Search Engine Optimization Eblog

A couple months ago, several web copywriters and I were interviewed by author Vickie Taylor as she was putting together the book "The Complete Guide to Writing Web-Based Advertising Copy to Get the Sale - What You Need to Know Explained Simply".

Yesterday I received my copy in the mail. Sure enough, she has included my 5-page interview, along with those of the dozen or so other web copywriters she interviewed. I was pleased to see my colleague Marte Cliff there, among some other familiar names I know from the online copywriting world. Marte and the others contributed some fantastic nuggets for web copywriters just starting out.

All in all, this book is a good starting point if you:
- Want to learn what a web copywriter does
- Are thinking about starting a career as a web copywriter
- Work with web copywriters

It's not a manual that tells you how to become a copywriter or how to write fantastic web copy or seo copy, so if you are already in the field you'll find it a bit simplistic. However, having said that, it's certainly interesting to read through the interviews with the web copywriters Ms. Taylor has identified as experts in the field. What diverse backgrounds and great advice! And I'm certainly pleased to see us counted among them.

For more information, see the book on Amazon

When you think of social networks, the first to come to mind are usually general social networks such as Facebook and MySpace.

However, there has been a rise in niche social networks, branded networks that are built for specific users to connect and communicate about topics related to their industries. Examples include Shelfari.com for book enthusiasts and ImSaturn for Saturn owners.

With the rise of niche social networks, many business owners are considering whether a specifically branded social network will be a worthwile investment for their business and industry.

A branded network can be a good idea to foster discussion about your industry and promote more traffic to your site. When beginning, there are some factors that you need to address in order for the benefits to outweigh the costs in time and money.

The first and most important issue to address is to ensure there are enough active users before even considering beginning a networking site. To achieve this, you will need to offer a wide platform of topics beyond just your brand and include discussions on how your industry affects the world at large.

Once a cadre of dedicated users is secured, you can move on to obtaining the needed software. There are a few companies out there that specialize in social networking platforms, such as Ning and ONEsite, and offers wide ranging options from inexpensive basic software plug-ins to entire Web 2.0 platforms. You can cut some costs by establishing a revenue-sharing agreement with the provider or by including ads.

Finally, integrating the networking site into your main website will take a little more effort. Don't forget the power of search engine optimization to help attract more traffic and users to your social network. Enlist an SEO company that can help you make the most of this endeavor.

Once you have everything up and running, engage your community through blog posts, networking with your community, and sharing information with other sites!

I write sometimes 8-12 press releases each month, mostly for our client businesses. I have a process I use that makes sure I'm hitting all the bases to both optimize the press release for the search engines and also that the content is newsworthy and presented in an intersting way...

But everyone can use a little help now and then. Just recently David Meerman Scott noted a new tool called Press Release Grader. I have to say it's definitely a tool worth checking out if you write press releases, whether you're just starting or you've got a gazillion under your belt. After all, the factors that make a press release successful are still evolving.

I used the tool to evaluate a press release I had just prepared, and I was relieved to see I earned a score of 87%. The points deducted were simply for not copying the ### at the end of the release into the grader, and also using the word "unique", since this can be a gobblydegook word. However that was unavoidable since it was actually part of a targeted keyword phrase in the press release.

But the tool went farther than just giving your press release a score and a couple reasons for it. It analyzes the links you're pointing to in your press release and even shows a tag cloud for keywords, so you get a visual representation of the words most repeated. There are some other nifty features but you'll have to go check them out yourself...