Dick Powell from Sales Force XP forwarded me an article from Chief Marketer Report about “Five Ways To Make SEO Work For You.” While the article was mildly interesting, what really got me going me was the article’s opening comment:

How much attention do you pay to search engine optimization? Many marketers give it short shrift, not understanding that it can be the difference between success and failure.

i recently had a problem with a client who’s marketing people wouldn’t compromise on the copy for their website. I rewrote the copy to work in the necessary keywords the way they needed to appear in the copy to get high placement in Google, MSN and Yahoo. And being a copywriter myself, I understood their reluctance to alter the message.

I also had to use a keyword that they had specifically left out of their copy because it wasn’t “consistent with their image”. But the keyword I added is the primary search term people use to find services like theirs. They may have an image they want to portray, but they also have to consider what people are actually searching for.

However, I couldn’t get it across to them that impressive copy and image was worthless if people didn’t find the website. If it was buried on page four or five of the search engine results pages (SERPS), no one would see it. It’s the equivalent of putting a billboard for Gucci suits on a dead end dirt road in the middle of an Iowa corn field. The billboard may be slick but no one looking for Gucci suits will ever see it.

Bob McClain or WordsmithBob, has been a website copywriter in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, since 2000. He has focused on developing new, more effective approaches to web writing, web content, web copywriting and Search Engine Optimization. Starting with a BA in Technical Communication and a minor in Creative Writing from Metro State University in St. Paul, McClain has worked diligently to end the use of "corp-speak" and "technospeak" online. His approach is to “humanize” the Web, using real information to guide people to buy rather than turning websites into advertisements that people can easily ignore. McClain is also the creator of Cheap SEO Website Marketing, a website devoted to helping people with the best solutions to DIY SEO at an affordable cost with tips and software reviews. More at Cheap SEO Website Marketing

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Originally posted 2008-06-18 09:17:20. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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