My blood pressure really goes up. SEO copywriting has started to get a bad rap due to its carelessness. How is that? Because too many people claim to know what they are doing. In reality, they simply feed keywords into a copy without worrying about how the copy flows. Copy that sounds mechanical or stiff is a sure sign that an amateur writer has had their hands on things.
When you write SEO copy, you need to take the time to figure out what works and what doesn’t. There are two mistakes that almost all amateur search engine copywriters make. Let’s take a look at each one.
# 1 – The list
Let’s say you visit the home page of a website that sells beauty products. As you read the copy, you continue to find a number of items: hairdressing supplies, hairdressing equipment, and professional manicure tables. The copy says something like this:
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The best selection of salon supplies, salon equipment and
Professional manicure tables on the Internet
When you are shopping for professional salon supplies, salon equipment, and manicure tables, you need a supplier that offers a large selection and excellent service. Because buying salon supplies, salon equipment, and professional manicure tables can be an expensive business, you also want a company that offers the lowest price.
Trust ABC Beauty Supply to bring you the widest selection of professional salon supplies, salon equipment and professional manicure tables available every day. Orders ship within 24 hours and for all professional salon supplies, salon equipment and manicure tables, orders over $ 100, shipping is absolutely free!
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Do you see how that flows (or doesn’t flow) when you use all your key phrases in a row at a time? Once safe. It’s fine. Even twice, depending on the length of your copy. But putting all your key phrases in a list and using them whenever you get the slightest opportunity is too repetitive. What do you do instead?
Discuss each one in its own section. Talk about the different types of hairdressing supplies. Review the reasons why your hairdressing equipment is better than what others sell. Or even list the features and benefits of the manicure table line you offer.
# 2 – Substitution of generic terms by keywords
This technique (like the one above) is perfectly fine IF you use it in moderation. However, replacing each instance of a generic term with a keyword phrase will make your copy sound completely silly. Let’s take a look at an example of a web design site.
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Web Design New Orleans
Our New Orleans web design firm offers a high level of creativity to businesses located in the general area. Our New Orleans web design styles are never created from templates. Each New Orleans web design is a custom creation just for your site.
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If you walked into the office of a web design company and the employees started talking as it is written, chances are you think they are high. So why the heck would you write your site copy that way? The reason is that most hobbyists mistakenly think that they cannot write for both search engines and site visitors. I am delighted to tell you that you are wrong! You can surely write for both with great success.
Try this:
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Progressive, creative, optimistic. Those are phrases that best describe many New Orleans-based online businesses. Your organization’s web design should match your style. Never created from templates, the site designs you receive will truly reflect your corporate personality. Because we work exclusively with companies located in or near New Orleans, the web designs retain that Big Easy feel.
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You saw it? The sentence was divided by punctuation. That won’t hurt your rating one bit, but it will make your copy sound MUCH better.
These are not all mistakes. I wish they were! But most mistakes made by amateur writers can be corrected with a simple test. Read it out loud. If the copy sounds ridiculous to you when you read it aloud, it will appear just as ridiculous to a site visitor.
Take your time. Learn the ins and outs of SEO copywriting before you start creating the copy for your (or your clients’) pages. Then you can be sure that your copy will convert better while contributing to its high ranking.
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