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Maximize Traffic With 10 SEO Power Tips
By John Alexander (c) 2008

How do you know what type of content is really going to attract
the right searchers?

In this article I wanted to cover a few very basic tips that you
can keep in mind when building high-performance strategies.
Remember that good search engine marketing is not about trying
to manipulate or "fool the search engines." Good SEO skills are
more about creating genuine relevancy for well-written content
that deserves to be found because it is truly the most relevant
and useful to your audience of readers.

What students quickly discover in the 5-Day classes is that the
optimization skills are not nearly as hard as many people make
them out to be (even for the most competitive phrases,) once
you've been trained and understand the full scope of influences
that are at work. The biggest advantage that we have had is all
about the "accuracy of information."

1. Write content that your audience is already looking for
within the last 90 days.

True keyword research is not about 'guessing at keywords'
but its all about researching actual data. How are your SEO
research skills using Wordtracker or Keyword Discovery? At the
SEO Workshops we teach much more than the traditional "keyword
research" methods. We help students learn "Keyword Forensics"
and how to quickly tap into the hidden niche trends that 99% of
most Webmasters never even notice.

2. Does your Web copy speak to the reader or does it speak
about yourself?

Remember that your Web site should be focused on your audience
first and appeal specifically to a niche interest. When writing
your Web copy, you need to dialog in an appropriate tone and
format for the right audience. Some of the most interesting
content will have more appeal if it speaks to your audience in
terms of "you." You can, you might, you will, yours, your and
you're INSTEAD of we, ours, we're, we will, we can, etc.

3. Focus on writing for the human audience first and search
engines second.

While search engine optimization is important to your
visibility, try writing your content first. Most people don't
write their best when trying to optimize and create content at
the same time. Focus on creating highly useful content that is
extremely focused on one topic per page. Once you have completed
your writing so that you are pleased with it, then go in to do a
mild re-write for the search engines.

4. Tips for triggering idea generation and giving your
strategies a unique twist.

While many people seem to spend time exploring their
competitor's Web sites, we encourage you to lead the way with
new ideas. Try not to be obsessed with what the competition is
doing, but be creative and start your own new trends. Spend just
a little more time working on your projects this week than you
did last week. Setting yourself apart from the competition is
easier than you might think and gives you a huge advantage over
others.

5. Creating your content so that it "speaks" to a specific
audience of visitors.

Think of how your Web copy reads and ensure the dialog flows
smoothly. Read your work out loud and see if you can improve the
tone of your message with natural expression. Keep your specific
audience in mind. How you write for senior citizens (in tone and
in format) may differ considerably from writing for an audience
of for example "new parents." Always ask yourself "what is
important to these readers?" Rely on researching accurate data
to eliminate guess work.

6. Remember strong calls to action

Without a firm call to action, don't expect the reader to
naturally guess at what you want them to do next. Plain ordinary
dialog that asks the reader to take the next action will usually
work best. Dialog that is written for voice (similar to the way
a broadcaster writes to project their personality.)

7. Build your search engine optimization skills in the
beginning with the "stress free" approach.

If you are new to SEO, you may want to focus on the long tailed
niche phrases since most searchers are doing fairly descriptive
and intelligent searches these days. Ideally You want to attract
those who already know what they are looking for and just need
to find your pages more easily. With practice and the right
training you can go after highly competitive phrases too but
you'll find that the best conversions nearly always come from
the niches. Also remember that it is the basic SEO skills that
carry you through and must come before any of the advanced
strategies. The result will be stable top rankings that stand
the test of time with minimal fuss.

8. Give your readers a non-threatening reason to respond right
now.

What is the objective for your page and does your Web copy work
effectively at fulfilling that objective? It may not always be
about trying to sell a product or a service. It should not be
about fulfilling your needs first but it should be about meeting
the needs of why that searcher first conducted a search. Meet
their needs and deliver up something that satisfies their search
first and then give the visitor a non-threatening reason why
they might respond to you. Do you want their e-mail address? or
do you just want them to pick up the phone and call? Never lose
sight of the fact that the Web is a marvelous two way
interactive experience, if you want it to be. Make your Web site
a vehicle for relationship building and remember that many
readers may actually have the desire to interact and participate
through Blogs or other "User Generated activity." Give your
visitors something that involves their participation.

9. Remember that your readers always want to feel like they are
in control of their Web experience.

People often use the Web for researching topics of interest or
doing preliminary price comparisons or for looking up
information. While most people explore the Web for their own
purposes, the more that you put them in control of their
experience the better. If appropriate, you may want to consider
adding addition tools or functionality to your Web site in order
to enhance its usability for your specific audience.

10. Did you know that if you write your content so that it
naturally "reads very well."

You will naturally gain some bonus for having created content of
quality. By this, I mean content...that reads well to a human
being. Don't stuff keywords all over the place. Instead, use
moderation in everything you do. One of the things you need to
understand is that "theme based" search engines like Google, are
actually using a measure of artificial intelligence (AI) to
measure how well your article "reads" based on all of the
overall context of your body text (other than the keywords)
based on data that a search engine has gathered concerning a
specific topic. This is great news for writers because if you
are making a transition to writing for the web, you'll find some
search engines are literally rewarding pages that are "well
written."
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John Alexander has taught live SEO Workshops since 2002 at
http://www.SearchEngineWorkshops.com as well as Online Webinars
at the SEO Workshop Resource Center at http://www.SEW-WRC.com
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