Content Writer Micky’s Blog

Archive for February, 2010

Want to learn more about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Writing for the Web (Content Writing)?

Here are some SEO and Web Copywriting courses I recommend. These courses can be taken online, in your own time and at your own pace, making it very convenient.

I have taken courses myself in the past with both Search Engine College and Sydney Writers’ Centre, and I personally vouch for the standards of these course providers, while SEO Book is a known leader in the SEO industry.

All organisations are run professionally by experts and you’ll get true value for your money.

Course Provider: Search Engine College
Who are they? International online SEO/SEM course provider (one of the very first), run by Kalena Jordan, an Australian SEO expert now based in New Zealand, with students in nearly 50 countries.
Courses: Basic & Advanced SEO, Basic & Advanced PPC, Website Copywriting, Website Usability, Link Building, Article Marketing & Distribution and more
Study Method: Tutor-supervised online self-study or certification courses

Download a free sample SEO lesson or see all courses and/or sign up with Search Engine College now.

Course Provider: Sydney Writers’ Centre
Who are they? Australia’s leading centre for writing training, run by journalist, editor and author Valerie Khoo, where you learn directly from the best in the business.
Courses: Writing for the Web, Professional Business Writing, Blogging for Business, Magazine Writing, Creative Writing and more
Study Method: Some are online courses, others are courses and seminars held in Sydney.

See details of all writing courses and sign up online at Sydney Writers’ Centre now.

Course Provider: SEO Book
Who are they? International provider of online SEO/SEM tools and training headed by Aaron Wall, a leader in the SEO industry, based in the US.
Courses: Over 100 training modules and access to lots of SEO tools and resources
Study Method: Self-study

See details of this SEO Training Package or join SEO Book online now.

I know there must be countless of other online SEO courses and web copywriting courses available if you search the web but I just wanted to give some personal recommendations.

I have really enjoyed taking courses at both Search Engine College and Sydney Writers’ Centre. Because I live in a regional area of Australia, I found it very convenient that I could simply sign up online and take the courses online, while still being just an email or forum post away from the expert tutors in each course for guidance when needed.

The courses have definitely helped me become a successful SEO Content Writer. I have since gone on to become an Assistant Tutor for the SEO courses at Search Engine College.

If you take any of these courses, I’m sure you too will become an SEO or Web Content Writing expert yourself in no time at all. Good luck!

Keyword research can be vital to the success of your website.

If you operate in a market with no or few competitors, it doesn’t really matter. People should be able to find your site if you just use common sense and let your website describe what you do.

However, in more competitive markets, it can be incredibly difficult to rank well for the keywords you think describe your products or services best – particularly if your website is still new. 

You could be competing against hundreds, if not thousands, of other websites that are targeting the exact same keyword phrases as you. And it will be hard to outrank your competitors, because they may have many advantages over yours, such as:

• those websites may have been up for years and have ‘proven’ their worth;
• they may have many more pages of content than you do;
• they probably have a lot more incoming links to their site than you do.

Google and other search engines are bound to rank those websites higher than yours, which is only new, doesn’t have a lot of content yet and no or few incoming links – no matter how good your content is or how well you have optimised your site for those keywords. 

If you start a new website, you have to be realistic with your expectations of SEO.

• The more general and popular a search term, the harder it will be to be able to rank for that phrase.
• Single keywords are way harder to rank for than keyword combinations of 2, 3 or 4 words.

What can you do to still get your website found?

1. Find out what people type into search engines. Do keyword research (or have someone do the research for you) using a keyword research tool, so it’s not a guessing game but you actually KNOW what people are searching for. You can also ask people you know what they would type into a search engine if they were looking for your kinds of products or services.
2. Check out the competition. Type some of the relevant search phrases you have found into Google (within Australia, Google accounts for about 95% of all online searches) and see how many results you get. Decide whether it’s worth it or even possible to compete on those phrases.
3. Think of alternative keyword phrases. Many keyword research tools give suggestions for related words. You may hit upon a slightly different description that people use as well, but not many other websites are targeting. That’s your opportunity to optimise your site for that phrase and rank well for it.
4. Target so-called ’long tail keywords’. These are longer and quite specific keyword phrases that maybe only a handful of people search for each month but have very little competition because nobody else has thought of targeting them. Blogs are great for targeting long tail keywords because you can keep adding new pages that each target a different long tail keyword phrase. The good thing is that because the keyword phrases are more specific, they often attract very targeted traffic so your conversion rate will be higher.
5. Start small: Go local. Rather than immediately trying to capture the market in the entire country or world, consider starting small. Focus on your town, city, region or state. You’d be surprised how many people type in their location after a search phrase because they are looking for a business in their area. Targeting “web designer Newcastle”, for example, may get you more traffic than trying to rank well for just “web designer”, which has way too much competition. Remember to claim your Google Local Business Centre listing and submit your site to local and regional directories. Once you are successful locally, it’s a natural progression to target a wider audience. Of course, this option may depend on the type of products or services you offer, but it’s often a good way to start.

Example of SEO keyword research

A client of mine offers home staging services in the Newcastle/Central Coast/Sydney area. I recently optimised some of the pages of their website.

Keyword research revealed that ‘home staging’ is a popular search term but there are more than 6,000 other web pages competing for that keyword phrase when you search on google.com.au (6,000 Australian pages and even 1.6 million results worldwide!). That would make it very difficult to rank well for that phrase. However, I found out that roughly the same number of people search for house makeover, but the search results show only about 400 other Australian web pages for that term. That makes it a good alternative keyword phrase to target and I have optimised their homepage for that term.

Also, by more obviously targeting some of the locations of the company’s service area, the website will be found better for location-specific search phrases such as home staging Newcastle and house staging Sydney for instance.

So don’t despair if you can’t seem to outrank your competitors in the search results. Think of alternative ways to attract traffic. Add more pages (a blog is useful in that regard) and target more specific keyword combinations with each of them.

Need help optimising your website? I can do keyword research for you and help you target the most effective SEO keyword combinations. I can then optimise your pages for you. You should also consider these SEO ranking factors in addition to optimising your page content.

Visit my SEO Content Writer website for further information about my services and feel free to contact me to discuss your web content & SEO needs.