However, in order to have truly effective copywriting, you need to go even beyond the specs of your own site.  While I’m in the business of blogging for business, I’m also in the business of analytics. There are several tools that we at Content Equals Money (and other writing services) use in order to make sure that our copywriting isn’t just original, and it isn’t just well-written: it’s effective, too.

Welcome to the world of analytics.  Just when you thought that getting the customer to convert was all about putting the right words in the right places (which it is); it’s also about your site statistics.  Oh, and it’s about the right keywords, too, which is what I’ll focus on today.

There are a variety of different tools and resources on the internet that are great for figuring out how effective your copywriting is; and also for doing the research necessary to make sure that the keywords you use for your copywriting are as effective as possible.  Let me take you down the rabbit hole of keyword research.

Keying into Keywords

The heart and soul of copywriting in terms of SEO is keywords.  Now, Copyblogger will (very astutely) remind us that there is no substitute for great copy. That is, you need to actually have good writing.  Keyword stuffing is a serious problem for many copywriters: directly, the “art” of using a specific keyword over and over again until the piece is so repetitive that it is unreadable.  Keyword stuffing is bad, says Matthew Loop.  Keyword stuffing is bad, says Blue Global Media.  Keyword stuffing is bad, says Web Pro News.  Oh, and keyword stuffing is bad, says Google.

Word to the wise: keyword stuffing is bad.

However, good keyword use is the linchpin of SEO copywriting.  You’ll need to have the right keywords targeted so that when the consumer is typing in words to the Google search box, your site pops up.  Oh, and companies that blog get 55% more web traffic.  More web traffic equals more conversions, so you’ll want to use keywords in your copy.

Of course, the question is how to find those keywords.  This is one of the most challenging aspects of creating a content strategy, but wise copywriters know where to do their research.  Writing compelling copy for a product or service isn’t just about good writing (though good writing is important): it’s about finding the appropriate keywords and making those keywords work for you.

Do Your Research

We love SEOmoz.  If you don’t have a subscription, you should get one.  (No, we don’t work for SEOmoz or have any affiliation.  Consider that a pro tip.)  At any rate, if you head over to this post by SEOmoz, they offer some great tips on how to do appropriate keyword research.  For those who don’t want to bounce around the internet, here are the deets:

Use Google. Simply head over to the website itself and do a search for certain terms that you think would be good keywords.  What sites pop up when you hit “search?”  Are they relevant to your business?  Do they get you to your competitor’s websites?  If so, that’s probably a term that you should consider trying.

Use Google AdWords or Bing Adcenter.  You can buy a sample campaign for one of your targeted keywords.  Choose “exact match” for that keyword, and then track impressions and the conversion rate for said keyword over a few hundred clicks.  The picture will begin to show itself.

Use the Words

Now that you’ve got an idea about what sorts of keywords to use, you’re going to have to actually put them in your copy.  Remember: keyword stuffing is bad.

But how do you know if you’re keyword stuffing?  Frankly, if you can read through content and pick out the keywords, consider it stuffed.  There really is no magic ratio for keyword density, though M3 New Media recommends that you should not have keywords at a density of more than 20%.

The best way to use keywords when you’re blogging for business is to make them a natural part of your content.  Assuming that you pick keywords that are actually relevant to your product, you should be able to fit them in and not have to resort to written acrobatics.  Good keywords lend themselves to good copy.

And good copy lends itself to conversions.  Do your research, don’t stuff your keywords, and watch as your bottom line rises.

Understanding your website’s traffic is one of the most important responsibilities of owning and operating a business or professional website online. This requirement isn’t just for the web developers and tech gurus, either: everyone in your business should be able to wrap their heads around how people use their website, from the newest interns to the most senior executives. You can have the best website in the market, but if you don’t understand how to use your website statistics to create new business opportunities, you might as well have no website at all.

The only thing more important than understanding your traffic is understanding how to use that traffic to measure conversions. Knowing what your visitors are doing is good, but knowing that your efforts to lead visitors to your marketing goals is even better. Tracking conversions from content and web promotions is incredibly easy with Google Analtyics and a little forethought to your web design.

The first step in tracking your conversions is identifying what goals you’ve set for your business, and mapping which webpages are involved in completing that goal. Are you tracking how many people purchase an item? Then think about the purchase process as your “conversion path,” beginning at the item page where they are given the option to make a purchase. Your visitor clicks check-out, they click through the payment and shipping pages, confirm their details, and then land on an order confirmation page when their purchase has been completed. Your ultimate goal will be to track how many users land on that order confirmation page, but your “conversion path” includes each step leading to that landing page.

Tracking these specific pages in your conversion path is simple: Google Analytics gives you a code “snippet” you add directly to each webpage’s code. Every time the page is loaded, it triggers that code, telling Google Analytics it is part of your conversion path. If you can copy and paste, and you know your way around the Google Analytics dashboard, you can see your conversions. (If you use Google AdWords, you can access the same features through the Conversion Tracking feature. Find out which conversion tracking service is best for you here.)

Under “Standard Reporting” select “Conversions” from the right-hand menu, then “Funnel Visualization.” Your “conversion funnel” shows how effectively your conversion path is “funneling” visitors through the conversion process to your desired outcome. The green “funnel” shows you visitors that follow through to the next step of the conversion process; the red “bounce” numbers show you how many visitors land on a conversion path page and then abandon the rest of the conversion process.

With general analytics and conversion funnel visualization, you can see how many visitors are coming to your webpage, how many are engaging your conversion process, and how many are actually completing it. Having this information will show you very quickly how effectively your website “sells” visitors on the purchase or action you want them to take, which pages are performing better than others, and which steps of the conversion process need to be updated, redesigned, or removed. With Advanced Segments, search traffic statistics, and even AdWords tracking (if you advertise with the service) you can even determine which search results and what kind of visitors are driving the most business to your webpage. With goal tracking and careful conversion tactics, you will be able to laser-focus your webpages to perform as cost-effectively as possible, while still delivering the quality results you want.

What do you even do all day? You just play on Facebook and Twitter?

Yeesh.

Go ahead. Yeesh along with me. One… two… yeesh.

Of course, if that line of thinking doesn’t make you cringe, then there are probably a few basic steps to the whole “effective social media” process that you’re missing.

#1: Check in

And I don’t mean on Foursquare. Check in on your social media accounts. You know that expression “Out of sight, out of mind?” If you’re not making an effort to be present on your social media accounts, your fans and followers aren’t going to pay much attention when you do show up because you’re not going to make much of a lasting impact.

I know: you’re a busy person. If you find it difficult to find time to be consistently active on social media sites, you have options. Let some of your employees help out, for example. If you really would rather that all of it be in your hands, then you need to schedule time – 20 minutes in the morning, 15 minutes over lunch, and a half an hour in the evening, say.

The bottom line: in order for your social media to be effective, you need to show up.

#2: Interact

Social media is a great way to interact with those who support your brand, share your content, or have questions or concerns about your product. Make sure that you’re replying to as many comments as you can, regardless of whether they’re on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere else. Show that you have an interest in what your customers and prospects have to say.

#3: Listen

Spend a little bit of time each day just listening. Don’t get me wrong – interaction is super important, but it’s not everything when it comes to social media (nothing is everything; there’s a balance). While you can invest in some really excellent tools for listening and monitoring conversation about you, your brand, products, industry, competitors, and so on; you can also listen in quite a bit with free tools such as HootSuite or TweetDeck.

Listening can really provide you with invaluable information about your brand perception. Ignoring this crucial step is ignoring a chance to improve, no matter how well you’re already doing.

#4: Share others’ content

No one will fault you for sharing your own content through your social media channels. What you want to avoid, however, is broadcasting your own material and nothing else. There is one exception to this rule: if you’re a news source, then it’s expected that you’ll be broadcasting.

Assuming that you’re not an official news source, you should take care to share others’ content in addition to your own. This shows that you’re supporting your peers’ and colleagues’ work, and that you’re interested in the industry itself, not just what you have to say about it.

Remember: no one likes a social media egomaniac.

#5: Comment on others’ content

I probably don’t need to tell you that comments are the way to build community. They’re also a good way to get out there in the social sphere and meet some new people. You never know when those new people could become new clients or business partners. Think of it as a kind of networking.

Each day, commit to commenting on a certain number of blog posts and try to stick with the conversation as it unfolds. As you become more comfortable with commenting, add more blogs to your commenting circuit.

Remember, though, to leave meaningful comments. There are too many people who hop from blog post to blog post leaving comments that say things like “Great job!” or “Loved this post!” with absolutely no explanation as to what they liked or how they could relate. They don’t add anything to the conversation. In truth, a lot of those people are just after the link juice.

Earn your link juice with relevant comments and build some new relationships in the process.

#6: Practice Social Media Writing

There’s a line between writing on social media channels and writing for social media channels. Practice learning social media writing. That is, learn how to craft content, status updates, tweets, and so forth that will really pack a punch. How can you concisely create compelling content that will encourage clicks? (Can you tell the alliterative mood just struck me?)

I also want to give blog titles a shout here. If all of your blog titles are really vague and never the slightest bit creative, you’re going to have a difficult time getting people to read. As you’re practicing social media writing, practice blog titles that are neither too long nor too short and include keywords and phrases for your topic.

#7: Show some personality

If you think about the people and businesses that you following across various social media sites, I’m sure you can think of the ones who are really straight-laced and all businesses, as well as the ones who exhibit more character and personality.

People like to see the personality behind the default picture, so don’t be afraid to be yourself. You should, of course, always be professional and appropriate, but you can do that while showing some character. Be personable and make it interesting for your viewers.

What would you add to this list? Drop us a comment and let us know!

But don’t let this paint a picture of doom and gloom; those of us who write for a living genuinely love slinging the written word around, and whether I’m writing a chapter in a novel or blogging for business, I like the process of polishing my words to suit my audience.  Writing, after all, is a base desire to communicate.  And when you overflow with words naturally (it’s not just writing for me – if I ever had a conversation with you face to face I’d probably bowl you over with verbosity), you just want to write.

For those who are looking to make the best out of their affinity for words, copywriting is a great profession.  It allows you to interact with clients all around the world and gives you a variety of different topics to write about.  For instance, I never thought that I’d delve into the nitty gritties of real estate – but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been an enjoyable journey.  (And if I were talking to you in the aforementioned hypothetical conversation, I could probably knock your socks off with my library of knowledge about underwater mortgages.)

Through my tenure in the copywriting business, I’ve managed to accrue quite a few tips and tricks when it comes to polishing a piece to not just fit client specifications, but also knock it out of the park.  Without further ado, I present the 7 things that all copywriters need to know when polishing the piece.  It’s not just about saying what you have to say – it’s making sure that what you say sounds good!

7 Things: One for Every Day of the Week

Make sure any keywords are used appropriately. Many clients are highly concerned about the use of keywords.  Sometimes, copywriters want to appease the client so much that they resort to keyword stuffing.  I’ve gone over the evils of keyword stuffing in many previous posts, but when you’re polishing a piece for presentation, make sure to read over your copy and be sure it doesn’t sound like a SEO Thanksgiving turkey.  Copy shouldn’t be stuffed.  It should sound natural and flow – so much so that the keywords don’t even appear to be there!

Grammar check.  Spell check.  Really.  It’s amazing how many (good!) writers forget the importance of editing.  If your product is writing, a misplaced comma or even forgetting an apostrophe can make your professional image crumble.  For those who are looking to hire a copywriter, remember that working with writing services close to home is always best.

Headings and Subheads. The use of headings and subheads is vital when creating a strong copywriting piece, particularly if it’s for the internet.  Headings and subheads help break up a piece, and they’re also a good place to slide in those ever-important keywords.  Headings are also incredibly useful in terms of SEO, so make sure you understand how to use them correctly.

Not just technically unique – conceptually unique. Unique content is important in the eyes of Google – Google can penalize websites that are found to be scraping content or are full of duplicates.  But its vital that your content not just be technically unique – that is, it passes Copyscape – but also be conceptually unique.  Does your piece actually add to the conversation?

Consider the position of the piece in an overall content marketing scheme. This should also be considered prior to writing the piece, but if you’re a copywriter who’s working to create a content marketing plan for your client, ensure that the piece actually works as part of that plan.  Editorial calendars are a great way to ensure that everything stays on track.  Just make sure that you do, as well!

Make sure the call to action is clear. This is related to the “technically verses conceptually unique” concern listed above, but if you’re writing a blog there should be an actionable ending to the piece.  When the reader is done with the blog, what is the next action that he/she should logically take?  Whether you’re pitching a product or simply seeding the reader’s mind with ideas, make sure that the idea is strong!

Does it sound good? Read your copywriting aloud after completing it.  This is a great way to ensure that the piece flows naturally and sounds good.  You don’t just want to put words on a page.  You want to create an experience.  In order for that experience to be good and not dissonant, the words need to sound good on the page.  Don’t forget – you’re a writer, so write like it!

Copywriting is not the same as creative writing, but there are plenty of creative elements that come into taking a topic and crafting the perfect piece for the client’s needs.  We here at Content Equals Money are proud to say that we hit the nail on the head every time – feel free to contact us to learn more about what we do and how we can use our talents to help you better the standing of your business.

(And that, ladies and gentleman, is the perfect call to action, if I say so myself.)

Today I’m starting a new weekly topic on Tools for Writers, where I’ll cover writing techniques and strategies for effective professional writing. For today, I’ll focus on the tools of the trade: your keyboard.

The business of content writing isn’t terribly complicated at first glance. You check emails, you brainstorm, you hold meetings with your coworkers, you check your finances every so often, and you write. You write a lot.

A simple 300-word assignment leads to another 500 words, and another 500 words, and before you know it, you’ve tapped out 3000 or 4000 words before your second cup of coffee.

Professionals that spend a lot of time typing every day all have one thing in common: whether you’re an employee for a larger company, an author, or a freelance writer, you hit a point in your career fairly early on where you start thinking about your keyboard. And you keep on thinking about it. To the point that it’s all you think about.

For professionals that do just about anything on the computer, your keyboard is your livelihood. It’s the most versatile way you interact with your computer, as well as the people, clients, and customers you write to. A carpenter needs a sturdy hammer and good nails to stay in business, and even if they don’t have the best, most expensive equipment, they can justify splurging a little if they know exactly what they’re looking for.

Writers and their keyboards are the same: there are plenty of high-price, top-quality keyboards on the market, but as long as you know what you like and what you’re looking for in a keyboard, you can usually find exactly what fits your needs—even if it’s a little pricier than usual.

The point is to know what is important to you and then, find the best tool for the job.

Personally, I’m kind of a keyboard fanatic. I went all out when I decided to be serious about my keyboard preferences, and I ended up spending months doing research on how different keyboards work, what might be best for me, and where I could find a good price.

There are a lot of things to consider: soft keys or cherry switches, which wireless frequency has the best response, ergonomic layout, etc. I weighed these into my decision and if you are a serious writer – so should you!

I finally settled on the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 for my choice keyboard. The contoured key layout makes reaching keys easier from a more relaxed seat position, and the wrist rest is comfortable if you like having something to drop yours on—I try to keep my wrists elevated like you’re supposed to, but I get lazy every so often. I edit images and video as well, and the division between keys right down the middle means that I can more easily organize groups of hotkeys and shortcut buttons to help me put my ideas into my work faster.

If you’re the type that likes a little visual reminder of what shortcut keys are where, there are all kinds of hotkeys and specialty shortcut buttons you can program to your taste. Just another reason I suggest this keyboard. Of course, this isn’t the only keyboard out there with this feature but it is yet another thing to consider when shopping.

Some of my computer programmer friends enjoy their mechanical keyboards, with their wonderfully “clicky” physical switches and sturdy frames. I know other programmers and creative designers that are happy with their Macbook Pro keyboard and don’t need anything more than that. Again, it’s all up to your preference. The point is to be intentional about your purchase and know there are a lot of options.

At the end of the day, it comes down to personal choice and application: what do you like in a keyboard, what do you hate, and what will you need it for. Whether you’re an executive trading stocks, a copywriter for a content writing service, an aspiring novelist, or just looking into a change of pace for your personal computer, your keyboard is one of the first writing tools you should consider.