Writing for the Web – Death of the Salesman
Posted by Beth Hrusch on Thu, Jul 23, 2009
Can you tell the difference between copy written to entertain or inform, and copy written to sell a product? The line between the two is getting blurry as SEO copywriting has evolved. Today, much of the copywriting that you see on the Internet is written by professional SEO writers who market to readers not by selling to them, but by engaging them.
This means that you are less likely to see the kind of hard selling, keyword-stuffed fluff and filler that used to dominate the copywriting landscape back in the early days of search engines. You are also less likely to realize that you are being sold to. Good SEO copywriters now make it their goal to offer information first, then politely ask for your business. It's the "give and take" of Internet marketing.
SEO copywriting rules have changed, and selling on the web now means that you must write your copy from your readers' point of view. When you are looking for information, do you want a sales pitch? Well, neither do your readers. What they really want is information that will answer their questions and solve their problems.
Of course, specializing in SEO means that you still must know how to get your content to rank. There are a myriad of techniques used by SEO writers to increase the online visibility of their content. Relevant keywords inserted in the proper density, compelling titles and tags and smart distribution are all still necessary. These elements have never changed. It's the way that the content is written that has evolved, and for the better.
Our blogs focus a lot on this theme and for good reason. It cannot be overstated- write for your readers, or you might as well be writing for yourself.