The Business Case for SEO Content Development:

Turn Words Into ACTION!

Heather Lloyd-Martin, SuccessWorksUlli Muenker, BusinessWeek

- Pioneers in SEO content since 1999

- Train clients in SEO copywriting best practices

- Develop strategy, new content and edited content

- Founders of SEOCopywriting.com

SuccessWorks overview

- SEO content through the sales cycle

- Why build content – AmsterdamEscape case study

- Why focus on content – BusinessWeek case study

- In-house or outsource

- Justifying the budget

What we’ll discuss today

Why care about content?

SEO content across the sales cycle

Purchase

Research

AwarenessGeneral overarching keyphrases

Digital camera reviews, blog posts,

brand/features comparison

Make/model search

Plethora of “consideration” keyphrases

Everyone’s doing it! Articles on CircuitCity.com

Everyone’s doing it: Zappos.com blog

Case study – Amsterdam Escape

- #1 Specialty Lodging – Trip Advisor

- “Bad” SEO created duplicate content, which…

- Caused AmsterdamEscape to be banned from Google

- Was paying $4,000 per much in PPC to fill the gap

Past issues

Travel to Amsterdam Hotels in

AmsterdamAmsterdam vacation rental dam square things to do in Amsterdam

Amsterdamrestaurants what’s the currency in Amsterdam

Amsterdam nightlife Amsterdam shopping Amsterdam

apartments vacation rental rembrandtplein Travel packages Amsterdam

Creating content across the sales cycle

Content page example

Ranking examples

- “Amsterdam nightlife” - #7 in Google

- “Amsterdam shopping” - #16 in Google

- “Amsterdam red light district” - #13 in Google

- “Amsterdam apartments” - #2 in Google

- “Amsterdam Nieuwmarkt” - #11 in Google

- “Vacation rentals Amsterdam” - #7 in Google

Plus, scads of rankings for long-tail keyphrases!

Cost savings through content development

$48,000

BusinessWeek.com - Overview

Overview:

- Online since 1995

- Majority of content is available for free

- Advertising based model: more page views => more revenue

Site receives high traffic referral from search, above industry average

SEO Role for Publisher Site

Since 2006, BusinessWeek focuses on more traffic from search

Goal:

Traffic increase from search engines: More page views = more advertising revenue

Initiatives:

Evangelize SEO concepts by:

- Optimizing templates & customized pages

- Publishing more free content pages – accessible to SE

- Conducting regular SEO training for Editorial team

Results:More than doubled traffic from SE over the last two years

Importance of SEO Copywriting for Publishers

Template pages• Articles• Blog/Forum posts• Job listings• Profile pages

How to optimize:Set up template to include keywords in metadata

SummaryShort-lived contentVery newsy

Opportunity due to high page volume

Customized pages• “Best of …” / “Top …” pages• Overview pages about specific topics• Special collection pages

How to optimize:Research strong keywords and spread these words on the page & in metadata

SummaryEvergreen contentRegular feature

Opportunity due to targeted SEO copywriting

Majority of pages can be separated into template and customized pagesMajority of pages can be separated into template and customized pages

SEO Copywriting: In-house or Outsource

Template pages

In-house:

Create SEO awareness on how to write keyword rich headlines

Outsource:

Get recommendations on template format

Example: Article

Page title => uses article headline

Customized pages

In-house:

Generate basic keyword research with tools & internal search engine

Outsource:

Determine best keywords

Example: “Game Room” overview page

Page name => customized keywords

SEO Copywriting Outsourced: Results

Examples – pages optimized in 11/07

“Economy” Overview page

“Game Room” Overview page

Aug-07 Sep-07 Oct-07 Nov-07 Dec-07 Jan-08 Feb-08

Aug-07 Sep-07 Oct-07 Nov-07 Dec-07 Jan-08 Feb-08

=> 1,150% traffic increase from SE

Customized keywords:

Customized keywords:

=> 405% traffic increase from SE

Outsourcing SEO Copywriting: Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Allows staff to focus on prioritizing overall SEO initiatives

• Level of expertise & specialization

• “External consultant” status

• Fewer full time staff

Cons:

• Time for consultant training on brand & website content

• Agencies often have high staff turnover

• Less control over project turn-around time

In-house or outsourced?

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting

different results.”

SEO copywriting – the real scoop

What SEO copywriting is NOT

SEO copywriting basics

- Keyphrases in headlines and subheadlines

- Keyphrases in hyperlinks

- Keyphrases throughout the content

- Keyphrase-rich Title

- “Longer” copy (250 words is a rule of thumb, but it depends on page content and the page templates.)

Whether in-house or outsourced

If your copywriter is writing sales-related copy, look for direct response copywriting experience…

If your copywriter is writing informational copy, look for journalism experience

Either way, the writing – and how it flows on the page – is crucial. Don’t pay low dollar for bad writing!

Content and conversion

Q: What’s your first conversion opportunity?

In-house or outsourced?

Partnership approach

Outsourced

In-house or outsourced?

Outsourced

- No writing staff

- No time

- No editorial calendar

- No clue

Solution: outsource the work to build content

Cons: Expensive Finding the “right” firm Training writers in your tone and feel

How to decide?

Partnership approach

- Have existing writers on staff

- The writing team has time for SEO content development

Solution: SEO copywriting training

OR

Writers create content, and outsource keyphrase editing

Cons: Explaining tone, feel and parameters to the training/content strategy

Justifying budget

- Review current positions and do keyphrase research. Where are the positioning “holes.”

- Review current conversion rates. Well-written content converts at a higher rate than so-so copy.

- Are the PPC keyphrases represented in the organic campaign?

- Can you baby step the budget/process?

- Can you show success with long tail keyphrase?

Remember, organic doesn’t necessarily replace paid – they can both work together.

Thank you!

Heather Lloyd-MartinSearchEngineWriting.com

heather@searchenginewriting.com

Blog: SEOCopywriting.com