This is my first post by voice, I dialed in to WordPress and put in a code form my blog and was able to directly record and do this audio post. Learn more about post by voice, and let me know in the comments if it’s helpful/neat or obnoxious!

Essentially, it separates your inbox into three initial screens, with Priority mail on top, starred messages sorted for follow up, and everything else below. This makes the “star” rating system in Gmail a lot more effective. So far I haven’t seen any hitches or bugs, so learn more about Priority Inbox, give it a spin and give some feedback in the comments.

One of the key factors to any successful online marketing strategy for a small business owner just starting out with search engine optimization, pay per click and other strategies is to first identify your audience.  The best way to do this is to get an idea of what people might be searching for when looking for your products or services.

I’ve spent the last seven years working with a few hundred clients.  Every one of them started out with me completing some pretty detailed keyword research.  Needless to say, I’ve spent some time over the years waste deep with keyword research.  I’ve manually typed out lists, semi automated spreadsheet software and most recently have dived into a little more advanced spreadsheet automation.

Roughly a month ago I set out to evolve once again in regards to one aspect of my keyword research and that is to completely automate the list creation process.  What started out as a small project for my own personal use, quickly became a concept for an online keyword discovery tool that any small business owner in real estate, mortgages, retail or marketing consultant can use when starting in on their own keyword research efforts.

Today I launched my keyword discovery tool that will help quickly create a list of local specific keywords based off of the answers you provide to three simple questions.  Those questions are:

1. What areas (Cities, Counties, Neighborhoods) do you work in?
2. What service / product (plumbing, plumber, plumbing services, etc.) do you sell?
3. What state are you in?

A list of three areas and three niche phrases will result in 27 possible keyword combinations.  A list of three areas and six niche phrases will result in 54 keywords and the possibilities are endless.

Of course, for WordPress.com users this is a little bit MOOT since they don’t allow iFrame code so it’ll have to wait until it’s fully released to see WordPress pick it up.

I actually saw the update last night just 10 minutes after I changed my Title. What really fascinated me though was that I also immediately broke into the top spot for Diamond Bar SEO. Now I know that I’ve built up some authority over the years, this is a blog and not a static website, and that it’s not a competitive term by any means, but I think that SEOers who have been around for a while should re-evaluate their expectations when it comes to timelines and estimating when Google has recognized an update.

I am going to be re-orienting this blog and my posts to focus on Local SEO, and specifically on the city of Diamond Bar, CA. Why? Because I want to put my thoughts about “local SEO” into action, and I live in Diamond Bar. If you’re a Diamond Bar business, I can also provide you with consulting services to help you have a bigger impact. Thanks and stay tuned, I’m excited about future posts and hope you will enjoy the change up!

[I was talking to]…Jared Spool of User Interface
Engineering, to ask, “Flash intros – good or bad?”

Jared said, “When we have clients who are thinking about Flash splash pages, we tell them to go to their local supermarket and bring a mime with them. Have the mime stand in front of the supermarket, and, as each customer tries to enter, do a little show that lasts two minutes, welcoming them to the supermarket
and trying to explain the bread is on aisle six and milk is on sale today.

“Then stand back and count how many people watch the mime, how many people get past the mime as quickly as possible, and how many people punch the mime out.

“That should give you a good idea as to how well their splash page will be received. ” {Via}

{via OATMEAL – Who Rocks}

SEO copywriting is the glue that brings all your other online marketing efforts together. Without strong glue, everything unravels, and you get no results.

If you aren’t converting visitors into customers, it could be that you’re making one or more of these 7 SEO copywriting mistakes.

1. Targeting the wrong keywords—Just because you’re ranking well doesn’t necessarily mean you’re targeting the right keywords. You want to focus your SEO efforts on keywords that draw in searchers who are in the final stages of the buying cycle. Never guess about which keywords you should be targeting. Do your research. There are several great keyword research tools online you can take advantage of.
2. Stuffing keywords—I can’t believe I still see this mistake, but I do. Amateur SEO copywriters think that repeating the keyword as often as possible increases their chances of ranking well in the SERPs. Even if that was true (and it’s not), this method completely overlooks the fact that you need to actually convert visitors into customers. Keyword-stuffed copy doesn’t convert. Don’t just write for the search engines; write for your ideal customer as well.
3. Making word count a priority—One SEO myth that just won’t die is that there’s some magic word count you have to hit if you want Google to rank your page properly. Some people say that you need at least 250 words; others believe it’s 400 words. The truth? It doesn’t matter. Just search for any phrase, and look at the top results. The word counts are all over the place. Instead of focusing on hitting a certain word count, just focus on writing clear, concise copy, no matter what the length.
4. Not being focused on the consumer—One of my favorite copywriting tools is the We We Calculator. The purpose of this tool is to ensure your web copy is focused on the customer…not you. See, customers are selfish. They only care about how your products and services will benefit them. Your copy needs to use the word “you” as often as possible. Limit the use of “me”, “we”, “us”, etc. because no one really cares about you.
5. Writing copy that’s difficult to scan—Eyetracking studies show that online users tend to scan content rather than read it. They scan in an F-shaped pattern, trying to get the gist of your copy as quickly as possible. This means you need to write copy that’s easy to scan. How can you do this? Use short paragraphs, short sentences, bulleted lists, and bolded text to highlight important information throughout.
6. Having a weak call to action—How can you expect your website visitors to take action if you don’t tell them what action you want them to take? One thing I’ve noticed is that too many copywriters are afraid to sell. They’re constantly demeaning sales-y copy, and they’re always trying to tone down their copy. Look, I’m not saying your copy needs to read like a Billy Mays infomercial script, but let’s cut to the chase, you’re selling products and services. So, sell them! You need to have a clear, strong call to action that motivates visitors to take action now. Keep your call to action brief, and only ask visitors to take one action so you don’t overwhelm them.
7. Not being credible—One of the biggest challenges companies experience when selling online is that customers just don’t trust them. With every word you write, you should be working toward building your credibility. Use statistics whenever possible, and it’s always a good idea to include testimonials on your website.

Take a look at your website copy. Are you making any of these mistakes?

About the Guest Author:

Gagandeep Singh works for a conversion rate optimization company Invesp and blogs about landing page templates, conversion rate optimization, SEO and affiliate marketing.

When it comes to web content, irrespective of whether it’s sales copy, informative writing or random thoughts and musings on a blog, it should be easy reading! Reading online shouldn’t be made a tedious task and for most of us, perusing websites and blogs is a leisurely activity.

Words can be to much of a good thing..

Personally, if an article (no matter how interesting its title) starts like a rocket science manual, I’m out of there! By all means, vary your vocabulary – by the same token I hate to read posts where a blogger evidently doesn’t know another word for ‘good.’ But stretching out a word count by fluffing up the content is annoying. Concise content makes for quick reading, ideal for the busy workaholic society we live in.
Now, I’m exaggerating with the title of this post, in complaining about ten words where one will do. More often than not, my peeve comes where writers use two words in place of one. Of course, sometimes there’s a need for this and child like sentences devoid of adjectives, for example, would make for bland writing. There’s a fine line between ‘concise’ and ‘bland’ content.
So, examples?

Unnecessary adverbs and adjectives

"A Sentence with to many adjectives is like Coffee with to much sugar."

There’s a time and a place for adjectives and sometimes they just sound out of place and long winded when read out loud. Take the sentence, “He was an incredibly intelligent fellow, but had an extreme lack of common sense.” When read out loud is lacks punch and crispness. A revision to, “He was an intelligent fellow, though lacked common sense,” is easier reading. That’s a 14 word sentence versus a nine word one.

Unimportant Information

If you’re writing an article on Barack Obama’s proposed health reforms, you would want to let your readers know what the changes are, how they would be affected by the changes and the obstacles the President faces. While it’s easy to wander off on a tangent at times, writing about Obama’s educational background or going into too much depth over the history of health in the US fluffs the article up and takes away from its point. After writing, read out loud and be critical. Ask yourself what the point of each sentence is and if you can’t find a purpose of a sentence, delete!

Repeated Information

Sometimes we repeat ourselves without even realizing we’ve done it. Even if you’ve worded it differently, the same point or fact made twice (even at opposite ends of an article) is just more words than necessary!

Squeeze Out More Words

Look for opportunities to crush and squeeze your verbiage. - Photo by Tomf

Once you’ve cleared out everything you think you can, read through again (preferably out loud). Look for opportunities to tighten up your sentences in ways not described above. An example could be changing:
“Whenever the Jones family got news pets, the neighbour’s children always tended to take to them quicker than the Jones boys,” to
“The next door neighbour’s children always took to the Jones’ new pets quicker than the Jones boys did.”

I know I’ve barked on about concise content here, but this should never come at the expense of meaning. The idea of concise content is saying what you need to say as tightly as possible – not about cutting points out in order to shorten a piece. Think punchy, crisp and natural sounding content and you’re well on your way to great copy.