7 Tips for Generating Effective Web Content
by John Alexander

The reason why people come to our SEO Mastery Workshops, is to gain visibility and build genuine SEO skills in the shortest time possible as opposed to studying out of a courses or out of a book. People want the skills in as quick of time as possible and so that's what we've managed to deliver with our one on one, hands-on training.

But one of the things people always want to know about is how to build useful content that their buying audience is really searching for. How do you know what type of content is really going to attract the right searchers? In this article I wanted to cover a few quick tips to keep in mind when building high performance strategies.

1. Write customer focused content that appeals to your audience.
Remember that your Web site should be focused on your audience first and appeal specifically to a niche interest. When writing your Web copy, you need to dialogue in an appropriate tone and format for the right audience. Some of the most interesting content will have more appeal if it speaks to your audience in terms like: you can, you might, you will, yours, your and you’re INSTEAD of we, ours, we’re, we will, we can, etc. This is extremely important when working on sales related copy.

Bad Example:
Please read our mission statement. Our team as prepared 8 benefits which all our customers enjoy. We are proud to have served over 15,000 companies and stand behind our iron clad guarantee. We have the key to financial freedom and our customers are important to us.

Try reading the copy above.... OUT LOUD. Then try reading the copy below OUT LOUD. You can see the impact of simple changes to how your copy reads with a focus on the reader instead of a focus on yourself.

Better Example
You can possess the key to your own financial freedom and enjoy all 8 benefits, which are built into a solid future guarantee. You’ll enjoy quick response and have all your questions answered promptly. Your concerns are most important to us.

One exceptionally skilled writer of Web copy is Michael Campbell who recently stated the following in his weekly newsletter:

Quote from Michael Campbell's Internet Marketing Secrets
"There are no such things as B to B (business to business), or B to C (business to consumer), there are only P to P (person to person) transactions."

"Even if you think it's one faceless corporation dealing with another, it's really one person, the decision maker with purchasing power, having a personal relationship with another person who is a supplier capable of expediting the goods. In other words, two people that like dealing with each other."

Michael's weekly publication is loaded with tips and expert advice on creating effective Web content.
He never fails to put logic into simple words and Michael is one of the only people I know who actually has a feel for what a sales letter's success ratio will be, as he writes it.

If you are not currently reading Michael Campbell's, you can read the full editions here at Internet Marketing Secrets. Also, here is an example of a well-crafted sales letter for you to study: http://www.tnt-guide.com

2. If performing SEO: Focus on writing for the human reader first and search engines second.
While search engine optimization is important to your visibility, try writing your content first.
Most people don’t write their best content when trying to optimize AND create content at the same time.
Yet we continually see people trying to do this. We teach our students in class, to spend time wisely creating useful content that will be a genuine benefit to your visitors. Then, once you have written something of genuine value that stands on it’s own merit, you can go back over the article as a second step and apply some mild optimization. This is much easier than trying to optimize while creating your content at the same time. Following this simple rule of taking it in 2 phases will help you enormously.

3. Find out what your target audience’s are really searching for.
One of the most powerful skills you can build is based on behavioral research. In other words you want to study the marketplace first to see what your ideal target buying audience is interested in, before creating content. Have you tried using Wordtracker in this fashion?

In this fashion yet? Most people focus on researching keywords rather than researching behaviors. There is a wealth of information laying about Wordtracker’s member data and it don’t take very long to tap into it with a little practice. The idea is to offer up Information based on what your audience really wants, instead of what you "think" they want. Why guess at it when you can know.

Visit www.wordtracker-magic.com for an e-book or else listen to a series of free audio tips which explains step by step how it’s done!

4. Tips for triggering idea generation
If you get tired or feel like you are running out of ideas searching in Wordtracker for your audience’s interest then you must not be thinking laterally enough. I never get tired of exploring Wordtracker. I don’t just think about “keywords” but think laterally about behavior.

Remember the idea is not just to create content based on your own objectives (to sell a product or a service) but to write content based on your audience’s interests. There are plenty of ways to attract that perfect audience to a page if you can get your mind set free from focusing on only your own objectives.

What is your audience looking for? People are using the Internet everyday for the purpose of research. They’re looking for articles, interviews, product reviews instructional tutorials, statistical data, internet based tools, software reviews, movie reviews, stock quote information, medical articles, photos and graphics not to mention online price comparisons and shopping interests for retail and wholesale type services.

If you get tired exploring some of these niches (still only scratching the surface) Why not try creating your own original content pages and write from a perspective which allows you to be creative based on your own experiences.

For example:
A) If you have a favorite hobby, which you are knowledgeable about, you can be sure there are others will be interested in the same hobby.

B) Why not buy a product and write your own reviews of that product?

C) Could you create a travel related site by writing about your own travels?

D) Do you go to movies? Could you write movie reviews?

E) Could you take your information related sites and join a program like www.cj.com which would enable you to build affiliate links into your quality information sites?

Think about the world of behaviors and interests that occur everyday. Remember that you can use Wordtracker Magic research techniques to explore a whole world of behaviors.

-Explore peoples hobbies by name
-Explore emotionally related topics
-Explore people's "health" related interests
-Explore people's security related interests
-Explore people's "common challenges" as opposed to thinking only of keywords
-Explore people's "opinions"
-Explore people's "political views"
-Explore people's "religious beliefs"
-Explore things historical interests
-Explore people's interest in specific statistics
-Explore people's favorite "tools"

This is still only scratching the surface but it should be enough to set your creativity in motion. Wordtracker used properly is a tool that opens a window on the "world of activities" that are happening right in the now.

5. Creating content that speaks to a specific audience
Write your dialogue for your specific audience. In other words, how your content reads to a grandmother (if that’s your target audience) may be quite different than how your content reads on a page written to be of interest to firefighters, for example. It’s important to relate to your specific readers in a way so they can relate to you. You might want to talk about a common challenge that your entire audience will be able to relate to and feel for, before you start introducing your solution. It's very important to create content that speaks to a specific audience.

6. Remember to include strong calls to action
What do you want the reader to do once they finish reading your content. You need to clearly build these options into each page and leave nothing to guess work. Describe what action you would like them to take and never assume that they will just know, because they won’t act unless you spell it out.

Example:
Why don’t you fill in the form below right now to get a free quote from us instantly delivered by e-mail. Once you fill in your name and press submit – your quote will arrive in 90 seconds. It’s FREE!

7. Search engine optimization the stress free approach
If you need to get your search engine placement skills up to speed quickly, there is no faster way than to attend a live SEO hands-on Workshop where you will get direct, personalized, step-by-step instruction from SEO industry leaders Robin Nobles and John Alexander. You can attend a live workshop and take your search engine placement skills to whole new level in just a matter of a few hours of direct hands-on study.

These personalized workshops show you a step-by-step process for building truly relevant content in a stress free manner. Grab your laptop and come join Robin Nobles and John Alexander in person, for a live, hands-on workshop for 2-Days, 3-Days or 5-Days PLUS you get a free 6-month mentoring program. You'll come away with genuine SEO skills that will gain you top rankings that can stand the test of time.

Remember that our workshops are NOT conferences or seminars. They are hands-on workshops where you learn "by actually doing". We don't teach you tricks or cheats, but we will teach you solid skills that won't leave you reliant on others. Details: http://www.searchengineworkshops.com

About John Alexander
John Alexander is Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with partner Robin Nobles as well as online search engine marketing courses through Online Web Training. John is author of an e-book called Wordtracker Magic and co-author of the Totally Non-Technical Guide for A Successful Web Site. John is also an official member of the customer support team at Wordtracker.com.


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