Does this sound like something out of The Mazerunner? We're not talking about flesh bags with needles here. Web crawlers are responsible for determining how your website answers specific queries to help your website get found by searchers. All the activity and clicking on the web is called traffic, and there are a lot of types of traffic. When a searcher finds and click on your website from the search results page on Google, it's tracked on your metrics as organic search traffic. An SEO blog, then, is a blog that is written with the express purpose of attracting organic search traffic. Whereas other blogs are written to connect with potential clients or share a personal journey, this blog is more like a content machine that follows "the rules" of SEO. In this way, an SEO blog acts as a tenet of marketing to help your content get found by new potential clients. What ARE the Rules of SEO?I admire your gumption. You're ready to build one of these suckers! Well, awesome. Let's talk about the strategies of how to attract search. But first, a caveat: like all technology, the rules of SEO change over time. What works this year might not work next year, or whenever the next update rolls out. We are at the mercy of Google's team. That being said, here's a few easy and quick ways to start improving your SEO for 2023.
When you have a few keywords to target, write blog posts that will incorporate those keywords. By doing so, you're encouraging the Googlebots to associate your content with those keywords. When someone searches your targeted keywords, your website is more likely to appear in the results. Also, use keyword research to add SEO tags to your each post. There are different methods for doing so depending on which website builder you're using. *Beginner's tip: Keyword no longer means one word. A keyword is now a search query; 3-4 different individual words are still counted as a single "keyword."
The Future of SEO BlogsAs content generators like Jasper and ChatGPT become more accessible, SEO blogs have been a hot topic. Using AI generation to create instant, long-form blog posts seems like a sweet deal. Blogging for SEO is useful, but I worry about the quality of content provided. Here's a few things to keep in mind.
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Many coaches struggle with marketing themselves. That's because, 99% of the time, coaches genuinely love other people and want to help them find happiness. They're motivated by powerful personal experiences that shape their worldview; they want to share, not make a buck. Coaching is a business that actually needs to market personality as a tenet of their business. We come to a hard question: how do you market your own personality authentically? Copywriting is one face of marketing that can handle the nuance of marketing and maintaining your values. Here's some services that are overlooked when it comes to coaching businesses: 1. A blog.Seriously. You need one. And don't just talk about boring stuff on there (i.e. tops tips for...) I hate that! Don't get caught up in the content-making machine and lose out on the great, marketable commodity that is you. Make your blog stand out. If your personality is dropping curse words in every sentence, do that! If you want to tell personal stories, DO! A blog is a comfortable place for clients to screen you and see if you are a good match for them. PLUS! It's a great way to get your SEO and organic search up. 2. An email newsletter. Yep.So many coaches already do this that I doubt I need to say it again, but your email newsletter is a great way to nudge those potential clients toward a purchase. Visualize your perfect client every time you write. Don't forget a great call to action and a link to your content in every email. 3. A better About Me pageCoaches, your About Me page is crucial. Why? Because, again, you are literally selling your personality and your experiences to your clients. I cannot tell you how many times I've gone to a coach's About Me and found information that is outdated, grammatically incorrect, or just plain underwhelming. Consider: your About Me page is not ACTUALLY about you. It's actually the answer to that job interview question, "Tell me a little bit about yourself." Curate information that is specifically designed to help your clients trust and understand you. Make sure you look as professional as possible (include your credentials!)
Let me introduce you to Samin. Samin is a small business owner. She works over 40 hours a week providing a service; she's a diet and lifestyle coach. Her time is torn between balancing her online presence to bring in new clients, and maintaining the clients she already has with weekly contacts and coaching. Samin is a one-woman show. And while she has been extremely proud of her business, which now makes over $5,000 a month, she is quickly burning out with the stress of doing it all her own. Samin contacts me wondering if I can help her manage her web content. She wants a few blog posts to keep interacting with her audience. I think I can do better than that. Here's the scaling business copywriting plan I'd offer Samin. 1. Manage Your Clients with a Weekly Newsletter and BlogSamin is right to think of adding/upgrading a blog. SEO blogging offers a variety of benefits:
What else would I add? Well, how about a newsletter? Old clients and potential clients can be added to the email list. Weekly newsletters can work in tandem with blog posts and social media topics. They serve to touch base with clients. If crafted correctly, each newsletter can prime Samin's clients to interact with her business. It draws eyes and keeps her services at the forefront of their minds each week. 2. Create a Downloadable E-BookA blog and newsletter are great, and that'll definitely take a load off, but there's more we can do to help Samin scale up. Samin is getting stuck in the typical 1:1 ratio of the service business. There is only one of her, and she can only do what one person can do in a workweek. Samin could invest in the creation of an e-book. Why would an e-book be opportune for her? The e-book will serve as a low-ticket purchase. For clients that are just investigating her services, Samin's prices are a tough commitment. These newbies will feel more comfortable buying a self-help product at a low price point. As they read, these potentials will see the value in Samin's coaching. Later down the line, they are more likely to commit to her full coaching package. Creating the e-book requires no emotional effort from Samin, besides the one-time investment. If she houses the e-book on her website, she'll increase profits without an additional tax on her time. Like evergreen content, the e-book will hold valuable information that'll last long-term and create passive income. 3. Create a CourseSamin is ambitious, so hopefully she'll be ready for this last suggestion! When she's ready, Samin could use some time to create a course. Since Samin's service is diet and lifestyle coaching, her course could go two different ways:
Next, Samin'll need to decide the setting of the course:
Both audiences and both styles of courses will be advantageous. Samin needs to decide how she wants to grow. Why would this be advantageous to her? Just like an e-book, a course is a one-time investment. After its creation, the course can be used hundreds of times, and its value will not decrease (see more on scaling service-based businesses through group products). She'll also save herself some time. Instead of working one-on-one, paid courses will allow her to take on more clients without doing more work. She can still deliver a high-quality product. She can still help people. But her reach—and her revenue—have increased.
Samin will go from an overwhelmed business owner to a manager of a self-sustaining business. In a matter of months, she'll boost her brand, draw new eyes to her content, and start seeing more clients buy her high-ticket packages. Way to go, Samin. Way to go, small business owners. Until next time. 3 Things You Can Do to Create a Brand VoiceYou've started growing your business. You've been a part of the #smallbiz community for a while. Now your old posts are totally cringy. You want to create one, consistent voice across all of your platforms so clients will recognize you as you. Girl, I've been there. Let me share with you three easy-to-implement tips to help you create a brand voice. 1. Decide Where You Are on the Scale of 1 to FUNImagine a little line...maybe I'll insert a graphic here. Here we have a scale that starts with extremely professional and ends with FUN! How are you interacting with your customers? Businesses that rely on high qualifications in order to perform a service (think surgery or law) should probably use a formal voice in their branding, because people need to trust that they are "serious" about their service or product. The professionalism encourages the client to trust the company as an authority. Other businesses might decide to go more casual, with the goal of sounding young, trendy, or friendly with the customer. Think less about what you prefer, and more about what would make the most sense from your customer's perspective. You can decide what level of professionalism you're comfortable with. Stick with it. It can be tempting to try to go overboard with trends or silliness, because it attracts attention. Unless it's what you've been doing, be careful not to lose rapport over a fad. 2. Consider a Slogan or CatchphraseThink of prominent brands that you know. Do you remember their slogan? Probably. Just do it. I'm lovin' it. With just 15 minutes, you can save 15% or more on car insurance. Okay, maybe that last one is a bit of a stretch. I can also recite an entire Rhodes 60-second cinnamon roll commercial from 2007, so maybe I'm a bad example. What I'm saying is a good slogan will carry your brand. When you're writing messages across varying platforms, consider if you could include a unique and chippy slogan for your brand. Need more ideas? Can you come up with a name for your followers, a specific introduction, or a consistent ending for your pieces? Any of these would be a good place to start. 3. Use the Right VocabularyAlright, here's a pitfall. I worked with a client who, like many other business owners, is extremely educated about his niche. He naturally uses jargon (vocabulary specific to a particular discipline) and writes like an academic. He did not realize that his vocabulary might be excluding potential clients. Yep, sometimes the language that you use automatically restricts your content from those who are uneducated about the particularities of your business. It is hard to recognize that you're using words that other people don't understand. (Because, of course, you understand them, and if you understand it, can't everyone?) A good rule of thumb is to pretend that you are writing for a 7th grader. No, I'm not joking. The average American caps out at about 7th grade reading comprehension. Keeping the right vocabulary level for your clients is a great way to create an engaging brand voice. It will make your brand accessible to clients you wouldn't anticipate. Brand Voice for LyfeWhen you're ready to grow, don't overlook your brand voice. Sadly, it might be time to retcon your old posts in favor of consistency. You'll see a boost in direct traffic when your audience recognizes your content as your content. And remember, if writing all this content seems daunting, I'm always available to help you give your ideas a voice. Reach out on my contact form and we'll set some goals for how you can grow your business. That's all, folks. Alright folks, here's your vocabulary for the day: evergreen content. You may have seen this term floating around while watching SEO tips and tricks. Maybe you saw it while researching how to write a blog. Or maybe you saw it on my Instagram...who knows? Let me share with you what I know about evergreen content, and share the mistake that I made with my first client ever--oops.
What is Evergreen Content? Evergreen content is information that is consistently in high demand. What do we mean by that? Well, some information is only important because it is new. For example, the Kardashian's latest drama. You can read the article on People, but within a week, that drama has worn out and we're already on to the next story. This type of content is called incidental, timely, reactional, or promotional. Evergreen content is just the opposite. It is content that people are always interested in. It is usually content that is informational or provides help to the reader beyond knee-jerk curiosity. Instead of having a dramatic increase in views for a day or two, evergreen content will create views/visits that will come in consistently for a long time. What Topics are Considered 'Evergreen'? To answer this question, we need to analyze our audience. What are things our audience cares about? What are things our audience needs more information about? Generally, people always need new ideas for:
So that's a good place to start. From a general category, then pick something that has to do with your business niche. Consider explaining:
Finally, your evergreen content should be related to the top keywords that you are trying to rank for (rank means to get your site higher up on Google). Using a keyword researching tool, look at what other people are searching. Are they asking questions that you can answer? My Big Mistake My first client wanted to increase views on her crafting website. Her website did not have a blog, so that was immediately my first "solve" for her issue. We started the blog, and there were views, but not many. Finally, when I was searching some keywords for her, I came across a search term with high search demand. The term was asking how to use her (somewhat obscure) medium. What. An. Idiot. I cannot believe I had never even thought about it! I called her. I ran to her website. I started writing evergreen How-To articles that pertained to her medium and her methods. Within a week or two, we saw a huge uptick in unique visits to the page. Be Smarter Than Me If you're a business looking to increase search traffic to your website, evergreen articles are a great place to start. And remember, quality over quantity. With Google's new helpful content update, just trying to rank is not going to be enough. If you're feeling overwhelmed by all of this, let's work together on adding evergreen content to your website. I'd love to help you bring in more views by writing some delicious articles. You're a small business owner. You've done the tough stuff: you've built a marketable idea, you've worked out issues through beta clients, and you're providing a unique and important product. But small businesses don't grow on their own. How can you grow your small business? Here's why hiring a copywriter is a good next step. What is a Copywriter? As we discussed on last week's blog, a copywriter is a professional writer that focuses on marketing. You're getting what you'd expect when you hire a writer. Each piece will be well-composed, grammatically correct, and follow the style you've set out. But wait! Copywriters are not only amazing writers, but they also know secrets to written organization, presentation, and voice that will keep your readers intrigued. Copywriting is designed to not only inform readers about your product, but also persuade them to buy. In 2023, a good copywriter is also going to know about Search Engine Optimization. Search Engine Optimization is the process by which we modify your content on your website to get "read" by Google's bots that "crawl" the internet. Using principles of SEO will ultimately help your site (and, subsequently, your products and services) get found on a search and up your Google rankings. A good copywriter can work with you to determine specific keywords or phrases to include in the copy, or writing, that you order. What Services Can Benefit a Small Business? This all sounds great, I'm sure you're thinking, but it's all theory. So if I go to hire a copywriter, what would I specifically ask them for? Well, most small businesses could really benefit from a copywriter's help with:
Try it! Oh man, you think, I don't even know where to start with all this! I barely know how to use my website! Fear not. Platt Literature provides a content strategy package that will help you get your website off the ground, including helping with identifying a brand voice, starting an SEO blog with three posts, and a free content calendar to help you take advantage of your online audience. Fill out the contact form and I'll be happy to help you, no matter what experience level you're starting from. With the rise of SEO metrics and the internet's need for perpetual content, the career of copywriting has recently come into the spotlight. But what is copywriting? How is it different from business writing or ghostwriting? Which should you hire? Let's check it out. Copywriters Copywriting is writing for advertising purposes. For this reason, copywriting can include website copy, landing pages, and blogging, especially SEO blogging. Copywriting also includes print copy, such as for paper advertisements or event brochures. Copywriting is often short-form writing with a focus on making sales. For this reason, a good copywriter will be familiar with SEO practices, employ enticing formatting, and maintain a specific brand "voice" to get customers to buy. Ghostwriters Ghostwriting is doing writing without getting credit for it. For example, my realtor wanted to write a book honoring war veterans. But he's a realtor, not a writer! He partnered with a ghostwriter to plan out ideas and expectations for the book. The ghostwriter wrote a good chunk (if not all) of the book, but it was published under my realtor's name with no credit to the "actual" author. Ghostwriters are needed for a lot of things: scripts, speeches, fiction and non-fiction books or articles, etc., so unlike copywriting, ghostwriting can be short- or long-form writing. And ghostwriting makes sense. When someone is trying to upkeep a brand or image but does not have time for hours of writing, it's a smart idea to outsource. A good ghostwriter will be a great communicator, and an adept writer that can handle a diversity in styles and assignments. Business Writers Business writing, wow, what an umbrella term! Business writing is any writing that is done for a professional setting. This term includes both employee-facing AND customer-facing copy. Business writing can include everything from onboarding materials to client correspondence. Technical Writer HQ wrote a great article about everything that business writing includes, and they divided it into these four categories: instructional, informational, transactional, and persuasive writing. Business writers have to be intimately aware of the branding, voice, policies, and procedures of their company. And whereas ghostwriters and copywriters are often freelancing or under contract, business writers are often hired directly with a company to work long-term. This gives them some stability that other writers may not have. Who to Hire? So now we've kind of broken down these terms. What's next? Who should you hire? A copywriter, a ghostwriter, or a business writer? Here's what all three definitely know how to do: Brand and style. Copywriters, ghostwriters, and business writers all know how to write standout copy that will maintain the voice of your brand. They are all great at matching tone and jargon to be in line with a customer's expectations. Blogs and advertising articles. All of these professionals know how to use persuasion to motivate sales. A copywriter might be more aware of SEO metrics, but all three will create outstanding content to live on your website and attract views. But here's a secret... As Shakespeare's age old quote says, "What's in a name?" A good writer is a good writer, no matter what name they choose for themselves. When you're looking to hire a writer, ask for work samples so you can see where they shine. If you can clearly communicate your expectations for your project and your writer feels comfortable doing the job, don't stress about titles. If you're looking for a writer, check out my featured articles here. If you have a project that you're not sure what is, but you still think you need a writer, let's chat about it! 12/31/2022 1 Comment 2023--New Year, New Business, New Me?
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Kate PlattI'm a writer, content strategist, and general wordsmith. I like to write personalized, spunky copy that generally follows grammar rules. I have one kid, one cat, and a lovely viking husband. I'm constantly looking forward to 8pm, which is when I get in my bubble bath and play handheld video games. Archives
February 2023
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