SEO | Website Design | Internet Marketing | Adcuda Kansas City » Copywriting

Quality Content Can Help You Avoid High Bounce Rates

Jake Butler — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 21:45:41 +0000

I know you’ve been there – your mind thirsty for knowledge, the promise of the infinite wisdom of the collective human consciousness hanging out there in space-time, throwing yourself at Google’s feet just begging for answers.

So you type in your query and hope for the best. Sometimes the search results will lead you to a delightful little nugget that satisfies your every desire. But other times, they lead you to a pile of rubbish that makes you wonder how such a page could ever be ranked so highly in the first place.

So what happens when you land on a site with generic, poorly-written content? You click the back button and try another, instantly becoming a statistic for bounce rates. There are plenty of SEO tactics you can implement to achieve a high rank, but they don’t mean anything if your bounce rates are off the charts or your conversion rates stink – people pop in, take a moment to read what stands out and instantaneously decide whether they’re going to explore the site or return to the search results page. If your page isn’t up to par, they make a hasty retreat and your bounce rates analytics will look ugly.

The other day I was shopping for a new pair of Air Jordans. The site pictured here was one of the top links, and the first I happened to choose – mainly because it had the word “cheap” in the title. My eyes went right to the middle of the home page and I only made it through two sentences before realizing it was a trashy site that doesn’t deserve my business. It seemed to me like the shoes were probably fake (also known as “factory variants.”) If they’re real, the writers did a terrible job of proving it to me.

Increasing traffic to your site is the whole point of SEO, but high bounce rates and poor conversion rates mean you haven’t put the effort into developing the content on your website. Here are some essential methods for keeping visitors happy:

- Gain their trust. Spam or generic duplicate content doesn’t give you much of a chance. Make the user feel like they’re in the right place by installing compelling, useful, original content that they’ll want to share.

- Design your pages in a way that enhances the user’s experience and makes them think you’re worthy of their business. Doing so will drive conversion rates.

- Include video. Original content doesn’t have to mean clunky blocks of text.

There are no shortcuts in SEO. From content to design to development, your site has to be well made all the way around to avoid high bounce rates and drive conversions.

Creating A Positive User Experience

Jake Butler — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 16:44:58 +0000

I recently began working with a client whose company specializes in management consulting tactics, utilizing customer feedback in various ways to implement strategic changes to maximize profitability. I felt like someone was beating me over the head with a stick – customer feedback, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty. Customers, customers, customers. Bam, bam.

I finally made a connection between the philosophy and purpose of her services and what we do regarding SEO copywriting here at Adcuda. Sadly, many online marketing companies resort to spamming and keyword stuffing as short term methods for generating traffic. We, on the other hand, are not worried about sneaking in keywords in tricky ways or trying to outsmart these search engines. The way they read and rank pages is becoming increasingly more sophisticated and these days the risk of the penalties Google is applying to sites with shady SEO copywriting outweighs any potential advantages. Cutting corners to quickly increase web traffic is never the right answer, and neither is messy writing.

That’s why I try to write with users in mind. Likewise, my coworkers try to design and develop sites in ways that enhance the user’s experience. On my end, I try to avoid awkwardly placed sentences that exist for the sole purpose of mixing in keywords. It’s more important that our SEO copywriting seem conversational and natural instead of forced and obnoxious. The user appreciates the flow and in turn you bring in more quality traffic, thereby boosting the overall value of the site.

The overriding goal of SEO copywriting isn’t just to increase web traffic and get people to look at your site. That’s only half the battle. The other half is creating a positive customer experience – getting them to enjoy your site and making them feel comfortable with giving you their business. Good writing is part of that picture and when it represents a quality client, backed by a well-developed, intelligently designed website, that’s when Google magic happens.

Four Grammar Errors You Don’t Want in Your Holiday Cards

Megan Spreer — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 21:48:53 +0000

It’s the holiday season and for many businesses that means you have to convey some sort of holiday inspired message or invitation to your clients, coworkers, or bosses. This ever-daunting and often necessary P.C. company holiday message is hard to avoid and even more difficult to deliver without someone having an issue with something. (e.g. Don’t say Christmas! You can’t mention Hannukah! You can’t have a picture of Santa on there!)

So, we’re going to cover a few basic grammar rules that regardless of your holiday alliance (or lack thereof), will help alleviate some of the anxiety that comes in crafting and addressing your seasonal messages.

1. Is it New Year’s Day or New Years Day?

The correct way to write this is New Year’s Day. It’s the first day of the new year so if you want to get all technical, you could say that the New Year owns that day making the apostrophe necessary to show possession. Whatever floats your boat. You could also just write it the right way because we just told you that’s how it is.

2. Do I address this envelope to The Mannings or The Manning’s?

In this case, you should omit the apostrophe. The correct way to address this family of more than one is by writing “The Mannings”. Using an apostrophe will make the family name possessive and confusing. Use the plural form instead. People often get tripped up by surnames that end in “s” such as the Jones family. In this instance, you’d simply write it how it is said: the Joneses. If you’re thoroughly confused or simply don’t want to have to think it over than much, a simple remedy is to address it to the Jones Family and call it good.

3. Please RSVP please.

RSVP or R.S.V.P. is the shortened version of répondez s’il vous plaît, which is French for “Respond, please”. So, by putting “Please RSVP” on your holiday invitation, you’re really telling people to “Please respond please”. It’s a tad redundant. Although, we know your intentions were genuinely polite.

4. Is it Season’s Greetings or Seasons Greetings?

Much like the New Year’s Day rule above, the greetings are of the season making the season the owner of the greetings. Therefore, they require an apostrophe to indicate possession. Confused yet? Just make sure you write Season’s Greetings on your holiday messages.

The Art of Writing Meta Descriptions Without Writing

Jason Manning — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 21:31:43 +0000

Recently, a local competitor published a blog post blasting all Kansas City SEO companies for everyone’s complete ineptitude regarding meta description best practices *gasp* on our very own sites! Sooo, I figured I’d go ahead and give you all a quick and simple meta description strategy, because if this gentleman, who’s been in the SEO game for a while, was missing out, then some do-it-yourselfers out there might be also.

Let’s begin with the basic best practices for your meta descriptions: The idea is that you want an enticing lure to pull visitors in from their search results. If you can get your top keyword for the page worked in it gives you a nice couple bolded words, (you know, if the searcher actually uses them) but the primary focus is to write something that sets you apart from the riff-raff while also assuring the searcher that they’re one click away from precisely what they’re looking for. It’s a pretty straightforward concept, but the thing that makes this tricky is that you only have 160 characters in which to accomplish this. This is Google’s limit for what they’ll show in organic results, and since they’re the big dog it’s kind of silly to go over. You’ll only get chopped off by ellipses, meaning everything thereafter is just you getting some typing practice in.

What is apparently news to some is that there are actually instances when it’s best to completely leave the meta description blank. Sorry, I hope you were sitting down.

Here's my logo... still need a good name

Let’s pretend I own a business, an amazingly awesome business that sells mountain bikes, cigars, beef jerky, both kinds of beer (root & regular), and kung fu movies. The fact that I would literally consume most of my profits is irrelevant, we’re focusing on my super-cool website here. Now, writing meta descriptions for each page that dealt with individual products would be pretty simple – right? What happens though as we slowly make our way back up the site tree to the home page? I’m not saying that you couldn’t squeeze everything I sell into the meta description, but would you want to? Or, would you instead prefer the search results catered to your potential visitor’s keywords?

You see, when you do not write a meta description the search engines take the user’s keyword phrase and match it by pulling the most relevant content off your page. If your business offers a variety of products and/or services, that means you also have a variety of keyword match opportunities on your home, and even product/service overview pages. The advantage is plain to see: if a consumer was looking for “fine cigars” and they’re served my home page, I’d want them to see the cigar content specifically, as they may be skeptical of the place that also fixes bicycles in the back room. If I wrote a generalized meta description I likely couldn’t fit in references to my walk-in humidor and top-quality selection of fine cigars while also touting the specific and unique selling points of everything else I offer.

And that’s it, that’s the brilliant stratagem to take away from this; sometimes it really is best to let the engines help you by helping the consumer. Consider that the consumer is really the search engine’s client, the engine’s want to cater to that person as best as it can, so as long as the copy on your page is solid, leaving the meta description wide open can benefit your click through rate beyond any overly-generalized tag you may have cobbled together. Do some searches with competitors in your industry to see what they’re doing. If you see an ellipses at the end of their descriptions don’t immediately advertise your ignorance on your blog by calling them all out publicly. ALL of them may not be lazy and/or derelicts (it also doesn’t mean they aren’t), they might actually be doing something rational.

Five Commonly Misused Words That Make Your Writing Ugly

Megan Spreer — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 21:23:46 +0000

I know you’ve seen it happen. People, when online, tend to get a little careless in their writing and throw a word out there that just does not belong. I’m not saying I’m perfect either. I’ve definitely made some whoopsie daisies in the past too, but here are some common flubs that I think a lot of people can improve upon.

1. Yay vs. Yea vs. Yeah

It seems that many people think these words are interchangeable. That is wrong. These three words have very different meanings and one has an entirely different pronunciation. Yay is the word that you would use to express great joy or excitement. Yea is a word that you’d only use when voting, as in “yea or nay”. That’s pretty much the only time that one works. Yeah is slang for yes and it’s pronounced differently than the other two. So the next time you’re excited about something, stop using the slang word for yes on your Facebook and Twitter updates.

2. Compliment vs. Complement

I admit that I’ve goofed this one up a few times myself. The difference between these two, other than one measly letter, is that one is a flattering remark and the other means that two or more things go well together. For example: I would compliment a friend on her new sweater. In doing so, I could also point out that the color of her sweater perfectly complements the color of her eyes…and then she would wonder why I’m being such a brown noser.

3. Regardless vs. Irregardless

This one is easy. Irregardless isn’t a word. Ok. That’s a lie. It’s now considered a word after so many people used it incorrectly when they meant to use “regardless” and now they have added it to the dictionary. It still doesn’t make it right though. Regardless and irregardless mean the same thing in a sentence. The latter just makes you exert more effort to get your sentence out and I’m not gonna lie, some of us are going to think you’re kind of silly.

4. Couldn’t Care Less vs. Could Care Less

When you stop to think about the meaning of the two phrases here, it becomes pretty obvious which one is the winner. Right? Imagine you’re trying to deliver a stout insult to someone who’s trying to annoy you. If you tell him you “could care less”, he may walk off scratching his head. You could care less? Then, why don’t you? See, what I mean? It’s not a very good comeback. What you want to say is that you couldn’t care less.

5. Premier vs. Premiere

I’m sure I’ve messed this one up. I tend to really like the letter “e” for some reason and I favor words that have a lot of them. I know. I’m a weirdo. The difference between these two is that one is the first and best of a group and the other is the word for the opening night of a movie. Use premier when you’re talking about a city’s first, delicious Brazilian BBQ restaurant. Use premiere when referring to the opening night of Saw 17, or whatever number they’re on now.

Six Common Content Mistakes That Other People Make…Not You

Megan Spreer — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:27:38 +0000

Writing online content is sometimes an afterthought for many people, but I’m not talking about you. I’m talking about those other people. The ones who mess up the most common grammatical rules and drive the rest of us crazy (or maybe it’s just pseudo-grammar sticklers like me). You know whom I’m talking about, right? They are the social media flies and the overworked, newly appointed web managers that slap something on the page without spell-checking, proofreading, or otherwise even reviewing what they’re about to share with the world.

I know you’ve seen them too. That’s why it’s important that we clear this up. Silly errors like this can ruin the professionalism and credibility of your work and your business…I mean, their work and their business.

Well, this is for them…and purely for your review. I know it’s not you making these errors.

Six Common Online Grammatical Mix-ups That Can Ruin Your Credibility

1. Your vs. You’re
Your is the possessive form of you. You’re means “you are”.
Example: “You’re going on vacation with your grandma next week, right?”

2. Their vs. They’re vs. There
Their is the possessive form of they. They’re means “they are”. There is describing a place somewhere other than where you are.
Example: “They’re rowing their boat over there.”

3. Its vs. It’s
Its is the possessive form of it. It’s means “it is”.
Example: “It’s difficult to determine why its leaves fell off early.”

4. Effect vs. Affect
Effect is a noun. Affect is a verb. To help myself remember this one, I simply imagine the “A” turned upside down and it looks like a “V”; that’s the one that is a verb.
Example: “The effects of stress are even visible physically.” and “Stress affects each body differently.”

5. Loose vs. Lose
Loose is used when something is not as snug or tight as it should be. Lose is used when your favorite team blows it in the playoffs.
Example: “If your laces are loose, you may lose your shoe.”

6. i.e. vs. e.g.
This is one that I have messed up many times. “I.e.” is an abbreviation for the latin words “id est”, which means “that is”. “E.g.” is an abbreviation for “exempli gratia”, which means “for the sake of example”. So use “i.e.” when you want to paraphrase something and “e.g.” when you want to give an example.
Example: “Monkeys are mammals, i.e., warm-blooded animals that give birth to live young.” and “We have soda, e.g., Coca-cola, Pepsi, and Dr. Pepper.”

Do’s and Don’ts of Reader-Friendly Content: The Bullet Edition

Megan Spreer — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 13:00:40 +0000

It’s a widely known fact that online readers have significantly shorter attention spans than readers of traditional print media. Online readers are surfing, browsing, and jumping from page to page to either kill time or quickly check the latest news topics while the boss takes a bathroom break.

So it’s important for you to tailor the content on your website or blog so that your readers retain as much information as possible before their attention span runs out and they’re checking out your competitor’s site.

Enter the bullet list.

The bullet list is a great way for you to present the most important information in the most easily read format. It breaks up your copy and gives a less intimidating look to online readers who aren’t looking to read a novel on their computer screens. It also gives the “skimmers” exactly what they’re looking for and just might hold their attention longer.

Unfortunately, it’s easy to mess up a bullet list. And that is a sure fire way to give your readers an easy reason to leave your page. Here’s a list of the Do’s and Don’t’s of good bullet list creation:

Do’s

List the information you most want your readers to remember
Keep your bullet points within the same topic within a list
Make a list of interesting facts about your business/product
Highlight new or popular products and services
Keep it short and sweet on each line or you defeat the purpose

Don’ts

Write extra long bullets; it bores the reader
Choose a graphic that distracts from the bullet content
Tell them what they already know
Add a list so long that it takes up most of your page
Fill your bullet list with non-essential information

Pro Marketing Copywriting: How an Italian Supercar Makes You a Better Person

Jason Manning — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 15:44:17 +0000

So, we’re on the tail-end of a large project we did for an auto group that carries a wide range of European brands, selling the kind of supercars that are made into posters and hung on the walls of dorm rooms and garages all over the world… and, of course, my bedroom when I was little. I was pretty excited when the project came in, and though I knew there would be no hands-on research, and ultimately I didn’t get to work on it as much as I’d hoped, I did get to do plenty of research on the latest Lamborghini and Ferrari models. Writing about these exotic beasts promised to be a nice change of pace, and it was… but the research, oh, the research.

Looks are, of course, subjective, but I reckon there are few people who couldn’t find a Lamborghini or Ferrari body style to fall in love with. Beyond the sexy curves and aggressive angles lie ferocious power, governable only by the most sophisticated performance engineering, from deforming spoilers all the way down to the microscopic grip of the rubber patches tearing at the ground. Saying all that, I quickly found how surprisingly easy it is to make these ground-based missiles, well, boring. Though the specifications on these cars are staggering, dryly listing them doesn’t make for the most engaging reading. Now, I understand these cars don’t need a lot of help selling themselves, by the time a new model is announced there’s already a multi-year backlog of orders, but if we focus on that it won’t help my point.

So, what is this point I’m taking forever to get to? Even though you may have an amazing product, or a fabulous service people truly need, don’t leave the end user out of the equation. Dryly listing the stats and specs of your product certainly shows what it’s capable of, and its unique selling points might be glaring therein, but how does the consumer relate to it? You may be selling an exclusive, super fast, super cool automobile, but you then have to tell me that this makes me exclusive, super fast and super cool in turn. We humans, whether some want to admit it or not, crave some pretty basic things. We want to belong to a pack, while also impressing others in the pack. We want cool stuff, we want money, we want to save time, money and energy, and we want to improve whatever insecurity we have within ourselves… a Lamborghini Murcielago and its 631 horsepower can work wonders on the latter.

Somewhere in there is a better me...

Point is, do not forget to speak to your client and their wants and needs, otherwise you’re essentially giving off a “take it or leave it” attitude, and unless you’re selling a product that automatically comes with a two-year waiting list of customers built-in, then the extra effort is well worth it. I know it sounds insanely basic, and it really and truly is, but I’m constantly running across websites that fail to tell me directly why my life will be better with their product. After all, when it’s all said and done, it’s really not about the product, it’s about ME.

Why We Research and Re-research

Megan Spreer — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 13:00:06 +0000

Back when I was a new journalism student at the University of Kansas, my professors constantly harped on us to stop using Wikipedia as our main resource tool for writing. They claimed it was unreliable and constantly gave us incorrect information. Yada, yada, yada. We totally didn’t listen and kept trolling the website anyway.

Fast forward to now.

As a content writer at Adcuda, a great deal of my day consists of doing research on the products or services our clients are selling. From my experience, I’ve found that scouring numerous websites and resources regarding a single topic is the best way to gain the most accurate information possible.

And yes, I do occasionally still check out Wikipedia for help.

It was just a couple weeks ago that I finally understood what my very wise professors were saying all along.

While researching a particular Italian product, I came across this:

Fortunately, the folks at Wikipedia caught it fairly quickly and edited the “creative” addition out before widespread panic could ensue.

After some further checking, you may be happy to know that the people of Italy are doing just fine and are not suffering from excessive flatulence. Boy am I glad that I check and recheck information.

THE NON-MAGICAL, COMMON SENSE APPROACH TO MARKETING COPYWRITING FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

Jason Manning — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:44:17 +0000

I read a lot of blogs related to what it is I do (writing stuff), lots of tips on SEO copywriting, advertising and marketing, aaand I keep running across articles that seem to be trying to overcomplicate and mystify the process. If you’re running a small business, selling a product or service that you created or are likely intimate with, then who better to explain why people need to buy it? Maybe you do need a professional, but if you’re keen on DIY then let’s cut through all the crap.

Here, let’s pare this down to its elements: What are you selling? Who are you selling to?

If you were explaining your product to a potential client, what would you say? This shouldn’t be too difficult a question, I imagine you’ve done it more than a few times already – so why not write as you would speak? Just because you’re transferring thoughts to the written word, there’s no reason to think you need to transform yourself into Shakespeare. As you may have learned from Sesame Street, just be yourself – don’t try to be too clever, don’t oversell, just be honest and friendly. Sure, Thesaurus.com might come in handy here and there, but be sure to speak to your customer and don’t bust out the fancy words unless they really and truly fit.

So, what’s your demographic? If you’re selling slopestyle and freeride bikes you’re likely angling for crazy, Red Bull-chugging youngsters; the Rolls Royce Motor Car demo are affluent, slightly older individuals concerned with style and luxury; and both of those are likely a tad to the side of the people actively searching for those “Truck Nutz” things for, you know, their truck. The point is to speak to your customer in text as you would normally with your gob – use your real voice and you may be surprised how well you engage your clientele and how that ultimately transfers towards your sales.

And hey, if it still ends up all being a bit overwhelming, I *ahem* know a guy…