Moe Tamani's Internet Marketing and SEO Blog, Articles and Search Engine Optimization Tips » Content Writing

Search Engine Optimization and Content: Make it Available to Everyone

Seomul Evans — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 19:29:48 +0000

Search Engine Optimization and Content: Make it Available to Everyone

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

If you’re serious about your search engine optimization efforts then you should be writing content on a regular basis. Search engines place a premium on content that readers find helpful and informative because the primary aim of search engines is to point users to websites that are closely related to the keywords that they enter into the search engines. The more helpful your information is, the more readers find it valuable, and the more likely they are to use the search engine that pointed them to that information again. It would be great if all of your target audience just wanted to come to your website everyday to read your latest insights, but chances are that your readers prefer varied media. Here are 7 ways to leverage for content for a diverse audience.

1.Write Articles. Turn some of your content into articles to be submitted to article directories. When you submit your article, be sure to include all pertinent information in the resource box. This will tell readers how to find you. Not only will they know where to go for more information, but they will be compelled to go to your website because your articles have helped you establish yourself as an expert in your field.
2.Write a Newsletter. Use the very same articles you submitted to article directories by putting them in your newsletter. You might need to alter them slightly to ensure that they include the personal touch that your newsletter subscribers probably expect from you, but you can also use them without alterations if you wish.

3.Blog. Articles make great blog posts if you divide them up into smaller, more digestible pieces.

4.Podcasts. Take the same article written for the article directory and record yourself reading it. Then turn it into a podcast or video. Many of your readers will find your articles more accessible if they can listen to them at the gym or in the car. And others will be interested in seeing what you look like. iTunes is a great place to share podcasts and YouTube is a great place to share videos.

5.Write a Book. If you find that you’ve written several articles on the same subject, consider turning them into an ebook. Make each article a separate chapter and then write some transitional material to make it all flow better.

6.Create a Course. Instead of turning each article into a chapter of a book, turn each article into a lesson for a course. You may want to enhance your articles by including worksheets or other material, and you’ll probably again find yourself needing to include transitional material. Each lesson can be sent out to your subscribers in an email.

7.Create a Membership Site. You may have already created a membership site where visitors pay a fee in order to see your content. If so, simply include your articles in that content. If you don’t have a membership site you may want to consider creating one. It’s yet another way to increase traffic to your website. The more people value your content, the more likely they are to come back again and to tell their friends about you.

If you’re going to spend the time creating good content for search engine optimization, then you might as well get as much mileage out of it as possible. There’s no substitute for good content, after all, and if you aren’t already writing then you should start right away. Contact an internet marketing professional to guide you through the process of writing optimized content that both human visitors and search engines will value. If you’re unfamiliar with any of the other strategies mentioned above such as blogging or writing a newsletter, an internet marketer or search engine optimization professional may be helpful as well in getting you up to speed.

Search Engine Optimization and Social Media: 5 Keys to Good Content

Seomul Evans — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 12:09:33 +0000

Search Engine Optimization and Social Media: 5 Keys to Good Content

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

A quality search engine optimization campaign these days must include social media. Social media is becoming more and more mainstream and is becoming a more and more popular place for individuals to get information as they make decisions about a variety of issues. So if you’re not using social media as a search engine optimization tool already, you should consider making it part of your SEO campaign as soon as possible. But before you jump right in, remember that you would never walk right up to a group of people you don’t know and just butt in to their conversation. Likewise, you would never join a social media site and start talking about your product or service to a group of people who have already built relationships with one another and have no idea who you are. So start slowly. Lurk for awhile and then introduce yourself. Add relevant and helpful comments that have nothing to do with your product or service. Once your community trusts you, it’s time to start adding some content. But what kind of content, you ask? Here are 5 keys to good content for social media sites.

1.Personal stories. Personal stories are great because they make you seem more human and therefore more trustworthy. And people are more likely to purchase a product or service from someone they know than from a complete stranger. Just make sure the storytelling you do is appropriate. Don’t share too much personal information that may make others feel uncomfortable, and don’t tell stores that are nothing more than bragging. Tell stories that are relevant, interesting, and useful.
2.Interviews. Interviews are great tools for social media sites. Interview an expert in your field, someone whose advice your community would value. If you’re new to your industry and don’t have anyone to interview, consider someone with whom you already have a relationship who could offer valuable information regardless of whether or not he or she is well-known. Good information is good information, no matter where it comes from.

3.Expert Advice. If you yourself have good information or tips to share, turn that into content. You’ve probably learned some good lessons or gleaned valuable wisdom during your years in business, so share what you’ve learned. Again, be careful when touting yourself as the expert. Your online community doesn’t want to hear about you incessantly, so make sure that you offer expert advice, not information that centers on you and your brilliance or success.

4.Controversy. If you have thick skin and don’t mind making waves, consider creating content that will get your community debating. This should never be personal, nor should you ever encourage personal attacks. The point is simply to bring up something potentially controversial, take a side, and invite the input of others regarding that topic. Controversy for the sake of controversy isn’t necessarily helpful, but good controversy can make everyone in the online community consider their positions and think critically about alternative ideas. And that strengthens each individual as well as the community as a whole.

Other keys to good content include giving your content an attention-grabbing headline, and then making sure your content delivers on whatever your headline has promise. Good images help break up the text and make your content more visually appealing to your visitors. And if you’ve taken the time to include good images, you give your community more reason to think that you’ve spent some time preparing your content instead of just throwing it together at the last minute. Give your content more credibility by quoting outside sources and citing your references.

If search engine optimization is important to you, be sure that you’re using social media sites to their fullest potential to increase your search engine ranking and drive traffic to your website.

Search Engine Optimization and Viral Content: 3 Ways to Make it Work for You

Seomul Evans — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:40:36 +0000

Search Engine Optimization and Viral Content: 3 Ways to Make it Work for You

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

The whole point of search engine optimization is to drive traffic to your website. One of the best ways to do this is to create viral content, content that is sure to make news and travel fast. The key to viral content is to make sure it doesn’t appear that you contrived it simply to drive traffic to your site. It must always be legitimate content that your visitors perceive to be helpful and informative. Here are 3 ways to make viral content work for you.

1.Simplicity. Viral content should be interesting to a wide variety of people, not just your niche. Make your writing simple to understand and avoid using any jargon. Overall, your content should attract a general audience.

2.Encourage Sharing. One great way to encourage your readers to share your content is to add social media site buttons to the bottom of the page. These make it simple for your readers to bookmark your content and thus share it with others quickly and easily. Another strategy is to use an email form that lets your readers email your content to other who would be interested. You can also use HTML code that allows your readers to embed your audio or video into their own websites.

3.Keep Up. Pop culture is a great topic for viral content. Make sure your content is timely so that people will read it. Yesterday’s news does not make for good content.

4.Request Contact Information. Anytime you use viral content, you should always request that your visitors opt in to something, whether it be a newsletter or a regular email update about your business. Even after your content is no loner fresh in their minds, you can still keep up with them and tell them what’s going on with your business if you have their email addresses. When you keep your name always before your potential customers, you increase the chances that they will think of you when it comes time to purchase a product or service that you offer.

5.Images. These are great for viral content because they appeal to large audiences regardless of language or location. People who are turned off by large amounts of content are typically lured to images because they’re simply interesting to look at for whatever reason.

This talk of viral content begs the question, then, about how to get your visitors to notice your products or services once they have found your website as a result of your viral content. One option is to feature your products in the sidebar. Another option is to include a link to another piece of content so that your visitors are compelling to remain on your website even longer The longer a visitor stays on your website, even if he was initially attracted by viral content, the more he will learn about you and what you have to offer. When that happens, the chances that he will purchase your products and services will increase, as will the likelihood that he will tell others about you too.

Internet marketers are great resources if you want to learn more about how to make viral content work for your business. They can tell you exactly how to use it, and how to convert customers who arrive at your website as a result of viral content. They can give you pointers on the best times to use it and how to use it most effectively. So consider the opportunities provided by viral content and see how it can enhance your overall search engine optimization strategy. You’ll be glad you did when you see your increased search engine ranking and the additional traffic being driven to your site.

SEO and Article Marketing: The Anatomy of a Good Article

Seomul Evans — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:37:24 +0000

SEO and Article Marketing: The Anatomy of a Good Article

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

Few internet marketers are unaware of the importance of article marketing to their SEO efforts. But many internet marketers neglect this important tool because they feel that they don’t have anything good to say, they feel that they can’t write well enough, or they just simply don’t want to do it. But article marketing is a great way to kill two birds with one stone. Not only do you increase your search engine rankings by getting quality links to your website, but you gain credibility with your target market because they feel that you have something important and relevant to say about your industry. Here are three keys to writing a good article that will get you and your business noticed:

1.Pick a Good Title. The title should clarify the subject of the article. If you don’t clearly communicate your article’s topic in the title, you’ll serve only to confuse and frustrate your audience. The title sets up expectations about the content, so be sure to meet those expectations in your writing. Your title should also include your primary keyword for which you’re doing SEO. If you’re optimizing for a phrase, make sure that the phrase includes no more than three words. If possible, include a secondary keyword in the title as well.

2.Write a Good Opening Paragraph. If your title was compelling enough to catch a reader’s eye, then you’ve already done some good work. Continue that work by writing a quality opening paragraph. The opening paragraph should take your title and expand on it, and should outline for your readers what they should expect to learn by reading your article. This is the key for marketing yourself as an expert in your field. People will judge your competence and your professionalism based on how much valuable information you can provide in your article.

3.Keep the Reader Reading. The body of the article should tell the readers what you told them that you were going to tell them. In other words, this is where you ultimately deliver on the promises you made in your opening paragraph. Your concluding paragraph should summarize the article and should be just as compelling as your opening paragraph. Readers will often skim an article, reading only the first and last paragraphs, in order to decide whether the whole thing is worth reading. So don’t peter out at the end and leave your reader with a weak conclusion.

4.Summary. This is separate from your article, but you should never underestimate its importance. It may be the only thing a potential reader reads, so make sure it will motivate your readers to check out the entire article. And don’t forget the resource box. This is most important part of the whole process for SEO purposes. The resource box gives you the opportunity to link back to your site and thus build up the quality inbound links that search engines value so much.

If you’re still not sure how to go about getting started in article marketing, spend some time looking at article directories. Find the articles that have been viewed the most and take your cues from those authors. What is their writing style? What do they write about? Are they formal or informal? Do they use technical language or language that laypeople would understand? You’ll learn a lot simply by observing what other successful people do. And if that isn’t enough help, consider talking to an internet marketer. An internet marketer or SEO expert can help you determine how to integrate article marketing into your overall marketing plan so that your search engine rankings will increase, more traffic will visit your site, and your revenues will increase!

3 Reasons to Use Article Marketing as an SEO Tool

MoeTamani — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:18:02 +0000

3 Reasons to Use Article Marketing as an SEO Tool

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

The ultimate goal of SEO is to get targeted traffic to your website. Targeted traffic consists of potential customers who have already researched products or services within your niche, and who are fairly close to making a purchase. These people are clear about what they want and are usually just making some last-minute comparisons before finally settling on a vendor. There are many strategies for attracting targeted traffic to your website, and article marketing is one of the most effective. Here are three reasons to use article marketing in your SEO efforts.

1. It’s Free. Article marketing is free advertising for your business. Many article directories don’t charge to list your articles, and the link that you include when you submit your article leads readers right back to your website. So you have people interested in what you have to offer reading your articles in order to gain more information, and they have easy access to your website via the link that you provide. What a great way to advertise! The key to article marketing for SEO, however, is to make sure that your article isn’t an obvious advertisement for your business. Readers expect your article to provide information, not a hard sales pitch, and most readers will ignore articles that make the hard sell. You merely want to pique the reader’s curiosity so that he will follow your link in order to find out more about what you have to offer.

2. It Increases Your Search Engine Rank. And an increased search engine rank means more targeted traffic to your website which, as we said before, is the ultimate end of SEO. Instead of merely submitted your articles to directories, you should also create a page of the articles you’ve written and include it on your website. The search engines will see pages and pages of content relevant to your product or service and will ultimately reward you by giving you a higher search engine ranking.

3. It Increases Links to Your Website. One of the ways that search engines determine a website’s ranking is by the number of links to the site. This should be obvious if you’ve spent any time researching or doing SEO. And search engines assign even greater value to websites that have links from other authoritative websites. Therein lies the beauty of article marketing. If your articles are listed in directories that the search engines deem to be authoritative within your market niche, then you benefit. When you submit your article to a directory, you have the opportunity to put a link back to your website in what is called the resource box.

The two primary keys to successful SEO are good content and relevant links. Article marketing is a great way to achieve both. When you create good content in the form of articles and then post those articles on your website, you have signaled to the search engines that your content is relevant to your market niche. In addition, you also establish yourself as an authority in your field, which helps your target audience built trust in you—and whatever it is that you’re offering to them. Search engines also reward relevant links. By submitting your articles to directories and getting links back to your site from those directories, you’re telling the search engines that well-respected websites find your information helpful and relevant. So there’s no way to overestimate the importance of article marketing to your SEO endeavors. If you’re not already committed to article marketing as an SEO tool, you would serve your business well by beginning to submit articles to directories right away. It does take some time and effort, but it’s free, and you’ll be glad you put in the work when you see the results!

3 Tips to Article Marketing for SEO

3 Tips to Article Marketing for SEO

MoeTamani — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:12:49 +0000

3 Tips to Article Marketing for SEO

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

Article marketing is an invaluable SEO tool. Not only does it increase your search engine ranking by increasing the number of inbound links to your site, but it also helps you establish yourself as an authority in your field, which drives traffic to your site. Here are three article marketing tips for you to consider whether you’re new at article marketing or have already made it an integral part of your SEO strategy.

1. Consider Your Niche. In order for article marketing to be a worthwhile endeavor for you, you need to know whether there is a demand for information within your niche. If there isn’t, then article marketing may simply be a waste of your time. If there is, then you make good use of your time by providing high-quality, relevant articles that contain helpful information. Find out what information your target audience is looking for and then write articles that provide that information. This may take some effort, but if you can give your audience what they need, then they will reward you handsomely by visiting your website and hopefully becoming loyal customers, and that, after all, is the ultimate end of SEO.

2. Article Placement. If you want article marketing to be an effective SEO tool, then you have to make sure that your articles are easily found by your target audience. Directories are a great place to start. Other website owner who are looking for content to publish on their own sites or newsletters often start by looking in article directories. And the best article directories to use are those that are popular and draw a lot of traffic. Alexa can tell you how popular and article directory is, and you can also find out how many pages of the directory have been indexed by search engines. You want to stick with directories that have a high number of pages indexed.

3. How Steep is the Curve? One item that internet marketers often fail to consider, to their detriment, is how much information their target audience members need in order to make a purchasing decision. Article marketing efforts for SEO simply must take this into account in order to be effective. If your target audience needs a lot of information, then your approach to article marketing will be very different from a marketer whose audience already has a broad base of information about the product or service in question. If your target audience needs information, then build your reputation with them by giving them that information. It doesn’t do you any good to bill yourself as an expert if you can’t talk about your product or service in terms that your target audience can understand. And you’ll go a long way toward gaining their trust if they perceive you as someone who has their best interests at heart by holding their hands as they learn more about what you’re offering. You can find out where your target audience is by taking some time to find out what kinds of questions they are asking. Are they asking basic questions or end product questions? Target your article marketing efforts accordingly.

Article marketing is a wonderful SEO tool when used correctly. Simply writing articles that you think might interest your target audience and then shooting them to random directories won’t do the trick, though. You need to consider your audience, their knowledge of your market niche, and where you can place your articles so that they reach a large number of people interested in what you have to offer. If you still need some guidance in article marketing for SEO, consult an internet marketing professional. A professional can help you turn article marketing into an integral part of your overall SEO strategy.

3 Keys to SEO Content that Gets Results

MoeTamani — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:09:35 +0000

3 Keys to SEO Content that Gets Results

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

SEO experts know that great content is one of the keys to higher search engine results and increased traffic to your website. SEO content tells the search engines that the information you provide on your website is relevant, and that an internet user who is looking for information on the products and services that you offer will find that information on your website. Therefore it’s almost impossible to underestimate the importance of good content to the success of your website. Here are three keys to SEO content that will get results for your business.

1. SEO Content is a Search Engine Magnet. The information on your webpage is what will make the search engines notice you. The search engines are looking for websites that are relevant to the search terms that a user has typed in to find information about your product or service. So how does a search engine determine that your content is relevant? It looks at the title of your webpage, the description of your webpage, and the keywords that it sees on your webpage. Therefore, it’s important to use your keywords liberally within the content of your website, but not so liberally that your content looks contrived. Good SEO content uses the right amount of keywords so that the search engine knows that your website is relevant, and so that your potential customer finds your content interesting, helpful, and easy to read.

2. Link Your Content. The longer a webpage within your website is indexed by the search engines, the greater value it is given over time. In other words, the older your webpage is, the more likely that search engines will see it as authoritative. And search engines reward authoritative webpages by giving them greater value. So if you have a webpage that contains excellent SEO content, and if that webpage has existed for awhile, you can use that webpage to increase the search engine rankings of the other webpages within your website. Start with one page, then cross-reference and internally link other pages that contain relevant or similar content. Then continue to add other pages as the previous ones begin to obtain higher and higher search engine rankings.

3. Manage Your Content Wisely. Once you have created good SEO content and increased the value of the WebPages within your website by linking them to one another, you need to focus on keeping your content fresh. Spiders are more likely to visit your website if you’re putting up fresh content every day, or every other day, than they are if you’re posting new content once per month. One great way to manage your content is with a content management system, or CMS. A CMS can help you keep up with your content, as well as tie all of the content on your website together in a cohesive, logical fashion. And when your visitors can find you, and find their way around your website with ease, they will reward you by becoming loyal visitors—and even customers.

If you’re still unsure about how to create fresh, relevant, cohesive SEO content that search engines will reward, it’s time to consult your local SEO expert or internet marketing professional. These individuals can help you determine which CMS will work best for your business, and can show you how to create content in such a way that search engines—and potential customers—won’t be able to ignore you. Never underestimate the power of relevant, helpful content to the success of your business. In fact, you simply can’t afford not to pay close attention to how your content affects the traffic that comes to your site. So get started today creating great content that increases your search engine ranking and drives targeted traffic to your website. You’ll be glad you did when you see the results!

8 Tips for Great SEO Friendly Content

MoeTamani — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 02:42:07 +0000

8 Tips for Great SEO Friendly Content

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

SEO experts agree that one of the most important aspects of search engine optimization is writing great content. Great content naturally includes an appropriate number of keywords per page and keeps your reader engaged. Great content compels readers to link to you from their own sites, thereby increasing the number of inbound links to your page and increasing your exposure to other potential customers. Finally, great content is simply useful. It gives your readers the information they’re looking for and allows them to build trust in your competence. So how do you go about writing great content? Here are 8 tips:

1. Relevance. The key to great content is relevance. Pick a topic and stick with it. If this means that you need another article or another blog post in order to address a topic related to, but not exactly like, the topic you’re addressing, then so be it. But don’t ramble and don’t introduce too many ideas on one page.

2. Proofread. The number one way to make readers question your professionalism is to show them that you can’t write, so double-check for spelling and grammatical errors. You don’t want readers looking for another site to visit simply because your writing was not up to par.

3. Usefulness. There is no point in publishing optimized content that isn’t useful. As mentioned above, the point of great content is to help readers build trust in your abilities and to give them the information that they’re looking for. Useless content is a waste of your time and wastes the time of your potential customers who won’t think twice about researching a competitor who will give them the information they’re looking for.

4. Provide Answers. Sit down and think of all the questions that a potential customer might ask you. Start at the very beginning, pretending you’re a customer who knows absolutely nothing about your business and is just starting to research whatever it is that you’re selling. Then write content that answers those questions. Be sure to avoid using jargon. Write in terms that the average visitor will understand.

5. Make the Answer Easy to Find. If visitors to your site can’t easily find pricing information, shipping information, or any other pertinent information quickly and easily, you can count on losing their business. Any information that a visitor might need should be readily available without requiring a hunt.

6. Descriptions. Make sure you include lots of information about how to use each of your products. Also include in-depth descriptions. If you don’t offer these suggestions and descriptions, and your competitor does, your competitor will get the business of the person who just clicked away from your site. Picking up the phone to ask for details is considered a waste of time, so don’t make your potential customers have to do extra work that they don’t want to do. Give them all the info they need.

7. Unique Content. Slideshows, interactive games, photo galleries, and top ten lists are all great ways to engage readers and compel them to link to your from their own sites. The key is to continue to make this content relevant. If the content isn’t relevant, then visitors will not only question your professionalism, but your ability to stay focused on their needs.

8. Readability. Most internet searchers scan sites rather than reading everything on a page, so your content should be laid out in a way that lends itself to scanning. Short paragraphs, bullets, numbers, and subheadings are great ways to break up the content into manageable pieces. If your content is too hard to digest, visitors will leave as quickly as they came.

Make sure your content is relevant, engaging, and well organized. You’ll be on your way to turning your visitors into clients rather than folks who just click by for awhile before heading somewhere else.