I just signed up for the Scribe SEO Plug-In, created by Brian Clark and his team at Copyblogger.com.  I have a ton of respect for Brian and just love Copyblogger.com (Really, who doesn’t? )  Anyway, today (02/26/10) is the last day to sign up for the introductory $27/month rate (then it goes up to $97/month) – so I figured no better time than the present to sign up, take a look and see what it is all about for myself.

I have to admit – at first glance, I’m kind of confused by the Scribe SEO plug-in.  So, am wondering if anyone else might be, as well?

I just left a comment asking for clarification on the Copyblogger site – it is still awaiting moderation, but I am really hopeful it will be posted with a response. I think I must be missing something – I am certain the product is a good one given the wealth of experience and knowledge behind its creators – plus the abundance of stellar reviews it is receiving … but I am just not “getting it” based on the experience I talk about below…

Anyway, here is what I wrote:

I just installed the Scribe SEO plug-in and ran one of my blog posts through it as a test. (I am not new to SEO and have a pretty good grasp on how it works).

I have to say… I’m kind of confused by it. The page I tested is optimized for a specific keyword phrase I selected based on both Micro Niche Finder and Wordtracker – it’s in the title, 1st sentence, and appears throughout the copy at a density of 1%.

However, Scribe is showing zero usage of any primary keywords in either the title or body – even though combinations of the terms it suggests clearly appear in the title and body??

Is this tool NOT meant to work with longer tail keyword phrases? I am assuming this because the suggested phrases are all 1 – 2 words in length and quite frankly, there isn’t a snowball’s chance I’m going to rank in the top 3 by targeting those broad phrases.

I obviously have great respect for what you do – or I wouldn’t have signed up. But, would really appreciate some insight on how to effectively use this tool.

Thank you!

Anyway – am hoping to hear back on this.

In the meantime, would love to hear your experience or input on this topic, as well. Please leave a comment below! (WebCopyResults.com is a Do Follow site).

Til Next Time,

PS I just ran the Scribe Content Optimizer on this exact post and here are screen shots that were returned. (Note: I didn’t try to optimize this post based on keyword research – I created this particular post more as a way to ask a question and get your feedback).

Somehow, my content returned a score of “94″ – while the other post that was deliberately built around a specific longer tail keyword phrase returned a “40″:

Further, I am suprised to see the inclusion of “confused” as a primary keyword – and “anyway” and “effectively” being returned at all (see below).  Thoughts?

No related posts.

Original, keyword-optimized content + an effective backlinking strategy = lots of highly targeted organic (aka “free”) search engine traffic to your web site.

Have You Built Any Backlinks Today?

As a professional writer, it isn’t surprising that I lean towards the content creation side of the equation. However, my recent epiphany re: backlinking has really opened my eyes to the very real long-term value of developing (and sticking to) a concentrated backlink building strategy.

(If you struggle with where to begin with building backlinks – 5,000 Backlinks has made this process SO much easier for me. It identifies thousands of Do Follow blogs, forums and high PR-rated web sites (so you don’t have to spend valuable time looking for them) AND lays out a super easy-to-follow action plan to build 105 new backlinks to your site each and every week).

Which leads us to:

Marketing Strategy # 5:
Leave Comments on Other Blogs and Forums.
Commenting on blogs + forums related to your niche is one of the fastest and most effective ways to build quality one-way backlinks to your site.

In fact, I take it a step further and include  blogs and forums outside my niche  – and have had good luck with this for one simple reason:

The “trick” to leaving good comments is to actually contribute something of value to the conversation taking place.

Shocking, I know.

Try to refer to a specific point made within the post you are commenting on – then add your own take on it. Mentioning something from within the post itself is a great way to let that blogger or forum host know that your comment was actually crafted in response to the post in question (vs. trying to take the easy way out by copying/pasting some neutral drivel that doesn’t actually say anything all over the Internet). If you have a blog with comments enabled, you know what I mean!

Bottom Line: As with every other type of content you create (or have created) and put out into the world – your comments should add fresh insight or share valuable information with those who read it. Your reward for doing this is, of course, a nice one-way backlink pointing into your site.

Accumulate lots of these over time and the search engines will find your site irresistible!

Til Next Time,

PS Another benefit to 5,000 Backlinks is that the one-time purchase price includes ongoing updates of new urls of high-PR rated sites and Do Follow blog and forums. It literally takes all the guess work out of where and how to build quality, relevant backlinks to your site. If you follow the simple Daily Action Plan – you can easily build more than 5,000 incoming one-way backlinks to your site over the next year. Just think what that will do for the value of your virtual real estate!

Related posts:

1. 101 Marketing Strategies: Strategy #4 Set It and Forget It
2. 101 Marketing Strategies: Strategy #3
3. 101 Marketing Strategies: Strategy #2

Last week, I wrote about a major “light bulb” moment I recently had (thanks to Lynn Terry’s Elite Forum)- and how it forced me to reevaluate my online efforts.

Specifically, this insight caused me to take a hard look at whether the time I’m investing into my online business is yielding an acceptable return on investment at this point.

Here’s the full story.

Everyone online always talks about how you need to drive traffic to your web site, right?

I mean… if no one sees your site – what’s the point of having it?

Without traffic, you have nothing.

So, several months ago I launched the 90-Day Content Marketing Challenge – then put my head down and started creating a lot of keyword-optimized content and “putting it out there”…

And, it’s working. I am well on my way to achieving my initial goal of “driving more traffic” to this site. The number of unique visitors is about 5x what it was a few months ago – and organic (non-paid) traffic generated by search engines is more than 20x greater.

So far, so good.

Now, The Bad News…

Although I am getting more and more traffic to the site… that traffic is now divided among more and more pages/posts – with the majority of the traffic landing on either the home page or the general “blog” page. (Because that is where I’ve targeted my backlinking efforts so far).

The result? Once a post is no longer ‘front row, center’ on the main blog page  – it gets less and less traffic over time, with many older posts getting little to no traffic at all.

This means that any call-to-action I include in any particular blog post is soon lost in the archives. From a business perspective – this translates into a great deal of  effort expended with little potential long-term return on investment.

The Big Gaping Hole in my efforts so far has been that I haven’t focused enough on building backlinks around targeted keywords or phrases to specific pages or posts containing a specific call-to-action.

The way to circumvent this is to work at getting each page or post ranking on the 1st page of Google (ideally, within the first 3 positions)  for my targeted keywords or phrases for that page.

And building quality, relevant backlinks to each individual page is the best way to do this.

In the end, the name of the game is NOT to simply “increase traffic to your web site.” What is really important is that you drive targeted traffic to SPECIFIC pages which contains a SPECIFIC call-to-action (what you want that traffic to do).

Here’s a Simple Formula To Help You Get Started :

• Create a page (or post) around your targeted keywords or phrases
• Include a call-to-action that fits your business objectives or overall monetization strategy
• Build quality backlinks to those specific pages (via article marketing or commenting on forums or other blogs) – until each page has enough “link juice” to rank high in Google (again, your goal should be positions #1 – 3)
• Rinse and repeat

Building quality backlinks isn’t brain surgery, but there are definitely a few things you should know before you get started. We’ll talk more about this in the near future.

Til Next Time,

PS In the meantime, do you have any questions or comments on this topic? If so, please feel free to leave them below. I reply to each one personally (and WebCopyResults.com is a DO FOLLOW site) – so you can build your own backlinks while you are at it!

Related posts:

1. Site Structure and Content Creation
2. 3 Easy Ways to Use Fresh Content to Drive Highly-Targeted Traffic to Your Site
3. 101 Marketing Strategies: Strategy #5 – Give Your .02¢

Disclaimer: this post is NOT about promoting my own writing service!

As you may know from reading here, I very rarely promote my own writing service via this blog. This is because the target audience for my writing service is different than the DIY niche I focus on here. My blog posts are targeted towards those who either want to tackle Content Marketing themselves – or are outsourcing on a limited budget.

(In other words – fellow entrepreneurs just like me!)

Now, the true value of a writing service can be debated ad nauseaum – with some arguing that “Content is Forever” – and investing in quality upfront is definitely worth the initial price… and those who say “Hey, I can get an ‘original’ article via Elance.com for $5 – why would I even think of paying more?”

Frankly, my thoughts on this topic are a bit pragmatic.

If you can get a  high-quality ORIGINAL piece of content for 5 bucks – something you would be HAPPY to have represent your business  either “as-is” or with minimal editing – then DO IT.

I’ll even go a step further – if you have someone who is creating great original content for you at $5 per article – take good care of them. (In fact, I would offer them $10 and hope it would buy their loyalty! )

However, in my experience, the odds of finding this aren’t in your favor. In fact, the following comment (copied and pasted here exactly as it was submitted via the ‘Comments’ feature on this site) sums up what you are likely to find in that price range:

It is not simply to do very good custom essays just about this good topic! Find the perfect writing service to have academic benefit and buy essay there!

My goal here isn’t to poke fun at anyone – which is why I removed the hyper links (which pointed to a “writing” service)  from this comment. But, it does an excellent job illustrating what is wrong with so many of the “cheap” writing services out there.

Most often – you either need to rework these articles completely (thus losing the benefit of outsourcing the work in the first place) – or throw it out on the Internet “as is” and hope for the best.

If you are publishing under a pen name, the second option might be tempting.  After all, that sub-par content is not tied directly to your name or business, right? The problem, of course, is that no legitimate publisher is going to pick up something that doesn’t make any sense and share it with her readers. And forget about having it passed along on Social Media sites.  Further, if it’s posted on one of your niche sites, legitimate visitors are going to be put off if they happen to land on that page.

The end results? Your Content Marketing efforts will fall flat.

My recommendation? Depending on your situation, you might consider one of the following options:

• Take the time to find a legitimate (and talented) writer and have the work done right the first time. (If you hire a professional writer, you shouldn’t need to spend any of your own time editing). You’ll pay more for this approach – but think of it as making a sound, long-term investment into your business.

• Buy high-quality private label rights content and rework it yourself into something unique (my personal favorite is EasyPLR.com because it is professionally edited and is offered to a limited number of buyers).

Remember, the content that surrounds your business is often the ONLY way prospective clients can evaluate you. So make sure it is saying good things about you!

Til Next Time,

PS EasyPLR.com offers private label rights articles in packs of 5 or 10 articles for around $1 each.  So, for as little as $5 – you can pick up 5 articles, rework them – and have 5 fresh new pieces of content ready to work for you in no time!

Related posts:

1. Wednesdays On Writing (WOW!)
2. Are You Creating Content… or Writing Copy?
3. The Content Creation Spectrum

Hey there!

I just noticed that the GoDaddy.com domain registration fee has gone up recently – to around $10.49/year  each. (Still cheap in terms of an actual business expense, but hey – what can I say? I am a little spoiled!)

The Good News?

GoDaddy.com is running a special thru Super Bowl Sunday where you can register .com domain names for just $6.99!

So, if you have your eye on a new domain name (or 3 – really, who are we kidding here??? ) – now is a GREAT time to TAKE ACTION!

Good Stuff!

Til Next Time,

PS Not sure what to do with that new domain name now that you’ve got it?

Then, be sure to check out Beginner to Blogger in 4 Weeks. You’ll have your new site set up and ready for business before you know it – and for around 40 bucks (for both registration AND the know-how  to get it going)! I can’t think of  a quicker, easier – or more cost-effective way – to launch a REAL business!!

Related posts:

1. Super Affiliate Handbook: A Real Life Success Story

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick note to cover a couple of things…

First, I want to apologize for being quiet here for the last two weeks. If you’ve followed WebCopyResults.com at all – you know that is NOT the norm.

Frankly, I had a bit of an epiphany two weeks ago – one of those “things that make you go…  ‘Hmmmm’ ” kind of experiences… so, I stepped back for a bit to figure out how best to integrate that light bulb moment into my overall business – and how best to share it with you here.

At first, I felt kind of silly – like maybe this insight was crystal clear to everyone BUT me. However, other members of the Elite Master Mind forum I belong to were kind enough to let me know it was a learning experience for them, too – which encouraged me to share it with you here.

Anyway – I am going to post more on this topic over the next couple of days – but wanted to let you know that I haven’t abandoned the blog. I just needed a moment to step back and figure out how best to move forward.

Til Next Time,

PS As you probably know, being an entrepreneur can be a bit isolating. I’ve found it really helps to have others in the same situation to bounce ideas off of and brainstorm with – therefore, I belong to an amazing Mastermind group and am consistently amazed at how much I learn each and every time I log in – and at what a difference applying that knowledge has made to my business!

No related posts.

Creating a press release that works is something anyone can do.

Although it might seem intimidating at first, creating a press release to promote your business online (or off) is actually a lot more methodical than you might think. In fact, with a little know-how and some practice, I am confident you’ll soon be writing press releases that grab the media’s attention and generate lots of publicity for your business.

(As with everything else related to Content Marketing – the key to writing press releases that make the cut is to provide valuable information/material that solves your readers’ problems).

If writing press releases is of particular interest to you, I have added additional articles on this topic over in the Content Marketing Toolbox. In addition, I strongly recommend you sign up for a FREE, no-obligation account with leading online press release distributor PRWeb. (Your free account will give you access to a wealth of online and interactive training materials to help you start garnering free publicity for your business right away).

Here are 7 Proven Tips for Creating a Press Release That Works:

1. Focus on newsworthy material (i.e. a grand opening, new store location, your company’s involvement in a charitable orcommunity event, etc…). Press releases are not the time to be self-promotional.
2. Begin with a brief overview of the subject matter, THEN reveal who is announcing it. Avoid reversing this order.
3. Make your opening sentence as effective and compelling as possible. As with everything else you write, you only have a few seconds to grab your readers’ attention. Also, for online press releases, be sure to include your targeted keywords, as well. (According to a recent webinar by PRWeb.com, over 90% of all online press releases are NOT optimized for search engines. Talk about missed opportunity!)
4. Keep your writing succinct and focused. Avoid flowery language and superlatives! There is no room for hype in a press release.
5. Make sure what you are writing is 100% true. (I know, that one should be a no-brainer).
6. Provide detailed contact information, including contact name, title, address, phone, fax, email, web address.
7. As always, write with your intended audience in mind. In the case of a press release, you need to consider both the journalist or news publisher and their intended audience.

Like I said earlier, creating a press release that gets results for your business is a methodical process. I hope these tips help you get started – please leave a comment below and let me know how I did!

Til Next Time,

PS Have you signed up for your free PRWeb account yet?

Related posts:

1. 101 Marketing Strategies: Strategy #3
2. Are You Creating Content… or Writing Copy?
3. Article Marketing: 3 Tips to Save Time

Welcome back to Tuesday Tips: 101 Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Business

Strategy #5 – Avoid the “Then A Miracle Occurs” Mindset

More Content!! It seems everywhere you look online, someone is telling you to “create more content!”

They’re right, of course.

Creating great content is perhaps the single most important element of any online marketing strategy.

But, did you happen to catch the word  “strategy” in that sentence? That’s a biggie because creating content without a plan is a GREAT way to waste a lot of time and energy.

And, no – simply saying you want to “drive more traffic” with your content is NOT a solid game plan. You need to understand and have a vision of what, exactly, you want that traffic to ACTUALLY DO once they land on your site.

Otherwise – your Content Marketing Game plan will look a lot like this:

The reality of the matter is this: creating content for content’s sake is not enough and driving traffic for the sake of driving traffic isn’t enough.

It is what that traffic does once on your site that matters.

Without a clear vision of what you are trying to achieve (i.e., build your opt-in email list, make $500 a month in affiliate sales or make your phone ring more often) – you are basically hoping for a miracle to occur. With an estimated 100 million websites in the world – you’ll need to be a little more strategic in your thinking if you want to get the most out of your Content Marketing efforts.

So, what should you do??

For starters, determine in advance the main purpose of every single piece of online content or copy you create – and how your words can help achieve that goal.

Here are a few questions to help get you started:

1. What is the overall purpose of your website/online business? In other words, what is its MAIN GOAL? Why does it even exist???
2. Does every piece of content you create (related to that site) support that primary goal? If not – why are you writing it? (You may have a valid reason, but you should be clear on what it is before you invest the time).
3. What is your keyword strategy? You have to have one. You really do. (For more on this topic, check out these articles).
4. What ACTION do you want your readers to take? (i.e. sign up for your newsletter, buy your ebook, call for a consultation, etc…) – and does your content/copy move them toward that specific action?

Remember, Content Marketing is a cumulative effort – and your efforts can amount to something amazing over time if you do it right. Therefore, it helps to view every piece of content you create as one more building block toward achieving your long-term goals.

While adding new content to your site (or off-site) is a great first step – you will get a much greater return on your investment if you approach it a little more strategically from the outset.

Til Next Time,

PS Still not sure where to begin? If so, I can create a customized and comprehensive Content Marketing Strategy for your business. Contact me for details.

No related posts.

For this installment of 101 Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Business, lets talk about how to the get the greatest long-term return on both your time and marketing dollars.

Marketing Strategy #4: Set It and Forget It

This is a concept I picked up from Lynn Terry’s Elite MasterMind Group. The idea behind it is to identify activities you only need to perform once in order for them to work for you indefinitely.

Let’s face it, you probably deal with either time or budget constraints when it comes to marketing your business. Therefore, it is really important to focus your energy and resources on those activities that are going to yield the greatest long-term results.

One reason I love Content Marketing is that it represents the ONLY form of marketing/advertising I can think of that will continue to drive potential new customers to you indefinitely. In most cases, the longer your copy is live on the Internet, the better it will perform in the search engines.

Think about that for a second.

If you buy an ad in the local newspaper, the yellow pages or on the radio – you have a limited window of opportunity for that particular marketing message to drive new customers to your business. Once that window closes, the dollars you invested to get it out there are truly “spent.” If you happen to miss the mark with that particular ad or campaign… well, then – what can you do?

However, with Content Marketing, once you invest the time or dollars to have your content or copy created – it will continue to function as a “sales agent” for your business forever. The more content or copy you put out there – the bigger your sales force will be. What’s more, you can always go back and “retrain” those sales agents by better optimizing them for specific keywords, building more backlinks to them, or retooling them all together into another unique piece of content.

Now, back to Marketing Strategy #4: Set It and Forget It

Some forms of Content Marketing are better suited for the Set It and Forget It concept than others. For example, autoresponder series, ebooks and short reports work really well because once in place, each of these items can be used to drive traffic, build your mailing list and generate revenue for your business years after they are completed.

One small caveat with these items is that they do require more effort on the front end to create.  However, this one-time trade off is definitely worth it in the end!

Til Next Time,

PS Need help developing and executing an effective Content Marketing strategy for your business? I am available on a limited basis for one-on-one consultations to come up with your 2010 game plan. Contact me for details!

Related posts:

1. 101 Marketing Strategies: Strategy #2
2. 101 Marketing Strategies: Strategy #5 – Give Your .02¢
3. 101 Marketing Strategies: Strategy #3

In today’s installment of  Wednesdays on Writing, let’s talk about 8 words that can immediately improve your website headlines.

Whether you are creating content or writing copy – your ability to write compelling website headlines will determine the overall success of your Content Marketing efforts.

This is because you only have a few seconds to grab your reader’ attention and pull them into the body of your content or copy. If you fail to do so during that time frame – it is likely you never will.

Okay – so, no pressure!

Here are 8 Attention-Grabbing Words That Can Immediately Improve Your Website Headlines:*

1. Proven – example:  8 Proven Techniques to Drive More Traffic to Your Website
2. Easy – example: 3 Easy Ways to Lose 10 Pounds this Month
3. Introducing – example: Introducing a Breakthrough Method to Get Out of Debt in 2010
4. Discover – example: Discover 4 Little Known Ways to Sell Your House Faster
5. How To – example: How to Write Great Web Copy Fast!
6. Announcing – example: Announcing a Limited-Time Offer to Get 3 Months of Cable Service for the Price of 1
7. Free – example: Act Now to Get Your FREE Website Marketing Action Plan (just kidding! )
8. Quick – example: 5 Quick Ways to Create $5,000 a Month in Residual Income

*Word Source: The Copywriter’s Handbook, Third Edition: A Step-By-Step Guide To Writing Copy That Sells. (Headline samples are mine).

As you can see, these examples are applicable to both content and copy – but the strategies are straight from the world of direct response copywriting where the goal is to get your prospect to do something – whether it is simply to read your entire article or open his wallet and buy something. This is a great point to keep in mind whenever you sit down to write anything for Content Marketing purposes.

One final point: Notice the word “secret” is not on this list? Although there are those who argue that this is a good headline word – I disagree.

There are very few true “secrets” in this context – there are simply things your readers know and things they don’t. If you are publishing something on the Internet for the entire world to see – how much of a “secret” can it really be??

I don’t know about you, but when I see a headline promising to reveal some special secret to me – my guard immediately goes up and I tend to stop reading.

Remember, the goal of creating online content is to help build trust and credibility with your audience – so be sure to evaluate your headlines with that objective in mind, too.

Til Next Time,

PS For more practical advice on direct response copywriting, check out The Copywriter’s Handbook, Third Edition: A Step-By-Step Guide To Writing Copy That Sells

Related posts:

1. Writing Great Website Headlines: First Things First
2. Do Your Headlines Make Headlines?
3. 3 Tried-and-True Headline Styles That Still Work