SEO Copywriting Tips Guaranteed to Get More Links

[vangogh]

SEOmoz has a good post today with tips for seo copywriting (http://www.seomoz.org/blog/10-super-easy-seo-copywriting-tips-for-link-building).

The tips are really geared toward writing blog posts, but since they do apply to pages outside of your blog I thought I'd start the thread here. Just know that these tips will likely work better with blog posts than sales pages.

Here are the tips. They're written as the subheadings for the article and so don't read as a series of tips. Read the article if you need more details.

1. Write for Power Skimmers
2. Why Headline Formulas Work
3. Get 20% More with Numbers
4. Free and Easy Power Words
5. A Picture is Worth 1000 Clicks
6. Use Sub-Headlines or Die Trying
7. When in Doubt, List it Out
8. Quotes
9. The Bold and the Italic
10. Be Honest

I can attest that every one of these does works and I use them all on my own blog. I've experimented particularly with #2 and #3 above and can tell you that doing either doubles traffic and links to the post at a minimum.

Have you had any experience trying the above? What results have you seen?

[KristineS]

I use lists and numbers quite a lot. Posts for the company that have 5 tips, or 6 questions or something always seem to do pretty well.

And, of course, I always work to be honest in my writing.

[vangogh]

Lists almost always work. Unfortunately a lot of sites use them as crutches. They create what are mostly useless lists that say nothing. And yet they still work and work well. Even at times when I'm pretty sure a list post will be useless I end up clicking on it in my feedreader.

[HomeToHeather]

I read that this morning, it was a great post! Besides making skimming easy, subheads are great for seo too so that one tip alone will bring more traffic. It can take a bit of work to write headings / sub headings that pull in people AND incorporate best search terms but it's work that's well worth it.

[vangogh]

Brian Clark of CopyBlogger advises writing your main heading first, since it's basically a promise to what your content will be about. The idea being that with the headline in place you'll write and hold true to the promise you're making. I generally don't do that myself, though I always have an idea of what my main headline will be. I usually rewrite it after, though I do rewrite it with the idea of it being a promise of what's within.

With subheads there's an easy trick. Whenever I create content I start by creating an outline of what the content will be. Your outline then becomes the subheads. It works because it lets you see the subheadings without the content. You can read then and see if someone else reading would understand what the page will be about. The outline also turns the blank page into something with writing on it and it helps give you a direction for writing the content.

And naturally subheads should be mini promises for what's in each section as well as be able to present a good picture of what the content is about for people who are scanning.

[Spider]

I would be interested in hearing what Dan has to say on this. I have thought our Dan a proponent of good text not needing bolds, italics, subheads, lists and such devices. Am I mistaken?

[vangogh]

Dan is a good writer, though I don't know that he's specifically an seo copywriter. Bold and italic text, etc. probably don't make a huge difference in how well a page ranks, but most SEOs would say they make some difference.

Subhead are definitely important online as most people will skim before they read. Similar for lists and even bold and italics. All those things stand out when first skimming. Reading online isn't the same as picking up a book or magazine. With the latter 2 you're making a commitment to read on picking up the material. Online long blocks of text without any added interest tends to turn people off. People will read those long blocks of text, but you generally increase the odds that will happen if you format the text a little to make it more interesting.

Of course some people having read what you've written before are committed to reading what you write next as soon as they land on your page.

If it means anything Dan uses subheads, bold, italics, and lists on his home page as well as throughout his site.

[Spider]

... If it means anything Dan uses subheads, bold, italics, and lists on his home page as well as throughout his site.Well, so he does! I guess that must mean something!

(You don't suppose he had someone else write that page for him? Nah!) :-)

[phanio]

When I first started writing - I wrote the way I wanted to read a story - which was essentially as it is outlined here. I have made tweets to how I write - but, I write how I want to see it (the format). The actual content is writen for my audience. I just figure it is people like me who will read my stuff and if they are like me - then ...
I still struggle with headlines - making them compelling without sounding like a pitch.

[vangogh]

You don't suppose he had someone else write that page for him?

Shhh…Dan can't reveal his secrets. :)

Adding formatting to your content (basically designing your content) definitely works. You don't want to overdo it, but when your content looks more inviting to read, more people will spend time reading it.


I still struggle with headlines - making them compelling without sounding like a pitch.

I hear you. It's not easy to find a balance you're comfortable with. Read through the series of posts at CopyBlogger on writing magnetic headlines (http://www.copyblogger.com/magnetic-headlines/). I know some of the formulas come across as manipulative, but if you read the logic behind why they work and learn to use that logic in a way you're comfortable with you can use the formulas without feeling manipulative.

The formulas do work. Every time I use them more people click through to my articles than usual. Learn why they work and then practice writing headlines. You'll find your headlines do improve.

[Dan Furman]

Well, so he does! I guess that must mean something!

(You don't suppose he had someone else write that page for him? Nah!) :-)

I always was a champion of bolds, italics, subheadings, bullet lists, and all that stuff. I think it looks great. I devoted a chapter to it in Do The Web Write.

[Dan Furman]

Shhh…Dan can't reveal his secrets. :)

heh, then the mystery person wrote the whole site, because the whole thing is like that.

And man, that mystery person REALLY dragged his feet on writing the copy for my new site. He's such an idiot... ;)

[vangogh]

That lazy mystery man. You might have to fire him. :) I have a mystery man working on a redesign for my site, but he's dragging his feet too.

[greenoak]

what a great list..... i use bullet points a lot..and headlines too....
a pet peeve of mine is how the news mags have changed from headlines and interesting clear divisions within a story to huge full pages of words..... i wonder why they changed?.... time and the old newsweek both do it...their pages seem more like the new yorker...which i like but cant skim, so i probably miss some things in it that i would have enjoyed if id had a quick hint that they were there.......

[StefanT]

Really great article! I wonder if this would also work for an ebook? Or at least some elements of it.

Most certainly the subtitles and the lists, I would think.