Content Development

Content is King

Users know intuitively that if a site has lots of white papers, articles, FAQs, tips and tricks, etc., that the site is likely an authority. Content plays a psychological role and overall website size also matters to Google. If you search Google using (site:lendingtree.com) you will see a site with over 20,000 pages indexed. Do the same search on any local competitor that does mortgages and you may likely see a ten to fifty page site. When vying for top ranks, you can’t expect Google to treat you with the respect they give to sites with large volumes of content.

SEO companies can't make pigs fly!

Before you think about getting traffic to your site, the first thing to do is examine your content. If there was no such thing as the internet and there were no brochures, what would your pitch be? What is the information that makes you unique?

The truth is most small business owners don’t have time to generate new content for their websites and sadly are often too afraid to give a professional writer a try. One way or another, you will need regular content that changes or you will not be highly regarded by the search engines.

Email Newsletters

Why not kill two birds with one stone and write an email newsletter once a month and use the same content on a blog and/or to submit to sites that will give you a link back to your site in exchange for a free article? Even one short article a month, sent in an email newsletter and then archived on your site will be a great start at showing Google and the top engines that you are a regular contributor to your topical community.

Podcasts

Another technique we have been using with great success is Podcasting. Considering we have been bugging people for articles and new content pages for over a decade, it gives me great pleasure to see such a simple technique become such an amazing solution. I have always been an advocate (since 1995) of adding extra content to your site both for the users and to grow the size of your site. Even when other "seo techniques" were more on the hotlist, I pushed and pushed for content. Even though link building is still as or more important, getting good links is a lot easier with quality content. So how can you get new articles and info quickly without writing short weak articles just for the search engines??? Ask any journalist! It's not exactly a cutting-edge technique to interview people. What is new is that you have a new audience for streaming audio files and the transcriptions of the recording can be used for new text pages and SEO optimization.

Podcasting Example
Read a blog post on Podcasting.

Website Content and Branding Strategy:

It all starts with who you are and what you represent. Without this, all the geeky SEO tricks in the world won’t help you. If you don’t have any agency helping you understand your company’s positioning, you should do this before writing a single tagline. Once you know your positioning, i.e. are you the high cost provider like a Ritz Carlton or a low cost provider like a Wal-Mart or somewhere in between? When you can clearly state your company’s unique selling proposition and back up the brand with key conversion points you will close more deals.

SEO Writing

Our writers are well versed not only in adding keywords, but adding them eloquently and with your proper branding in mind. If your keywords appear to stick out like a sore thumb, experiment with reducing the density or adjusting the writing. Breaking out new pages for key topics in an existing page is a great way to add more content with less severe repetition of keywords.

Persuasive Writing

It’s not just about keywords anymore. Sounding convincing and pointing to action items can dramatically increase conversions. Using trigger words and mentioning awards, press stories, books you have written etc., all makes your content more believable.

Sponsored Ad Copy – PPC Ads

Writing tiny little text ads takes a special talent and a lot of thought. Subtle things like the difference between saying cheap shoes and discount shoes can make a radical impact on your conversion rate.

Some things to consider:

• Catchy titles
• Trigger word
• Things that brand you as an expert
• Proof that you have the best deal

A good writer is only as good as the conversions he or she creates so if you don’t test to see what is working via tracking goals in analytics and test variations of ads, you will never know how well your favorite copy is working. Check out Google’s Website Optimizer software and call if you are interested in optimizing your ads and content.

Landing Page Copy

Landing page copy requires extreme focus on one goal which is to get the user to take an action, such as filling out a form. Unlike a standard webpage where there are lots of links and things to do or click, a good landing page funnels users through a short pitch and a list of benefits/services to one specific track-able goal. Paid ads are not cheap and by increasing your conversions with a quality landing page you can radically improve your ROI.

Read more on Landing Page Design