SEO Copywriting: 7 Tips

So you finally built a website for your home-based business. How exciting is that!? Now you just have to let people know you're out there. The best method is to use an SEO copywriting strategy, which optimizes your web content using popular keywords.

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. You want to fill your website with the most commonly searched words within your industry. These words are called keywords. They're what web researchers type into search engine boxes when looking for information. Your job will be to find out what those words are, and then add them to your website content and web theme.

As the top search engines send their spiders out to crawl the web, they'll index your content using the keywords you've placed strategically throughout. If you do this right, you'll rank high in your content category. Even if you don't do it exactly right, you'll still be better off than if you don't do it at all.

Tips on SEO Copywriting: Where do I put those keywords?

1. In your website's title and ALT titles.

Your website's title is what comes up at the top of the internet browser and what someone will read as the description when they bookmark your site. So if you want people to know what you're all about, the title is the place to tell them.

Your ALT title is visible in the source code of each web page. If you vary your ALT titles using keywords to describe what's on each page, your entire site will be indexed categorically.

2. In your website's META tag description.

This is what comes up when web visitors are hunting the search engines and your website comes up in the hit list. Underneath your URL, you can add a brief description of your services and/or offerings, that visitors can read and decide to click on your site from the search engine.

3. In every page header.

Each section of a web page should ideally have a headline or header. Your web sections will go like this: < title > < head > < h1 > < h2 > etc., followed by the < body > and < footer >. By designating your sections and then including keywords in the content of each section, you're ensuring that the web crawlers will index your entire site and not skip over anything.

4. In your hyperlinks.

A well-organized website will be peppered with hyperlinks that lead the viewer from page to page. Each of these hyperlinks should contain a relevant and popular keyword which the search engines will follow along as they index.

5. In your web content.

Today's web crawlers can scan your web content, guided by the hyperlinks and keywords. If you include your most popular keywords in the first few words of each paragraph, and repeat these keywords here and there throughout, you'll ensure that your page will get picked up by the web crawlers.

6. In the navigation bar.

Have you been noticing that more and more people use the same format for their website's navigation bar? Some typical navigation bar labels include: About Us, Services, Free Tips, Contact. These are words that web crawlers now recognize as preserving the continuity of your website. Use them to promote efficient search engine run-through.

7. In the ALT description of your images.

ALT stands for alternate text- what your visitor will see if for some reason your image does not appear when they load your page in their web browser. ALT descriptions help people understand what they might not be seeing; for example, Wordfeeder Copywriting Logo. Include your most popular keywords in your image ALT descriptions.

So: now that you know where to put keywords in your web copy, how are you ever going to make it interesting and compelling to the reader? Well, you could spend hours researching all the right keywords, spend days redesigning your website's format, and spend weeks trying to create hypnotic web copy. Or, you could contact Wordfeeder.com and have them do it for you.

Copyright 2005 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved.

Find out how crisp, targeted copywriting can make a world of difference for your business. Dina Giolitto is a Copywriting Consultant with ten years of experience. Visit http://www.wordfeeder.com for free tips on branding, copywriting, marketing and more.