Bright Ideas # 48 – A Few Final Thoughts: Part VII of Why Writing for the Web is Different 

I’ve spent the last six weeks giving you a solid overview of Why Writing for the Web is Different…Including everything from how to write for customers, to how to organize your content, and how to write for the search engines.

So if you’ve been keeping up, you now know far more about writing for the Web than most people ever take the time to learn. Congratulations!!!

This week I want to wrap all this info up into one tidy little package for you. But first, I’m going to keep my promise from last week and show you a few behind-the-scenes ways to use your keywords to boost your search engine rankings.

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More key spots to put your keywords
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Once you’ve got your keywords written into your content there are just a few more places where the spiders might look. Most of these are not visible to Website visitors. But they can each do their little bit to boost your search engine rankings.

• Title Tag –You know that text you see in the top bar of your Web browser? And the link text you get in search engine results listings? Both of those are generated from your title tag. Plus, the spiders rank your site higher for the keywords in your title.

So don’t just put your business name in there. Or generic words like “Home Page”. Put your name followed by two or three of your most important keywords.

• META Tags - This section of HTML code has just one purpose: To be read by the search engine spiders. And there are only two META tags you need to worry about.
• META description tag. In some search engines, this is where all or part of the description that shows up in search results comes from. So keep this in mind and write your description that you feel to entice searchers to click on your link.
• META keyword tag. This is where you want to list the top five to ten keywords you’ve written into your content. Some folks say it doesn’t matter how you format this, but others say it’s better not to put commas between the words. I say skip the commas since it can’t hurt.
• Image Tags – As I’ve mentioned in past emails, search engine spiders can only read text. That means anything that is in gif, jpg, or bmp format is just a big blank spot.

Of course, you want to include any pictures, graphs or drawings that communicate something to your visitors. So make them readable for the spiders by putting descriptions in your Image Tags. Ideally you want to include a keyword or two in each one.

One thing to note. All of these changes happen in your HTML code (the behind-the-scenes text that dictates what your site looks like, what it does, and what goes where on each page). So, you can learn to change your code yourself. All you need is a very basic understanding of HTML. Or you can have your Web designer do it for you.

There you have it…Organic SEO in a nutshell. Keep in mind that none of this is a magic bullet. And search engine optimization rules are always changing. But this is a good set of guidelines to get you started.

Whew! Since I’ve covered so much information in the last seven editions, I want to take a moment to wrap this baby up and tie it in a bow.

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A few final words of Website wisdom
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Remember that in order for you site to be an effective selling tool, it has to do these four things.

1) Be findable.
Search engines are looking for relevant sites. So show them what you offer with plenty of well-written content. And don’t forget to incorporate your keywords.

2) Provide ease and convenience.
Make the shopping experience simple by telling customers right up front what you offer. And by keeping your navigation clear and consistent. Don’t forget to use headlines, subheads and bullets to make your text easy to skim.

3) Inspire confidence.
Customers need to know they are making a wise decision by shopping with you. So include testimonials, case studies and guarantees whenever possible. Headshots and bios on your About page help show there are real people behind your online business. And always put full contact information on the site—not just an email link.

4) Show what’s different, or better, about buying from you.
Make your site—and your business—stand out from the crowd with unique design and a fresh voice. Keep in mind that although features are important, people really want to know what your product or service is going to do them. More importantly they need to know how your product or service is different from your competitors.

Sure, it might take some time to make all these changes. But there’s no point in having a Website if it doesn’t help you grow your business.

So just keep thinking of your site as a virtual salesperson, and make sure it has all the tools it needs to the job. Before you know it you’ll have new sales and leads magically appearing for the wonderful World Wide Web.

©2002-2006 Success Stream. All Rights Reserved. www.success-stream.com

Do you have a marketing, advertising or writing question you’d like to have answered? Email me and you might see the answer in a future edition of Bright Ideas.

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