Blogfeeder - The Copywriting and Marketing Blog from Wordfeeder.com

How Did You Find Us? Google, of Course

For small business owners, list building is an important part of growing your client base. In fact - I don't know how people would get customers without procuring their contact information.

That said, everyone who's interested in making money online should have a mailing list that people sign up for when they visit their websites. I do. I use Aweber.com. Whenever someone new signs up for your email address, you get an alert via email (unless of course, you specify otherwise). One just landed in my inbox. On my form, I included a field that says something like "How did you find us?" Nine times out of ten, the answer is Google.

Sometimes people who know why I'm asking that question give me the exact search phrase that they used to find my copywriting website. I love that!! Thank you to all who take the time to fill out that part of the form. "Google" is a hugely helpful answer because it lets me know that the articles I publish on my site get indexed and found. "Googled the phrase 'copywriting services'" is even better because now I know exactly WHAT people look for - so I can create more of that in the future.

Do you know what your customers are Googling? Do you publish informative content regularly, as a way to keep leads coming in, so you can grow your contact list and get more business?

Email dina@wordfeeder.com for help managing your web content today!

Finally Updated my Blogroll in the Sidebar

I don't know who reads the Wordfeeder blog these days, but those who do may have noticed that I took a semi-sabbatical in 2009. Well, 2010 is another story, and Blogfeeder is back in action with tons of tips on how to drive more traffic and business to your company website.

This brings me to the blog links in my sidebar. For those not in the know, giving the gift of a link from your blog to someone else's is one of the best things you can do for their Google popularity. And if your blog is highly trafficked... forget about it! That's like the captain of the football team going out with the geekiest band girl.

My links were sorely out of date (a couple of blogs I had on there weren't even ACTIVE anymore!) but I could not for the life of me focus on figuring out Typepad's new secret trick for editing those links.

This morning I found it. There's a tab up at the top called Libraries. Now, I have never felt compelled to click that link, as "libraries" is not a word that registers with me as even remotely important. Turns out it was... THAT is where they hid all my old Typelists! Those sneaky little sneaks.

And now that we've solved the mystery of the missing typelists... may I present to you the newly updated Blogfeeder crew of fellow hobby bloggers and entrepreneurs. Some blogs on there are even mine!

If you have a great blog that you think I may want to link to, email dina@wordfeeder.com and tell me what it is. And if I do link... it would be great to have a link back from you!

Peace.

Dina at Wordfeeder.com Copywriting, Copy Editing and Website Marketing

Lawncare Professional Asks How to Search Engine Optimize His Website

I may or may not have mentioned that Wordfeeder Copywriting has a new online business discussion forum. Right now we have very few members, but I'm hoping that with the addition of some great information, that will change.

I got a question today from a new member, Mike of 4 Seasons Lawn Care in Whitehouse Station, NJ. Mike writes:

Hi.  I have a lawn care business, and I'd like to see if I can get my website to actually bring in some new business.  My initial approach to the website was that it would look good to have a website address on my business card, but the site wouldn't probably be a big factor in recruiting new business.

I'm thinking if I could get my company to come up in a google search, I might have better visibility to prospects. 

Can anyone shed some light on how I can do this?

Read my response to his question by clicking the link below.

http://biz-feeder.com/forum2/index.php?topic=98.msg105#msg105

Wordfeeder Copywriting Can Search Engine Optimize Your Website! We use organic methods such as constant content addition, keyword-rich copy and linking strategies, and inbound keyword links.

For more info, contact dina@wordfeeder.com.

Where Should Your Blog be Hosted?

Recently I've made some conclusions about Typepad blogs and search engine rank. Here's the story. For a while, some copywriting clients of mine wanted to know whether it was better to have a Wordpress blog as opposed to a Typepad or Blogspot blog. I really couldn't answer this, so I decided to do a little experiment by having BOTH types of blogs as part of my website management plan.

While you'll never hear me singing Blogspot's praises (just too many freakin' spams on those things - I guess Google doesn't monitor their blog spam traffic or however that works)... I have to say there is a distinct search engine advantage to having this blog.

My website uses a keyword that is hugely competitive. I mean, it is freakin' standing room only, elbow to elbow in the world of copywriting. It's like uh, it's like being trapped in the mosh pit of a Pearl Jam concert circa 1997 (am I dating myself here?) Basically, as far as keeping good SE rank, I feel like I need to be pumping out copywriting-related content on a daily basis, just to claw my way in the direction of the top of the heap.

The advantage is:

When I post on THIS (my Typepad) blog (which is NOT hosted on the same server as my Wordfeeder.com site - this blog lives on the TYPEPAD server)... and then I KEYWORD LINK from THIS blog to the Wordfeeder.com website...

THAT is when I manage to bump my SE rank a few notches and land myself on page 1 for my search term.

When I DON'T do that, I fall to page 2 or 3. And trust me, I'm publishing new pages to my site like a good little website marketer should... I'm frantically adding keyword links to those articles... AND I now have the aforementioned Wordpress blog, which lives ON my Wordfeeder.com server but for some reason it doesn't seem to impact my rank very greatly, or so it would appear not to.

(Now, if you're going for a less saturated term, like "spelunking in New Hampshire" it may take you a fraction of the time and effort that it takes me to be found for my key term. So you may not even have to worry about where your blog is hosted - but I do. Gotta stay on my game, you know.)

That said, I'm returning to regular posting on THIS blog, which is hosted on Typepad... and after a couple of days of fastidious keyword-linking, I'm going to check back on how the rank thing is going and then give you the deets on that. Assuming you care, which who knows... maybe nobody reads this blog now, since I've been out of commish for so long!

Dina at Wordfeeder Copywriting

Email us for a copywriting or website project quote today! Dina@Wordfeeder.com

Sneaky Trick from the Copywriting Bag O' Goodies

I Googled someone the other day and found myself confused at the sheer volume of websites where they appeared. Mind you, exposure like this can only be good for your business, HOWEVER, there is one small issue.

The problem comes when people try to find a website associated with your name - YOUR website - but all they can come up with is a horrifically long list of everyone else's website but yours.

How do you resolve this? You've got to be strategic about linking your own name back to your website.

The concept is pretty simple. Think of your name as a keyword. Every time you include it in a link, and point that back to your website, like this: Dina Giolitto, give yourself a point toward good Google rank for your name.

Article marketers have made this easy to accomplish. They link the "by line" of the articles you submit back to your author account on their sites.

However, if they wanted to be REALLY nice, they'd link your name back to YOUR SITE. But face it, no one is that generous, so here's what you have to do. Take back the power of your own name.

Start creating an article archive on your own website. The articles should be original works that you wrote yourself (or paid a ghostwriter to write on your behalf). At the top of the article, you MUST create a live link of your name that goes to your website. Then, keep on adding articles each month. You can go with 1 or 2 per month, in addition to the scraps you throw to the article directories... but why do that when you can shoot for high volume and ass-kicking page rank for your market niche?

So that's the secret reason why other websites are coming up for a Google search on your name sooner than your own website is. They have more pages linked to your name than you do. Fix it.

Another foolproof solution is to link your name in the copyright line on every page so that it "points" to the homepage of your website. Every single page that you publish, whether it's an article, product page, sales letter, service page or what-have-you, counts toward the total number of pages with your name linked on them.

Hope this makes sense. Now what are you doing still reading? It's time to start writing and linking!

- Dina at Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing

The Google Keyword Tool

The first thing you should do before you build a website: keyword research!

Here's a tool that Google has thoughtfully provided to help you along in your mission:

Google's Keyword Tool

Find out what people are searching for and then make sure you have that in your keyword copy, links and meta-tags - on EVERY page of your website!

Dina at Wordfeeder.com - Marketing and Copywriting for the Masses

 

Tell the Wordfeeder What You Want.

So, I have this yearly promo going on from January 9th through February 9th, called Web Content Awareness Day(s). What I do is give the floor (meaning, space in my copywriting ezine) to a group of trusted web marketing experts. I then share articles these professionals have written that contain tips and advice on how to get your website noticed and generate more sales.

So far, we are up to Mailing 4 out of 6 of Web Content Awareness Month. *To sign up, click the link and drop your email into the box at the bottom of the page.

Now, some folks who took my WCAD Survey (still open by the way!) expressed the desire to receive more copywriting tips - which only makes sense, this being a copywriting and marketing-geared website and all.

However, to be fair to all WCAD participants, over the celebration it's my goal to strive for a good balance of content. This is one of the few times I'm able to share NON-copywriting tips (meaning, all those other things you MUST do to get your business out there in front of the right eyes. And believe me, this is stuff that I didn't know about when I first arrived on the web - so it's been VERY helpful to me in my own business growth).

Now, in terms of what everyone is asking for - I'm delivering a Copywriting Grand Finale on Web Content Awareness Day proper, which takes place on February 9th.

The sixth mailing will contain a free copywriting giveaway - a special report, created by Dina at Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing, designed to teach you web copy techniques that bring real results.

Now, here's the problem: I can't make up my mind which copywriting report I should share with you. In my estimation, they're all terrific (if I do say so myself).

I cover three different key aspects of copywriting in my reports.

• The mechanics of web copywriting - word placement on the page, directionals, links, etc.
• Emotion, psychology and persuasive tactics
• Logistics, categories, and keyword placement (believe it or not this is FAR MORE CRITICAL to driving targeted traffic than you would ever imagine)

Each report I'm thinking of offering covers one of the above three aspects of writing copy.

So, here it is: if you want to have a say in the type of report I deliver on the big day, take a moment and cast your vote in our WCAD Copywriting Gift Poll!

Design Your Website to Naturally Attract HOT Prospects

Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing is releasing another special report. I'm not sure if I should give this one away at the Big Finale of Web Content Awareness Day, or stick with the one I planned to originally offer (from the summer).

This one is a very insightful peek into how copywriting and website navigation will naturally help you to attract sales. Yes, simply by designing your website in the "correct" way, you will begin to garner search engine results that bring HOT, not warm but HOT prospects who then become your immediate customers.

To receive your free copy of this report (or maybe the other one - like I said, can't figure out which one to send), sign up for the Web Content Awareness Day mailing list if you haven't already. "The Day" will be here sooner than you think, on February 9th.

Wahoo!

Web Content Awareness Day Strikes Again.

So, last year I created Web Content Awareness Day - the first-ever holiday for online business owners, and anyone who uses the Web as a major vehicle of communication.

The catch phrase was:

Web Content Awareness Day: Dedicated to All Who Provide Content for This Great Web of Ours.

Even though I had no idea what the heck I was doing, I dove headfirst into Dreamweaver Web Design and even attempted to run an email list before I had signed up with an official list manager (BIG mistake!).

I went full tilt with this thing, managing article submissions from qualified experts from the comfort of my email inbox while simultaneously running an online discussion group on Ryze.com, sending out email alerts, a month-long article and PR campaign, with blog teasers leading up to the Grand Finale of Web Content Awareness Day on February 9.

(I wrote it all bunched up like that instead of neatly bulleted out, to emphasize what a complete whirling dervish I felt like while trying to manage this thing in three months).

I partnered with a talented designer by the name of Lisa C. Boyd who compiled info from marketers who I knew "from around the web" and offered my audience a free downloadable book of special offers and deals. Heidi Caswell of RememberGreetingCards.com even custom designed a WCAD printed card that I mailed to all my best contributors (if you click her link, scroll down to the testimonials and you'll see the card she made for me!). We even did a "Guess the Baby Marketer" Contest, for fun.

What I succeeded in doing, at least the way I see it, was:

• Supply a group of inquisitive, do-it-yourself individuals with a free education on ways to grow your business online
• Fire up a small army of marketers to ramp up their traffic generating efforts and grow their businesses
• Push my own name further out there and build my own credibility - I swear, despite the internal calamity that this even was for me, it really worked and I advise you to run your own nifty parties online - but DO IT RIGHT AND GET BACKUP HELP!
  
• Shed some new light on the proper and effective use of article marketing, blogging, ezines, web PR, design, SEO, and online networking as business builders
• Introduce a bunch of good and decent people who didn't know each other before
• Slut some names of famous marketers around the web a bit (and pay homage to the Web Greats)
• Solidify connections between online marketers who already had been acquainted but maybe had more to learn about each other
• Exemplify selected content providers who are either experts in the craft (of publishing web materials), or know how to use the web for good.

And these are the lessons that I learned for myself:

• It is completely impractical to think that ONE PERSON can actually do all this and also run "business as usual" back at their own copywriting and marketing website. For me, it was a good lesson on "getting my sh*t together and learning that delegation is critical
• In extremely frenzied times like this when you are drowning in a self-created hell, you learn which friends of yours are pure gold - the kind who would  simply drop everything and come to your aid at the hour of need.
• And possibly most importantly - you MUST get an autoresponder and list management system before attempting to send out an email campaign!

This year, Web Content Awareness Day will be a MUCH cozier and less maniacal affair. You will be able to partake in the festivities simply by signing up for our Limited Time Only promotional ezine (translation - once Feb. 9 is past, no more WCD emails until next year).

Dates: January 9th through February 9th.

Details: Visit this year's newly designed Web Content Awareness Day homepage at http://webcontentawarenessday.com, and drop your name in the subscriber box for your free, month-long, free marketing education.

Thanks. :)

Dina at Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing
Creator of Web Content Awareness Day

Copywriting and Marketing: Be Resourceful!

I published this list of resources in our Labor Day Weekend Warrior Ezine Issue. In case you missed it, here's an instant replay:

7 Must-Have Resources for the Information-Hungry Web Business Owner

1. Search Engine Optimization - http://sitepronews.com/. With each issue of the SitePro News Ezine that lands in my inbox, I get another sneak peek at what Google's up to, plus tons of free lessons and resources that will teach you everything you ever wanted to know about SEO. SitePro's main writer, Kim Roach, knows her stuff -- so dig in to the great reading and learn how to web market your site today!

2. Sales Letter Savvy - http://wordfeeder.com/SalesLetterSpecialReport.pdf. In case you missed it, we offered a terrific no-cost report on how to write persuasive sales letters. You can still download your complimentary copy by clicking the link above. Make it mandatory Labor Day Weekend reading!

3. Web Hosting on the Cheap - http://www.powweb.com. With hosting as low as $8 per month, there is NO excuse why you're still waffling about having your own business web site. PowWeb's running a deal this weekend, so make it a priority to put your hosting into place.

4. A No-Fee Web Editing Program - http://nvu.com/index.php. Considering purchasing Dreamweaver but don't know if you can "hack" the program? Try NVU.com out for size. It costs zip to download this program and start editing Web pages immediately. If you're confused at first, don't worry. HTML anxiety happens to the best of us! You'll get through it. Go now!

5. HTML Tutorials - http://davisva.com/training.htm. My trusted colleague and 6-year professional Virtual Assistant teaches HTML basics, for those who can't stand being at the mercy of their web guy every time they want to update a sentence on their site. Once you have the HTML basics down, the world cracks open!

6. Article Syndication - http://ezinearticles.com. Call it article marketing, call it article writing, call it article distribution. You need to do it if you want to drive traffic to your site. If you're already a registered author on EzineArticles.com, great! I have reaped amazing results from being an active article author, not to mention learning from their article insights blog. Sign up for ten free article submissions today!

7. Shopping Cart/List Management - KickStartCart.com. Stress no more, ezine publishers and info product sellers! The Kickstart shopping cart system makes lead captures and communication effortless! I can't believe I survived my first year online without this. Don't make the mistakes I did - sign up for a Kickstart Free Trial now.

Want more tips, shortcuts, offers and resources like these? Sign up for Word Food: The Copywriting and Marketing Ezine from Wordfeeder.com.