The 8th of the 8th marks the anniversary of my business: I officially started my SEO copywriting & web consultancy business on 08/08/2008. So today is Content Writer’s 3rd birthday.

My business has enjoyed steady success right from the start and I’m still really happy doing what I do. There has never been a moment that I have been without work – but luckily enough I have been able to take a few short breaks while putting new projects on hold for a while.

I have however also sacrificed quite a few evenings and weekends to work and my goal for year 4 is to plan my work better and not to agree to deadlines that are too tight, so that there is enough time to finish work during normal business hours.

Because my website continues to perform very well in search engines, more clients than I can take on find me via Google and I have never needed to advertise my business.

Some quick stats about Content Writer’s 3rd year in business:

• Total number of clients I worked for between August 2010 and August 2011: 54

• Breakdown of clients:
  • 30% local (Coffs Coast NSW)
  • 50% rest of Australia (Mostly NSW, VIC, QLD)
  • 20% overseas (6 different countries)

Projects I’ve worked on over the last year include:

• researching and writing the complete content for new websites
• writing persuasive and optimised content for individual pages (often homepages)
• rewriting and optimising existing web content that didn’t perform
• creating effective small business websites (WordPress and HTML sites)
• setting up social media profiles and managing Facebook and Twitter accounts
• regular updating and maintaining of client websites
• consulting clients about their websites, usability and SEO
• grading SEO students’ assignments for Search Engine College
• rewriting and editing printed marketing materials.

Here’s to going after what you want, doing what you love, and never stopping the learning process.

Cheers – and bring on year 4, I’m ready for it!

NB – Want to know more about what I do? Check out my Content Writer website.

I’m passionate about helping small business owners or employees improve the online presence of their business.

Social media marketing plays an increasingly large role in marketing your business online.

Unfortunately, there are still many people in business that don’t quite know where to start with Facebook, Twitter and other social media marketing channels. Or they’ve started and are stuck – not knowing how to make the most of social media for their business.

On 4 August 2011, I gave a presentation about social media marketing for businesses to about 100 women at an event organised by the Coffs Coast Business Women’s Network in Coffs Harbour NSW, Australia.

I had so much information to share but was only able to scratch the surface in the half an hour that I had.

But for everyone who was there and want to view the full presentation in their own time – and for everyone who couldn’t be there – I’ve now made the slides available online.

The presentation includes some useful links to websites and tools to make social media marketing a bit easier for you and your business.

My presentation is available here:

• Social Media Marketing Presentation

Of course, these tips don’t go into too much detail either as they’re only the slides with the main points from my presentation.

Need help with your social media marketing?

I offer a range of social media consulting, management & training services as part of Triple W Communications.

If you think you may need some help to set things up properly or to help you manage your social media marketing, please get in touch. I’ll be happy to discuss your requirements and goals and send you a customised quote to suit your needs.

How often do you read or hear something like this: “Social media is a MUST for business these days.” Or: “Your business NEEDS to be on Twitter and Facebook!”

Hardly a day goes by without seeing another story about the importance of social media and the need for businesses to be active on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

Almost all speakers at business networking events tell their audience they would be fools to ignore the power of social media. In fact, I went to an ETC Business Leaders event in Coffs Harbour just yesterday (17 May 2011) where David Koch (“Kochie”) reminded the more than 300 business people in the room they needed to be on Twitter and Facebook if they’re serious about their business.

And I agree. Most businesses can benefit greatly from social media interaction. But only if you know what you’re doing, otherwise it can be a waste of your time.

Social Media Marketing: Helping businesses make the most of it

As a web consultant assisting small businesses and organisations with their online marketing and communications (as well as copywriting and SEO), I have been helping businesses get started on Facebook and Twitter for a few years now.

After joining Twitter myself in early 2009, I quickly embraced it and now can’t imagine not being a part of that wonderful network. For me, it’s the perfect and easiest way to follow industry leaders, to interact and socialise with peers and very importantly: to learn, discover and stay up to date.

Although I’ve offered social media consultancy/marketing/management services for a while, it wasn’t mentioned specifically on my website before. It is now: Social Media Consulting.

SOCIAL MEDIA SERVICES: I offer social media consulting, training and workshops, social media strategies, setting up of professional Facebook Pages and Twitter profiles, getting targeted followers and if required, full management of your social media accounts.

Although I am based in Coffs Harbour on the NSW North Coast, Australia, I offer social media consulting and management to clients around Australia and anywhere else in the world.

If you want professional advice or training to learn how to effectively use Twitter and/or Facebook for your business, you can find out more here: Social Media Marketing & Consultancy and if you’d like my help, please get in touch with me, Micky Stuivenberg of Triple W Communications, to discuss your social media goals and requirements.

In March this year I was honoured to be invited to submit an article as a guest blogger to Canada’s largest internet marketing company, Search Engine People. My first guest post was published on Search Engine People’s high-profile blog on April 5th 2011 and has received some great responses.

The article identifies common website performance problems and gives a checklist of potential causes and solutions.

Read my guest post on the Search Engine People Blog here: Website Performance Troubleshooting Checklist.

Why would you write a guest post for someone else’s blog?

Having informative, well-written guest posts published on blogs of other websites or companies is a great way to:

• reach a different and potentially much larger audience;
• help you make a name for yourself or your business in a certain industry;
• get new followers on social media and expand your online networks;
• get some quality links to your website which is good for SEO;
• increase visits to your website, which may even result in new clients.

Personally, I don’t accept guest posts on this blog, because my blog is of a more personal nature. But if you have some great, unique ideas for blog posts and think they deserve a larger audience, try finding some niche blogs in relevant industries to see if they accept guest posts.

I hope to be able to submit some more guest posts to different blogs in the future, but as always, the main issue I have is finding the time to write them. I don’t update my own blog often enough as it is, due to never-ending work commitments and client deadlines. And I feel my own blog should still be my priority.

If you have any questions about guest blogging or other ways to help with your SEO, please contact me, international SEO web copywriter Micky Stuivenberg.

My main occupation is web copywriter. Sometimes clients like me to do everything for them: create the website and do copywriting and SEO for it. I love doing those projects.

However, for this particular project, the brief was the other way around – all the content would be supplied, but could I create the website around it? Well, yes, I could. So I did.

I’ve found that WordPress has made the process of creating a good, user-friendly and search engine optimised website a whole lot easier. And I love handing a WordPress website over to clients because I know they’ll be able to add and change their content quite easily with WordPress as the CMS.

Anyway, I’ve just finished creating this website for a self-contained luxury accommodation in Bellingen, NSW.

Claremont Homestead is an architect-designed country home on a huge property on the Bellinger River, just half an hour inland from Coffs Harbour. With 3 double bedrooms, it can accommodate up to 6 people, so it’s great for families and groups of friends for a quiet rural getaway.

I did not write the copy for this website, I only designed and built the site and did the SEO.

I received a disc with so many fabulous, professional images that I decided to split the planned photo gallery into 3 separate photo albums – one with photos of the homestead’s interior (most of the rooms), one of the exterior (including the facilities outside) and one of the garden, the rural surroundings and the magnificent views.

Want to take a peek? Here’s the Claremont Homestead Photo Gallery page with the 3 album covers. Just click on the one you want to open.

Claremont Homestead has only just opened for business and with holiday accommodation being a competitive industry, there’s quite a bit of work to be done still on getting the site listed on important websites and directories. People have to be aware that it exists, and I’ll be involved with some of these initial SEO and listing efforts. I can’t wait to see the website turn up on the 1st page of Google Australia for some of its keyword phrases. Hopefully, this blog post will help a little bit with that too.

Are you interested in an optimised website with WordPress CMS?

• I don’t build very large or technically complex sites, but I can make you a straightforward, attractive, user-friendly and search engine-friendly website. See my web design page for more information.
• I would also love to help you with content writing or content editing to ensure it presents your business and products or services in the best possible way to your visitors/potential customers.
• Wondering about SEO? I integrate SEO in my web design and content writing work. Check out my SEO services page for details.

Or just contact me, Content Writer Micky Stuivenberg, to discuss your needs.

Are you frustrated with your website and how it performs? You’re not alone. Many website owners (often people running a small business) are disappointed that their website isn’t very successful.

Even if your website was created by a professional web designer, there are still countless things that can be wrong with it. But perhaps they’re easily fixed – as long as you know what is actually causing the problems.

Let’s do some troubleshooting!

Here are some typical website problems with possible reasons & solutions:

Problem 1: Nobody can find the site and you get no visitors

What could be wrong? 

• SEO: Maybe your site isn’t optimised for search engines.
  You should be using the exact terms on your website (in your title tag, headings and content) that people who are looking for your types of products or services would type into search engines. If your title tag says “Homepage of ABCD Ltd” and your heading says “Welcome to our website”, it’s really time to apply some SEO.
• Accessibility: Search engines may have trouble accessing your site or seeing the content.
  Check if your web pages are indexed by the major search engines. If not, you’ll need to dig deeper to find the reason for this. Also make sure that your content is presented as plain HTML text and not as part of graphics or animations, which search engines can’t ‘read’.

Problem 2: People leave your website immediately after arriving

 What could be wrong? 

• Coding/Design: This could be a technical or design issue.
  Is your site compatible with all operating systems and browsers and does it look OK using different screen resolutions? Older sites in particular may be incompatible with modern browsers. Your website may look weird and completely distorted on different systems. Or you may have gone overboard with colours and animations, sending people running for cover. Time for a health check, makeover or new website maybe?
• Content/Writing: Perhaps it’s the copy on your site that’s driving people away.
  The problem may be that your content is vague, boring or incomprehensible and doesn’t address your visitors’ needs. Everyone is in a hurry nowadays. You have a few seconds to make people decide to stay on your website. If they can’t see what they need right away, they may leave and try another site from the search results instead.
• Usability: Is the layout and structure of your site logical and the navigation easy to use?
  Most people are lazy when it comes to websites. They expect certain things in certain places and if your website uses a very unconventional structure, presentation or navigation, people may be confused and give up, opting for an easier alternative somewhere else.
• SEO: This could also be a search engine optimisation issue again.
  If you’re not targeting the right keywords with your web pages, you may be attracting people to your site who are actually looking for something else. Use descriptive and meaningful words in your page title tags and content that matches people’s search queries, so you get qualified traffic rather than random clicks and a high ‘bounce rate’ (people leaving your site immediately).

Problem 3: Nobody contacts you or buys your products

What could be wrong? 

• Call to Action: Are you  making it easy enough for people to take the action you want them to take?
  Is there a big “buy now” or “request a quote” button right beside or below the content? Every web page needs a strong call to action. Don’t just explain what you do and leave it at that, hoping people will click on the button to your contact page in the navigation menu. Guide your visitors to the page you want them to end up on.
• Dead Links/Payment Service: Have you checked your links lately? Do they all still work correctly? How about your payment service, is that reliable? Go through the steps yourself and critically look at whether the process is smooth and error-free. There may be a stumbling block somewhere that you’re unaware of.
• Marketing: Could the problem lie in your marketing and promotion or your business model?
  Have you actually done any market research? Do you know whether there is even a market for what you’re offering? If only 50 people per year are in the market for what you offer, you can’t expect hundreds to be checking out your website every month. And how about your USPs (unique selling propositions)? Are you highlighting the reasons people should use your services or buy from you? You should know what makes you unique and emphasise that.

Of course, there could be many other things wrong with your website, but these are some of the common issues that I wanted to highlight. The good thing is, they can be easily remedied and your website CAN be turned around to become a success.

If you still have trouble knowing why your website isn’t performing, I can help. For a fixed low price, I will carry out a professional website analysis for you and send you an evaluation report that shows you problem areas and suggestions for solutions.

I can also help you out with quality web content by rewriting or editing your existing copy or writing new copy for your site. I specialise in SEO web content and am happy to help you with your search engine optimisation needs.

If you have any questions or want to discuss your website, please contact Micky Stuivenberg. I’m a professional, international Web Copywriter and website usability & SEO expert who runs the online Content Writer business (as part of Triple W Communications Pty Ltd).

Is your website not as successful as you would like it to be? Do you think your website can be improved, but you’re not sure how? I can do a complete review, evaluation and analysis of your website and send you a report that identifies problems and includes possible solutions.

Problems with your website could include:

• Low number of visitors (people can’t find your site)
• High bounce rate (people leave your site early)
• Low conversation rate (nobody buys, signs up or contacts you)

I will personally visit your website, perform a manual review of your website and write a report for you.

My report will cover the following issues:

• Design, Structure, Layout
• Content, Presentation, Language/Tone
• Usability, Accessibility
• Seach Engine Optimisation

I will evaluate the homepage and up to 3 other pages of your website for a fixed, low fee. With my report, you will be able to make the changes your website needs to be more successful.

Find out more about what’s included in my website evaluation report and how much I charge for this professional service on the Website Evaluation page of my Content Writer website. 

In this post, I’ll try to take away some of the mystery that surrounds Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and give you some tips on what you can do to further optimise your website and get better rankings in Google and other search engines.

As an SEO web content writer, I specialise in creating clear, professional, persuasive and search engine friendly content for websites.

What I usually provide for my clients is:

• Optimised Page Title
• Optimised META Description
• Optimised Page Content – including headings, subheadings and links to other pages

I will make sure to include the important SEO keywords for that particular page in the page title, META description, heading, subheadings, internal links and several times throughout the body copy, particularly in the first few paragraphs. These are important factors for SEO success.

However, it doesn’t stop there. You can do more to optimise your website!

Here are 5 further SEO tips:

• Domain name: If possible, register a domain name that includes some of your important keywords (e.g. my domain name is www.contentwriter.com.au and that helps with my SEO).
• Page names: Give your pages descriptive names by including the important words for that page (e.g. my page about web design is not called /page6.html or anything but http://www.contentwriter.com.au/web-design.html)
• Hosting: Use a web host in the country where you mainly provide your services. If you mostly target Australians, use a web host in Australia. Search engines tend to mostly show sites that are hosted in the country where the searcher is located.
• Images: You can optimise your page further through the photos and graphics on your page: Include keywords in the file names (e.g. metal-roof-repairs.jpg rather than picture4.jpg) and the ALT tag.
• Back links: It’s good to have some incoming links to your site from other websites. However, NEVER use automatic link submission services and NEVER submit your site in bulk to random websites, portals and link farms. This is almost guaranteed to actually HURT your website rankings. Instead, spend some time to find reliable websites with a related theme and try to get a link from there, ask your customers or suppliers to link to you or get listings from authoritative business directories. It’s crucial that the link to your website includes important SEO keywords in the anchor text. Having a link to your site that looks like this - Please visit www.contentwriter.com.au – won’t do you any good (well, you may get some visitors from it but it does nothing for your SEO). Much better would be: Please visit the SEO Web Content Writer website.

This is not a conclusive list of SEO factors but they are some of the major points to take in to account.

Good luck getting better rankings for your important keyword combinations! If you need help with the search engine optimisation of your website or with your web content, please contact me – Content Writer Micky Stuivenberg for a quote or to discuss what I can do for you.

NB – Also don’t forget the potential power of Social Media. Set up a Twitter account and a Facebook page. You can use good keyword combinations in your Twitter account if your company or brand name is not that well known. For instance, I have just set up  http://twitter.com/weightlossnsw for a client.

August 8 2009 marks exactly one year since I officially started working full time for myself as an SEO Web Copywriter (on the auspicious date of 08/08/08). Yes, it’s my ‘business birthday’!

I’m very happy to report that it’s been a huge success! I’ve been consistently busy with a steady stream of new projects and clients, particularly since January this year.

Some of my achievements over the past year

Between 08/08/08 and 08/08/09 I have:

• worked on hundreds of projects for 56 different clients in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, China, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada (see some examples of my content writing, copywriting, SEO and web design projects in my portfolio);
• secured repeat business from 19 of these clients;
• been (and still am) the ongoing freelance webmaster for up to 10 different websites, updating the content whenever required;
• written and rewritten many hundreds of pages of professional and search engine optimised website content that made my clients very happy (see testimonials);
• created 5 complete websites (web design, SEO and content writing) – with 3 more under development at the moment (see portfolio);
• carried out website evaluations and written reports regarding design, usability, accessibility, content and SEO;
• written marketing copy for about a dozen brochures and flyers;
• written an entire 8-page newspaper supplement with 16 stories as a freelance journalist (see PDF of this Airport Supplement);
• written stories for a number of local and regional magazines (including Coffs Harbour Airport Magazine, RedInflight Magazine);
• become a part-time online tutor for Search Engine College;
• joined Twitter – after resisting for some time - and staying up to date with industry news and connecting with interesting SEOs, writers and web designers (but I’m still trying not to spend too much time on it!);
• turned down at least around 20 potential clients because the project was too vague, would have demanded too much of my time or didn’t really fit in with my focus (e.g. I don’t do book editing or design complex websites with huge product databases);
• ignored or sent very brief replies to what feels like hundreds of emails from budding content writers and SEO specialists from around the world (well, yes… mostly India) who wanted me to outsource work to them (I don’t do this. Ever. Not even to those who are good);
• increased my rates by 20% in May (but they’re still very reasonable compared to big-city/big-company copywriters, SEO specialists and web designers);
• NOT spent ANY money on marketing or advertising of any kind – clients have always found me via search engines (yes, my SEO for my own website is good!) or word of mouth;
• and given many of my clients free advice regarding their website, content, design, layout, usability, SEO or marketing strategy, which they all seemed to appreciate very much.

OK, there you have it. I’m sure I’ve done more but that’s really the gist of it. And that was in the middle of an economic downturn (or even more dramatically, the Global Financial Crisis) – so I can’t wait to see what the 2nd year will turn out to be like!

The good thing – I’m doing something that I really like and I’m good at. The only downside – all the free time that I had hoped to have once I started working for myself, from home… yeah, that hasn’t happened. Maybe in the first couple of months but not anymore. Oh well. I suppose that’s a good thing!

Check out my Content Writer website if you want to read more about me and what I do.

I wrote an article for the ETC Business Club’s ‘Doing Business’ column about getting your local business online for free. It was published in today’s Coffs Coast Advocate (Friday 29 May).

See a copy of the newspaper article here.

The article is an abridged version of my earlier blog post for Local Business to Get more exposure in Google for free, with the addition of some tips on using Twitter as part of your company’s marketing communications strategy.

Say what you like and think what you will about Twitter, it can really be a useful tool for local businesses if used right. It’s not difficult and doesn’t have to take up much time at all. See for example my own Content Writer Twitter page or the relatively new Coffs Coast Twitter page for official visitor information about Coffs Harbour attractions and events.

If you have any questions or would like my help in getting your business effective exposure online and making it more successful, check out some other pages on my SEO & copywriting website or get in touch with me, Micky Stuivenberg of Triple W Communications Pty Ltd.