As a writer I studied many of the traditional forms of writing: marketing, business, technical, journalism…but who knew that web and Internet writing would become a skill all it’s own. The Internet offers a wide variety of opportunity for writers from web site content to blogging, article syndication to digital press release distribution. The key is that writers learn the specific formulas and structures associated with Internet writing. Although I will always be a lover of the printed word, Internet audiences are growing daily and their needs are very different. Here are some important tips for writers working on the net or individuals in charge of their own web content.

Keywords are essential. Understanding the keywords that belong to a particular Internet audience or online target market is the way to attracting more web site traffic and the attention of search engines. Use them on the front and back end of your web site.

The attention span is SHORT-you have seconds to make your point. When a potential customer visits your web site they will spend about ten seconds (if you are lucky) scanning your homepage. If they don’t understand what they should do within that ten seconds it is likely they will go to another site. If you want them to BUY then say it right away. If you want them to READ ON then state that. If you want them to “Call You For a Free Consultation” make sure it is clearly displayed in the beginning.

Avoid large blocks of plain text. Online most readers scan first and then continue to read something that sparks their interest. Make sure your content online inlcudes subheads, pull quotes and other bolded themes. This will help the reader know what the content is before they read it and they will continue reading if the information pertains to them.

As writers, the Internet provides a variety of jobs and specializing in the type of writing that is required for web sites, blogs and other online tools is slowly becoming an important skill. Web designers and programmers often don’t have the time to invest in writing and most of their clients don’t know enough about the technical aspect of web writing to complete good text on their own, but in order for the web site to succeed the content must be optimized and handled correctly. This is why web designers and programmers are a writer’s best friend! Get to know these people if you’d like to write for the web. Learn from them, network with them and offer affordable services. They can often times be your best sales person since they know the value of what you do! Branch out and think outside the box! Creativity is a commodity for all of us and if we share this energy we wil also share one another’s success.

Until next time…..enjoy the beauty of winter as it descends upon us!

Sarah

I recently attended a gathering here in Asheville, sponsored by a group called “Meet the Geeks” and the Media Arts Project, that blended art and technology. It was called “Liquefaction: A Geek and Artist Mixer”. The focus was to bring artists like writers, photographers and painters together with tech professionals like programmers, software developers and web designers. It was a very fun meeting and most of the people I met fell into both categories: Artist and Geek. I may be a writer, but I can talk about search engine marketing and optimization with the best of them. Mainly because after three years in business and a lot of study I have both knowledge and experience; two of the key things needed to become an expert!

One of the keys to achieving expert status has been to NEVER stop admitting there are people with more expertise than myself and to NEVER stop learning from those people. Search engine and web site technology changes as often as computer technology in general. You will never run out of new things to learn, understand, test and read about. Every six months Google, Yahoo, MSN and the other search engines will give you something new to think about, incorporate into your web practices and be challenged. This is what attracts many computer and creative professionals to the Internet, it never stops evolving and that means the excitement never ends and neither does your education.

One of the most beautiful realizations I had at the “Meet the Geeks” gathering was that technology and art share one important characteristic: creativity! Creativity demands a certain level of originality, inspiration and passion. These are the reasons I love my job and why I always crave to learn more. It is also why I am good at my job. The technicians that create the search engines have originality, inspiration and passion and in order to understand their thinking and the ways in which the search engines develop each year I must meet them with the same amount of energy and drive. Ten years ago I never dreamed I would use my writing and marketing skills almost exclusively on the Internet, but now it seems the perfect marriage.

Artists and Geeks share and exchange creative energy like a commodity and it is! It fuels the fast paced advancements happening every day and the more we combine our efforts and ideas the more often our clients will achieve their professional and financial goals. It is my belief that we can all join “virtual hands” and move successfully into the future!

Until next time…may the creative force be with you!
If you are in the Asheville area and want more information on Meet the Geeks visit http://www.meetthegeeks.net.

Sarah

Every company or organization wants to deploy a web site which will reach its clients, project a certain image, and help solicit new business or members. Most companies, organizations, and individual entities prioritize the overall look and feel of a web site, and assess the final web site based on its ability to provide information in an organized, easy-to-read way. These are all important issues in web site construction. Yet, other aspects of web site development need to be addressed in order for a web site to be an effective marketing tool for a company.

Search Engine Marketing Produces Income

In order to produce income, increase membership or visibility, speak directly to niche markets, or generate new leads, a web site must be outfitted properly for search engines. This means that all of the text should be easily ‘crawlable’ by spiders and bots. The web design is integral to this process, but is not central to the process. A web designer should work hand-in-hand with a web site programmer and a keyword writer or information architect in order to build a high performance web site. If one of these aspects is ignored in web site construction, the web site runs the risk of falling behind in performance, and will not be an efficient tool for Search Engine Marketing (SEM).

Web Site Designer

When building a high performance web site, always aim for the web site designer with the most experience. Review the web site designer’s portfolio to see if his or her style coincides with your own. Email or telephone past clients to get a feel for the web site designer’s work ethic.

It is true that an experienced designer may be costly. In the long run, it will be worth it. The web designer is responsible for executing the client’s ideas for menu structure, color, graphics and web site layout. Experienced web designers may have some knowledge of web site coding (or programming). However, it is not the designer’s job to review the back-end of the site. It is the web site designer’s task to construct a front-end image of the company, organization or individual.

Web Site Programmer

Chances are good most web site designers do not have the programming background to create a high performance site on the back-end. The solution to this is hiring a programmer to work directly with the web site designer. According to Trevor Lohrbeer, a programmer and President of Agile Muse Development, “A good web programmer will have a strong understanding of HTML and the Hyper Text Transmission Protocol (HTTP), over which the World Wide Web runs.” The web site programmer will also have a basic understanding of properly coding links so pages of the web site can be indexed or ‘found’ by search engines.

To make the web site perform well on search engines, the programmer must have experience in the area of Search Engine Optimization for web sites. Again, review the programmer’s portfolio of web sites. Lohrbeer says, “the bottom line is the programmer needs to be aware of the issues related to search engine optimization, or else the design and programming might not be indexed by search engines.”

Hiring the Web Site Designer and Programmer

Should a programmer and designer be hired together to work on a web site? Or should they be hired separately? Lohrbeer commented, “If a programmer and designer have been working together for a long time and have built up a rapport, it can make sense to hire them both together. But a good designer should be able to work with a good programmer regardless of whether they are hired together or not.”

When hiring programmers and web site designers separately, find out if they have collaborated with a programmer or designer in the past. If hired separately, “a company or organization can pick the very best for jobs,” said Lohrbeer. The pitfalls of hiring separately are the possibility of a clash between the programmer and the designer.

Keyword Writing and Web Site Promotion

Keyword writing is the final icing on the cake for a company’s or organization’s web site. This writing is employed on the front-end of the web site, however the back- end metatags should inform all keyword writing, including menu items, subheads and headlines, home page text, and more. To create a high performance web site — hire a keyword writer or information architect to work directly with the web site design and programming team. A trained keyword writer will work directly with the client to strategize and deploy the keywords necessary for effective Search Engine Marketing. Keyword Writing and Web Site Promotion Techniques

Once the web site is live, employ some extra keyword writing strategies to ensure longstanding performance on the search engines. This includes press release writing and syndication on the Internet, article writing and syndication on the World Wide Web, and podcasting production and syndication with descriptions of the audio or video written with keyword text. The idea is to increase the density of keywords on the home page or landing page, so the web site should include integration with WordPress, a self-publishing program which allows the web site administrator to upload new articles, press releases, and podcasts with text onto the site easily, by only placing the title on the home page. The rest of the article or press release text sits behind the title and is easily crawled by the search engines, so the visitor is not overwhelmed with home page text.

Some keyword writers offer syndication strategies with article or press release writing. These keyword writing strategies are proven to be the most effective method of increasing backlinks and the density of keywords.

Web Site Promotion/Search Engine Marketing Tricks of the Trade

Keyword writing takes focus, time, and the allocation of resources. Make certain to integrate these tactics into web site development and promotion for maximum success. As Web 2.0 takes hold and The Long Tail begins to widen, more and more small to medium sized companies will be able to compete with larger companies through Search Engine Marketing. Effective web site promotion techniques are still not widely practiced. Because of this, companies and organizations that begin to deploy these web site promotion strategies will be ahead of the mark when these strategies do become widely known. If the competition is not employing keyword writing or web site promotion, a commitment to doing so will very likely place the company engaged in these strategies in lead positions in the search engines.

Web site promotion strategies are less effective if a web site has not been designed and coded properly from the outset. So, the key to building a high performance web site is hiring the right web site designer, programmer, and keyword writer needed to make the equation for effective Search Engine Marketing complete. Although it may seem like an expensive commitment – the investment is well worth it. Search Engine Marketing can bring in a new influx of business to any organization or business, and help it grow in leaps and bounds.