Blog Assignment 1 Online Content: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

In order to get more clients to not only view a website, but to get them to become new clients, this article (http://scribeseo.com/seo-copywriting/) explains how to do this and why it's important.  What I learned was very much the opposite of some notions I had regarding driving traffic to a website.  In order to make your website have the “neon lights” that it needs in order for customers to find you easily here are the key aspects you need to know to get people to your site and make them want to stay there.

People read what they need or want.  Getting them there on the internet is very dependent on the content of the page, and having people who have sites already on the internet referencing you as an authority by providing links to your page.  Think of it as you go to a really good doctor and your friend asks, “Who is your doctor and is he good?” and you go on to explain why your doctor is so good.  Chances are, that person will value your opinion and go to the doctor, and then tell other people.  Search Engine Optimization works much the same way.  The search engine wants to find good content but there is a method to finding that content,and that is:

1. keywords (words that pertain to your area of interest of your webpage)

2. how you pattern those words (this is so search engines, such as Google or Yahoo can find your page based on the search request)

3. getting other Social Media sites to reference you, or in other words, add a link to your page so that you are getting traffic from other areas other than just the search engine.   

The 3^rd one is the one that is really very important, and will take some time and effort to get this to occur, but it can make the difference.

Your content needs to be compelling enough to want the searcher to become a client.  This is where keywords and phrasing the keywords come in.  There are sites that offer to determine the “density” of the keyword that you want to use on your website.  When using the word “density,” we are saying that how much value does that particular word, or phrasing of words have on the impact of the searcher to stay on your page; in other words, did you use the right words which competitors would use to get buyers to their sites and are these words that search engines are familiar with that they would “crawl” (referred to as a Spider) to find your site.  Again, keywords and phrasing keywords and the density (the importance of the word to your business category) is what causes the search engine to help find you in a quicker manner than if you had not used these techniques; it is the “language” of the search engines and you want to be speaking in their language…”when in Rome.”  When a site utilizes words that pertain to its main message to the user, it is giving the user the best answer to its query in the search engine…that is the point.  The spider likes to not only find the best answer to the focused user, but it stores that information for future searchers and it builds up to where your site becomes “the site” to go to for that particular search. Searchers are very focused and know what they want, therefore you need to make it easy for them to find what they need by speaking the language of Search Engines.  The 3 efforts of the Spider are to crawl (get the information,) index (save the information for future searchers) and rank (give it a value of density as to how closely the words utilized for the spider to find that site is valued by the spider).  Be good to the spider and the spider will get to like you the more you give the Spider what he is looking for.  If you put in a search for SEO experts, the first few that come up have become a friend of the Spider, and, the Spider’s friends, Social Media.

It is interesting to know that just like in life, the more friends you have that talk about you, the more people know who you are and what you are about.  Maybe you are an expert in cardiology; perhaps you are a famous architect, but the more people that know you, the more popular you become and people will want to go to you as their source, and potentially become a patient or client of yours, and that causes a cascade effect where one person tells another, and another, and soon, business is booming.  That is how Social Media can make your website popular or not so much.  It is actually more important to be linked from a popular Social Media site that links your page within their page to get a “searcher” to click on your link; it gives you credibility, it gives you a “ referral” from someone else who is in your field that is saying by placing your link in their page, “Hey, this person knows their stuff because they were referred…that is what a link on someone’s page can do for you.  This is important, very, if you want to succeed in driving specific searchers to your website.

In being found by that determined, very specific searcher who wants to find exactly what they want to find, you want to get as specific as possible.  First, finding the right keywords to use and finding their density but then, let’s say, “doctor” has a high density word according to Keyword Density grader, it is not specific if you are looking for a certain type of doctor in a certain area, therefore, the more specific you are (dermatological doctor in Mayberry, NY) will return you a more specific answer (and at the same time the spider has a memory, remember?) So, if the spider brought you up once, chances are the spider is going to bring you up again because it remembers you as being a good result to that specific search; add in a link from “people in Mayberry NY with blogs about dermatological doctors” and you really will get into the memory bank, and get more “hits” (your site being brought up in that particular, specific search result). Besides being specific, it is also considered “strength in numbers” because chances are, when someone wants something, they will be very, very specific in what they want, and the search terms they use will most likely be very close to others seeking the same thing.  When you write your content, think like a searcher, not like a business owner with a website.  If your content is highly relevant, using words that a searcher is using to find you, utilizing phrases and keywords specific to your industry, but worded in a way that makes you stand out, and then have that bonus of Social Media linking you because they also have found you do to your strategic manner in which you wrote your website for the Search Engines to find you, you are on your way to increased searchers finding you.  Keep your title under 72 characters as when it comes to Search Engines “less is more” and “concentrated content” will get you an audience that wants your services.

Google wants you to tell your story in a very consolidated, to the point, way.  Who are you? What do you do? Who is looking for you? Why are you their answer? Why are you worth remembering for other searchers?  It is called the Cornerstone (think of it as the launching pad for all other things to be considered when you are writing your website.)  Keep those questions in mind, because those are the questions Google is asking when looking for you.  The more you write content that Google likes, as described above, the more successful you will be in being an answer to a searcher.  The Title Tag is where Google wants to find this Cornerstone.  It wants a clear, concise, keyword, density rich statement that answers its’ searchers answers.  That is where it is looking to, the Title Tag for that Cornerstone; who and what you are, and why you are the solution for the specific searcher.

Make sure the Landing Page (the first page of the website) has the answers to Google’s questions of who you are.  Once Google knows, then the searcher knows, NOW, you have to keep the searcher there (retention) to become a buyer or a client.  The content you write on this page is critical to retaining the person who found you.  If you don’t immediately get their attention that you are what they are seeking by your compelling content, they are going to hit click and look at the next search result…you do not want to be the stepping stone to another website that gives those answers better than you do.  Make sure they stop searching with you.

Referrals, referrals, referrals

Social Media is about linking.  From a blogger; from an article; from another website; from someone who quoted you on Facebook and placed a link.  You want to be the authority in your field, and you want as many sources of Social Media writing about you.  Think of the cocktail party where you are making your rounds in a room; you talk to a few people, then you talk to a few more…if they like what you have to say, who you are, what you do, and if you happen to be the answer to something they have been searching for, chances are they will tell others….a referral; Social Media works on referrals called links, your website link. (http://www.deannazandt.com/presentations/claremont-mckenna-college-how-you-will-change-the-world-with-social-networking/)  You also want them to remember you, so you give them a business card, when asked.  In Social Media, your business card is “bookmarking and sharing;”  you want that searcher to bookmark you for future reference.  While at the cocktail party, you want to make the most of your time there without being obvious that getting new business and “networking” is really the reason you are there.  Be blatant about that and no one will want to know you; you want to make the most of your time, and in Social Network terms that is called Optimization…making the most of your landing page so that you are remembered for what you do and for being the solution.

Search Engine Optimization
You want to use words that the spider likes and will remember. These words, again, are keywords.  The essentials are a Headline that is 72 characters or less that describes who you are, what you do, why you solve the searchers problem; Meta-description, which is the little snippet that you find when you do a search on Google under the “link” that gives a bit of the description of that page; this helps the searcher determine if they want to go further if the words they are looking for (key words or key phrases) are in there.  This can make the difference of going to your page or thinking “next.” Content is next.  300 words or less that optimizes everything that you have learned that a searcher wants to read when doing a search for what they want.  Keyword Frequency is important as it targets the audience that you are looking to attract.  The Keyword density is the ration of those keywords to the rest of the words on the page.  Placed in the title, the content and the cornerstone message helps to get the right person to the right place.  Don’t overdue it with Keyword Density or the Spiders and Google won’t like you as they will feel like you are trying to trick them into remembering you.  Be memorable the way they want you to and they will remember you. The last criteria for optimization is Linking Out; be connected with other pages that make you look like the authority that you are in your business area.  A referral from someone else is better than you stating that you are great, on the web and in real life.  It makes you look like a trusted and reliable source.

Good Sites:

Two sites that are really great examples of SEO, Social Media, Spider-friendly sites are www.8tracks.com and www.ahundredmonkeys.com.  Notice how their Taglines right away tell you who they are for example, “Listen to handcrafted internet radio.  Share your own mix online”( less than 72 characters, the Spider likes that!)  It then goes on to give you good content (under 300 characters,) with keywords and keyword phrases, that are “spider friendly” and gets right to the point of answering the searchers questions:  Who are you?  Why are you the best answer for me?  Why would you benefit me? Why should I stay on this site and become a member, or client, or buyer and not move along to another?  And, it makes the Spider remember who they are

“Listen for free to the best internet radio, handcrafted by people who know and love music. Or, share your own online mixtape, a streaming playlist with 8 or more tracks."

Not only is it right to the point, it made the list of “Time Magazines Best Websites of 2011.”  Not only are you being linked by one of the most read magazines in the country, it was SEO friendly for Time’s researchers to easily find them to fit into their category of “Best Music website.” Now, would they have been found if they didn’t follow the golden rules of website writing and good food for the Spider?  Exactly.

www.ahundredmonkeys.com is a site for companies that have products that need to name things.  Their name comes from, as they state on their website, Shakespeare’s “theory” that if you put 100 monkeys into a room with typewriters, you would end up with a sonnet.  Sort of self-depricating on William’s part, but it makes you remember the site, doesn’t it?  It also comes up high up in the search engine when looking for “naming sites.” It follows all the golden rules as well, with their “Cornerstone” content statement of:

“A Hundred Monkeys is a branding company with a knack for coming up with product names and company names that are provocative and human."

They are also very bold and sharp, because next they show, simply: See our work (names) with all of their examples and why (and they are really good!) and they also show the names of their competitors, and there are a lot of them, and their own names are not very good.  These are very bold Monkeys to share their competitor’s names on their sites.  They are very clear that they “ help you get off the ground” and it is very clear that what they do is good (named a documentary company “human+nature;” that is a pretty brilliant name.  I’d use them.  I’d remember them. I like monkeys.  I like why they like monkeys.  Their story is good, their content is good and memorable, they link to other sites, blatantly by posting their competitors, and they are linked to.  I did not see them on Times magazine “best” list, but I am sure that the spiders will do their jobs, and one day they will make the list, if they haven’t already.

Bad Sites:

www.davidecernuschi.com When you arrive on the landing page, there is his (?) name and about 10 vertical little lines.  I don’t know who this person is, it is not like it is Madonna or Gaga where they can just write their name and you could care less what would be on their landing page; you know who you are looking for.  You have to dig deep to find out what the “artist formerly known as (no, it’s not Prince) Davide Cernuschi does.  Turns out, Mr. Cernuschi is a photographer when you dig deeper into the site.  He is trying to be “oh so” avant garde with his site because he is an (I swear, I didn’t know when I typed it above) an artist.  So this site is awful for many wonderful reasons, but it doesn’t follow any of the rules of SEO, of Social Media, of Linking, and really, of anything that makes any sense to anyone except for Mr. Cernuschi’s friends who he can hand a business card to, and if he is lucky, they will keep it because no one would remember that URL.  No one.

Another example of a bad site is http://www.sixtiespress.co.uk/ which I found on a website entitled, "Worst Websites of 2011" http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/worst-websites-of-2011.html.  Even though it is titled the Sixties Press, there is no tagline that grabs the reader's attention, and not even a spider from the sixties could pick up on what this site is about.  There is no clear cornerstone to let the searcher know what the site is about or to keep them on the site.  If you read further you can tell it is contains archives and other readings from the sixties, however that's the problem...you shouldn't have to read further, you should know from the get-go what you're looking at.  Chances are the spider is not going to remember the sixties and not because of the spider's "groovy times" but because there's not good enough content to make it memorable.  To find some other examples of bad websites, check out the doozies on "Worst Websites of 2011."

So there you have it: the good, the bad and the ugly.  Follow the rules and keep plugging away at building relationships and you will have a site that will be found and will be remembered.