High Rankings Advisor 230 - Your Host: Jill Whalen

Introduction

---> Has It Been 2 Weeks Already?

Search Marketing Q&A

---> Optimizing Articles for Long-tail Keywords

This Week's Sponsors

---> Search Marketing Training Videos

---> SMX Advanced

---> SEO Training Classes (in-person)

Guest Article

---> Making an Emotional Connection Through Your Copywriting

Stuff You Might Like

---> Diagnosing the SEO Health of Your Website

---> Free Preview Copy of Best Website

Advanced SEO Forum Thread of the Week

---> Too Many Hits for My Custom 404 Page

Advisor Wrap-up

---> SEMNE Event in Nashua, NH This Thursday

Introduction

Hey, everyone! Yeah, I know, last time I said see you in 2 weeks, but I forgot that next week I'll be in Florida for my grandmother's 100th b-day. I figured it would be smarter to do the Advisor this week instead, so here you go! – Jill

Search Marketing Q&A

Optimizing Articles for Long-tail Keywords

Dear Jill,

I have two questions:

1. Regarding long-tail keywords, I often find it difficult optimizing them in an article, mainly because it can look unnatural if you include them too often. How do you recommend I deal with this problem? Apart from in the headline, at what density do they need to be mentioned in an article in order to maximize our chances of getting good listings?

2. When it comes to using other people's articles for content I notice they are mostly optimized for main keywords, e.g., biodiesel, yet there are many other alternative keywords for the biodiesel niche that need articles written about. Considering you can't change other people's articles, can you write your own headline and introduction (preceding the other person's article headline and text) and include the long-tail keyword that you wish to optimize in there? If that is OK would mentioning the long-tail keyword 3 or 4 times be sufficient?

Thank you,

Allison

++Jill's Response++

Hi Allison,

Good questions – however, you may be over-thinking things a bit. Long-tail keywords, by their very nature, are not competitive. In other words, there are not a lot of other pages out there that are using those phrases – which means it's relatively easy to get a good rank for them in Google without a whole lot of work.

So to answer question number 1, you don't really have to optimize for them at all – at least not in the true sense of the word. Simply keep the long-tail keywords in mind as you're writing your article, and make sure they're used somewhere within it. Most likely, even just one use somewhere within the article will be enough to rank well for the long-tail phrase. Of course, this doesn't mean you're going to get much traffic. The other trait of long-tail keywords (besides being uncompetitive) is that they get searched on only once in awhile. It may be just one search a week, or even one a month or one a year!

Personally, I don't think that optimizing for the long-tail is actually optimizing at all; it's simply writing naturally while keeping the phrases in mind. But for articles or blog posts, that's the best way to go so you don't ruin the flow of your writing.

There's no need to use long-tail keywords 3 or 4 (or more) times in your articles. It's better to use lots of different long-tail phrases just one time each. You will do this naturally, even without doing any keyword research, which is the beauty of articles and blog posts!

In answer to question number 2, sure, you could certainly write an intro to the other person's article that you were going to publish on your site. Using your long-tail keywords within it could certainly help it to show up for those phrases – but again, don't expect a huge influx of traffic from long-tail words. Plus, due to the fact that your content is presumably going to be published on other websites, your version may or may not show up in the search results for relevant searches due to Google's duplicate content filters.

Hope this helps!

Jill

Share your comments and thoughts here.

Guest Article

How to Make an Emotional Connection Through Your Copywriting

"But how do you do it?" That was a question I was asked by a prospective client the other day. Although he was a good writer, he was frustrated with trying to use the data he'd collected on his customers to make an emotional connection.

If you know where to look, you can easily find clues about what people are feeling. Once you discover that, making the connection is simple. Let's use weight loss as an example.

Evaluate Your Customers

While some things about your customers may be obvious, you'll get much better results if you actually evaluate or research your visitors in some way. You can perform exit surveys on your site, send out an email asking customers to participate in a quick study or use other means to collect data.

Always read your customer feedback with care. Never discount information because it might not have been what you were expecting. Honest, constructive criticism can open the door to new ideas, products and/or services. Also, study your testimonials. Is there a trend? Do most people compliment you on the same things? If so, those elements are evidently very important to them.

Research your customers' lifestyles as well as basic demographics. In other words, knowing that your visitors are primarily women between the ages of 50 and 60 who make over $60,000 per year is nice. However, it does not reveal that they are approaching retirement and trying to save money wherever they can for fear of not having enough. It also doesn't tell you that their doctors recently told these women their cholesterol and blood pressure were getting too high (probably due to steady weight gain year after year).

Put Yourself in Their Shoes

Once you've collected the data, put yourself in your customers' shoes for a day. Don't just read over the findings in a methodical manner: actually think about what the findings mean. Go back to the paragraph above. Let's dissect those bits of information.

• Women age 50–60 who make over $60,000 per year
• Approaching retirement and trying to save money wherever they can for fear of not having enough
• Doctors recently told them their cholesterol and blood pressure were getting too high (probably due to steady weight gain year after year)
  

What if you were in this situation? What would you be feeling? "Just great! Now all that extra money I've been trying to put toward paying down the mortgage will have to go to some expensive weight-loss program. Or worse yet ... I'll have to go on high-priced medication forever and put up with all those quirky side effects. Most of the time, months later, the news reports say these pills don't work or can possibly kill you! I don't want that. My only other choice is to try to lose the weight. I don't know how to do it alone, so I'll have to join a program. That's just perfect. Approaching retirement and I'm going to be a slave to the calorie counter. Good grief!"

Not a good situation, is it? You don't really want to find or participate in a weight-loss program, do you? So, for someone in this state of mind, how do you persuade them? How do you speak to them on their level?

Asking questions is a good approach:

• "Looking for a weight-loss program that fits your hectic lifestyle?"
• "Need an affordable weight-loss program that produces quick results?"
  

Think of questions that reflect their state of mind and that you can answer positively.

In addition, you can list features of your product or service that would appeal to a person in the mindset outlined above.

• It's easy.
• Everything is prepackaged and precounted.
• It's affordable.
• You get quick results.
• Your health improves as you lose weight.
• It gives you more energy.
• The introductory program saves you money.
• Others have seen blood pressure and cholesterol drop within just 4 weeks.
  

There are lots more. All these features could be worked into your copy along with the appropriate benefits and end results to clearly show these women that your weight-loss program is right for them. Whatever you do, don't forget the vital step of adding benefits and end results to these features!

You could even create a "pre-retirement" package designed to help lower blood pressure and cholesterol and boost energy along with losing weight, so women have better health and more get-up-and-go for the years to come. Give it a discounted price and toss in some supplements and you've got a tailored package these women would probably love.

The whole idea is to learn the who, what, when, where and why of your site visitors. Once you understand what emotional state visitors are in and which emotional level they are on, you'll be able to create copy that is highly effective.

Karon Thackston
Copywriting Course

Share your comments and thoughts here.

Stuff You Might Like

++Diagnosing the SEO Health Of Your Website++

Is your website sick? In many ways, SEO consultants are like doctors, only instead of analyzing your personal health symptoms, we analyze the overall health of your website. It's true we're not working with life or death situations the same way doctors do, but having a website that is not receiving all the targeted search engine traffic it could be, is a sign of a sick website.

Read my latest Search Engine Land column for more:

 

Diagnosing the SEO Health of Your Website

++Free Preview Copy of Best Website++

We've got a special offer for you today – a completely free preview copy of Nelson Bates' "Best Website" ebook. You can download your copy here.

 

I haven't read the whole thing yet, but there's an interview with me in there! 

Advanced SEO Forum Thread of the Week

++Too Many Hits for My Custom 404 Page++

Forum member "johking" posted that her 404-error page is getting tons of hits, and wonders if it's set up incorrectly.

See what others have said or leave your own comments here:

Too Many Hits for My Custom 404 Page

Advisor Wrap-up

That's all for today, hope you enjoyed it.

If you're in the New England area this week (and if you see this before Thursday night), you don't want to miss the latest SEMNE event happening in Nashua, NH on May 1 from 6:30 to 9:00PM. A whole bunch of search marketers will be networking and sharing ideas, as well as learning why blogging is essential from business consultant Ted Demopoulos.

You can find out more about this event here:

Why Blogging is Essential

I'll be there, so please say "Hi" if you see me! (It's free for SEMNE members and only $49 for non-members.)

Catch you in 2 weeks! – Jill

Today's issue is also available online in the newsletter archives.

If you prefer RSS/XML please feel free to use our newsfeed here.

Feel free to forward this email in its entirety to anyone you feel might be interested in it.

Paid sponsor ads are clearly marked as advertisements and neither High Rankings nor Jill Whalen take any responsibility for the claims made within these ads, nor the websites they point to. Paid ads do not constitute an endorsement for the products, services or companies advertising in the newsletter. Please visit our sponsors and use your own due diligence for any purchases you make on the Internet.

To ***, change profile information, or to choose a text-only version:
click here.