If it is filled with a lot of hype, the customer could experience buyers’ remorse and have ill-feeling toward you (the seller).

Marketing online is more than just making a quick sale…it’s about building your reputation as much as anything. If your website gets the reputation of having too much hype, people will know and either leave your site quickly or not visit at all.

So how can I create persuasive copy that doesn’t contain too much hype?

Many of these copywriting tips have proven their worth in terms of consistent conversions and sales. Continue reading for 3 quick steps you can use to create persuasive copy without resorting to hype.

Focus on your readers, not your products and services

Be sure your copy is focused on your readers and solving their problems. Focusing on how great your products and services are will only make you seem less than sincere. If someone lands on your site, they either clicked an ad or a link on a search engine results page or some other site. They came to you so you can assume they know what they’re looking for and why.

Therefore, focus on the readers to capture their attention and move them through the buying process.

Draw readers’ attention with a great headline

We’ve discussed before how headlines are one of the most important elements in a landing page or online article. If it doesn’t grab a reader’s attention quickly, they will move off your site quicker than you can blink!

Your headline needs to do two things – it needs to ‘catch’ the readers’ attention and it needs to be relevant to the sales copy. To fulfill both of these conditions of an effective headline, place an ‘emotional trigger’ in the headline to keep people’s interest. Focus on the problem your readers have and the solution your products/services offer rather than resorting to hype.

Quickly make your point and provide a ‘call-to-action’

Without resorting to promotional pitches, quickly tell people what your product can do for them. People are not concerned about your business but their situation, which is why they’re searching online for a solution to their problem.

Therefore, that’s why it’s important to speak about them and their problem rather than your products. And do it quickly and provide instructions on what to do next. Most people’s attention spans are quite short and they won’t spend a lot of time trying to figure out what they should do next.

Additionally, your sentences and paragraphs should be quick and to the point…one, you don’t want to lose readers’ interest by taking forever to get to the point and two, you don’t want to intimidate readers with large chunks of text. Therefore, keep your paragraphs short and to the point (5 lines max.)

Harnessing these 3 steps will go a long way to ensuring your copy is persuasive without the hype that’s so common in many websites and marketing materials. Today’s shoppers are more meticulous than ever…they won’t spend much time on a site that spends all its time talking about itself.

Saying the same thing over and over again may work in politics but when you’re marketing your small business online, it appears fake to prospective customers. Most who come across content like this immediately leave a website as they are seeing right through the angle the site is trying to play…if not consciously realizing it, site visitors will feel something just doesn’t seem right about the site so they leave.

Besides helping build links and SEO rankings, good content builds trust with site visitors. Continue reading for four ways you can build trust with prospective customer with your site’s content.

1.  Do not hype anything

Hype is still a favorite tactic of low-level marketers. We’ve all seen hype time and again – in commercials, on billboards and in magazines. We’ve become accustomed to it. But the Internet is still relatively new and useful for many things – research, business, shopping and more. People have a much lower tolerance for hype in the online world.

Substantiate all claims. Don’t say you’re “#1” or “the best” unless you can back that up through a third-party. Simply claiming you’re the best because you want it to be true isn’t enough…people find unsubstantiated claims very suspicious.

2. Be genuine, like a friend

Great copy that sells generally reads like a conversation between friends. Writing in a conversational tone that helps the reader solve their problem goes a long way toward building trust. Since online shoppers cannot meet the seller in the flesh, they get extremely suspicious and leave if your content is bland and boring.

Also, don’t spend much time telling outlandish stories or make claims that appear too good to be true…be able to backup claims with third-party verification.

3. Don’t use hidden text that’s hard to find

In the infancy of SEO, webmasters used to write content and make it the same color as their background to hide it from readers. The keyword-rich content got the attention of the search engines at first but no real person would spend much time on the site. You can still “hide” content like that but there’s a right way and a wrong way to do it.

It’s okay to employ hidden content to make your page more usable as long as the reader can easily find it with a simple click of a mouse. But hiding content to make it more difficult for readers to find is wrong.

Before using hidden text though, ask yourself is it valuable? If it is, then your visitors need to be able to read it. If not, then it probably shouldn’t go on the site anyway.

4. Include negative reviews

Another powerful way to gain trust in your site’s content is to include negative reviews of your products. Only including positive reviews will only serve to turn people off…you can lose credibility pretty quickly. Negative reviews help because they give the reader a better-rounded picture of what they’re purchasing. They also help readers determine how the positive attributes of your products outweigh the bad.

Courtesy of SearchEngineGuide.com

Your site’s content is where you make your impression on potential customers. Therefore, it needs to build trust if you want site visitors to purchase your products or use your services. Make sure you’re giving your site visitors a good first impression and not simply creating a jumbled mess of keyword optimized content.

You don’t want to give away too much but you do want to draw their interest enough so they will click on that link to learn more or buy.

Creating copy that simultaneously achieves both of those objectives is the needle you need to thread to effectively harness the Internet to grow your small business.

So when you’re writing landing pages for your website, consider the following 5 tips to maximize their value on both ends…that is serve as good search engine fodder on one end and an effective marketing message on the other.

Write attention grabbing, eye-catching headlines

Headlines are the best opportunity you have to really grab your reader’s attention…if it doesn’t, they will most likely leave the page. You will want to include a primary keyword that will grab both your both your reader’s and the search engine’s attention.

Include call-to-action often

Next, you need to include a call-to-action that instructs visitors on what to do next. Generic forms of this are “Click here to learn more” and other quick anecdotes but those have shown to not work as well as more unique calls-to-action like “…start increasing your online presence and find more customers by contacting search engine marketers at SEO Advantage today to learn more.

Read 3 Elements of a Good Call-to-Action to learn more.

Like our example, you should also include a keyword phrase for your link in this call-to-action statement for additional search engine benefits. Include at least 2 calls-to-action for a short landing page and 3-5 for longer ones.

Directly address the customer

In your main copy, address the customer as “you” and “your” rather than saying “we,” “us” and “our.” Let the customer know what your company and its products/services and do for them. This relaxes the customer too…making them feel like they’re talking to a friend.

Directly deliver the message

When you’re writing landing pages and other content for marketing your small business online try to think about your copy as a business tool and not an art form. You’re trying to persuade readers to take action, not feel good about your ability to express yourself.

Keep content closely written

Whether your landing page is short (500 words or less) or longer, keep the context of the page tightly knit. Meaning, don’t get sidetracked by including extraneous facts and benefits of your products or services. There’s much debate amongst copywriters on an effective length for a landing page but no matter which one you choose, keep the subject matter within certain parameters.

Accomplishing both SEO and marketing goals through your landing pages and other content will maximize the value of your site for both you and your customers. Not only will search engines reward you for compelling, keyword-rich content, those who find you will be reassured that your products/services can address their needs.

This time last year, Microsoft’s Bing enjoyed the title of fastest growing search engine, experiencing 22% growth in its first year of existence.

But now, Bing can no longer claim that mantle as Twitter CEO Biz Stone proclaimed at the Aspen Ideas Festival this week, a gathering of the nation’s leading intelligentsia. Stone says Twitter is exceeding 800 million searches per day, which translates to 24 billion per month – almost twice as much as Bing and Yahoo combined!

(Last month, Bing had 4.1 billion searches and Yahoo had 9.4 billion)

Of course, this is nowhere near Google with over 88 billion searches a month but it’s quite respectable.

Lately, it’s been said you can jumpstart indexing of new content by posting it on Twitter in addition to your site since Google is constantly refreshing feeds from Twitter. With this newest data, you can safely assume many people are turning to Twitter to search for answers to their questions, news on current events and information on products and services.

Stone says Twitter has intentionally been trying to play this kind of angle – serving as not only a social network but a search engine as well. He argues there are many misconceptions regarding Twitter, saying that it’s “not a social network” but “…more like an information network or a source of news.”

Either way, Twitter is quickly becoming a relevant way to search for information online…we’ll see what some of the reports from comScore and others say when they come out. But if there’s any validity to Stone’s claims, you best consider how, when and if it’s wise for your business to jump in.

Evaluate the demand and presence of your industry on Twitter to get a better idea of when and how much effort you should put into it.

A call-to-action is just as necessary an element of web copywriting as your keywords and message…simply writing your message without instructing the reader on what to do next will hinder your potential for getting new customers.

Call-to-actions have to be strategically placed throughout your copy (landing pages, solicitation emails, etc.) in order for you to move visitors from one phase of the buying process to the next. If they have to look for how to contact you, how to download that white paper or how to purchase your product, they will most likely get very frustrated and leave.

Continue reading to learn some good call-to-action strategies you can employ in your marketing emails and landing pages to ensure you move prospects through your site effectively. (Notice the call to action there.)

Position call-to-action above the scroll

You don’t want people to have to scroll down to the bottom to see the call-to-action…we’re an impatient lot so place a call-to-action (i.e. contact, order or download) in a prominent location at the top of your page. Different Internet ready devices layout things differently so factor that into your decisions.

Include several call-to-actions throughout your copy to give visitors multiple opportunities to take the next step…keep your words consistent though so you don’t confuse anyone. And in considering the layout, position your call-to-actions directly in your reader’s visual path.

Choose your words carefully

The tone and words you choose for your call-to-action are vital since you’re essentially asking someone to take another step. Incorporate powerful words in your call-to-action to prompt the reader to act and make them feel good about what they’re doing.

Be sure the words you choose create the effect you’re looking for…consider them from your reader’s point of view. And while words are important, the format of your call-to-action is important as well. Evo, an online outdoor outfitter, tested a couple of different calls-to-action with a recent marketing campaign. Would “15% off” or “$50 off” be a more powerful message…they found $50 off worked better even though it was roughly the same amount off the original price.

Make your words appear prominently

Once you have those powerful words down, you have to figure out how to draw attention to them. You may have a great call-to-action in words but if no one can find it, then you’re not going to get very far.

Think about how your call-to-action appears to your readers…should it be an image, a button or an anchor-text link? Take a look at this button vs. text link experiment from Aweber for ideas.

Remember, your call-to-action needs to be unique since your brand, industry, purpose and audience are all different. Considering that, these tips may not even work for you but they are a good place to start.

Need experienced help in developing your site’s infrastructure, content and even calls-to-action? Contact web copywriters at SEO Advantage today for a premier evaluation of your website, business and goals.

Ignorance of the law is no excuse for the authorities so it’s important we’re all on guard so we don’t find ourselves in any trouble.

Privacy bill could mean increased disclosure requirements, privacy protections

One idea floating around Congress that’s seeing traction is an Internet consumer privacy bill being proposed by Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA), chair of the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology & the Internet.

Rep. Boucher’s bill is more of a privacy bill for consumers. Its main target is online advertisers who target consumers through behavioral advertising. Many online advertisers – including Facebook with their new ‘like’ features – examine behavior patterns online to target advertising to relevant parties, which in turn increases conversions.

Behavioral technology tracks a user’s searches, how long the stay on a page and even the sites they visit. Data is then taken by advertisers to establish behavior patterns and online demographics.

Web advertisers fear this bill will require web users to opt-in, causing them to lose an important tool in how they target potential customers. However, Rep. Boucher says he supports an opt-out option where web users can choose whether they want their information shared or not.

“If I were [a publisher or advertiser], I would want Internet users to have a sense that their experience is more secure, that they know what information is collected about them, and they be given much more control. They will be more trusting of electronic commerce. . . .it’s good for business,” says the representative from Virginia.

Whatever happens, there will certainly be increased regulation like new disclosure requirements and legal forms indicating how a site tracks data and uses it.

Financial Reform Bill grants new powers to FTC

Tucked inside the financial reform bill passed by the House last November was a provision expanding the Federal Trade Commission’s powers to allow them to impose civil penalties on companies engaging in “unfair” or “deceptive” trade practices.

Since the mid-1970’s, the agency had to hear public testimony and a congressional review had to occur before any penalties could be imposed on the business. With this new power, the agency will basically decide for itself with no public scrutiny what constitutes unfair advertising practices.

Ad industry groups fear this could lead to the FTC acting as an “unelected legislature,” basically giving it free rein over regulating Internet commerce.

The financial reform bill is currently being debated between the two chambers. The House passed its version late last year and the Senate this past April. Both chambers are reconciling their differences, which will need to pass. President Obama has indicated he will sign the bill when it arrives on his desk.

This bill seems more dangerous than Rep. Boucher’s privacy bill since it directly expands an agency’s enforcement authority.

Appointees to the FTC are chosen by the President so vesting this much authority in a centralized executive authority could be dangerous from a checks and balances perspective.

Boucher’s privacy bill is understandable in a big way but it will certainly add new requirements for webmasters and SEO marketers. The combination of the two could be a double whammy for any of us marketing our businesses online.

Stay tuned…

Some techniques are more SEO related and “behind the scenes” (coding, tags, etc.) but other techniques are more in the layout of a page, its tone and how we communicate important things to know…our new press room page is an experiment to see how creating a more holistic press room can help site visitors – specifically editors, bloggers and journalists – find information more easily.

In fact, even if you never plan to issue any press releases, it’s important you have one place where people like this can learn more about your company and what you do…reaching out to journalists and bloggers is another way to help you get noticed by search engines and prospective customers.

In the past, most pressrooms simply listed a company’s news press releases. However, having a better understanding of what editors and bloggers are looking for in a pressroom allows you to build a more complete resource.

In fact, a main pressroom page can simply serve as a hub where you can link out to not only your press releases but knowledge center resources, blogs, case studies, testimonials and more as shown by this handy flowchart.

Check out SEO Advantage’s new pressroom and our guest blog post on SEO Site Reference for more insights on turning your pressroom into a powerful online marketing resource.

Normal crawling is reliable – just not quick enough sometimes…very inconsistent in other words.

Being reliable is great but if you’re 5 minutes late for the train, all the reliability in the world won’t matter if you’re inconsistent – show up early some days and late on others.

So, what can you do to get new content indexed faster in the search engines?

Continue reading for four tips on getting your site content indexed faster and check out the video below for more.

Update your XML sitemap and “ping” Google, etc.

Your XML sitemap is basically a file containing links to all of the pages on your site. Unlike an HTML sitemap, it is only visible to the search engines. Updating this file with links to new pages provides the search engine spider a one-stop place for finding everything on your site. So to get indexed faster, update your XML sitemap when you post new content. But instead of waiting for the spider to come, ping them through Google’s Webmaster Tools and let them know you have updated your file. If you ping, they will come.

Use Pubsubhubbub protocol

Pubsubhubbub protocol is a server-to-server web hook-based pubsub (publish/subscribe) protocol that you can place in your site’s coding. You can create your own public or private hub that news aggregators like Google Reader, Friend Feed and Feedburner can use to find your new content. You can plug-in your Wordpress blog utility and Superfeeder to automate this process. Whenever you post new content to a PSH-compatible site, these aggregators will immediately be notified of your site’s new content.

Create a “tweet” on Twitter

We recently discussed this on SEOe – Can Twitter Get a Site Indexed in the Search Engines All by Itself? While it’s not a long term solution, “tweets” on Twitter can provide your site that initial boost to get the spiders to come and index your new content. Considering Google is now indexing “tweets,” simply posting an announcement of your new content will immediately be picked up by the search engine.

Ping-o-matic

Ping-o-matic is a service that allows you to “ping” a bunch of different web services and notify them of new content on your site, much like ringing an alarm bell to alert the world to your new stuff. Ping-o-matic is linked up with different blog directories and news aggregators like PostRank, News Gator, Bloglines, Google Blog Search and more.

It’s to your advantage to find different ways to get your site’s content crawled and indexed as quickly as possible. Your competition is likely working hard to do the same thing so you don’t want to be passive and think that great content alone will bring home the bacon. If a competitor is working hard to get their content indexed quickly, they will leave you in the dust quicker than you can blink.

Check out this video SEOMoz produced on the heels of the SMX Advanced conference for more.

Topping the list – Facebook with 540 million unique visitors in the month of April, which translates to 35.2% of people on the Internet!

The top ten most visited sites include:

1. Facebook
2. Yahoo!
3. Live.com
4. Wikipedia
5. Msn.com
6. Microsoft
7. Blogspot.com
8. Baidu.com
9. Qq.com
10. Mozilla.com

Websites on the list come from a diverse range of industries and specialties – social networks, other search portals, news and information, ecommerce and more.

Google made the list as part of its Ad Planner, a tool to help businesses effectively use their pay-per-click advertising services. While we don’t spend too much time talking about PPC here, it does have one main advantage when you’re first getting online – it gets your fledgling site in front of millions of users!

Aside from PPC though, this list is good information for any search engine optimization pro or group. Getting links from sites like these can give your site a powerful boost in the search engines. Ones farther down the list might be a little easier to obtain links from.

Having more links to your site boosts your site rankings and in turn, brings in more site visitors and revenues. Now with millions perhaps billions of websites out there, you may spend a lifetime trying to get on a list like this but don’t worry, you can certainly use lists like this to maximize your online stature, site visits and ultimately sales.

Check out the list for more detailed information on visitors, unique page views, the other top 1000 sites and more.

However, as an online marketer, your chief concern will be the “like” button. If you haven’t done so already, you should at least include this function on your homepage and other important areas of your site.

As we mentioned when announcing these changes, the “like” button has the potential to radically change how data is connected online. With this new feature, users will be able to share sites with their friends whether they’re on Facebook or not. Simply clicking the button will connect their online identity with the page they’re viewing. It will also create a data record that advertisers and people in the user’s social network will be able to access.

When you place a “like” button on your website, you’re basically connecting your website to the social network. Different from Google’s algorithmic approach that’s completely impersonal, Facebook’s new model makes exploring the web a more “personalized experience.”

There are two ways you can add a “like” button from Facebook to your site:

1. I-frame code method

Can be generated on the Facebook developer site…content within the I-frame is hosted by Facebook so the social network will be able to tell if the person is logged in or not. If the user is logged in, they will be able to see which of their friends have “liked” the page.

If they are not logged in, they will be prompted to login or join Facebook.

2. JavaScript version also available

Like the I-frame code, the JavaScript version is also available on the Facebook developer site. It’s much like the other method except that it allows you to see profile pictures of your friends who “like” the same page more easily. Users can also comment on the links they like. Their “like” and personalized comment will be added to their status update.

Regardless of which way you ultimately choose, adding a “like” button to your website will make it easier for customers, friends and fans to connect with you and share your services online.  This reason alone makes adding a “like” button to your web pages a top priority.