Impact Media's SEO Blog

Following yesterday’s guilty verdict for three Google executives accused of breaching privacy laws in the Italian courts, will sites now have to be more accountable for the content that they host?

This could well prove to be a landmark ruling in the history of the Internet. The air of invincibility surrounding content hosts has been well and truly shattered. With high ranking executives being handed suspended jail sentences, any lethargy towards removing illegal or damaging content on sites has been forcibly quashed with one drop of a judge’s gavel.

But who exactly is accountable for content? Should the executives bear the brunt for something they’ve (most likely) never had any prior knowledge of? Should there be more blocks in place to ensure that any content that is deemed offensive or goes against the terms of use never sees the light of day, or at the very least, is removed quickly?
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Avoid the fluff and give your visitors more of the good stuff. Plain English is the new ‘keyword optimised’ for online Copywriters, so it’s time to make it easier on yourself and your readers.

There’s no mystery to producing good copy. First of all you need an understanding of your audience. Next you need to have a reasonable vocabulary to communicate your message. Finally you need a way to instantly engage with the visiting public.

The last of these can sometimes be the most challenging though. What are they looking for? How can you write in such a way to entice them to explore your site further? More often than not the answer is to keep it simple and succinct.

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With the dawning of a new year, we have the opportunity to wipe the slate clean and start over again with renewed vigour. Search engine algorithms have undergone a significant makeover in the past 12 months, perhaps it’s time your website does the same.

Websites aren’t a static marketing tool. They can’t be left to stagnate and simply tick over. So don’t let lethargy undermine your efforts so far; if your site is to succeed in 2010 than you need to be prepared to take the fight to your competitors, which means investing time and effort into each of your pages.

The Internet is a constantly expanding organism that mutates at a similarly speedy rate. The techniques and principles that worked just a few years ago will be almost redundant today. So if your website is suffering in the search engine rankings or isn’t getting the levels of targeted traffic you were hoping for, perhaps it’s time to take a fresh look at it.
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How Does Website Content Improve SEO?

Content is an essential part of any website. It provides visitors with vital information, encourages them to navigate through the site (preferably to your major revenue pages) and engages with them. However, content also provides search engines with vital details regarding a website’s relevance to certain phrases.

Search engines all have their own unique complex algorithm, which manages their ranking system. Within this algorithm are numerous contributing factors, all of which are taken into account and used to create SERPs that will accurately reflect a user’s search term. One of the most important ranking factors is the content of your website.
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By following some straightforward Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) fundamentals, you can be sure that your site is ready to be indexed by the search engines and all set to meet your objectives.

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As a Copywriter, I’m continuously surprised at how many websites still overlook the fundamental principle of business – effective communication.

There’s a lot to be said for projecting an image. That’s why salesmen in the offline world wear smart suits and have immaculate presentation. Websites are the same; an attractive design can show professionalism and intent, drawing in inquisitive visitors. But behind the aesthetically pleasing first impressions, there needs to be some depth.
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How will SEO Help my Website?

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is all about improving your website’s authority and ranking on sites like Google. The higher your position within the search engines, the greater your chances of attracting specially targeted traffic.

In terms of on-site changes, SEO is limited to your content. A website’s copy is the perfect opportunity to implement all-important keywords, which will ultimately help search engines recognise what the impetus for each page is and can rank it accordingly.
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Keeping a keen eye on your sites content has very much come into the public focus over the past couple of weeks. There has been building public anger over Facebook’s acceptance of Holocaust denial pages, in which anti-Semitic discussions are freely passed between users. They have subsequently relented and confirmed the removal of two groups at the beginning of last week, but does social media really have a social conscience?

Craigslist, the American supersite covering adverts for almost anything, last week also had to begrudgingly admit that it would ditch erotic adverts after it was found that these pages were soliciting prostitution, bringing the site a lot of unwelcome attention from the media and the law. All of which has left a dark cloud hanging over social media as a whole.

Any site can fail due to its content. Okay, so if your website contains a few typos, a bit of underwhelming copy and some broken links it isn’t going to have quite the same impact as the above cases; but you need to ensure you are fully aware of what is contained within your pages at all times, otherwise you could end up losing potential customers, or even worse.

This provides a sobering reminder of just how important it is for Webmasters, SEO Marketers and everyone involved in the building and running of a website, to keep on top of content. Facebook and Craigslist are two hugely popular sites and a haven for social marketers everywhere. With millions across the world using them each day, this is a very real wake up call for them to clean up their act.

Negative publicity such as this will do nothing to dispel the notion among some people that social media is having a negative impact on the Internet and even society as a whole. There are however, still a lot of positive applications for social media, so while these stories are damaging, no doubt they should also help improve standards in the future.

If you’re looking to portray a professional, cutting edge image, the last thing you want is for old content to undermine your website’s credibility. Both from a visitor’s point of view and that of the search engine crawlers, new content can be hugely beneficial.

In terms of search engine rankings, fresh copy and relevant new pages are a great way of getting a major boost for your site. New content means that there are additional keywords bulking up your potential organic search pulling power. Plus, whenever you add fresh copy to a site, the search engines send out what we call crawlers or spiders, which will then process the information and index the page.

Boost Search Engine Rankings

Bearing in mind that potential visitors and clients can search for pretty much anything, it almost goes without saying that having additional related keywords and phrases on a site can only be a positive move. As with all things though, it has to be done in moderation. Having a sprawling site full of hundreds of pages, each one containing a wealth of copy overloaded with keywords, will more than likely put off any users once they’ve arrived.

News feeds and blogs tend to be a very popular and highly successful way of boosting a website’s content without cluttering up key pages. They update regularly and are a great for providing additional internal links, whilst also drawing in casual visitors. You can also show off your industry expertise and really add some value to your website’s message with.

Maintain Your Website’s Credibility

From a purely stylistic point of view though, content updates are essential on a number of levels. For example, would you buy from a site that still had Christmas banners in the middle of May? Or one that proudly boasts having products that were ‘Brand New for 2007′? Whilst these may be extreme examples, there are thousands of sites on the Internet suffering as a result of not keeping copy right up-to-date.

To maintain a credible image amongst visitors, every aspect of a website needs to be considered. From the design of the Home Page to the content of the copy, it all needs to be up to scratch. Thorough checks of your copy can be time consuming though, particularly if you’re operating a large site; however, the benefits of doing so are clear. You don’t want to be losing customers due to a typo filled product description, or suffer in search engine rankings as a result of continued inactivity; so content really is key.

When you’re writing copy for your website, you need to ensure that it’s SEO or Search Engine Optimisation friendly. Here are ten things to remember:

1. Write for your Reader
One of biggest mistakes people make with SEO Friendly Web Copy is trying to please the Search Engines at the cost of alienating the human visitors to their website. So your web copy should be written specifically to target your intended reader. This means imagining the site from the perspective of someone coming to it for the first time.

2. Clean Code
In order to get the most SEO value out of your website, your code needs to be crisp and clean. That means writing code that is well organised, well structured and correctly formatted. This will help your website’s relationship with the Search Engines stay friendly.

3. Use Images to Support the Main Message
A picture is worth a thousand words they say. But that doesn’t mean you should clutter your pages with unnecessary pictures. Find just the right images to support the main message of your website and each of its pages. Remember, Search Engines cannot read pictures, but your human visitors can really be persuaded by good quality, professional looking images.

4. Externalise Scripts
When using complex scripts such as Java, you can make your pages easier to read by placing the JavaScript into External Files. This will make them easier to read by Search Engines. If you must use JavaScript on your pages, consider placing it at the bottom of the page so that the Search Engines read your content first.

5. Keywords
Research your Keywords carefully, choose 2 or 3 priority Keywords and work them naturally into your web copy. There’s no point stuffing the pages with Keywords, as both the Search Engines and human visitors will find your pages of little value. Your copy needs to naturally feature your Keyword selections at the right density without losing its flow.

6. Use Headers
Your headers need to feature your keywords and your brand/company name. Search Engines often crawl this information first, so important decisions as to the relevance of your site are made at this point. Spend considerable time choosing the right copy for these Headers.

7. Copy Length
Keep your copy above 250 words if you wish to ensure that there’s enough space to get your message across without making the Keywords jar. Don’t waffle on to thousands of words; just keep your copy informative but to the point. People don’t read drivel and they won’t engage with reams and reams of text.

8. Benefits not Features
Describe the benefits that your product, service or company have to your potential customer or client. People don’t buy features, they want to know ‘What’s in it for me? When a prospective buyer reaches the point where they feel that your product or service would really benefit them, they will then consider buying.

9. Paragraphs
Keep your web copy to small bite sized paragraphs. Don’t give the reader too much work to do, web readers are lazier by nature and like to skip through to the important parts.

10. Proof Reading
Many people are so happy to have filled up their website with great copy that they forget to go back and proof read it. Silly mistakes make you and your comGpany seem thoughtless and unprofessional!

We hope this helps but if you’d rather spend your time managing your business, please review our search engine optimisation services page to see if we can be of assistance.

At Impact Media we know how important it is to have effective and unique content on your website.

Contrary to beliefs, website content development differs greatly from other media as it has to satisfy a much greater audience. Website content development is more complex than people give it credit as in today’s world your copy has to achieve all of the following or it will not succeed in its job to convert:

• Be unique and optimised so that the search engines will index it
• Be visually appealing to create interest
• Compel people to read it and then want it
• Contain the right mix to convey message and benefits
• Be well structured to gain maximum conversion

We believe good website content is of the utmost importance as it will define the difference between great conversions and next to no conversions.

Simply put:

Great Content = Great conversions + High ROI

The content of your website will be the initial compelling factor encouraging people to buy your product and/or service. Therefore it is of utmost importance that the content is structured correctly to receive maximum impact and a high conversion rate.

When you are creating or having content created for your website keep the following top tips in mind:

• Talk in Benefits
• Use the keywords you want to rank for in the website copy
• Don’t waffle be specific
• Use illustrations if possible to add clarity and visual aids
• Include a call to action (tell them what you want them to do next)