Top 5 SEO Copywriting Mistakes
Posted by Beth Hrusch on Mon, Apr 26, 2010
A lot of people mistake a high-ranking site for a good site. This is not always so. Why? A site can get traffic and even be popular, but without high-quality SEO content, it isn't going to produce sales. So, it's not a good site.
Don't get me wrong. Your site may be a great place for people to hang out. Lots of fun, like you. But, unless your intent is to use your site strictly for socializing, all that traffic is useless.
If your site's traffic is not converting into sales, your copy is probably the culprit. It's easy to make major mistakes with your site's content because it's so easy to lose focus on what's important. Take a look at these 5 common SEO copywriting mistakes, and decide if you are guilty of "short-selling" yourself, and your site:
1. Using the wrong keywords. Research your keywords carefully. Good, targeted keywords will bring the right people to your site. These are the consumers most likely to buy from you. If you fail to identify yourself properly to the search engines, you're likely to be indexed with sites that have nothing to do with you and people looking for stuff that also has nothing to do with you.
2. Being selfish. What is selfish copy? We all know it when we see it. It talks about product features, tries too hard to sell and doesn't offer anything of value to the reader. Your visitors want you to tell them what you can do for them. They don't care about how great your company is or what your opinions are. Focus on the customer when writing. Put yourself in their shoes.
3. Formatting improperly. Marketing copy should be friendly to the eye. In general, avoid large chunks of text and overly complex words. People like to scan for information, so make it easy for them by breaking up your paragraphs, using bullet points and highlighting subtitles and keywords or phrases.
4. Worrying about page length. It doesn't really matter how long your text is. Don't add more useless keyword-stuffed fluff because you think you need more words in order to be indexed. As long as your content makes every word count it can be 100 words long. Offer useful information that's SEO-friendly, and the search engines will find you. Don't forget-- good content of any length is popular with readers, and this is what matters (think of the power of an intriguing tweet).
5. No clear call to action. Don't make your readers wonder about what you want them to do. Somewhere on your site, preferably on every page but definitely on your squeeze page, you want to entice them to act. Offer an ebook 
or white paper in exchange for their email address. Tie your products or services into some benefit to them, so they can clearly see why they should purchase from you. This is where good content does its heavy lifting.
High-quality SEO copy turns your site into an authority, and this gives your site lasting value. Sure, being popular is nice, but in the end, your site needs to have some depth in order to hold on to its relationships. Get it?