Supercharge Web Copy with Super Simple Keyphrase Editing!

Welcome, web writers and online marketers! Today we’re going to demonstrate quick and easy ways to edit our existing site copy, using the art and technique of strategic keyphrase placement for search engine optimization!

As you may recall from our previous discussion about original online writing versus editing content for keyphrases, some pages inherently lend themselves to keyphrase editing, while others that are crucial to sales/conversions demand a complete rewrite.

Providing these non-converting pages are already well written, informative, have the right tone and feel, and are the right length (250-500 words or longer), then they’re ideal candidates for an SEO edit! For instance, FAQ and About Us pages are generally great choices for keyphrase editing, while your Home, Sales, and Top Products/Services pages should be rewritten altogether.

Coupled with a compelling Title and meta description, keyphrase editing is a powerful search engine optimization strategy that requires minimal time and effort.  Let’s see just how easy it is!

Keyphrase Editing Made Simple

For example, let’s use this “About Us” page from a small business that features customized cakes for weddings and other special occasions:

Two women who love making and decorating cake got together and decided they could have even more fun by working together. And that’s how AFCC came to be!

With more than a decade of experience between them in cake decorating, cookie and candy making, gum paste flowers, fondant and more, we specialize in unique designs and original concepts.  We make cakes that your local bakery doesn’t have the time, the skill or the inclination to create.

Specializing in custom work, we’ll match your colors, incorporate your theme, recreate your logo, or come up with a design created just for you.  From a single layer to a seven tier tower, we’ve got you covered….in fondant…or buttercream…or chocolate!  You choose!

We thank you for your business and we are honored to be in some small way a part of your very special day.

Give us a call today and let’s get started!

Sincerely,

Debbie & Andrea

While the obvious keyword, “cake,”is mentioned three times, there is the glaring absence of a headline!  If it weren’t for the side navigation menu, you wouldn’t even know that you were on the “About Us” page!  Instead of crafting individual, keyphrase-rich, per-page headlines, the website uses the business name and tagline as the header for each and every category page, including its home page:  Always & Forever Custom Cakes, then just below it in a slightly smaller font, the tagline, Casual elegance in cake.

As we know, the headline is prime SEO real estate for incorporating our targeted keyphrase for that particular page, as well as a benefit statement.  While the business name and tagline are clever, the SEO opportunity (let alone the conversions value) is squandered with this generic approach.

How could we edit this page for engaging, optimized copy?

First, we need a compelling headline to grab the reader’s attention and lure her in to reading the rest of the copy. Although sales is not the primary purpose of the “About Us” page, some conversions value can be added with a benefit statement.  So how about: “Let Us Help You Design Your Perfect Day with an Elegant Customized Cake!” In this way, we’ve captured a keyphrase, “customized cake” and expressed immediate benefits with the promise of “help”to “design your perfect day.”

How else could we work in keyphrases other than “cake”?  How about geo-targeting? This business is located in Bellingham, WA, so for local targeting, “Bellingham, WA” could be worked into the copy.  What else?  It’d be safe to assume that this business experiences strong seasonal trends: weddings and graduation parties, for example, are largely late spring events, so seasonal keyphrases could be added during the spring months, and for weddings, throughout the summer as well!

For instance, well in advance of these planned events (say, in February or March) a paragraph of text could be added targeting these spring/summer occasions, with a well-optimized sub-headline: “Make Your Spring Wedding Bloom with a Creative Custom Cake!”

Look for “Opportunity Blurbs”

Do you notice any other optimizing opportunities in the content? How about:”We make cakes that your local bakery doesn’t have the time, the skill or the inclination to create.” That screams: Unique Selling Proposition (U.S.P.) As such, it is ripe for keyphrase editing, such as: “We create elegant, customized cakes for every occasion — something that your local bakery doesn’t have the time, the skill or the inclination to do.”

Blurbs like this — called “opportunity blurbs”– are snippets of copy that beg for keyphrase editing.  As the example above demonstrates, editing copy for keyphrases is as simple as finding such a blurb and inserting a keyphrase.  The sentence structure isn’t drastically changed, and the text reads smoothly.  Now that you’re aware of these “opportunity blurbs,” you’ll likely find many pages ripe with them, where you can hone your keyphrase editing skills!

That’s a wrap for today — thanks for visiting!  Stay tuned, as next Monday we’re going to brave that scary, coded world of Titles and meta descriptions, and de-mystify it for the non-techie.  So, fear not!