Leverage Your Online Writing for Optimization and Conversions!

Welcome!  Glad you’re here, because today, with all the research behind us and our per-page keyphrase strategy in place, we’re ready to move on to optimizing our online writing to drive traffic to our business site and convert those visitors with compelling content!

The question that inevitably arises is: where on the web page should I put my keyphrases? A general guideline is to focus each web page around the two to three keyphrases you’ve chosen for that page, and place them:

• In your headlines
• In your sub-headlines
• In your hyperlinks
• Then all throughout your copy

For the record, it bears repeating that there is no magic formula for the ideal number of times you should use your keyphrases in your content, no matter what shameless, self-proclaimed “experts” and “gurus” preach! Suffice it to say that “keyword density” is a tired and outmoded concept from pre-Google days (i.e., over 10 years’ ago).

But while most everyone does seem to agree that keyword “stuffing” — jamming your keyphrases into your copy — is bad, both for your readers and for your search engine ranking (think “spam”), this painful obsession with the number of times the keyphrases should appear in web copy persists”

So let’s leave it with this most general rule of thumb: use each keyphrase more than once, of course, per web page (some would advise trying for three times each), but ultimately you should trust your own inner writer’s voice and work in your keyphrases where they fit best, and flow smoothly with your writing. Make sense? It really is that simple!

Original Online Writing versus Editing Content for Keyphrases

Having matched your keyphrases to your web pages, it’s now a matter of the best way to optimize your content both for reader engagement and ultimately, conversions.  Ask yourself:

• Is the page already informative and well written?
• Does the overall tone and feel of the writing work well?
• Is the length right? If so, it may just need a bit of editing to achieve keyphrase relevancy. If not, the page may need to be rewritten altogether. (And of course, if you’re starting your online writing from scratch, this evaluation is entirely moot)!

Some pages, by their nature, easily lend themselves to keyphrase editing. These tend to be the longer (over 500 words) pages that aren’t “major players” in marketing your business online, or otherwise crucial to sales/conversions.  These pages include:

• FAQ pages
• About us pages
• Some category/subcategory pages
• White papers
• Older blog posts

Pages that are most likely to require a major overhaul/rewrite for keyphrase optimization are those with online content marketing and conversions value, such as:

• Your home page
• Any essential sales/landing pages
• Top product/service pages
• Current articles/blog posts

Finding Your Per-Page Copywriting Focus:  A Brainstorming Exercise

Try this exercise to find your focus when re-writing copy for search engine optimization, or otherwise starting from scratch: grab a piece of paper, and set a timer for five minutes.  Then ask yourself questions such as:

• What are the benefits most important to my perfect prospect?
• What objections do I need to overcome? How do I best express my value?
• What is the likely emotional state of my target visitor? What are the hot buttons or triggers that should be addressed?

By the end of five minutes, you should find that you’ve most of the essential content you need for writing your web page!  Not only that, but you may well have discovered true gems of copywriting brilliance, as well as that easy, conversational tone elemental to successful direct response copywriting!