Dynamic Marketing

Tips for Writing SEO Optimized Headlines

seo headlines

Creating a good title for your article can sometimes be even more important than the article itself, especially when we are dealing with the online space. A good heading would mean it will be clicked on more often and the effort you have put into creating the article will not go wasted. A good title will also mean that your article will be picked up in the top rankings of search engines like Google and will be exposed to more and more readers. Ideally, you should know how to create a search engine optimized heading that’s catchy too. You can engage SEO services for help. Here are some tips you should follow.

Headlines need to be Concise yet Descriptive

Whereas long titles simply don’t work, a title also has to be descriptive. Non descriptive titles do not work for the search engine or for the readers. The heading should be able to describe what the article has in store, but, in few words. Using simple terminology is advisable. Including numbers helps too. For instance titles like, “5 ways to..” or “3 alternatives for…” would be good.

Include Keywords

Possibly, the easiest way to please your search engines is to include keywords in your title. Begin by researching on the most familiar keywords for your article subject. Arrive at 2 or maximum 3 that you wish to include. Use only about 2 of these in your headline. Cramming too many keywords in your title will make it appear stunted. Make sure you include the keywords towards the beginning of the title. This will help in improving search engine rankings.

Get the Length Right

Google only picks up the first 55 to 60 characters of your article heading. The rest does not appear in the initial search listing. Therefore, you need to limit the title within 60 characters to a maximum, wherever possible. If you create longer titles, only a fraction of it will appear on the search listing, and it may not even make sense to readers browsing through the search results. Complete titles have better readability. This is why it is important to read through the title again and again and remove any word that seems unnecessary.

Consider Emotion Triggers

Combining emotional triggers with focus keywords is the best way to create an attention grabbing headline. As your SEO consultant will advise, emotions sell! So, it is important to create titles that connect with human emotions. Attempt to create a headline for a story and not an article. The story telling approach of article writing is what attracts readers. Articles that are devoid of emotion and tend to be informative alone are perceived as dull and boring and hence are hardly ever taken up for reading.

To summarize, headlines should attempt to be compelling without exceeding the specified length and have provision for plugging in the keyword as well. There are many ways to make a headline compelling. It can be in the form of a question, a challenge, a promise or a guarantee or it can also be a call to action!

Things to Consider when Hiring an SEO Consultant

hiring seoBusinesses often get taken in when their SEO consultant claims to create more back-links, or simply offers cheaper services. The truth is that good search engine optimization requires actual efforts, which cannot come cheap. While most consultants will assert that they can take your business to the top of the rankings, there are actual ways to know whether they can. Here is a detailed list of things you should consider when hiring an SEO consultant.

What types of SEO consultancy do you need?

Broadly, there are 3 kinds of SEO services. While individual SEO consultants are freelancers, SEO agencies have teams of experts that can be hired by businesses. The third category is in-house SEO teams, which can be hired for large businesses, but which can also be unaffordable at times. Based on what kind of consultancy you need out of the first two categories, there are some things to consider before hiring.

Their current and past clients

You conduct research on everything or everyone you buy or hire. The same goes for SEO services. Look for reviews, case studies, testimonials, and any remarkable past/present clients. Another important question to ask is about clients they’ve had their longest associations with.

Their strategy for improving your search engine rankings

Brush aside any SEO consultants that are reluctant to share their strategies beforehand. Not only this, consultants should be able to offer realistic estimations of how long it would take for their promised results to be achieved. Invite technical reviews of your company website and initial proposals. Finally, ask them whether they provide off-page optimization, in addition to on-page optimization.

Their adherence to Google’s webmaster guidelines

Google releases about 500 updates in its algorithm, on a yearly basis, and it is only to provide better searches. Sites that violate rules are penalized by Google, via its Panda and Penguin algorithms. Shady SEO firms can undo all the good work done to your site just for short-term results.

Their transparency with changes made to the site

SEO will require making several changes to the web page coding of a business. It will be important for you, as well, to know about the kind of changes made to your web page. Ask prospective SEO consultants whether they will add new title tags or modify the current ones, or whether they will offer additional copywriting.

Their payment terms

It is crucial to know when and how much exactly you will need to pay. Surveys have found that 7 out of 10 SEO consultants charge you on individual projects. Retainers will charge on a monthly basis. Ask how frequently the payments will have to be made.

What after the contract is over?

This is an important question from the point of view of security. Most SEO services would want to sign a contract for a certain period of time. It would take time for them to make changes and for these changes to work. Know in advance what stands to happen, should your company run into a financial crisis and cannot afford their services. You could also want to terminate the contract because of unsatisfactory work.

 

To read our previous article, please click here.

Top 6 SEO Copywriting Tips

seoNo matter how good your content is, it may remain unfound in the web, if you do not optimize your content with the right keywords. That’s the power of Search Engine Optimization. As a web copywriter, your primary goal should be to get found. If your potential readers do not find your copy in the first page of Google search results, they would not even know you exist. This is exactly why website owners hire SEO services. SEO experts can quickly analyze a website and find out ways to improve its online ranking. As a copywriter, you can make the job easy for an SEO consultant by following some simple guidelines when writing for the web. Here are the six SEO copywriting tips to make it easier for your target audience to find your content.

1. Identify your target audience

This is true for any form of writing, but more so when you are writing for the web. Before you jump into writing your content, think who you are writing for, how your writing is going to help them, what exactly your audience is looking for. Chances are that you are not the first writer writing on this topic. The internet is full of content on the same topic. So how is your writing going to be different? Unless you identify your target audience, you could go off track anytime.

2. Use the keyword in your headline

Just writing an eye-catching headline is not enough. You should include the right keyword in the headline. This makes it easy for the search engine crawlers to find your copy. Keep it short and try to use numeric in the headline. For instance, ‘Top 7 SEO Copywriting Tips’ is a better headline than ‘SEO Copywriting Tips.”Along with the headline, you should also use meta-tag descriptions for better results.

3. Use keywords in the body

It is also important to use the keyword(s) in the body of your content. You can use more than one or two keywords as well. However, make sure you do not force keywords into your text. They should come naturally or at least look like so. Using too many keywords may result in blacklisting of your site due to keyword stuffing. Typically, four or five keywords in 400-word content would be enough. Also, make sure you do not concentrate all of them in one paragraph. Distribute your keywords evenly throughout the text.

4. Get the formatting right

Despite being informative, your post may not be readable. How you format your text makes a lot of difference. Improve the readability of your text by dividing the content into small paragraphs. Use bullet points, wherever possible. The format of the content should be well structured by following the hierarchy, like for tagging the titles always use H1 for titles, H2 for subtitles etc.

5. Consider using images

Picture paints thousand words! People love visuals, so use images in your content, if possible. This will create a good impression on readers. In this regard, you can take help from an SEO consultant, who can suggest the right pictures for your content.

6. Call to action

Finally, end your content with a call to action. This is the most important part and requires special attention. After all, you are writing the content with a purpose. Mostly, the purpose to is to sell something or to convince the reader to subscribe to a something. In any case, call to action is a chance for you to say it directly to your audience. Tell them to act now. Instigate a sense of immediacy. For instance, you can use phrases like ‘Buy Now’, ‘Subscribe Now’, etc,

 

To read our previous article, please click here.

Is SEO worth the Investment?

seo

Interestingly, a majority of those who ask this question never asks ‘is PPC worth the investment?’ or ‘Should I invest in email marketing?’ AS a SEO consultant, this seems quite unfair to me, but that’s how it is. Perhaps, people are more skeptical about SEO because it does not always offer them quick results. Also, results are never guaranteed, even though some agencies claim that. So should you invest in SEO services? The answer is ‘yes’. But you may want to a justification of this answer. Read on to find out for yourself.

SEO still works

SEO has changed very fast over the past few years, but it is not dead. Those who do not have the knowledge and ability to cope with the changes, and are using the same old techniques for search engine optimization, may complain about the inefficacy of SEO – but it is far from the truth. Now is the time to look at SEO as a branding strategy rather than a marketing strategy, say experts. This means your focus should be on providing your customers the guidance, information, and assistance they are looking for. As long as you use SEO with a focus on improving user experience, you are likely to get the desired results. And quality SEO is here to stay. Even today, if a customer uses video searches, they get results based on keywords and text-based content.

More people are using search engines

Around 90 percent internet users read reviews and testimonials before buying a product. Studies say more and more people will use search engines to look for a product or service, in coming years. If you do not optimize for search engines, your prospects will not even find you. Even today, there is no better alternative to SEO for marketing your products and services.

It does not cost you a fortune

Unlike social medial marketing, PPC advertising, and email marketing, SEO is cost effective. Getting results through SEO takes time, but the investment is not as large as you need to pay for other online marketing channels. Remember, however, that quality SEO comes at a cost. You cannot expect great results with search engine optimization, if you are constantly using cheap SEO services.

It offers long-term results

Organic searches are still a major source of revenues for most online businesses. However, ranking your website higher in organic search results is not possible overnight. An experienced SEO consultant knows how much time and effort it takes to improve the search engine reputation of a website. From link building to content marketing – a number of techniques need to be applied to push a website up in search rankings. However, the results you get through quality SEO are sustainable. If you continue to do what it takes to keep your website buoyant, you can maximize your ROI more quickly than you think. All you need is to hire the right SEO services. Make sure you check the background and reputation a SEO consultant before hiring himyou’re your search engine optimization requirements.

To read our previous article, please click here.

Why You should Avoid Cheap SEO Services

why_not_cheap_seo_services

If you are tempted to hire cheap SEO services, you are not alone! Hundreds of SMBs in Singapore are penny-wise and pound-foolish. If that sounds rude to you, then I’m sorry, but that’s the reality today.

First, let’s understand what cheap SEO is. Well, it depends on your budget and financial capabilities. For instance, if your company is earning millions of dollars, then $10,000 for an SEO consultant may seem quite cheap for you. However, even $1000 per month for SEO would seem whopping, when you have a shoe-string budget.

While the term ‘cheap’ means different things to different people, there is one universal truth. Quality SEO does not come cheap. Here are some major reasons why you should avoid hiring cheap SEO services.

Cheap SEO could be counterproductive in the long run

White hat SEO takes a little time, but the results you get would be lasting. On the contrary, cheap SEO may get you quick results, but at the cost of your brand reputation. Be wary of digital marketing companies that give you assurance of quick results at surprisingly low price. Chances are that they are using black hat SEO techniques – which in the long run may end up getting your company blacklisted by Google. Once your website gets blacklisted, you’ll lose your existing customers, and it would take a lot of time and money to recover from the penalty. You may need to hire another more experienced SEO consultant. Even then, there is no surety of a complete recovery.

Cheap SEO does not add value

Cheap SEO lacks originality, customization, and innovation. This type of SEO services does not add value to your marketing campaigns. They offer one-size-fits-all solutions and never take the time and effort to tailor their services to fit your target customers. Often, a cheap SEO company would be terrible in commutation, because they are always busy trapping new customers. They care less about existing customers and more about potential customers. They spend more on front-end sales, and less on improving service quality.

Lack of money holds them back from taking the necessary steps

A cheap SEO company, even with the best of intentions, cannot deliver great results – because they do not have the money to spend on quality content and back links. They can only use some time-consuming SEO techniques, such as, keyword research, webpage optimization, and very limited technical optimization.

Without enough budget, you cannot create quality content, spend time on quality link building – neither can you afford to place your links on high ranked sites. As a result, you may not see enough improvement in your page ranking for a long time. Or, they will take the wrong route for quick results – which would eventually get your website penalized.

Experience matters

It is always a good idea to get SEO done by a team of experts. If you hire a digital marketing company for cheap SEO, do not even expect quality services from experienced professionals. They will hire entry-level staff to compensate for the discount they offer. Eventually, the services would not help in the long run.
The bottom line here is; do not choose an SEO company only on the basis of cost. Do a thorough background check before hiring.