How to move your copy beyond SEO

Writing copy in order to gain search engine optimisation (SEO) benefits is one of the oldest games in our young industry. The good news is that it's developing far beyond the frustrating keyword-stuffing days of old. Good quality search professionals now write for the human - admittedly with a few additional SEO tricks in mind - knowing the search robots will follow.

But your website content could be doing even more. Marketers, speechwriters, even the people who write words for the backs of cereal packets understand the power of persuasive copy. So how can your content work harder?
 
WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM YOUR WORDS?

Before you can write persuasively, you need to work out what you're going to try and persuade the reader to do. All too often, copy is written 'for SEO', meaning very little thought is given to how it might be read and acted upon.

But there are a number of aspirations you may have for your site's content. For example, good copy that encourages debate or discussion can build habit and boost repeat visitors.

You can write to encourage people to share your articles and comments through social platforms such as Twitter. That has both SEO benefits and helps spread brand awareness, encouraging direct-to-site traffic.

Perhaps you simply want to inform readers, especially if you're an advice website or government body.

It could be that you want to capture email addresses or even simply get people to sign a petition.

WRITING TO BOOST CONVERSION

Whatever your goal, you need to write with it in mind. So, for example, you want to encourage your reader to click through and take an action after reading your landing page, blog post or online brochure.

So, it's important to make the link good and visible within the text. Make it bold, place it above the fold, and don't be afraid to add a call-to-action within your copy (be careful not to be too salesy in social copy like blog posts).

Pro tip: If you want to capture email addresses, you'll need to offer something worth having, such as a discount voucher, white paper or freebie. People aren't willing to just hand over their contact information - these days they know how valuable it can be.

WRITING TO ENCOURAGE SHARING

Clearly the best way to encourage people to share your copy with their online friends is to write good content. The more unique and useful it is, the more likely your readers are to share it. That's why funny content, infographics and competitions all tend to do quite well socially.

However, unique and useful content needs helping along. Make sure your headline is attention grabbing and also explains what the content will do, as that is usually what will be shared along with the link.

That's why '10 top tips for…' and 'How to…' articles work so well. It's easy for a reader to see why they're useful.

Pro tip: Add sharing buttons to your content so that it becomes easy to spread them through social platforms. Every relevant page on your site should offer the chance to share it on Facebook, Twitter, Digg, MySpace and so on. That way, your reader can share it with just one click.

WRITING TO ENCOURAGE DISCUSSION

This is one of my favourite things about blogging - it encourages lengthy debate and discussion in the comments at the end of each post.

Often, the comments left after a post can hugely enhance the value of the article. But some healthy debate also makes it more likely that people will repeat their visits to your website.

Building habit ensures you're at the front of readers' minds when they come to buy whatever product or service you sell. It also increases the chance that they will share your links and discuss your brands.

So, don't be afraid to discuss contentious subjects in your blog (although be careful not to alienate readers). If there's no real discussion developing, then answer any comments yourself and pose fresh questions.

Pro tip: Ask readers questions within your blog post to encourage them to leave comments and join in the debate. Where appropriate, try concluding your post with a contentious question or summarise your arguments and ask readers if they agree. Make it obvious that you expect further interaction from your visitors.

Kevin Gibbons

For more information on SEO and the services on offer, visit www.seoptimise.com

7 April 2011