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Google is the premier search engine on the web today. There’s no denying it, and both users and the stock market alike are clear indicators of how important Google is to search engine efforts. In some ways, Google controls the Internet economy moreso than even the all-powerful Microsoft. Appearing high on Google’s search pages for a given term - related to whatever business you’re involved in - is more valuable than any billboard or television commercial.

But is Google really the gateway to all web business? When a search engine optimization specialist tells you “Your site isn’t Google-friendly” does that mean you have to kowtow to the one company whose motto is “Do no evil”?

Yes and maybe. The same strategies that work well on Google work well on almost any search engine - Yahoo, MSN, Altavista, etc. Relevant keywords, related content, powerful links to and from related, high traffic sites - they work regardless of the search engine.

But should your site be written to appeal to Google’s search bots? Or should you write to your human site visitors? Can you do both?

In an ideal world, yes, writing for both Google and other search engine bots and human visitors should operate the same way. But while search engines prize keyword density, human readers can usually tell if a site is designed for search engines. Search engine optimized copy is not quite as natural as normal marketing copy.

For example, here’s a paragraph Google might read as very powerful for selling web design:

360 PSG, a web development company, offers website design, custom web applications, and a powerful content management system for any business website. Our web designs fit any small business. They work for e-commerce, online portfolio pieces, and online news releases.

Now, that’s not bad, but it’s a little dry. At the same time, it’s readable, simple, and clear.

Another tack we could have taken was straight-up advertising-style copy:

Take control of your website with 360 PSG. Our powerful web designs can help your business establish a strong web presence. Our Fission CMS makes it easy - just login, click, type and save, and you can have unlimited pages, and unlimited web options. Find out more today.

That’s not bad either, as ad copy - it’s inviting, it sells our system as easy to use, and effective, but you’ll notice there are very few words or phrases in that paragraph that count as keywords.

In that first paragraph, we had “website design,” “custom web applications,” and “content management system.” The second paragraph had none of those words together.

If someone is searching for those particular services or products, the first paragraph is more likely to attract search engine results. The second paragraph might be more effective selling to human readers, though it’s much less likely to attract search engine results.

So it’s a fine line to walk - on one hand you want to attract search engine traffic. On the other, you need to drive sales through your site.

Here at 360 PSG, we focus on both - the subtle techniques that boost search engine ranking, plus the effective copy that attracts visitors to a sale once they’re at your site.

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There is only so much search engine optimization techniques like keywords, content, metatags and meta descriptions can do to raise your website’s profile. The real trick - and the method search engines like Google and Yahoo use to measure a website’s “relavancy” - are links, particularly incoming links.

Links, in human terms, show that like minded people are seeking out and reading your site content, whether its an online store, a blog, or some other type of website. Social networks and social bookmarking sites and indexes like Digg or Myspace are great places to drum up that important related traffic.

Incoming links are any link on another site that points to your site. Search engines index sites and their outgoing and incoming links - the more you have, the better. But while almost any incoming link can help your search engine ranking, the best links come from high-traffic sources related to your website topic. For example, this blog discusses web design, web development and web marketing strategies. Good links for us are similarly focused sites - a post on the Blogdesignblog about good blog design is related to our web design topics. A post about the future of search engine optimization on the Search Engine Roundtable relates well to this particular post.

The above links both to our own site and the blogs and websites I mentioned will all be counted by search engines as topical, related incoming links to those sites, and measured as topical, related outgoing links from this site.

But, as a blog author, I had to actively search for those above topics. I used the Google Blog Search to find them, but there are other ways to get those types of incoming links.

Social networks like MySpace, LinkedIn and Facebook are good places to post links and material related to your particular industry or topic so people looking for that type of information can find them. For those types of services, you can create a profile and post links to your site, with categories that people with related interests can see.

Social bookmarking sites are similar in that shared interests can draw attention to your website, but sites like Digg, Technorati and Reddit target specifically news-style articles. That might mean you have to go through the work of generating your own content, but that content in turn is put into a feed read by over 500,000 (in the case of Digg) users who rate, read, and discuss your article. Those comments might be full messages, but users also “digg” or give your site “authority” through links. The more links or diggs you get, the more eyes will see your article, and in turn your site.

One important note: People - particularly the savvy Digg community - can see through cheap tricks, black hat tactics and spam like X-ray. Don’t cheat with duplicated, plagiarized content or BS links. It’s not cool, and could get you blacklisted in the long-run.

So get out there - make friends, discuss your business, industry or hobbies - it all can track back to your business.

PS - Digg this article! Click the icon below!

HT: Lorne Fade Design for the pic

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One of the most important parts of search engine optimization, or SEO, is that a site should be updated regularly.

One of the most important aspects of a blog is that it is (theoretically) updated regularly.

It’s simple addition: if your site has a regularly updated blog, your site can benefit from it through SEO. But that’s not the only reason a blog can help Google or Yahoo find your site.

Like we mentioned before, a business blog can be a powerful tool for establishing a good reputation among both customers and business peers alike, but that same blog can also raise your profile for search engine rankings because of the content and potential audience your blog can bring to your site.

Here are the three basic reasons for it, and how you can take advantage:

1. Frequent updates: A good way to use your blog is for information that might not warrant a press release (like a sale or new product). Those little news nuggets might happen as frequently as once a day or once a week, but you should make sure you post them on a timely basis. If you don’t have an announcement or something like that over a given time, find something. You might find a news article that deals with your industry, or maybe a customer question gave you an idea for a How-To piece (hey, kind of like this post!) to educate people on self-help tips (which might lead to them coming to your company for extra help). The simple trick, though, is to update your blog regularly. Don’t let it sit too long, or you’ll lose out on good SEO.
2. Keywords galore: If you keep your business blog focused on your business, meaning your posts are consistently related to one topic, you’ll probably find yourself filling it with vocabulary and terms related to your business. That’s exactly what you want for search engine optimization. Search engines love key phrases in fresh content. For example, in this post I’m discussing search engine optimization and blogs, so good words for me to include are “search engines”, “seo”, and “blog.” If you’ve made it this far in the post, you’ve probably read those words a few times. If you’re writing a blog about your own industry - let’s say it’s one that focuses on antique toys - you’ll be loading your blog with keywords and phrases like “victorian era toys” or “toy truck” or whatever other terms related to what you sell or do. While those words are naturally in your body copy, don’t forget about your titles, tags and categories. It’s just as important to target words for those areas as it is to include them in your copy.
3. Linkbacks got your back: If you’re writing a good blog, you’re already linking to other websites, blogs or news articles that are related to or illustrate your point. For example, SEO for Google has an article on how blogging frequency can improve your Google page rank. And this article talks about what a linkback is, and how it helps blogs. They’re both articles where I did research for this post, so it’s only fair that I reference them, especially if I quote them verbatim. The added benefit is that search engines reward sites that link to relevant content. And if you link to another blog, they might link back to you, sending not only more readers, but further rewarding you with SEO improvements.

Everything I mentioned above is something you can definitely do for your own business, but if you’re like many business owners, you might not have time to keep up on point number 1: frequent posting. That’s where (plug alert!) companies like 360 PSG come in. We offer blogging as a service, written by our staff of copywriters, focused on your business. So if you’re strapped for time, or maybe need a little bit of writing help, give us a call.

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That’s it; you might not read the rest of this article. But that’s okay.

Why?

Well, you’re on this web page, reading this article, right? That means my web headline worked. Your headline words are, as this article’s headline says, the most important words in web advertising, particularly for small businesses hoping to get noticed in web business. They got you to read this article, and if you want some tips for getting more attention for your advertising, keep reading.

In advertising as well as journalism, headlines are one of the most important aspects of capturing a reader. They are the hook, the words that direct readers’ eyes to the juicy text you have below – and by extension that product or service you’re trying to sell. With the web, those words not only hook eyes, but as we’ll see later on, they hook search engines too.

Grabbing eyes

Your headline can be many things – coy, clever, subtle or beat-you-over-the-head obvious. Though it should always have one goal: to attract readers.

Headlines don’t necessarily mean sloganeering, though that strategy can permeate a headline. Effective ads that use slogans often stick out, mainly because that slogan permeates all their advertising. Good examples are classics like Apple’s “Think Different” or Volkswagen’s “Think Small” campaign for the original Beetle. Oftentimes the headlines for these ads featured a twist on that slogan, with different images accompanying different copy below.

Advertising legend David Ogilvy called these somewhat abstract slogans and headlines “irrelevant brilliance.” But that doesn’t mean your ad headlines have to be clever, funny, punny or witty.

Have a look at this list of 100 of the greatest advertising headlines of all time. It’s an old list, with some classics you’ve probably heard before and with influence you’ve seen throughout advertising today. You’ll notice a common theme among most of them – they are almost literally calls to action. Few of them mention brands. Almost all of them address a specific issue, and many use language directly related to their field or industry.

Many of these headlines follow a similar formula: “How to…” “Quick solutions to…” “If you have (a problem), this is how to fix it.” That formula is simple and direct – it addresses a potential customer’s issue and offers a solution. Direct headlines also zoom in on a target demographic.

But traditional advertising trends have gotten away from that directness. Current print and television campaigns try to capture customers with humor, wit and charm. In those forms of media, with a relatively captive audience that is already reading the publication or watching the television channel the ad is on, ads can risk an indirect route to their sale. On the web, that old-school directness, along with capturing your readers’ attention, will help in other ways to get your ad noticed.

Capturing machines

Search engine ranking is now the hottest trend in web advertising, and with good reason. Web users are reliant upon search engines like Google and Yahoo to help them sift through the gigantic amount of information on the web. It’s the modern yellow pages – searchers enter a topic, hoping to find the information, product or contact they need to address an issue. With search engines, these searches get more specific, which is where your headline becomes important.

This article’s headline is designed so people searching the phrase “web advertising” will be directed to this page. It’s these key phrases that search engines look for, and where they are placed. Which is why your headline is so important – it’s the first thing a search engine sees when indexing a web page.

Sites like the above-linked Gap campaign are well designed and effective, but you won’t find that particular ad by Googling “t-shirts” or “colors.” That campaign is designed to be a viral campaign, spread both through word of mouth (or e-mail) and for searchers who are more likely looking for one of the bands or artists featured in the campaign. For the Gap, this works – they’re selling a lifestyle, and capturing that tangential attention is important. For small businesses, particularly those without the budget to design these complex campaigns, the direct approach is both the simplest and most effective solution.

So on one hand, it pays to be cute. Well written and interesting ad copy will capture a reader, but only once they delve far enough into an ad or article. But a direct headline – that’s the stuff that gets your ad noticed. (more…)

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In the web development business, everyone knows that “content is king.” Content – or the words that fill out a website –piques the interest of search engines, bumping sites up the coveted search engine ranks. Content is also what sells products or services on website or attracts more visitors – it’s the sales pitch, the “Welcome” sign, product information, specifications and attention grabber, all rolled into a website’s words.

But for something so important to websites, web developers often place content on the back burner, an afterthought to most web projects. 360 PSG is bucking the trend. For 2008, 360 PSG has added a complete Content Services department, with copywriters experienced in building web content.

Considering web copy at the start of a project means content can develop with both the design and functionality of a project. That means a website can be an even more effective marketing tool – web copy not only can carry necessary information, but it can work seamlessly with website design elements and functionality. And that doesn’t even account for search engine optimization – and any copywriter will tell you it’s infinitely easier, and more effective, to tailor content for Google or Yahoo when design and content work together.

To head up the department, 360 PSG has brought aboard Evan Pierce as Director of Content Services. Mr. Pierce has written for many different publications, from the Buffalo News to Spin magazine, with much of his work generated specifically for web readers. It is this experience that 360 PSG hopes to offer clients, making their sites more effective, and more powerful.

Advertising
With a dedicated copywriting team focused on devising content for web projects, 360 PSG can build content specifically for web readers. Advertising copy works differently on the web than it does with traditional marketing material – theoretically, web copy means you have unlimited space to fill. You could fill it with loads of information. In some instances, that works. But not in all cases – studies show web visitors read content more slowly, and also process a third less information than print content.

That means your web copy must be deployed effectively, meshing with design elements and with powerful calls-to-action to engage readers. Coupled with all the other jobs web copy must accomplish, advertising writers experienced in web content have a leg up on their competition, and with a department of Content Services

Working with Design
Web content also isn’t limited by the constrictions of traditional media. There are no real size limitations like in print, and the ability to incorporate hyperlinks and other graphical elements lends a dynamic ability to text that offers unlimited possibilities. For small businesses who are building a website, however, that freedom can be intimidating. How do you use it all?

With a web firm that has content services in-house, the copywriter can work with the designer, creating content with variety not only in wording, but also in presentation. It’s a synergy 360 PSG now has, with its creative team constantly working together on projects.

Search Engine Optimization
Many web developing firms advertise search engine optimization, and they may offer rudimentary services in that field, focusing on meta-tags and meta keywords. Truly effective search engine enhancements are more organic, incorporated directly into text of a website.

As an in-house copy department, 360 PSG copywriters are can generate effective advertising copy while understanding the priority of search engine algorithms. With 360 PSG search engine analysis, industry key words and phrases can be identified and woven into the text, allowing 360 PSG content to accomplish the many tasks web content must do.
Raising Your Public Profile
In addition to traditional advertising copy, 360 PSG now also offers public relations services for small business clients. From web-based press releases, news services and blogs, these regularly updated news pieces not only inform media sources and readers of new services, events or industry news, but also aids in search engine traffic by keeping sites fresh.

For more information about 360 PSG content services, visit www.360psg.com.

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