SEO Writing Tips: Keyword Ranking
March 27, 2009
If you are new to SEO writing, or are looking for a way to boost your online business, I have a million dollar tool for you. Imagine if you could travel back in time and snatch up desirable domain names, like Business.com, Loans.com, or Sex.com, before anyone knew they were valuable. You’d be a millionaire billionaire, right? Well, there are keywords out there that will be just as valuable in 20 years, we just don’t know what they are yet. That million dollar keyword could come from your website if you only knew how to market it properly and could accurately predict future consumer trends (or you could invest in a crystal ball and hope you get lucky).
Not interested in fame, just the fortune? Want a more realistic plan for online business success? You could concentrate on making the best of your website with SEO practices. The right keyword is a powerful tool. When carefully selected and put to work properly, it holds the potential to make your online business an instant success.
The Honeymoon’s Over
Selecting the perfect keyword phrase for your website is pretty anticlimactic. You sweat, cry and bleed over the keyboard for days, researching different keyword combinations. You finally find the perfect keyword for your niche with good search traffic, a decent PPC return, and a low page rank. You snatch it up, register a domain name, sit back, and scratch your head. Now what?
Well, lots of SEO blogs will tell you to run right out and hire an SEO writer to incorporate your new found treasure into your website before Google launches you out of the Sandbox. But the truth is, that may not be the first thing to do. In fact, your primary keyword phrase may not even show up on your website.
What You Talkin’ Bout Willis?
SEO experts have shown that it is possible to rank highly for a given keyword that rarely or never shows on your website. That means, in theory, you could select “Ice Cream Dream” as your primary keyword phrase for your Dairy Queen knock-off website, but not list it in your meta description, headers, domain name, or content, and still rank in the top ten for that phrase. How? Through inbound links.
Search engines currently place great value on anchor text. (That’s the blue text that is highlighted when a live link is displayed on a website.) With that in mind, imagine what would happen if you invested two hours a day sowing quality backlinks containing your primary keyword phrase as anchor text. Excited yet?
Have you ever gotten a comment on your blog that reads: Jamie Simmerman- SEO Writer, and wondered what the heck possessed that girl to post her name like that? Well, Ms. Simmerman is sowing her keyword phrase on your website to help boost her SERPs.
Now, before you feel used and offended, keep in mind that if someone is sowing backlinks on your website, they feel your website has something to offer them. You either have quality traffic, quality content, decent page ranking, or a heck of a lot of potential for them to invest their time in leaving a link. It’s a lot like putting a seal of approval on a website- they like you and think you’re cool enough to hang out with the popular kids at recess.
On Your Mark, Get Set…
So where the heck do you put all these lovely backlinks? You find websites that relate to your keyword and you join the discussion on their latest blog post, or even an archived blog post if you like. Websites with higher page ranks are obviously a natural choice, but any relevant site will do if the content is regularly updated and they draw traffic. (We’ll talk about how to determine those qualities in a later post, so don’t worry if you don’t know how to check the profitability of a website.)
That means commenting on your competition’s website is a definite plus. If you sell ice cream, you want to comment on every post Dairy Queen publishes. You also want to locate other blogs that talk about making ice cream, list ice cream facts, websites that sell ice cream, hate ice cream, or have ice cream fetishes. You want to place your name and backlink any place your target audience is likely to visit or congregate.
You may also want to spend some time finding higher Page Rank websites of any topic that allow backlinks, even if they are REF=NoFollow. (But you still have to follow etiquette and abide the rules below.)
STOP!
What you don’t want to do is contribute to the huge amount of worthless content floating around on servers and clogging up an otherwise good system. Only comment if you have something intelligent or helpful to say. Comments like “nice post” or “you suck” are inevitably destined for the spam file. If you can’t participate in the discussion, do some research or read along for a few days until you catch on. This not only helps build your SERPs, but your online reputation as well.
Always play nice. If you can’t say something nice, then keep your fingers off the keyboard. If you have a legitimate gripe or an opposing view, be responsible and state your comment without attacking or belittling anyone. You don’t always have to agree, but you don’t have the right to give a complete stranger a tongue lashing Internet-style either.
GO!
If you read the blogs of your friends or family members on a regular basis, ask them about backlinking before you post. Explain what you’d like to do and ask permission first, it’s considered polite to bring it up if you have a personal relationship with the blogger or webmaster. With that said, you should know that Blue Duck posts all backlinks, as long as they are not spam-y or offensive. Feel free to link to your heart’s content. 
Keep in mind that it might take an obscene number of backlinks to see the results you want. Be patient and remember that every link counts.
BONUS SEO TIP: If you haven’t seen results in several months, you may need to rethink your keyword phrase. It’s possible that too many other SEO savvy bloggers are competing for the same phrase.
We’ll post another SEO writing tip next week, so stay tuned. And if you have an SEO writing related question, feel free to drop us a line in the comments section of this blog, via the Blue Duck contact form, or in an email.
SEO Writing Skills for the Rest of Us
March 26, 2009
Many SEO writers will tout their writing skills as unparalleled, exceptional, well worth every penny. I’m not one of them. In fact, my writing skills are not exceptional at all, I just paid attention in English class, read a lot of books, and have the gift of gab from God above. Fortunately, I can translate that gift into written communication and am blessed with some pretty good SEO professionals as associates who have let me pick their collective brains. (Truth be told, my brain picking skills are much better than my writing skills. ) Now, that’s not to say I don’t earn my paychecks. I work hard for my clients, and the end result is almost always exactly what they asked for.
With that in mind, I have an innovative thought for you: you can be your own SEO writer. Yep, you don’t need to hire me unless you are too strapped for time to learn the basics and write your own content. In fact, most of my clients come to me after they have been writing their own content for some time. Perhaps they have gotten too busy, sometimes they admit to exhausting their knowledge on a subject, often they are desperate for better results. That’s what I’m here for. But, if you have your own website, are strapped for cash, and have some free time on your hands, welcome to the world of SEO writing!
Paying it Forward
Rather than have you blunder your way around the web for the next six months, I thought I’d give you a hand up and share a few SEO tips to help you get started in SEO writing. Why would I do such a thing and endanger my future business profits by teaching you my business? Because someone did it for me, and I like to pay back my debts. God has blessed Blue Duck, and I believe He will continue to do so. But if He decides it’s time to close the doors and pass the business on to some young talented SEO writer, then so be it. So welcome to the first ever Blue Duck Copy SEO Writing Tips for the Rest of Us.
SEO Writing Tips for All
I had a hard time deciding where to start in all this. Do I start from the very beginning and define SEO and the terminology? Do I dig right in and give you the steaming hot latest SEO news from the experts? I decided to take the middle ground and go for something you can immediately put to use, keywords.
What This Tip Is Not
This post is not about how to choose the right keywords, or what keywords are, or how they should be used on a website. This is not a discussion about keyword density or siloing, or any other keyword building techniques. Those topics may appear in the future, just not here and now.
The Prerequisites
Before you put this tip to use, you’ll need to understand what a keyword is and how it is used to help people find your website. You’ll also need to have a list of the most profitable and relevant keywords for your website. The process of choosing the right keywords is often a hotly debated topic. If you don’t have a primary keyword phrase for your website, get one through whatever process you think is logical and acceptable.
You can find scores of information about keyword selection. I recommend visiting a few websites like SEO Book, Bruce Clay, SEOmoz, and Court’s Internet Marketing School. (And in case you noticed and are wondering why I’m suggesting marketing websites for SEO research, search engine optimization and search engine marketing are like peanut butter and jelly; you can eat them separately, but they go better together.)
For archival and search purposes, I’m going to publish the actual SEO tips separately in their own little posts. This may be a slight inconvenience for some, but it will give you a few minutes to do your research if you need to and give you something to look forward to in an hour or so.
You can read the the first installment of Blue Duck SEO Writing Tips here.
Working Smarter
March 20, 2009
If you give me a choice between working smarter and working harder, I’ll take working smarter every time. Businesses that promote software and tools to streamline your efficiency are big business, for good reason. But finding worthwhile business tools can be a bit tricky.
Hidden Office Gems
One tool that can help you work smarter is most likely sitting on your hard drive right now, Microsoft Office. I use Microsoft Word daily, hourly, obsessively. The grammar and spelling checker is one of the best available, and overall, the program is easy to work with. To be honest, I bought Office just to get Word. Excel, Access, Power Point… those were just taking up space on my computer. Sure, I’d poked around a little when I first got them, and I had a vague sense that they could do much more, but was never motivated to take the time to learn what each program was capable of.
I recently finished a college course on advanced Excel and Access functions, and was I surprised at what these programs can do! I canceled my subscription to Freshbooks, gave away my Freelance management program, and streamlined my daily tasks enough to sneak in a nap in the afternoons (or a few minutes of quality time with a good novel). With an investment of a few minutes of my time I set up custom invoices, a database of my regular clients, a streamlined email list, custom reports and graphs, and a financial analysis of my business income- all in less time than I would normally spend managing paperwork with my old system.
Excel Features
Did you know that Excel can:
- Automatically find inconsistencies in your spreadsheets
- Import and export data to and from other Microsoft programs like Outlook, Word, and Power Point
- Sort data without altering the original information
- Perform complex calculations like displaying the names of employees eligible for a 401K program with the requirements of more than one year of employment, less than $200,000 yearly salary, and full time status
- Add long columns of figures without errors
- Record repetitive functions to be performed with a single click
- Calculate loan payments
- Figure the amount of interest and principal paid each month
- Determine the break even point for your business
- Figure the best possible price for a product or service based on your operating costs
Microsoft Office online has pre-made Excel spreadsheets for popular tasks like balancing your checkbook, creating a budget, tracking grades, and planning events. I even created a special Excel workbook for analyzing keyword profitability.
Access Discoveries
Entering customer information into Access was quick and painless with the import feature that took my information straight from my Outlook address book. In a matter of minutes, I was able to create custom invoices and generate reports such as outstanding payments and projects due in the next week. The switch-over was quick and painless and produced professional quality results.
It may seem like a no-brainer, but I was really pleased to find a few hidden gems already in my software library. Microsoft offers online classes for Office products, and your local library carries lengthy manuals covering all the simple and complex functions of each program if you’d like to learn to take advantage of your Office programs.
If you’ve discovered other hidden gems to help you work smarter, please drop me a line in an email or in the comments below. I could really use a few extra minutes to work on my fiction writing. 
Chicken Soup and Xanax Anyone?
March 20, 2009
One of the greatest appeals of the Internet is, like life, it goes on with or without you. Please let me apologize for my leave of absence from the blogging world. Sometimes life has other plans besides what is penciled into your calender. To make a long story short, (and to avoid dragging out all the sappy personal details and boxes of tissues) we’ve been through the ringer here lately. To top it all off, I think I’ve contracted the Mother of all Flus and my sinus cavities may explode at any time, with or without warning. I believe my fever has subsided enough to string together a few logical sentences, and I missed you all, so I thought I’d give this blog posting thing a try today. Look for a BDC Post of substance in your inbox/feed reader a little later on, after I’ve had a nap.
Headline Rants
March 9, 2009
Well, I’m back from the land of the “wish-I-was-dead” after a bout with the flu. (Worst flu I’ve had in years, even my hair hurt.) It seems that most of our little corner of Blogopolis was sick last week, too, so I don’t feel so bad about ignoring blogging and blog reading in favor of caring for sick children and a hubby, writing for clients, and studying for finals. I did miss all your smiling gravitars though, and it’s good to be back.
I have several posts planned on business tools, keywords, and SEO, but I feel the need to rant a little first. I suffered a bit of culture shock this morning after cocooning for over a week- I watched the news.
Naked Confrontation
Okay, perhaps I’m tired and still a little drained and I can blame it all on the flu, or perhaps today was a wake-up call for me.
I may be a little idealistic, but I found CNN down-right offensive today. I was sitting in the local McDonald’s with my boys and my ears perked up at the mention of a conflict between the Chinese navy and one of our own ships in International waters. The reporter stated that a Pentagon spokesperson described the incident as “one of the most aggressive actions we’ve seen in some time.” (Well, what a wonderfully typically vague political statement.) So, I continued to watch through the commercial to find out what happened. That’s when the disgust hit. The headline posted at the bottom of the screen read “nearly naked confrontation”.
What?
It seems that the USNS Impeccable felt threatened by the Chinese ships and responded with the only “weapon” they had- a fire hose. They soaked the sailors, who stripped to their underwear and continued the harassment.
Okay, the whole thing is a little comical if it were a Saturday morning cartoon, but this was real life. It disturbs me that CNN would stress the nakedness of the Chinese sailors over what such hostility actually means. At the end, the reporter quickly mentioned that pentagon officials speculate the Chinese government is testing the new U.S. president.
Not So Personal and Private it Can’t be Headline News
I changed channels. On Headline News, Nancy Grace was up in arms over “personal, private home videos released of Caylee Anthony and her mother”. People flashed across the screen and debated whether these videos were released to help Casey Anthony’s defense. Callers argued that the videos clearly show that the woman loves her child, therefore she couldn’t have murdered her.
What?
Casey Anthony refers to Caylee as “that little girl” when telling reporters how much she misses her daughter. Would you refer to your then-missing daughter in such an impersonal, third-person description? And who says mothers can’t suffer from mental illness, or get mixed up with some guy who wants the little bundle of joy out of the picture? Do these scenarios sound familiar? Perhaps the mother associated with the wrong people and they killed Caylee to make a point, or get even? What do home videos of a mother playing with her daughter prove? Do you really expect to see someone shooting home videos of Casey Anthony telling her daughter she is unloved, unwanted, a mistake? (Point a camera in my direction and I instantly smile. We put on our best Happily Ever After face.) Yet millions tuned in to watch the videos, because we have a sick fascination with the case. The show went on to talk about the interviews, book deals in the making, and thousands of dollars paid to Casey Anthony and her family for their stories. Does this not make anyone else nauseous?
Your Pain, My Gain
Next up on the news is everyone’s favorite feel-good talk show host- Oprah. She’s pictured telling Rhianna that Chris Brown WILL hit her again.
Okay.
Girl, if she didn’t get the the message as her lover’s fists pummeled her face and choked her into unconsciousness, do you really think telling her it will happen again is going to have any effect?
But it’s good showmanship to speak out against domestic violence and give the appearance of “helping”. Goof for you, but if you’re going to talk the talk, walk the walk. Roll up your sleeves and volunteer at a domestic violence shelter, send Dr. Phil to her house for free counseling. Don’t preach at the girl when you have no idea what it’s like to be a victim of domestic violence. Rhianna is a victim, she doesn’t deserve to be humiliated or brow-beaten over her situation.
Nauseous News
Do we have to resort to sensationalism and sex for every event? Are we that depraved?
Oh, but nearly naked sailors, pictures of bodies lined up in the streets of a foreign country, pictures of bloodied swollen faces of beautiful stars, and stories of mothers who kill their children draw ratings!
B J sent me a heads up about a recent poll on religion. It shows more and more Americans are abandoning organized religion, and giving up faith all together. I don’t blame them, organized religion smells. It’s tainted, corrupt, discouraging.
So what can we do? Pray for this country. Pray long, pray hard. Fast on behalf of America, grieve for our nation. We need it.
Rant Complete? Check.
Up later this week: Office Tools for Your Online Business. You probably have an invaluable business tool sitting unused on your computer right now. We’ll show how to save money and work smarter with common software programs you may already own.
