SEO Hosting Blog

The other day, I came across some old essays I wrote while in college. See, I majored in Political Science and minored in English, so I was constantly cranking out 5, 10, 15, and even 20+ page papers. And I always got good marks on them, so I thought I was a great writer.

As I was looking back on those papers, I was shocked by how much my writing style has changed over the years. Back then, I was far too concerned with cramming in large, impressive words that I thought made me sound smart. I realize now they didn’t make me sound smart at all. They made me sound like a pretentious jerk who was trying to talk over the head of his audience.

The importance of clarity was lost on me during my growing days as a writer. Instead of saying “use”, I’d say “utilize.” Instead of saying “total” I’d say “aggregate.” I could go on and on, but you get the point.

Writing is about communicating with your audience

I often urge bloggers and other copywriters to write like they and their target audience talk. Now, if your target audience really does like to use technical terms or big words, then by all means, you can include those in your copy. But chances are that’s not the case.

What’s more likely is that your audience includes the “average Joe” off the street. And the average person reads at somewhere around an 8^th grade level. Don’t believe me? Just grab a newspaper. Newspapers are written a middle school/ junior high level so that the audience can understand the content.

Now, that doesn’t mean it’s dumbed down. It simply means the writers are communicating as clearly as they can by not overcomplicating the copy with big words when small ones mean the same thing.

Your job isn’t to help the reader improve his vocabulary. Your readers are in a hurry. You need to deliver your message as quickly and clearly as possible. Any single word that trips the reader up can derail your entire message.

The best thing you can do is to read your copy aloud before publishing it. If it sounds the way your target audience normally communicates, good. If it doesn’t, figure out which words are muddying up your message, and get rid of them.

Last night, I came across a blog post by Bob Bly (one of my favorite copywriters) that addressed the question of “How much time should you spend blogging?” Blogging productivity is something that’s almost always on my mind, so I couldn’t help but be intrigued by this post.

In his post, Bly states his theory of blogging. He says “Anyone who blogs more than 10 minutes a day — or more than an hour a week — is spending way too much time reading and writing on blogs.”

Needless to say, this caught my attention. 10 minutes a day? Bly thinks that spending more than 10 minutes a day writing and/or reading blogs is a waste of time, and I disagree.

See, Bly views blogging as something that’s fun, entertaining, and “possibly” useful. To me, blogging is more than that. Blogging helps you build trust with customers. I’ve acquired many new copywriting clients solely from my blogging efforts. They’ve read my posts, found me knowledgeable, and hired me to handle a copywriting project for them. Blogging keeps me visible and credible.

But that’s not the only benefit of blogging that Bly seems to be overlooking. What about the SEO effects of blogging? An optimized blog that attracts back links with fresh content every day can help your entire site rank better for important keywords. Once your site earns higher rankings, it attracts more targeted traffic. When you get targeted traffic, you get more customers. So, blogging can help you bring in more customers from the search engines as well.

I’ve also had success helping clients build their email list through blogging. Well-placed sign up links on a high-traffic blog can attract a high number of sign ups, which can then be converted into customers through effective email marketing.

Look, I’m all for being a more productive blogger. And I fully realize there are a lot of people out there who waste way too much time blogging. But to say anything more than 10 minutes a day is a waste of time is a bit silly to me.

What do you think? How much time do you spend blogging?

We’ve all come across those landing pages that feature long, emotional “hypnotic” sales copy. You know the ones. The author tells you some heartbreaking story (e.g. I was 100 pounds overweight. I tried everything. No diets worked. My boyfriend broke up with me. I was depressed, and wanted to kill myself. AND THEN I TRIED XYZ PRODUCT AND MY LIFE WAS CHANGED FOREVER!)

Now, as a copywriter, my first instinct is to criticize this kind of copy. Why? Because it just screams “Scam! Stay away!” But the truth is this copy converts. Otherwise, you wouldn’t see everyone using this same formula over and over. Take a look at the top selling affiliate products on ClickBank. Almost every landing page features the long, emotional, “hypnotic” sales copy.

So, what is it about this kind of copy that makes it so effective? Here are just a few reasons hypnotic copy works.

1. It uses the power of storytelling—Some of the most effective sales letters of all times harnessed the power of storytelling. Why are stories so effective? For several reasons. First, they stimulate the senses. Great stories put you right there in the middle of the story. Second, stories let the reader relate, saying “I’ve been there before.” And finally, stories appeal to our emotions, and emotions always plays a big role in the buying process. For more information on the power of storytelling, check out this great post “Your Brain on Stories.”

 

2. It stimulates our emotions—In the last point, I briefly touched on the fact that people make buying decisions largely based on their emotions. In the words of Eisenberg in Persuasive Online Copywriting “People rationalize buying decisions based on facts, but people make buying decisions based on feelings.” To go back to our earlier example of diet pills, people buy diet pills because they make them skinnier and more attractive, allowing them to feel better about themselves. It’s all tied to emotions. So, in your copy, you need to focus on tying the benefits to emotional triggers.

 

3. It uses repetition—To keep you “hypnotized”, the writer will continually repeat the main message all throughout the copy. This helps keep the reader focused on the main point, so that they’re ready to take action when the writer asks them to do so.

 

4. It features calls to action throughout—One of the most effective things you’ll find in these long landing pages is that they have a call to action every few paragraphs, rather than simply stuffing one at the end of the copy. Typically, there will be one call to action per screen view, meaning no matter where you are on the page, you have a way to take action. Now, say what you will about hypnotic copywriting, but this is a technique all landing page copywriters should be putting into practice. You want to make it as easy as possible for your readers to jump to action.

 

5. It uses testimonials to back the story up—The hypnotic copywriter doesn’t just force you to take their word for it, they use testimonials to back their story up. And they have a spectacular knack for placing these testimonials in the copy right when you’re about to say “Wait a minute. This sounds too good to be true.” Check out these tips for giving your testimonials more credibility.

What do you think about long, emotional, “hypnotic” landing pages? Are they too spammy for your taste? Or do you believe if it works, use it? Share your thoughts in the replies.

Recently, a study by Morse found that a lack of productivity due to social media is costing UK businesses about $2.25 billion. Regardless of whether or not these numbers are skewed, it’s no secret that social media has a tendency to rob your time, making it more difficult for you to get important tasks done.

Thankfully, there are many things you can do to increase your productivity. From using social media tools to Tweeting on the go from your phone, being productive with social media really isn’t that hard. I’ve come up with 4 more easy tips you can put into practice right now to boost your social media productivity.

• Set goals—Goals give you direction. They provide something for you to work toward with your social media usage, so that you can measure your results. Make sure the goals you set align with your overall marketing goals for growing your business.

Your social media goals could be to:

•  
  • Increase the number of positive mentions of your company
  • Build more back links to your website
  • Improve customer retention
  • Build brand awareness so people know who you are

• Have a plan—Once you have some goals in place, it’s time to set a plan for making these goals a reality. For example, if you want to get more back links, you need to write linkbait-style blog posts and promote them on Twitter, Facebook, and social voting sites.

All of your social media usage should be devoted to helping you achieve those goals. Anything else is a waste of time. So, stick to the plan so you can stay productive.

• Create a schedule—It might seem a bit restricting, but scheduling time for your social media use keeps you focused and on track. For example, if you know you have a block of 15 minutes to devote to promoting your blog, you’ll focus on this task, rather than killing time chatting on Facebook or Twitter. Set a schedule and stick to it!

• Get help—Don’t be a hero. Ask for help with achieving your social media goals. This could mean getting employees to contribute to your blog. It could also mean soliciting guest posts. Or you could hire a ghost blogger to blog and Tweet under your name. This would free you up to work on your normal daily tasks while letting an expert do all the dirty work.

How do you stay productive while still being a social media junkie? Share your best tips in the replies.

Knowing what your customers want is the key to running a successful business. And while you might like to think you know what they want, there’s a good chance you’re at least partially wrong.

What’s the best way to find out what your customers really want? It’s simple: Ask them. Here are 7 easy tips for getting customer feedback.

1. Give online buyers the option of completing a survey—The keyword here? Option. Don’t make completing a survey a requirement to finishing the ordering process. Instead, just simply ask your customers if they’d like to complete a survey after they’ve made their purchase. Or for customers who start to back out of their purchase, you can have a popup that gives them the option to provide feedback as to why they decided not to buy.
2. Include comment cards with all orders—Comment cards can be an effective tool for learning more about your customers needs. Whenever someone orders one of your products, include a comment card with their purchase. If you run a physical storefront, have comment cards displayed for customers to easily fill out.
3. Offer discounts or freebies to lost customers in exchange for feedback—If a customer abandoned the shopping cart but you have their contact info, send them an offer for a special discount or a free gift (redundant, I know)in exchange for their feedback. This will give you insight into why they didn’t do business with you, so you can understand how to better meet your customer’s needs.
4. Send a follow-up email to buyers—Sending an email to customers after they’ve completed a transaction lets you see your customer’s thoughts about your company. However, you need to make sure the timing of your follow-up email is right for the most accurate and useful response.
5. Offer your products for free to reviewers—This is a win-win. It generates publicity for your company, and it allows others to try your products at no risk to them. Target top bloggers and other influential voices who will be interested in your product. One thing: You’d better make certain your product is up to snuff, or else the entire plan will backfire.
6. Talk to your customer service reps—Your customer service reps spend all day interacting with customers, so they should have a pretty good idea what your customers really want. Instruct them to always take notes of customer suggestions and complaints.
7. Include product rating system on your website—If you’ve shopped at Amazon.com, you’ve seen this technique in action. Allowing customers to review and rate your products directly on your website can build your credibility as they act as endorsements. Again, make sure your products are actually good so that you get positive feedback.

How do you get feedback from your customers? Leave a comment with your best tip.