The Difference Between Web Page Copy And Articles
Powerful Articles For Your Website
I am often asked by clients to write SEO articles for their websites – something I enjoy immensely. Original articles are a great way to add quality content to your websites – when they are relevant, with correct keyword placement – search engines love them.
Once you have posted them to your site, you can then submit them, or variations of them to directories and networks. You can repurpose them into various Web 2.0 incarnations like Squidoo lenses or Hubs on HubPages.
On niche or affiliate blogs, they can make up the bulk of your content as posts.
Website Pages Are Different
Articles, however, should not be confused with authority website pages e.g. your static landing page (Home), Product or Services Pages, About, Privacy Policy etc.
To write the copy for these pages takes considerably more time and research in order to get the content just right. The style of writing is different, more informative and authoritative. It is usually designed to instill confidence in the visitor – to detail your bona fides, and professionalism.
Articles That Support Website Copy
Many of my internet marketing clients, once I’ve created their SEO website copy, will then request a package of SEO articles to support each page. Often they will have a “/articles” or “/blog” section on their website, sometimes visible to readers, sometimes not – but always visible to the search engines.
They will then add these articles to directories like ezinearticles.com or goarticles.com, or to article networks – all linking back to different pages on their websites.
Understanding The Difference Helps
When briefing an outsourcer who is experienced in SEO, it is vital that you both understand the purpose of the content you are wanting. If you have an authority site where you want copy that relates specifically to your business, products or services, to be used as informative website pages – be very clear about it.
If you ask for SEO articles instead, then you are sure to be disappointed with the result.
For most affiliate marketers, quality SEO articles will likely be all that you need to attract search engine love, but when you are looking for corporate or personal branding, you need to invest in a little more.
The Shocking Truth About Internet Marketing
Why is it that I feel the need to provide an explanation when I tell people that I am a Writer and Internet Marketer. The writing bit they get, but adding the ‘internet marketing’ results in one of two optical responses:
* eyes glazing over, or
* eyes averted in embarrassment
The first reaction tells me that they have no idea what I’m talking about. The second tells me they are thinking of either (a) porn, (b) scams or (c) both.
Depending on the person and their ‘need to know’, I usually explain initially that I write content for people with websites, and that I have websites of my own. If they appear interested I will take it up a level.
Search Engine Optimization
I have an overly simplistic way of explaining SEO, and the role that my writing plays in the whole shebang. By then moving on to how I have information products of my own that teach others how to write for the internet as well – I introduce them to how this makes me an internet marketer.
There is nothing overly complicated about this, in is legit, honest, and it brings me an income from products that I create once, and sell over and over. Shockingly simple – some may say.
The Marketing Bit
The truth is though that successful internet marketing involves having a fast web formula – a proven strategy to bring your product or service to the eyes of your buying market, and persuade them to buy.
Having a nice website is perhaps the most inconsequential part of the process. You can have the most fantastic website in the world, but unless people visit it, you won’t make a cracker. You need to understand and embrace a variety of techniques and strategies to bring people to your site.
Shockingly time consuming unless you outsource some of the hack work.
Diversifying
Once you get involved in the internet marketing world, the opportunities (what I call the ‘pretty lights’) will amaze and distract you. It can be really difficult to stay focused on the things that are bringing you income. Copywriters can be very persuasive in leading you to hitting the “Buy Now” button for products and services that will make you rich before you know it.
However, when a real opportunity comes along, one that you have identified as filling a real need, seize it. I recently did this with my most recent product “DomainNameAction“. I had purchased several hundred domains over the years and developed around a quarter of them. The others were lying fallow, giving me no return on my investment.
If this was my case, I guessed, correctly, that it would be the same for other internet marketers. So I developed a service that put inexpensive SEO websites on my clients’ empty domains. Their sites are now ageing and indexed (really important when they come to develop them or sell them).
I have dabbled in a few other projects that did not pay off however – a rare and shocking confession from an internet marketer!
Are You Shocked?
So, here’s the thing. If I can be an internet marketer, so can you. It is not difficult, but there is a formula to follow if you wish to be successful, and researching your market plays a key role.
>> If you are able to be in Sydney Australia in September 2010, I recommend you learn about internet marketing techniques from one of the best in the industry.
The Changing Face of Working From Home
(This post is more information to listeners following my interview with ABC Radio on Wednesday 14 July 2010)
I remember when my mother used to work from home. She was a seamstress, and every week a clothing manufacturer would deliver her the components of dresses which she would then assemble. It was called ‘piecework’, and she was paid a pittance for the long hours she worked.
Her big industrial sewing machine would be whirring when I got up in the morning, and when I went to bed a night. There was great excitement for we kids when she was delivered pieces with sharp pleats – there was always pleated tissue paper involved, which made soft landings for somersaults and crude facsimiles of hula skirts.
My aunt took in ironing, and our neighbour created amazingly complicated hand-knits that carried high price tags in shops, but for which she received little.
It was in these ways that the women of my mother’s generation “worked from home”.
How The Internet Has Changed Things
I have been a full-time worker from home now, for almost 3 years, after a period of juggling it with another job. Deciding to free myself from the shackles of travelling time, set working hours, limited variety of work and creating profits for my bosses instead of myself, was the best decision I’ve ever made.
So what do I do? I work online – doing lots of different things. And the more I learn about the opportunities available, the more options I have. In fact there are so many ‘shiny lights’ of opportunities to distract me, its sometimes hard to stay focussed!
Writing For Others
My core business is providing written material for other internet marketers. In order to get their sites ranked well with the search engines like Google and Yahoo!, they need to have a steady stream of quality, original content added to their sites.
I provide this in the form of short articles and blog posts. There are definite techniques used in their creation, which is something that I’ve mastered over time. I also write online media releases, website page content, and the site/business owners’ bios for their sites.
Are You An Expert At ANYTHING?
Write an eBook and sell your knowledge
If you have specialised knowledge or expertise in anything – from knitting to fishing to 4 wheel driving – there are others in the world who need your knowledge. Writing an eBook – which can be anything from 20-500 pages, you can share your knowledge and profit from it as well. The beauty of the eBook is that you write it once, and it can keep selling for years without you lifting a finger. eBooks are delivered to the purchaser digitally, immediately their payment has been processed by an international payment processor like PayPal.
In 2009 I wrote an eBook, which, after the initial launch, continues to sell several copies each week. That may not seem like much, but I do absolutely nothing anymore to generate those sales – this is residual income.
Coaching
I have created a 50 page eBook, Overnight Writing Income, that shows people the opportunities that are available for writing online.
Most importantly though, I have created a three part coaching program, SEO Content Coach, which teaches both internet marketers and writers how to create SEO content in different forms.
Affiliate Marketing
One thing that people should realise is that they don’t have to have a product or service to do business online. Through affiliate marketing you can promote other peoples products and services – like mine – and receive an affiliate commission for doing this.
Affiliate marketing is an ideal way to get started in internet marketing.
>> Here is a free affiliate marketing training multi-media resource.
A Little On The Side
In my internet marketing journey, I have invested in hundreds of domains – www’s. On some I have built websites (yes, I’ve learned how to do this too!), but others were left empty.
I realised that these are wasted resources that should be monetized to reach their full potential, but finding the time to do it was a problem. So I outsourced this. In the process of so doing, I discussed this with colleagues, who were all in the same situation: lots of domains, lying fallow.
So I recently launched DomainNameAction.com – a service that will build affordable sites on my clients’ empty domains, with their affiliate banners added as well. This is a whole new business model, that no-one else is doing (yet!).
What Others Are Doing
I have colleagues who are providing accountancy services, graphic design and consultancy services to people online – all from home. Others have products or services that they are marketing online – to an audience of ‘the world’ rather than their home town.
People with disabilities who have trouble getting to a work environment because of physical or psychological hardship, are doing well with internet marketing.
Here are some free videos that provide more information about internet marketing. >>Access Free Videos<<
I learned about doing business online from my mentor, and client, James Schramko, who is holding is second and final workshop for 2010 in Sydney in September 2010. It is an ideal launchpad for anyone wanting to learn about internet marketing, and the opportunities that are available (with loads of pre-event training material supplied for the complete novices!) It is an intensive 3 day workshop. Learn more >> here <<.
Don’t Do It Alone
If you are keen to become involved in internet marketing, my advice is to find a mentor, as I did. Finding an expert in the field to get you in touch with the basics, and who can take you to the next level as and when you are ready is vital. Please feel free to contact me for suggestions.
Good luck
Kerry
Document Sharing Sites For SEO
All internet marketers want as many links to there sites as possible, and from as many different sources as possible. Here is something to try as an alternative to the usual suspects when publishing articles.
Document Sharing Sites allow you to add articles in PDF form, as slide presentations, or even Word documents. And most of them allow you to include live links within the body of the articles.
Many people who use document sharing sites have demonstrated that their articles rank faster and better than if they posted to article directories. The documents are indexed by Google especially, very quickly – sometimes within minutes – and achieve good rankings that improve over time.
One of the best things about document sharing sites is that you are not inhibited by Gestapo-like approval processes – you document is published immediately. But that is not to say there is no editorial review. In fact these sites have terms and conditions to which you must adhere – they are all different.
Another bonus is that you can include images within your document and spend some time on a nice layout, improving the look of your document.
Would you like to know more about these sites? In the next few days I will be sending out a list of these sites to everyone who has subscribed to receive my free ebook “What the **** does that mean?” – Grab your copy by filling in your details below.
Duplicate content myths quashed with ezinearticles.com WP plug
Here is some nice news from ezinearticles.com regarding the publishing of your SEO content on your site and with them – and proof they they don’t consider this ‘duplicate content’.
After testing it in Beta mode for a while, ezinearticles.com’s WordPress plugin has now gone live.
After installing this pluging you are able to publish your blog posts to EZA as articles – so those confused about whether EZA sees your site content as duplicate content can now rest easy.
There are some things to consider though.
1. Resist the temptation to post to your blog and EZA at the same time. Always post to your own site first – you don’t have to use the EZA option right away.
2. You do have to be careful of keyword density of in your blog posts for this to work – most of us know that EZA are crazy strict on limiting keywords to 2% density. In my experience keyword in heading, first and last paras and once more is adequate for SEO, and should fit with the EZA guidelines.
3. Also if you are engaging in self-promotion and mentioning affiliate products etc in your blog post, EZA will likely reject them. So only use informative, non-promotional posts for use with this plugin.
I suspect this is one way that EZA are veryifying the source of what may appear to them to be ‘duplicate content’, so in my opinion is a good way to avoid any unnecessary clarification communication with them. If it comes from your site, they will see that it is yours.
I am going back through various posts now to see which I can use to test this plugins efficiency, but for you to learn more, here is the video link: EzineArticles WordPress Plugin
Why Kyle Tully Is My Client
Over the last few years I have had the good fortune to meet and work with some of the most exciting internet marketers. Exciting? Yes, because when I met them they were just starting out on their IM journey, and today they are some of the most highly regarded internet marketers in the world. They are the people who are setting a new standards, raising the benchmark when it comes to new product innovation.
One of these is Australian, Kyle Tully, who through his Consulting Tycoon program, is teaching hundreds of smart people how to become consultants to offline businesses. Kyle has learned the value of article marketing and is one of my ongoing clients for SEO Content. It is sometimes difficult to explain to (particularly new) internet marketers why they should invest in quality content, when they can by cheapie articles elsewhere. Here is Kyle’s take on this:
SEO Articles – The Two Types You Need
I am often asked why I have two price points for my 400 word SEO articles, so I thought I’d clarify why this is so, and why it is necessary to have two different types of articles for successful internet marketing campaigns.
1. Authority SEO Articles
These are the articles that you would want to put your name (or your client’s name to). They are well researched, and provide valuable information on your topic. Keyword placement is at the level to make it acceptable by article directories like ezinearticles.com.
Now this keyword thing can be a bit tricky. Let’s assume that your keywords are, for example, “learn about internet marketing”. When writing an article on this topic, it is only natural that the words “internet marketing” will appear often, without you even trying to stuff them into your article. Regardless of intent however, some publishing sites will reject such an article because of overuse of keywords. So to avoid this, limit your keywords to the heading, first and last paragraph and once more in the body.
Substitute Words
In our example above you might find that words like “online marketing”, “IM”, “online business”, “e-business” and “e-commerce” can be substituted if you need to reduce the number of keywords used. I find it best to write the article as I think it, and then go back and replace keywords if necessary.
2. Backlink Articles
While these articles should make sense when read by a human, chances are they won’t be read at all. These are the articles that you will send to article networks and blog networks. These networks offer your articles (with links intact), to members, for use on their sites. The members need content for SEO – that is the benefit to them. But the benefit to you is that all of those sites will have links to yours – and the search engines will see this and rank your site as an ‘authority’ for your keyword.
With these articles you are able to use your keyword a little more generously, but most networks will restrict you to three links for a 400 word article. Because they are so powerful, it is good to have a second keyword in these articles, or link them to a second page within your site.
Save Money
It is important to have both types of article as part of your internet marketing plan. A cost effective option is to write or purchase a set of quality, well written “Authority” SEO articles, and then have them rewritten to create the backlink articles. Many of my clients do this.
There are many more ways to use your top quality articles – and this is a process that I am taking my SEO Content Coach students through right now.
SEO Content Coach
You know, it doesn’t matter whether you are going to create your own content, if you are going to outsource it, or if you want to create a business out of being an SEO content creator, you need to know what is involved.
Why Do Internet Marketers Need To Know This?
Many successful internet marketers do outsource their content creation – SEO articles, blog posts, Squidoo lenses, transcriptions, video, audio (the types of content that can be used on websites continues to grow). But the ones who do this successfully, do not blindly throw work at outsourcers and accept what is returned. They KNOW what is good SEO content, and what is not worth publishing in any form.
They know what makes a great SEO article, and they know how to ask for exactly what they need – content that has been assembled correctly, with keyword placement that will endear them to the search engines. They have learned the value of good, well-written, quality articles. Take one and rework it for many different applications.
The Birth of SEO Content Coach
It is this that I teach in SEO Content Coach. I find that many of the newer internet marketers for whom I provide content, are missing the ‘need to know’ stuff about SEO Content creation. They rely on me to know what they need. Now that’s fine for as long as they are my clients. But for those whom I have to waitlist or turn away (e.g. I rarely accept two clients within a competitive niche), they really need to know what they need to ask of outsourcers.
I explain what article marketing is, and how it can be one of the cheapest forms of SEO marketing – if you start off with quality material.
I show you how to:
- create an optimized article
- post it to an article directory for best results
- convert that one article into a Squidoo lens, eHow article, MP3 and more
- rewrite the article for submission to an article distribution services – really powerful stuff if it is backlinks you want, and YOU DO!
For Writers
If you are a SEO content writer, or an aspiring one, then you will find SEO Content Coach an invaluable guide to how best create worthwhile content that your clients, and the search engines, will value.
But especially for you, I have included a section on running your business -
- Where to find work
- How to bid on projects
- A copy of my Brief
- Setting up your business website…… and loads more,
- Including links to all the resources you will need.
I’ve been sharing my SEO content creation knowledge for sometime now, and am sure that both internet marketers and writers will benefit from purchasing my SEO Content Coach program.
Guest Presenter at Fast Web Formula
I was really flattered to be invited by highly-regarded internet marketer James Schramko to be a guest presenter at his FastWebFormula workshop in March 2010. This event has been sold out for some weeks and I am really looking forward to sharing some of my SEO content creation tips with those who are attending.
Creating SEO content, and using it in a variety of ways, would have to be one of the cheapest ways of getting traffic to your website. Knowing how to create a good article at the outset allows you to use it in many other ways. It is not hard but there are steps and rules to follow.
This information is the basis of a training product that I am launching at Fast Web Formula – it is SEO Content Coach, and it will be available to the general public from April 2010.
>> More information about Fast Web Formula
Do Your Articles Measure Up?
Internet marketing professionals all over the world are using article marketing strategies to provide them with both traffic and links to their websites, but many of them don’t realize the value of a well written SEO content over poorly written articles.
They have seen first-hand the benefits of article marketing and know that articles have a variety of uses, including:
* content for websites
* blog posts
* publication in ezines and newsletters
* syndication and
* mass distribution
Make Your Article Easy to Read
1. Spelling and Grammar Matter!
Ensuring that an article is free of spelling and grammatical errors is important – to the reader if not for the writer!
When you are positioning yourself as an ‘expert’ you have to wrap yourself in credibility. If your article contains spelling or grammatical errors, the reader’s eye is drawn to them, breaking their concentration.
These errors show a lack of attention to detail, which will reflect poorly on the author. Your goal is to have an article that easy to read, all the way to the end, without any obstacles.
2. Simple Language
People who are looking for information online are used to it being delivered to them quickly – they seek instant gratification.
If an article appears difficult to read, they will move on to one that is easier for them to digest. Using big, fancy words won’t do you any favors because your readers may not be as knowledgeable as you.
It is important to know your target audience and they way they speak – then pitch to that level. This article marketing strategy is vital if you want to really connect with your buyers.
3. Scary Text
Big paragraphs can be very daunting as well – they spell ‘hard work’ to people who are used to quickly extracting key points.
You should make it easy for your readers – short, sharp sentences in small paragraphs. Sub-headings and bullet points are great tools to help you to do this.
4. Accuracy Is A Good Thing!
Most importantly though, know your stuff. When writing for a specific niche, your articles should be based on facts using language to which those readers will relate. Research well and provide interesting, relevant information.
5. Articles Are NOT Sales Letters
Don’t try to ‘sell’ in an article.
If appropriate you can offer an ‘opinion’ or ‘review’ or speak in general terms about products or services, but get your readers to your website before delivering a sales pitch. Even then, many marketers choose to first gather contact details (‘squeeze’) before attempting a sale.
Know that your objective is to create enough interest for the reader to want to follow your “Call To Action” in the Resource Box or final paragraph.
By following using these article marketing strategies, your article is more likely to be published by an ezine or newsletter (with links to your site intact), dramatically expanding its reach.
Do you need my help with SEO Content?
News & Events
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August 2010I've been looking forward to FastWebFormula2 for some time, as it is going to give me a fantastic opportunity to share some my latest SEO ...
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July 2010James Schramko's internet marketing webinars. I know, because I am one of his original, and continuing students. So when he gives his students like me ...
Valued Clients
"Kerry Finch has been helping me with content and articles for a long time. I can highly recommend her services, and if you’re looking to learn how to become an article writer just like Kerry, then I recommend her information products. She has great information, she knows exactly what she’s doing, she’s researched it – she does this for a living, and she’s damn good at it. So make sure you take Kerry up on her writing and coaching offers - she’s really good, and I highly recommend her services."
"My partner and I own and operate a small gym in the centre of Sydney - a very competitive market to say the least! We had spoken to so-called SEO and Google experts for months and they told it would take months to get the first page of Google for our keywords.
Well now they have not met Kerry Finch. Using Kerry's article writing and distribution service we hit page one within 3 weeks and we had not use any other SEO strategy at all.
To top that, she is a wonderful lady and so, so, so helpful.
My advice stick to what you know or what you do best, and let others do what they do best.
I very highly recommend Kerry to anyone looking to kick butt in any market on the net.
"
"I’m thrilled to tell you that your advice has made a huge increase in my income! You know that I had already fumbled around and found some useful information on my own, and had some money dribbling in.
But with just a few nuggets of your wisdom and advice, I’ve landed two long-term writing projects just this week! (I equate everything to bills- so these two projects
will pay our mortgage payment)
My next goal is to re-read Overnight Writing Income and find more golden nuggets to put to use padding my bank account!""
"I am new to internet marketing and needed some good articles and blog posts to get me started. Kerry was incredibly helpful, and her service was exceptional. Her articles and posts were not only well written but covered different aspects of the topic incredibly well. Publishing the articles according to Kerry’s suggestions has resulted in driving extra traffic to my site, resulting in increased sales of my eBooks. I couldn’t have asked for more! If you are looking for high quality articles, great service and speedy response, then Kerry is your gal!"
