a great user experience
Focus on providing quality information
Do not be over-promotional in your content
Avoid generic content at all costs
If any of this seems to sound familiar, it’s because Google has been saying it for over two decades now. Only this time around, it appears that they’re no longer playing- either clean up all the bad content or risk having the good stuff penalized too.
And just to be perfectly clear, this latest algorithm change was essentially announced by Matt Cutts over a year ago when he talked about low-quality content in general. While the above video mainly focuses on guest blogging, he also stipulates numerous times that future penalties would relate to any form of spammy content. He also mentions that those penalties would eventually have effects site-wide…which is exactly what we are now seeing begin to happen.
The intention here is pretty apparent. If you have low quality content on your website that does not directly lead visitors to take action, then your entire domain is now subject to scrutiny. It really is that simple, so I suggest that you take an extremely close look at your directories and make the appropriate changes as quickly as possible.
In 2014, Google found that 50% of local smartphone searches led to a US customer visiting a brick and mortar store to make a purchase. Tech researcher comScore found an even bigger correlation between online searches and local business traffic by stating that almost 80% of all local mobile searches led to a purchase in-store, over the phone or online.
Since 76% of those purchases took place on the same-day as the search was conducted, the benefits of having a strong online presence are virtually undeniable. But do our small businesses across the United States realize that fact?
The Objective
In March of 2015, Upstate Synergy sent out over 800 survey invitations via email to small businesses throughout the Western Carolinas. The goal was to see how local area businesses were capitalizing on local searches and more importantly, how businesses that do not have an online presence are doing in terms of gross sales. We attempted to reach a wide variety of business sectors ranging from retail stores (gas stations, clothing stores, etc.) to professional services (law offices, auto repair, etc.) to hospitality (restaurants, hotels, etc.) and B2B providers.
Each business was asked to answer four brief questions about their sales totals in the first quarters of 2014 and 2015, plus any types of marketing that has been implemented to cause an increase/decrease in sales.
Those questions and the findings from the 241 respondents are listed below.
The Study
Question #1-Compared to the first quarter in 2014, has your annual gross sales increased, remained the same or declined for the first three months of 2015?
Of the 241 business owners/managers that responded, 28% claimed to see an increase in sales, 37% remained the same and the remaining 34% saw a decrease in sales during the first quarter of 2015. There figures are within the national averages reported in 2015 so we believe that they are accurate, although it is worth noting that the totals reported by small business owners in this survey were not independently verified.
Question #2a-If your sales have increased, what do you believe was the main factor behind that growth?
The top three answers provided were website/social media traffic (41% combined), word of mouth (32%) and in-store promotions (12%).
Question #2b-If your sales have remained the same or decreased, what do you believe was the main factor in preventing growth?
The top three answers provided were a bad economy (63%), weather/a harsh winter (20%), and staffing issues (8%). Only sixteen people total from this segment (businesses without positive growth) mentioned the lack of an internet presence, which means that only around 10% saw it as a critical issue stunting their growth.
Question #3-How much money do you dedicate towards increasing your online presence every month? Include website optimization, pay per click ads, social media marketing, etc. paid to your staff of an outside agency.
Here’s where the study gets interesting. The small businesses that answered with spending a total of $800 or more per month (9%) almost unanimously saw an increase in sales (86%). Of those who said they spend $300-799 each month (21%), over half of them fell into the increased profit category as well (60%). The businesses that did not spend any money on online advertising or optimization (70%) came out the worst by far, with only twelve total participants reporting positive growth.
This statistic clearly shows that growth is almost impossible for small businesses without at least a basic online presence. It is important to remember that this study was conducted in the Western Carolinas where that are a lot of small communities that do not have national retailers present, which would seemingly make success without an online presence much easier to accomplish. The results do not support that conclusion at all though.
Question #4-What will be your primary marketing focus for the remainder of 2015?
This question was the most surprising part of the survey since the top answers from businesses with positive growth in 2015 almost unanimously revolved around the internet- search/website optimization (35%), social media (21%), email marketing (14%) and pay per click campaigns (14%). Direct mail (8%) was the most common offline answer provided.
Almost 97% of the businesses surveyed with flat or negative growth are planning to continue traditional forms of marketing- direct mail (31%), television ads (16%), networking (9%), billboards (5%), and radio ads (3%). Only 3% of the small businesses in this category mentioned any form of online advertising or website optimization at all, which starkly contrasts the strategies of the small businesses represented that claimed to have had positive growth.
Conclusion
The most telling statistic from this entire study is that the small businesses that optimize their online exposure are still alive and well in 2015; with many of them thriving. Unfortunately, they are also in the vast minority with less than 1/3rd of all small businesses seeing local optimization as a viable strategy. In total, 156 of the 241 small businesses surveyed have no virtually online presence at all, which ultimately gives their customers opportunities to discover new alternatives online every time they shop.
Why the huge gap in marketing mentalities between those with increasing profits and those breaking even (or worse)? We actually expected a fair portion of business owners to mention not having a website or not properly optimizing it, but only 12 of the 156 (7.6%) provided that as an answer…despite the world around us proving that search and local optimization is a really, really big deal these days. When people type in a product name (aka- toothpaste) with a location (Dallas) into the search engines (buy toothpaste in Dallas), then the chances are extremely high that they are looking to make an immediate purchase.
Yet somehow that common knowledge is not represented within this study at all.
As consumers increasingly rely on their smartphones to find local businesses to suit their needs, it could very well mean the death of all of those great mom and pop businesses that so many of us have frequented over the past 30+ years. Because while the study sample in this instance was relatively small, the trends of downward spiraling are far too large to ignore. Unless small businesses adapt to marketing in the modern world the way that consumers overwhelmingly prefer it, they will have very little chance of survival.
You may have caught on your local news this morning that May 5th, 2015 is officially “Support Spartanburg County Day”, which may just sound like some type of nifty marketing angle to get your patronage into our downtown shops. That’s not what today is about at all though, and our local area could really use your support in both awareness and donations for this special campaign.
Support Spartanburg County is a twelve hour online event that began at 8 AM this morning to raise donations for our area’s various nonprofit organizations. As of 11 AM, just a hair under $150,000 has been raised by all of our local business leaders and citizens, so I highly recommend that you click on the above link and support your favorite local cause.
This includes helping local Spartanburg non-profit organizations like-
The Cancer Foundation of Spartanburg County
Ballet Spartanburg
The Palmetto Conservation Foundation
The Spartanburg Art Museum
Urban League of the Upstate
Hatcher Garden & Woodland Preserve
The Adult Learning Center, Inc
Coalition For Active Youth
60+ other worthwhile non-profits
Additionally, all donations are 100% tax deductible and 100% of the money raised (minus credit card processing fees) will go directly to your charities of choice. This annual event will continue running until 8 PM this evening so you are highly encouraged to participate before time runs out. You can view the Support Spartanburg County FAQ page for additional information.
The donations raised today are critical in keeping dozens of local arts and advocacy programs operational here in the Upstate, and most of these organizations function almost entirely on outside funding through events such as these. With the minimum donation at just $10, hopefully you can find one or more causes to sponsor for the upcoming year.
It’s no secret that search engine optimization has changed drastically over the years as Google continuously adapts to reward the most helpful websites with coveted first page rankings. And for the average small business owner or entrepreneur that’s on the outside looking in, it can seem like executing the perfect SEO strategy is nearly impossib
What if I told you, however, that everything you need to know about search optimization is summarized in the very first sentence on this page?
Go ahead and look again if you don’t believe me- I’ll sit here and wait while you do it.
The websites that go out of their way to help their customers the most are the ones that SHOULD rank at the tops of the search engines. That was the goal in 1991 and it’s still the goal today. The only thing that’s really changed is that Google and Bing have become much better at detecting unsavory tactics that allow websites to artificially rank, but the goal still remains exactly the same.
So as we work through this guide together, I want you to remember one universal truth that can guarantee your excellent search placement for the next fifty years- the site with the best content should always win.
That means that as long as you’re making serious efforts to bolster your customer’s online experience, you will remain in favor with the search engines and continuously see improved results. It really is that simple.
Since this is an official SEO Strategy Guide, however, then you’ll probably want a little more detail than that to work with. So let’s get down to some key points of interest for your search optimization strategy.
Core Content is Everything in SEO
Old-school search optimization depended largely on stuffing keywords, cranking out tremendous amounts of content and getting any form of backlinks to your website.
The Internet back then was like the Wild West; everything was available for the taking if you didn’t mind being called an outlaw. And that’s why quality was almost an afterthought over the past two decades, the search engines did not have a strong enough algorithm in place to properly identify what we now call spam.
I won’t lie to you- some of those tactics still perform well with the major search engines these days. You can still take a few shortcuts building backlinks and almost any form of traffic is still considered a positive signal, even if it comes from spammy sources that have no interest at all with your brand. These black hat methods are becoming harder and harder to execute properly though, and there’s one crucial thing you have to remember about being an outlaw-
Outlaws eventually end up dead or in jail. So stop trying to be an SEO outlaw, even if think you’re the quickest draw in the West.
DO create informative content to educate your customers
DO update your FAQ and core information pages
DO commit to a weekly blog about your industry
DO share your blogs on social channels to increase engagement
Do focus on a quality over quantity approach
Do update or remove poorly written pages
Do post content that leads to additional actions (read more, call, opt-in, etc.)
So when it comes to content for your website, don’t even think about taking shortcuts in 2016 and beyond. Everything you post should engage your audience and help them learn a little bit more about your brand. That means you should be getting down to the nitty-gritty and sharing precise details about anything and everything your customers have questions about, and it should be written in a way that just makes sense.
Take Mobile Seriously
Let’s talk about backlink building as a search optimization method for a moment…and I’ll start with an obligatory, “Ladies and gentlemen, please make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their full upright position. We are about to experience some severe turbulence.”
Over the past few years, creating a solid backlink profile has become increasingly difficult. Let’s just look at what Google tells you not to do-
DO NOT guest post on websites with questionable ethics
DO NOT leave random comments with your link in it
DO NOT buy backlinks under any circumstance
DO NOT swap backlinks with other websites
DO NOT associate yourself with any spammy site
DO NOT use the same anchor text across most of your links
That’s where we reach the turbulence part of this journey, because chances are pretty darn good that you’ve violated some or all of those guidelines over the past few years. If that’s the case, then we strongly recommend that you disavow your less-than-reputable backlinks since your website is likely facing penalties because of it.
With that said, link building strategies have not changed much over the past year other than to avoid the ComLuv’s of the world that Google has clearly blacklisted. In fact, you should probably forget about any form of guest blogging where you’re permitted to insert a backlink straight to your website, unless it’s in an author bio. There are still tens of thousands of quality content sites to write for out there as well- just use a little more caution this time around.
Social media is still a powerful way to receive natural backlinks as well, and Google vastly prefers this approach since others are choosing to talk about you on their own sites. Other solid opportunities for gaining backlinks are creating highly-sharable content like infographics or case studies, utilizing directories within your niche, press releases and blogging about authorities within your industry.
One more word on backlinks before we move on. Remember that your profile does not need dozens of backlinks to every possible page in order to achieve solid overall rankings; this is the old-school formula for grey hat SEO and it is completely unnecessary. The search engines would rather see a handful of natural high authority links to your domain over thousands of weaker ones, so make sure your focus remains on quality partnerships.
Build Better Backlnks
Let’s talk about backlink building as a search optimization method for a moment…and I’ll start with an obligatory, “Ladies and gentlemen, please make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their full upright position. We are about to experience some severe turbulence.”
Over the past few years, creating a solid backlink profile has become increasingly difficult. Let’s just look at what Google tells you not to do-
DO NOT guest post on websites with questionable ethics
DO NOT leave random comments with your link in it
DO NOT buy backlinks under any circumstance
DO NOT swap backlinks with other websites
DO NOT associate yourself with any spammy site
DO NOT use the same anchor text across most of your links
That’s where we reach the turbulence part of this journey, because chances are pretty darn good that you’ve violated some or all of those guidelines over the past few years. If that’s the case, then we strongly recommend that you disavow your less-than-reputable backlinks since your website is likely facing penalties because of it.
With that said, link building strategies have not changed much over the past year other than to avoid the ComLuv’s of the world that Google has clearly blacklisted. In fact, you should probably forget about any form of guest blogging where you’re permitted to insert a backlink straight to your website, unless it’s in an author bio. There are still tens of thousands of quality content sites to write for out there as well- just use a little more caution this time around.
Social media is still a powerful way to receive natural backlinks as well, and Google vastly prefers this approach since others are choosing to talk about you on their own sites. Other solid opportunities for gaining backlinks are creating highly-sharable content like infographics or case studies, utilizing directories within your niche, press releases and blogging about authorities within your industry.
One more word on backlinks before we move on. Remember that your profile does not need dozens of backlinks to every possible page in order to achieve solid overall rankings; this is the old-school formula for grey hat SEO and it is completely unnecessary. The search engines would rather see a handful of natural high authority links to your domain over thousands of weaker ones, so make sure your focus remains on quality partnerships.
Local Search is Massive
Here’s a statistic worth remembering- almost 80% of all mobile searches in the United States directly lead to a purchase. Since almost 73% of those purchases occur in local brick and mortar stores, local search optimization (AKA Google Maps) should definitely become one of the most important parts of your overall SEO strategy in 2017 and beyond.
How do you optimize for the local search engines?
Create/verify your listings with all the major search engines
Complete the certification process to show that it’s your business
Complete your profile 100% (photos, categories, descriptions, etc.)
List a local contact phone number in your profile
Repeat this process on major directories (Yellow Pages, Yelp, etc.)
Ask your best customers for honest reviews/ratings
Build backlinks from social and authority sites
Focus on your main website’s core engagement levels
Essentially, Google and Bing want to see you treat your local search profiles exactly like you would your own website, so remember that the little things really do matter in this instance. Also, make sure that each of your local search profiles uses 100% unique content for the spiders to crawl, but all of the other information should be exactly the same. In other words, do not list different addresses, phone numbers and other information that the search engines could see as a conflict, and avoid toll free numbers altogether since they signal that you’re probably not seeking local business clients.
Monetization & Lead Generation
Quick question- why are you worried about your website’s SEO in the first place? And before you answer, let me point you right back to the very first sentence on this page once again. Because the answer you’re looking for should not be, “So I can make lots of money.”
Honestly, Google could care less if you are making income through your website or not.
Their only worry is that your site’s content makes visitors happy, and it is a huge red flag for the search engine giant if they see just a few paragraphs of text and a dozen or more ads. Without even looking at anything else, they know right off the bat what your real intentions are.
DO use appealing calls to action in contact forms
DO ask users to visit your social sites
DO monetize your pages in natural, logical ways
DO offer freebies and giveaways to generate leads
DO NOT lose focus on making great content the top priority
Now, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t use ad banners and email captures on your website; just don’t do it in a way that would make people question your motives. Remember, this is not so much about the amount of advertising, but about how much actual content there is to balance it out.
So don’t be that guy who posts 12 flashing ad banners per page- not even John Chow does that anymore…and you’re no John Chow. That is, unless you are actually John Chow and you just happen to be reading my blog. If that’s the case, then I guess this last section doesn’t fully apply to you.
But for everyone that’s not named John Chow, then you may want to reconsider limiting your ad-space and focusing on your actual visitors instead.
Back-End Optimizations
Even though you probably have a web developer that handles the heavy lifting when it comes to the back-end of your website, there are several minor issues that could cause you to lose appeal to the search engines.
I won’t dwell here though, just scan through this list of miscellaneous items that could be harming your search ranking-
Slow loading times/not enough bandwidth
Poor navigational structures
Missing pages that do not properly redirect
Broken inbound and outbound backlinks
Images not properly labeled
Missing H1 (main title) tags
Lack of meta keywords & descriptions
Plugin conflicts that affect functionality
Suspicious redirects (possibly by hackers)
So if you see any of these issues, contact your system administrator and tell him that he stinks at his job. Then call me to fix the issues and we can make fun of that other guy together!
Keyword Research
You may have heard some of the experts mention that keywords are officially dead, and to some degree they are absolutely correct.
You should no longer be focused on things like keyword density or packing in as many combinations of key-phrases as you can in any given page. This is no longer a valid tactic since the search engines have made it abundantly clear that they are more focused on your visitor’s engagement levels.
At the same time, keywords certainly do still matter, so let’s go straight to our bullet points-
DO mention on at least one primary keyword on each page
DO use keyword software to find popular phrases with low competition
DO hyperlink your targeted keyword to other parts of your website
DO hyperlink your targeted keyword to authority sites within your niche
DO include your targeted keyword in the title, meta title, and description
DO NOT repeat keywords just for ranking purposes
DO NOT ever use a keyword unless it fits naturally within the text
DO NOT forget that quality and engagement are the most important factors
To prove that, let’s do a little experiment and talk about our famous SEO Keyword Spatula, which is something that I just completely made up for testing purposes. It does sound like a pretty cool product name though and since I bolded it, the search spiders will likely see it as being important. Notice that we’re not actually keyword stuffing though, since the phrase is only being used twice total.
If you take peek in AdWords, the phrase “SEO keyword spatula” has zero natural competition (as expected) but it is also somewhat related to almost 600,000 similar monthly searches containing both “SEO” and “keyword” within the phrase. And if our little experiment here works, then I should have the #1 ranking not only for the worthless phrase I just made up, but also have the opportunity for getting noticed in dozens of similar search terms that people are actively searching for.
Does that make sense? It’s sort of a backdoor ninja approach to capturing the easy stuff and possibly getting noticed in the ultra-competitive niches as well.
You should be doing the exact same thing with all of those long-tail keywords within your niche that others are not actively targeting. And the long-term benefits of consistently searching for and using new long-tail keyphrases within your website copy can pay serious cumulative rewards.
Video Marketing is Huge
Many people are on the fence about video marketing since Google cannot actively see the content contained within your embedded multimedia players. Hopefully by now you’re not going to make me refer you back to the very first sentence again though; modern SEO is not about what Google sees.
It is about how your visitors react to the core content on your domain. And if a video captures their attention while they’re visiting you, then Google doesn’t have to understand what they’re watching. It helps you anyway.
DO use videos to explain core products and services
DO share videos on social sites
DO share other videos on your site that resonate with viewers
DO keep the majority of your videos under two minutes
DO focus on lighting and sound quality
DO NOT hesitate to shoot simple, first person videos with a smartphone
Here is another incredibly important piece of the puzzle for video though– the most influential video hosting website on the planet is owned by Google. So not only does video marketing get the benefit of its very own search stream for consumers, but Google also prioritizes YouTube videos within both the natural and the video types of searches as well. So you literally get three streams of exposure by posting one video on YouTube and embedding it into your website…and your customers will love you for it.
What does a homeless young Korean man in a singing competition have to do with SEO and video marketing? It’s almost impossible not to be moved by his amazing journey…and that is engagement at its very finest. However, if your videos happen to answer the specific questions that your website’s visitors are contemplating, then it is an extremely powerful sales technique as well.
So while video marketing is not a core SEO factor all by itself, the engagement that it creates certainly matters.
Boosting On-Page Metrics
Throughout this guide so far, we’ve talked about the term “engagement” in almost every single section. It is certainly one of those buzzwords that are tossed around frequently by experts, but it hardly ever seems to get properly defined either. So let’s define it now by search engine standards.
Customer engagement refers to any positive action that is taken by a user on a website.
Any when I say “any positive action”, that’s exactly what I mean. Think about this for a moment- the average smartphone user visits a website and qualifies it in the mind in a mere three seconds. So if you manage to tick over to that four second mark, it’s a positive.
Not a good one, mind you, but still a plus in your favor nonetheless.
And your entire job as a website owner is to create more and more of those positive experiences so the search engines know that people are finding good stuff there. This can include any combination of the following-
Visiting multiple pages
Clicking on a backlink
Filling out a contact form
Leaving a comment
Sharing on social media
Watching a video
Downloading a file/app
Users revisiting to your website
Opting in for email alerts
Giving likes, +1’s or other nods
If you look in your Google Analytics account, the search giant has been tracking these types of metrics for years now, so it only makes sense that you should keep up with these key metrics as well. Every chance you get to create additional engagement helps your website overall, so know that your on-page metrics are as important as ever in the eyes of the search engines.
If you’re wondering how to boost your on-page statistics, just try to make each page as pleasant of an experience as possible for your visitors. Here are just a few techniques to do that-
DO focus on using only top notch writers
DO keep your navigation simple
DO add lots of visual elements to your website
DO incorporate video, charts, and infographs
DO use bullet points and subtitles to break up text
DO use bold and italics to make key points stand out
DO link internally so users have easy access to more content
Focusing on the Consumer
If you haven’t realized it by now, search engine optimization is all about the consumer. The more you go out of your way to provide great information and make your visitors happy, the more Yahoo, Google and Bing will reward you with a boost in natural rankings. And even though some of the things I’ve shared so far may seem super technical and difficult to implement, I’ll tell you one more time to read the first sentence of this article- that’s close to 85% of today’s SEO right there.
As long as you’re putting forth a genuine effort to become more helpful online than all of your competition, then you will eventually outrank them…even if it’s purely by dumb luck.
So let’s recap real fast with the highlights-
Write great content.
Optimize for mobile users.
Focus on quality backlinks.
Use local to your advantage.
Don’t be that guy with too many ads.
Make sure your website loads smoothly.
Continue to focus on keywords.
Post a few videos on your site.
Use smart page layouts to increase engagement.
Always focus on pleasing your consumers.
That’s not so hard, is it?
If you have any questions about modern search optimization or want to point out a tip or two that I missed, please feel free to reach out through my contact form or leave a comment below. I’m here to help.
When you write out text and descriptions on your website, are you sure that what you’re typing is the message that you want to deliver to customers?
For example, my wife is a beautiful Southern gal who speaks like she was raised in the country…mainly because she was in fact raised in the country. Whenever we are getting ready to go somewhere together, she will glance at me and say, “I’m in the car.”
But I’ll just stare at her and reply, “No dear, you’re in my office. The car is outside in the driveway.”
Every time, without fail, she will give me this “deer in the headlights” type of stare like I’m the craziest person on Earth. Because to her, the message was perfectly clear- she was going out to the car to wait for me. But that’s nowhere close to what she said.
Believe it or not, people tend to do these sorts of things all the time when writing copy for their websites. They say one thing and the public thinks that it means something entirely different.
Learn to Speak Directly to Your Readers
So if you really want to learn how to write sizzling page copy that makes your readers jump out of their seats and race into your store, it is essential for you to talk to them in a way that is easily understandable.
For example, how often do you make purchases from a website where the copywriting is so overly technical; you have no idea what it even means? Probably almost never. But authorities like the Harvard Business Review find that thousands of businesses write product descriptions that way anyway, simply because they do not know any better. That’s why it is so important for you to know your ideal customers though; it is impossible to communicate with them if you don’t know who they are in the first place.
Here’s a neat little trick you can use the next time you go to publish new content on the web. Head over to Readability Score.com and paste your document in the provided text box. Then look at the grade levels on the right side of the screen- your goal is to come out somewhere in the 8th to 12th grade levels. Anything over a 15 is probably too overly technical, while grades below a 7 mean that it is fairly simplistic.
So far, this blog ranks out at an 8.4, which usually means smooth, comfortable reading for everyone.
Less is Often More in Writing
One of my biggest personal struggles in writing is that I tend to get long-winded in a hurry and my articles often top out at 1,500 words or better. When you’re writing page copy though, short and concise is almost always the way to go. The reason is that USA Today found that 40-60% of your websites visitors are on a smartphone and they simply will not bother dealing with huge chunks of text.
So here is what I personally do. Whenever I write something for a client, I will get a rough outline of the main speaking points and then type everything I want to say in one sitting. Then, I’ll get up and grab a glass of water or walk around outside for a few minutes, just to let that text I had just written sort of drift out of my mind.
Once I’m re-focused, I’ll sit back down and edit the document line by line, and I will read each sentence as slowly as possible to see how it sounds in my head. In most cases, I will end up re-writing about 25% of what I typed the first time, just to make it more concise and easier for my readers to understand.
And as a professional writer, let me just say I realize that this is probably the very last thing you want to do. Heck, I don’t want to do it either. But when it comes to getting a clear message across to potential customers, it is definitely worth the extra few minutes you’ll spend on a quick edit.
Read and Write Every Chance You Get
Now, you may have glanced at that last sub-heading and thought to yourself, “That’s a pretty crummy tip- Keith is telling me to read and write?”
Yes I am. Because you would be amazed how much quicker the right words will come to you if you’re taking the time to write something every single day. And honestly, it doesn’t matter what that something is- it can be an email to a friend, dirty jokes on a napkin or even a full-blown movie script. The magic comes from the actual repetition itself.
On the flip side of that advice, you absolutely must spend more time reading quality material. Grab John Grisham’s latest novel, start reading the newspaper again or read almost anything that you enjoy that’s written by professionals. And whenever you come across a sentence or a paragraph that really makes you smile, then be sure to force yourself to stop and see why it worked so well. This is how almost 30% of the world’s non-English speakers learn our language…they start with sub-titles on television and progress from there.
I’ll leave you with this parting thought- writing is a skill that is definitely worth investing in, and it will open more doorways for you than any other single skill on the planet. So practice your writing and give your customers better page copy whenever you can…and it will definitely pay dividends over time.
Shortly after Google’s Mobilegeddon update last month that rewarded mobile friendly websites in smartphone searches, a small portion of domain owners began to report unexpected changes in their core Google rankings. Some of them almost instantly experienced increased visibility site-wide while others witnessed the exact opposite. Something had obviously changed behind the scenes- but what?
