Hi,
People ask me about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) all the time.
There are courses you can take to learn about SEO – and I’ve taken a couple. Some copywriters are even making money by promoting themselves as SEO copywriters.
The thing is, all SEO means is using the keywords relevant to your topic wisely.
Let’s say you want a web page written about model trains. You hire a copywriter to do the copy and tell her the copy is for a web page. Don’t you think the first thing that copywriter should do is ask for a list of keywords? I do.
Then you compare the keywords with the content you intend to put into the page. Any writer worth the title of copywriter is going to use as many of the keywords as possible – as often as possible – while still crafting a strong, persuasive message. That’s what copywriting is – online or offline.
The only reason you’re seeing a lot of hype about SEO, and making sure you have a copywriter who can do it, is because that hype raises the perceived value of a skill every copywriter should already possess. It’s good marketing by the copywriters.
I just had another client send me an estimate from a web designer that had the same sort of issue. This web designer was giving a huge discount on the cost of putting a site together as long as Tim signed up for monthly keyword maintenance for his site. Forgive me folks, but what a crock of pooh!
I explained the truth to Tim, and now he’s saving himself $400 a month. You should be on the lookout for anyone who tries to pull the same kind of thing with you when it comes to SEO. If a copywriter agrees to write your copy, then suggests you pay extra for SEO, start asking questions.
Folks, there is something sorely lacking in the information and internet marketing community. We need a Ralph Nader – someone looking out for us and telling us the truth about how things work. Okay. I nominate me.
You already know I’m a straight shooter. The books I”ve written show I work hard to produce complete, definitive information products. So, when you have a question about something or someone – send it to me. I’ll do the research and give everyone an answer right here on this blog.
That’s all for today. Have a happy New Year, everyone.
Conrad