This month Ed’s outlining the fundamentals of optimising your website’s copywriting. It starts with finding the keywords and phrases that people use to search for your websites like yours. These words are then inserted into your website’s copy so your site is indexed and appears as high as possible in Google SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages).
SEO Keywords & Website Copywriting
Ed begins by asking you key questions to determine the words that describe what your business is all about and what you want to achieve with your website. These answers are then used to brainstorm likely keyword candidates along with an assessment of your main competitors. These potential keywords are then input into a keyword analysis tool resulting in a set of the best 10-15 keywords / phrases that are then used to optimise each page of your website’s copywriting.
Page Titles & URL Names
The page title tag is usually written into your website’s CMS and often appears in the tab field of your browser. It’s one of the main things Google’s robots look for when indexing and ranking your site. The earlier your keywords appear in page titles the better. Page titles can also include the name of your website or business, and the actual name of the page being viewed. URL names are the addresses of your website’s pages, so keywords need to go in there as well, if possible.
H1 Headings & H2 Subheadings
In geek-speak, H1s are just the main page headings and H2s the sub-headings. H1s and H2s are two of the main places (as well as page titles) that keywords need to appear on your website. Note however, a heading still needs to be a heading, not just a list of juicy keywords. That’s called keyword stuffing or black hat SEO. Google’s robots don’t like that sort of behaviour and punish sites that try to cheat the system.
Optimised Website Body Copy
When optimising website copy it’s important to remember it needs to be read by actual human beings, not just Google’s robots. That’s right, Google needs keywords in your writing to rank your website but humans need a comfortable read that will ultimately persuade them to buy into your key messaging and fulfill your sales goals and objectives. Quality keywords need to appear regularly in the body of your website copywriting, and as early as possible, but only as often as they make sense.
Internal & External Links for SEO
Adding links within website copywriting is paramount. Internal links take the reader to elsewhere on your site like here and external links go to other places such as this. Generally, the more links the better.
But just writing in keywords for SEO is not enough …
Optimising your website’s copywriting is an essential (Ed would say mandatory) component of well-executed SEO. But the most successful websites end up best mates with Google’s robots by deploying a broader online strategy. This often includes a communications calendar for regular social networking activity and news article publishing. The intended result is engagement such as likes and shares, and ultimately an ongoing conversation with target audiences.
Other paid online activity such as Adwords campaigns (Google’s pay-per-click service) and various advertising options on Facebook and Instagram, are highly recommended if you’re really serious about growing your business online. Finally, it’s wise to also promote your website’s address via traditional ‘offline’ channels such as print, press, radio and TV.
So, do you want to start driving more visitors to your website?
Then get in touch with Ed on 027 285 3800 or by clicking any of the icons above.
Kind Regards, Steff @ Ed