How SEO (Still) Works in 2024: Understanding the Language of Your Audience

Understanding the language of your audience - how SEO still works in 2024

In my last blog I talked about what I’ve observed as a disconnect between how businesses often talk about their own products and services and how their prospects and customers talk about them. This disconnect can become a significant obstacle when it comes to SEO designed to get audiences to your website. If you’re not using the same words and phrases that your target audience uses when they’re looking for products and services like yours, they’re not likely to find you. Continue reading “How SEO (Still) Works in 2024: Understanding the Language of Your Audience”

The Power of Ethos, Logos, and Pathos in Writing Promotional Copy

It’s not uncommon for students in both high school and higher ed to question whether what they’re learning will actually have relevance in the real world of work. There are three concepts, though, from several speech classes I taught at the undergraduate level, that I’ve found to be extremely helpful in creating content designed to resonate with various needs and preferences of the target audience: ethos, logos, and pathos. Before I lose you, trust me, these are really simple concepts that you can use to create and evaluate your promotional content. Continue reading “The Power of Ethos, Logos, and Pathos in Writing Promotional Copy”

10 Copywriting Tips to Get Better Results

Whether you’re writing a brochure, copy for a newspaper ad, a script for a radio announcement, or a page or blog for your web site, there are some tried and true techniques that can help you make sure that your copy gets the results you’re looking for.

Think about writing copy as making a sales pitch to a customer. Your goal is to persuade that customer to do something–most likely to purchase your product or service. Here’s how: Continue reading “10 Copywriting Tips to Get Better Results”

When You Make It All About You, You Lose

Whenever I’m called upon to offer a critique on or advice about a company or consultant’s copy – whether it’s on a web site, in a brochure, an ad, a blog, or whatever – the first thing I do is read through the copy to see whether the focus is on “we/me” or “you/your.” Most of the copy I look at is the former. A quick, easy and relatively painless way to improve it Continue reading “When You Make It All About You, You Lose”

What Is Verisimilitude?

Years ago I was fortunate to be able to work with one of the true gurus in the field of direct marketing copywriting—Herschell Gordon Lewis. A marketing genius, a horror-film writer! (he’s actually known for creating the “splatter film” sub-genre of horror, according to Wikipedia)— Continue reading “What Is Verisimilitude?”

What Are the Best Tips for Writing Great Copy?

Whether you’re writing a brochure, copy for a newspaper ad, a script for a radio announcement, or a page or blog for your website, there are some tried and true techniques that can help you make sure that your copy gets the results you’re looking for.

Think about writing copy as making a sales pitch to a customer. Your goal is to persuade that customer to do something – most likely to purchase your product or service. Here’s how: Continue reading “What Are the Best Tips for Writing Great Copy?”

Sometimes SEO, as We Typically Think of it, Just Doesn’t Matter!

I’ve written about search engine optimization (SEO) in the past and have gathered input from a wide range of content and digital marketing experts about the topic. As someone who was writing advertising copy long before SEO was “a thing,” I have kind of a love/hate relationship with the concept. Or maybe I should say a love/grudging respect for the concept. Continue reading “Sometimes SEO, as We Typically Think of it, Just Doesn’t Matter!”

The 3 “Must Knows” for Effective Content Marketing

It’s always challenging to come up with a list of “the top” anything. But, whatever the subject matter, it’s an interesting exercise. It requires stepping back to think strategically about what matters most. In this case, what matters most when it comes to content marketing. Having been engaged in content marketing for a number of years now, and having achieved a fair amount of success with our own and client accounts, we’d point to these as the “Three Must Knows” for effective content marketing. Continue reading “The 3 “Must Knows” for Effective Content Marketing”

SEO and Me: A Love/Hate Relationship

by Linda Pophal

 

I have a love/hate relationship with search engine optimization (SEO). I understand SEO. I very often use the concepts in my own writing—and often use the concepts in writing for clients. Sometimes, though, and probably because I was a writer long before SEO was even “a thing,” I balk at what can seem at times to be a misguided focus—a singular focus—on SEO to the exception of everything else. Continue reading “SEO and Me: A Love/Hate Relationship”

10 Tips for Writing Great Copy!

Whether you’re writing a brochure, copy for a newspaper ad, a script for a radio announcement or a page or blog for your web site, there are some tried and true techniques that can help you make sure that your copy gets the results you’re looking for.

Think about writing copy as making a sales pitch to a customer. Your goal is to persuade that customer to do something – most likely to purchase your product or service. Here’s how: Continue reading “10 Tips for Writing Great Copy!”