Remembering the Good Old Days of Article Marketing

Circa
1990, the first article directories began to pop up online with the
invention of ezines (email magazines).  Many publishers of these
soon-to-be-popular email newsletters quickly got tired of writing all
the content themselves.  Others decided to offer compilations of recent
articles published by others about a particular topic. 

The
article directories provided a wonderful new outlet for gathering
quality content in exchange for a simple bio at the end with a link
back to the author’s site.  Articles were written to provide quality
information to readers in the hope that they would favor the author
with a click.

A few of the many benefits of article marketing were (and still are):

• Increasing traffic to your website
• Positioning before a highly targeted audience
• Branding yourself as an expert
• SEO
• Online networking and exposure before new groups of people
• Free advertising
  
• Infinite archiving of your material
• Almost instant propagation throughout the Internet

With
changes in link popularity, it soon became common knowledge that using
keyword-rich anchor text carried more weight with engines than simple
http: links.  As is typical with so many Internet-based marketing
methods, the article marketing landscape began to be overtaken by
spammers.

A Twisted Sense of Article Marketing

A
push for quantity quickly took over the article marketing arena and
left quality articles in their wake.  The invention of article writing
software that illegally harvests snippets of text from existing online
content and the invention of article blaster software gave speed to
those looking to distribute what are now referred to as “junk
articles.” 

While
this may have caused a decrease in the quality of links coming from
article directories, the other marketing benefits remain to this day. 
Quality articles that get picked up from directories and republished on
website pages, in ezines and on blogs still enjoy the benefits article
marketing has always offered.  

Enter Guest Blogging

The
advent of blogging and other social media outlets gave new
opportunities for professionals to share their expertise with others.
 Companies as well as individuals found many advantages to publishing
blogs including:

• Increasing traffic to your website
• Positioning before a highly targeted audience
• Branding yourself as an expert
• SEO
• Online networking and exposure before new groups of people
• Free advertising
  
• Infinite archiving of your material
• Almost instant propagation throughout the Internet

(Hmm… sounds familiar.  Where have I heard this before?)

When
we look back at blogging after two or three more years, will it have
followed a path similar to article distribution?  Will the evil, greedy
powers that be attempt to stamp out the benefits of guest blogging in
the near future?  It’s very possible.  We’re seeing it to some extent
already.  Trackbacks and ping backs are being manipulated by spammers
as we speak. 

Search Engine Optimization Issues

The
same dark SEO clouds that hang over article marketing can be seen
drifting towards blogs.  Concerns about duplicate content can be voiced
with regard to blog replication as well as articles. Entire blogs are
duplicated on scraper sites every single day within seconds of the
original posts being made public. 

Should you be concerned?  I’m not.  

Truth
is, article marketing is not devoid of search engine benefits as some
claim.  While the link quality of article directories themselves may
have been degraded over time, they only account for one source of
links.  That’s because the article directories were just a jumping off
point.  They should never have been viewed as the final destination of
articles.  The goal has always been to have your article picked up from
directories and reprinted on authority sites or blogs.  That’s where
your linking benefits come in.  

Even
if I get no SEO benefits from article marketing or guest blogging, I’d
still do both on a regular basis.  It’s not an either/or choice for me:
it’s good marketing.  Since long before the Internet was ever thought
of, professionals would strive to gain exposure by having their
articles published in print magazines.  This type of marketing has
proven to be successful for decades, online and off, and it’s still a
valid marketing method today. 

Home Page > > > Broad Keywords

When you start out, use keywords and phrases that are descriptive
of your overall site. For example, if you sold clothing for the
entire family, you might opt for phrases such as “ladies clothing,”
“men’s clothing” or “kids clothing.” Those would
be expressive, but could also be worked easily into the home page
copy.

Think of the sales process as a funnel. It’s broad at the lip and
gets more narrow as you move closer to the spout. The same goes
for the keyword strategy: broad keyphrases at first and more specific
ones as the subject matter gets more specific.

Category Page > > > Specific Keywords

Once you move to the category pages, you’ll want to select keyphrases
that work well with what you’re trying to describe in your copy.
If your visitor clicks on the women’s shoes category, she’ll want
to read about and see pictures of women’s shoes. Perhaps you’ll
use phrases such as “fabric ballet flats” or “leather
peep-toe pumps.”

I typically create a paragraph at the top of the page, then add
a descriptive sentence or two under each image. Sometimes, I’ll
also add a paragraph of copy at the bottom of the page. This helps
guide your visitors through the sales process.

Product Descriptions > > > Long-Tail
Keywords

The product description pages should incorporate long tail keywords
that are laser specific. If your visitor clicked on a link for “Bermuda
shorts” on the category page, you’ll want to get as detailed
as possible, so your customer can make the decision to buy.

For instance, a keyphrase such as “Liz Claiborne pastel plaid
Bermuda shorts” would be perfect for a product description
because it is… well… descriptive. Long? Yes, it is a
long phrase. Most long-tail keywords will be. But the further into
the sales process a customer gets, the more specific their searches
will be. Chances are, someone who has decided she wants pastel plaid
shorts will use a phrase like the one above instead of something
like “Bermuda shorts.”

Here’s a plus: Because long-tail phrases are much less competitive
than broader terms, you stand a better shot at getting ranked highly
for them.

A Word on Linking

Here’s where some copywriters get confused. When you use links
in anchor text, you’re giving credit to the page being linked to.
For instance, if you have a category page for shorts, you would
want to use the keyphrase “Bermuda shorts” in the anchor
text of a link that pointed to the Bermuda shorts page. That way,
the Bermuda shorts page gets credit for the link. The link would
be of no (or very little) value to the general shorts page.

When you take note of the navigation and purchase cycle of your
visitors, you begin to see why this simple strategy for keyword
placement works so well. Using more specific terms as you write
more specific copy helps usher visitors from the front door to the
checkout counter with ease while also boosting your search engine
rankings.

Consistency
is a vital attribute to successful PPC campaigns. Including the
same keyphrases you target in the PPC copywriting throughout the
rest of the steps in the conversion process can make or break your
end results. This really shouldn’t be surprising, however. After
all, it’s not a new development.

For decades,
offline marketers have known that consistency was the key to profitable
multimedia campaigns. For instance, if you developed a promotion
for mouthwash that included direct mail, magazine, television and
newspaper, then you’d want the message to be consistent from medium
to medium. Offline marketers proved long ago that a single, repetitive
voice where one medium interacts with and/or reinforces another
brought about the best results. Let’s look at an example.

For our fictitious
mouthwash (we’ll call it Fresh Breath), a campaign might start with
television ads that show smiling people going through their morning
routines including swishing Fresh Breath after brushing. A slogan
or tag line could be used to help people associate a core message
with the product. The voiceover might also say something like, “Look
for money-saving coupons in this Sunday’s newspaper.” Great!
We’ve got their attention and offered something (coupon) that can
pique interest.

Next, we move
on to print. The newspaper coupon insert will feature a full-color
layout with the same smiling face, the tag line and $1.00 off the
customer’s next purchase. But, what about people who don’t get the
newspaper? We’ll cover them in magazine ads that feature a duplicate
message. You might also consider sending out samples and coupons
via direct mail, too.

Do you see what’s
happening? Consistency is foremost in the campaign. Everywhere the
customer looks, s/he sees the same core message about Fresh Breath
and relates her or his opinions with this message. The same should
be true with your PPC campaigns.

PPC
Copywriting Starts the Process

All a PPC ad
consists of is copy. VERY short copy. That means using successful
methods to develop your PPC copywriting is a vital first step. Blow
this part and the rest won’t even get a snowball’s chance to prosper
because the visitor will never make it past Yahoo! or Google’s search
results page.

Think about
your core message. Develop headlines that attract visitors and pique
curiosity, so they’ll want to click for more information. Don’t
try to close the sale with your PPC ads. That’s not their purpose.
The sole purpose of PPC ads is to drive visitors to your site where
they can collect enough information to take action, whether that
means buying, subscribing, joining or whatnot.

When you write
PPC ads, include the keyphrase in the headline, if possible. If
not, then you’ll want to incorporate the keyphrase into the body
copy. Remember the tag line or slogan used in offline marketing?
The keyphrase you choose for this ad will act as your tag line and
will follow your copywriting efforts throughout the entire conversion
process.

Consistency
During Every Step

When developing
your landing page (the page visitors will land on after they click
the link in your PPC ad), use a headline that matches or is extremely
similar to the copy in your PPC ad. Experiments have proven time
and time again that the closer in content the two headlines are,
the longer visitors will stay on your landing page.

But, don’t stop
there. If your sales channel is a multi-step process, then you’ll
want to continue use of the keyphrase all the way to the end. Let’s
look at an example using a Magnavox HDTV.

The PPC copywriting
might include the keyphrase “Magnavox HDTV.” The headline
could read:

Save $$ on
Magnavox HDTV

The two lines
of copy might read:

All 26″-42″
HDTV models now on sale-

30% off. Free shipping over $200.

Anyone who types
the keyphrase “Magnavox HDTV” into a search field will
quickly be drawn to this ad because it includes the very item they
were looking for… Magnavox HDTVs. In addition, the copy piques
interest. All 26″-42″ models are on sale for 30% off.
And, I get free shipping. Great! I’d be clicking over in a heartbeat
to see what was available.

But, what happens
if I, the customer, land on your home page where I find dozens of
DVD players and iPods and stereos? Huh? Where are the Magnavox HDTVs
I was just reading about? I’d be lost. I’d likely click back to
the search-results page and select another ad.

When I land
on a page after clicking a PPC ad that specifically mentioned the
very item I wanted, I expect to see a selection of Magnavox 26″-42″
HDTVs. What’s more, I’ll need to actually read the phrase “Magnavox
HDTV” to ensure me that I’m in the right place. Consistency.

And, when I
click the 36″ model I think I want? What then? I’ll expect
to see “Magnavox 36″ HDTV” on the product description
page, so I can continue to know I’m in the right place. Consistency.

When I add the
item to my cart? Right… same keyphrase. And, when I check
out? Yep! And, when you email me my order confirmation? You got
it! Consistency, consistency, consistency.

Don’t stop with
your PPC copywriting. It’s simply not enough. That’s a tragic mistake
most online marketers make. You have to convey a uniform message
all the way from beginning to end to get the highest conversion
rates possible from your PPC campaign. When you do, your sales will
flow in with more… consistency!

Creating An Attractive, User-Friendly Design


A recent study by MarketingExperiments.com found that using eight
particular elements in your site design can improve conversions
by more than 70%. You would want a design that instills trust
and confidence while reducing anxiety.

Organizing An Effective Navigation Structure

Obviously, you want it to be as easy as possible for visitors
to find what they’re looking for. If they aren’t able to navigate
the site quickly, they’ll get frustrated and leave.

Writing Persuasive Copy That Informs and Sells

Just having words on your pages isn’t enough to connect with your
visitors. You want specific copywriting about each product or
service that entices, explains, convinces and converts.

Amazingly, these
same three steps are fundamental to developing a solid search engine
optimization strategy. So what’s the problem? If you complete the
steps with SEO tunnel vision – without giving any thought to your
visitors along the way — you may be doomed to repeat everything
you’ve already finished. Here’s why:

Creating An Attractive, User-Friendly Design

Many times, sites designed strictly to rank highly in the engines
neglect the design process. You can have a site that’s at the
top of the search engine results pages (SERPs) and gets a ton
of traffic, but causes visitors to immediately click away due
to lack of trust. If this is the case, you’ll need to change some
or all of your design elements, which could possibly have a bearing
on your rankings.

Organizing An Effective Navigation Structure

I’ve read about companies who develop navigational structures
specifically for the engines. They tell their clients to avoid
cross-linking between certain pages or areas of the site so as
not to “confuse” the search engines. Whether it confuses
the search engines or not, if you want to make more sales, cross-linking
and up-selling are excellent strategies that make it easier for
your visitors to find — and buy — what they need. If you’re
ranking highly but not making sales, it may mean you need to radically
improve your navigation, which could change your rankings.

Writing Persuasive Copy That Informs and Sells

Keyword-stuffed, third-grade-level copy that is repetitive and
boring won’t make sales. If you’ve slapped up any old copy thinking
you would improve it later, you’re probably in for a rude awakening.
Copywriting is a pivotal element in search engine optimization.
Unless you’re having great success with a massive linking campaign,
copywriting will play a major part in your rankings. Changing
copy can (and almost always will) cause either a negative or positive
change in positioning. Oftentimes, pages fall, then return with
higher placement — but not always. If your copy is preventing
your site from converting, it needs to be changed immediately
even if that means a temporary drop in positioning.

The search engines
do not make your site successful. The search engines don’t buy anything
from you. All they do is send traffic your way. Although there is
no discounting the value of free traffic from the engines, you can
get traffic from countless other online and offline sources. Your
site is what makes you money and it needs to be developed for your
visitors. But by focusing strictly on SEO, it is highly likely you’ll
be forced to change most of what you’ve built in order to improve
conversions later on. That means spending more time and money on
something that could have been turning a profit by now.

After

See the difference? The latter paints a more vivid picture of the tank top than the former. It also gives more detail. It’s not a nylon blend, it’s 100% nylon. They aren’t just any colors, they are spring-fresh colors.

Create a Sensory Experience

Site visitors are looking for an experience as close as possible to standing in the brick and mortar store. That means you have to create copy that plays on all five senses to bring the products to life.

See if this example makes you hungry:

Do you notice the detail? With the exception of hearing, all five senses were addressed here. Smell the aroma. See the largest cinnamon roll you’ve ever seen. Taste the gooey treat. And the description of warmth brings in the sense of touch.

Rather go on vacation than eat sweets? How about this?

Now, isn’t that better than:

The next time you begin to write copy, think about every aspect of the product. How can you entice the visitor? How can you help him or her touch, smell, see, taste or hear what you have to offer? The more real you make the experience, the better your conversions will be!

 

The
Rewrite

Building excitement
about Moissanite jewelry was a primary goal during the rewrite.
These stones needed to be positioned above other manmade gems such
as cubic zirconia. Their special qualities had to be brought to
light while also evoking emotions that are associated with buying
something rare, exclusive and truly exceptional.

I chose words
and phrases including “spoiled for anything else,” “alluring”
and “wonder.”

However, affordability
also needed to be conveyed — but without discounting the perceived
and actual value of the stone. To accomplish this, I included mentions
of how affordable Moissanite stones are along with verbiage describing
the clarity, quality and excellence of these jewels.

You can view
the revised copy (PDF) here.

In addition,
Julie’s Jewels faces some stiff competition from national retailers
and other sites that carry Moissanite. There was really only one
main phrase the page needed to be optimized for. The challenge with
that, however, was using the term enough to make an impact with
the engines, but not so much as to sound odd because of too much
repetition.

The
Headline

A huge change
took place with the headline. The original headline was created
with no appeal to the site visitor. Likely used strictly for navigation
and search engine optimization (SEO) purposes, it merely listed
the name of the page. The use of the simple term “Moissanite
Jewelry” was replaced with a headline that clearly stated the
primary benefit of this product:

“Moissanite
Jewelry Offers Affordable Luxury”

The
Opening Paragraph

The original
copy used an opening paragraph that skipped from one topic to another.
Beginning with information about Moissanite being created from minerals
in a lab then jumping to the fact that this type of jewelry was
available at wholesale prices, it needed some help in capturing
and retaining the attention of the visitor.

In an effort
to create a visual image for the site visitor, the new copy begins
with:

“Once
you experience the wonder of Moissanite jewelry, you’ll be spoiled
for anything else. This alluring stone has the brilliance and
sparkle of a diamond, yet it is affordable on practically any
budget. Moissanite is the hardest and most dazzling stone, second
only to a diamond.”

Because this
is a category page on Julie’s ecommerce site, photographs of Moissanite
jewels in different settings are shown along with links to the associated
pages. The original copy stopped there. With the new copy, I added
brief descriptions underneath each image. This accomplished two
things.

1) It allowed
me to entice the visitor to click through to the page using both
words and visuals.

2) It gave us additional opportunities to use Julie’s keyphrase
without sounding overpowering.

The
Results

What was the
outcome of this makeover? I’ll let Julie tell you herself.

“I was
on the 2nd and 3rd page of SERPs for this category. Now, I’m on
page #1! The Moissanite page is now the 3rd highest entry page for
the site. This page is the parent category for six sub-categories.
Those sub-categories have seen nice jumps in traffic as opposed
to a year ago (prior to copy rewrite). This not only helps the main
category but sub-categories as well. I’m also getting double the
contacts about Moissanite as a result of increased visitors on the
Moissanite jewelry page.”

Before you start
listing facts and figures in your copy, take a little time to research
how consumers buy that particular product. Because people don’t
react the same ways to every product or service, jumping to conclusions
about how they buy can be a dangerous practice that’s best avoided.