So you want to enjoy free website traffic? 
All you need is to embrace this term: “SEO copywriting.”
Don’t be surprise when I tell you that generating traffic doesn’t have to be tedious or confusing.
In fact, a lot of so-called content marketers who doesn’t know how to go about it are writing and updating their blogs with mediocre content.
They still tell people to get traffic from forum, article marketing etc. Lol!
Truth is, the knowledge you need to generate free traffic from external sources is already in you.
This should tell you that getting free traffic isn’t the problem with bloggers and content marketer.
The challenge we all face is turning that traffic into leads and making money. Period!
To grow a profitable website, you need to first figure out why people should listen to you. Is there an idea or style you’ve that your competitors don’t have?
That could be your EDGE especially now that the competition is getting hotter every passing day. The last time I checked, I discovered that well over 160,000 new wordpress blogs are being launched every day.
That’s a staggering number – and it makes it even more difficult for you to breakthrough in your business.
Before I list the 10 tactics for SEO copywriting that works, let’s get to the definition first…
What really is SEO copywriting?
SEO stands for search engine optimization, while copwriting deals with writing content to persuade the ideal customers and readers to take action (subscribe, click, join, buy, comment etc) right now.
So, SEO copywriting is the practice of writing epic content that PERSUADES your target audience (readers, prospects, customers, fans etc) to take action on what you’re offering.
Interestingly, content marketing has become the new SEO – and to succeed in this age, you’ve to embrace it with an open mind and have a pencil in your hand. Why did I say a pencil?
It’s because when you do SEO with a pencil, you’re open for corrections.
You can adapt to changes and if you once held on to an idea about link building and keyword research, all that can change in seconds when Google rolls out their favorite algorithm updates (Panda & Penguin 2.0 updates).
So, write your content marketing ideas and strategies with a pencil, so that you can at least erase and make adjustments that can help channel more targeted traffic to your website.
Who can use SEO copywriting?
First, it’s for those who want buying leads. I mean, getting the right kind of traffic that’s ready to buy whatever you’re promoting.
Yes, you may not have created a product of your own, SEO copwriting is a great way to get all the free quality traffic you need – also increasing conversion rate is pretty easy once you master this art.
Bloggers, website owners, internet marketers, product creators, jv partners, freelance writers, sales consultants, customer support attendants, small business and big business owners can merge SEO and copywriting to get or increase traffic and sales.
Yes, I know that you may not turn a renowned copywriter overnight and maybe you don’t even have the interest of becoming one, but nonetheless, you need to go the extra mile to reap the dividends from the content you write – that’s the basic rule for content marketing.
Before we dive into the 10 SEO copywriting tactics you can implement right away, I’m sure you now know what it means, and how much targeted traffic you can drive with it.
Remember, blogging itself isn’t a business – it’s a tool to grow your business.[tweet this]
And to be able to use this “tool” judiciously, you need to learn how to select and optimize your content with the right words. More so, the marketing tide has changed a lot since the past decade.
It’s important to note that how you write and promote your blog is more important that what you’re writing about. [tweet this].
Caution: this doesn’t mean you should write low-quality content. No, no, no! On the contrary, it’s a wake up call for you to produce the best content you can, and to give it the best exposure with every arsenal you’ve got.
The 10 tactics you should apply to your content and website right now are:
1. Start with the end objective
One of the questions I get asked more often is: “how can I tell if a blog post will generate traffic before writing it?”
Even though there are several factors that can determine whether people share your content, decide to visit your link or not, from experience, I call tell you that when you’ve an objective and stick to it, things would turn out right.
For instance, the end objective that caused me to start this blog is to attract high-paying clients to my writing services.
I’m only looking for potential clients who have a budget for quality content, not fellow bloggers who can barely bare $50 per post.
Now, when I research and write content for my blog and other blogs, my goal isn’t to generate traffic per se, but to influence the ideal client that I’ve what he or she is looking for.
So, I tailor my content, the language and voice to match what I want to achieve on the long term basis.
Interestingly, when you focus on the end objective, the short goals you’ve like getting free traffic, gaining backlinks and establishing authority will become easier.
Yes, I can assure you that when you focus on delivering value to your target audience, you wouldn’t even bother about link building.
So, start with your end objective and walk backwards. That’s the surest way to trounce your competitors and stand firm.
2. Optimize for branded keywords
In SEO copywriting, your goal is to write content that your target audience and search engine spiders can find relevant and interesting. I know you’ve a question like…
Wow, how on earth are search engine scripts supposed to know that my content is helpful when they’ve no intelligence like human beings?
Well, whatever people do at your website, with your content is a strong signal to Google, Yahoo and Bing. In other words, search engines follow people.
They gauge the activities of people at your site. The amount of time spent, which link they clicked on after reading the content that brought them to your site – bounce rate.
The smart way to become that authority even if your website is just 2 months old is to optimize for branded keywords. For instance, there are websites and brands that Google appreciate and love, since they were established.
Coca-Cola, CNN, BBC, Google, Yahoo, Mercedes, Alexa, Foxnews, Forbes, Mashable etc. are all very popular brands both online and offline. You could take it a step further by targeting new ogio golf bag available and other golf equipments.
When you want to optimize for these terms, just use Google Keywords Tool or any pointblank seo and plug a specific branded term into it. You’ll definitely find profitable and easy-to-rank keywords that you can optimize your content with.
I’ve written about the Coca-Cola marketing strategy in 2012 and it went viral, bringing in free quality traffic, subscribers and sales on my affiliate offer.
I also got a handful of writing clients back in the day when I used the strategy. Unfortunately, not many content marketers target branded keywords. It’s still under-utilized and works so well – why not give it a try?
3. Go local – write to a selected few
There is so much money to be made locally. Are you taking advantage of it?
If you want to get great results with SEO copywriting, you’ve got to start from your own geographical location. For instance, it’s way too difficult to optimize for a web hosting keyword.
The competition is fearful, and I wouldn’t even recommend you build a website reviewing web hosting services, except you’ve a big advertising budget.
However, if you go local, and write for a selected few, you can dominate your niche, drive quality traffic and get sales referrals.
For instance, instead of you targeting, “dedicated web hosting service” which is way too strong to rank in Google top 10, you can go the easy route and optimize your title content for “best dedicated hosting services in New York”
Guess what, with the second long-tail keyword which is more targeted to a selected few (New York prospects), you’d easily rank in Google first page with few authority backlinks (from PR 3 – 8) and build wiki links as well.
SEO copywriting could help you take charge of your local environs and become an authority quickly – if you write with this insight – it’s a lot easier.
4. Use a strong, but no-hype title
I’ve already dealt with title/headline writing and regurgitating that idea is unwise. However, what I would recommend is that when you use a catchy title, make sure it’s without hype.
Because when people read your content and discover that you didn’t deliver on what you promised on the title, that single act can discourage them and it’s dangerous.
Remember, when a reader or prospect is dissatisfied with your offer (content & product), they can tell others to ignore you as well – negative reviews can go viral quickly. So be careful with what you write about, and more importantly, how you write your headline.
The quick fix is to use a strong title. It should convey your idea, so that as people read further, they’d keep nodding their heads in agreement to what you promised.
This also can cause them to tweet, share and cite your content page across the Web.
5. Introduce your content with a bang
As a copywriter, I learnt that the title is the most important factor. But once you’ve captured interest by causing the right people to click it, the introduction also must be strong.
Don’t use weak storyline when writing your introductions (lede). Make it catchy as well. Usually, I like asking open-ended questions in my intro.
For instance, instead of asking, do you want to drive traffic through social media, which is closed-ended because you’re limiting them, I would throw the question open. See how I started this post: “so you want to enjoy free traffic?”
That’s how to introduce with a bang (energy burst) and get people liking and sharing your content.
After the strong title in your content, write catchy intros and continue in that stead. You’ll build up engagement and whatever you ask people to do at that point; you’re guaranteed 82% success-rate.
6. Prioritize your blog posts
How do you set your blog posts on a scale? This is important because if you want your readers to stay and refer other people to your blog, you’ve to set priorities on each post you write.
Ideally, start a series, whereby you dissect a given topic/subject in Part 1, 2, 3 and so on. The topic could be anything – list building, content marketing, affiliate marketing, niche marketing, keyword research etc.
Let’s assume that you’re writing Part 1 in the series on list building, you can share the basics of choosing the right autoresponder and how to manage the campaigns.
You can create videos on how to view the contacts’ email addresses, how to write follow up messages and create newsletters. Explaining how autoresponder works can take up Part 1.
Then remind readers and your audience that Part 2 will be fully-packed with step-by-step instructions on how to create catchy landing pages or download high-converting ones for free.
If you do it this way, I tell you the truth – your readers will be expectant and this can bring in thousands of free quality traffic from word out mouth referrals.
When you do something interesting at your blog, there will be a chain reaction to cause people to like you and share your content. [tweet this]
7. Get Social Signals from Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus
The great social signal you can get is from the three media giants: facebook, twitter and Google Plus.
Each time you publish a new content, it could be an article, blog post, video, podcast or e-book, first, announce it on twitter to get the news going.
Remember, search engine crawl twitter almost every minute and when your content is tweeted either by you or your readers, it can send strong juice to your keywords.
Afterward, share the link to the content on facebook and let other friends of yours know about it.
Once that’s done, it’s now time to use Google+ to dominate search engines.
I just discovered that whenever I share my recent post on Google+ after embedding the link on facebook, Google spider in 6 hours usually picks it up and begins to rank it.
Try it for yourself. When you publish a new content, tweet it, take the tweeted link and embed the link on your facebook page. Then take that facebook page URL and share on your Google plus profile.
Wow, you’ll get a lot of link juice back to your website and if the keyword is low in competition, you can literally rank in Google top 10 within 48 hours. That’s not a guarantee, but it worked for me.
8. Generate leads who have visions
SEO copywriting is all about targeting the right people who can help your business grow beyond where it’s right now. Don’t trade your quality content with an audience that can’t appreciate the value you deliver.
For instance, if you’re a freelance web developer, then your target audience should be people who want to create a website for their business.
You don’t necessarily need those who already have a running website – except they would be interested in another project.
But basically, target offline businesses that have no website, or no online presence and you’ll win their hearts if you persuade correctly.
This kind of people will have visions of profiting, because they’re going to invest in your services which cost money.
When your prospects have vision, it would be easier to persuade, convince and convert them into long-term customers. And if they’re visionary prospects, they’ll tell other like-minded friends and family about your website.
That’s viral marketing at its finest. Have visions for your business. You should target people who have visions for their businesses – that’s how to get consistent quality traffic that can turn into buyers eventually.
9. Start teaching, stop talking
On the internet, people are tired of all the hype and “buy now” offers that your fellow internet marketers are flashing on the forehead.
As a result of this, conversion rate is going down the drain. What can you do to stand out from the deceptive crowd and make more profit?
You’ve to start teaching. You’ve been talking about your awesomeness for too long. Enough of that!
Instead of talking about driving traffic to your blog and doing nothing to get it started, stop talking and start implementing the various traffic generation strategies you can find. Better still, utilize one traffic strategy and become an expert at it.
As you begin to teach, you’d be amazed at how much knowledge your readers and prospect will have gained concerning your product.
Your target audience will in turn ask you to sell them a product in form of a course, e-book, software, membership site or wordpress plugin – and that’s the easiest way to earn 6-figure income selling what people already asked for.
At this point, there will be no objection or complaints, because people asked for it. Intelligent copywriters teach first, before asking you to take any form of action.
These days, sales letters are taking on a new wing. A typical salesletter now has a step-by-step video to guide you.
The video will also explain the vital aspects of the software, plugin or membership site. That’s how to persuade correctly and there is nothing that can stop people from buying the product.
That’s the kind of content Google will fall in love with and send free traffic to its page.
Because when people spend time watching videos and reading the step-by-step processes for doing a particular thing, the bounce rate on that website is reduced, and the engagement is high.
Give search engines what they want and you’ll enjoy free quality traffic.[tweet this]
10. Content marketing is SEO + Content + Social Signal
Yes, you read that correctly. In order to get great results with your content, you need SEO and social signal.
Content, SEO and social are the 3 powerful ropes which must be tied together for long term website growth and authority.
A while ago, Google introduced the AuthorRank. This is important even though we can’t tell whether it helps to boost rankings or not at this stage.
But it does help to get more click-throughs on your title when it shows up in Google result page.
Like I said earlier, it’s not about the idea of your content, nor is it the quality that can determine whether you get traffic and earn more money. All that used to work prior to Google+ and AuthorRank features were introduced to the Web.
These days, you need to promote your content via social media networks. You also have to syndicate the content across wiki sites like document sharing sites.
You know those web 2.0 sites which can speed up fast indexing for your fresh content, digg.com, reddit.com, dropjack, delicious, blinklist.com et al.
When your content is syndicated or bookmarked across these high-traffic and PR5 – PR9 social sites, it’ll pass on link juices back to you. Google will be forced to rank your content, and send free quality traffic your way.
Remember, content marketing isn’t link building. It’s not traffic generation. It’s not making money. It’s not even guest blogging. So what is it?
Content marketing is all of that – how you promote your content to bring about the above mentioned benefits is what it’s all about. [tweet this]
So, look at the BIG picture when you’re using content to market your business – that’s where the profit lies.
Are you a SEO Copywriter?
You may not rank in Google top 10 if all you do research keywords and write the content. You’ve to do something more – optimize the content and promote it like *crazy*.
Move away from your own website and get to some other places where your readers and ideal customers are hanging out.
Help other search engines discover your content, so that they can send authority signals to Google. As I write this, thousands of people are looking for what you’ve to offer. It’s time to bring them to your website.
They’re searching for the content you just published. You need to get out there and become the SEO copywriter that solves a pressing problem.
Your turn to contribute…
There you’ve it, the ultimate SEO copywriting tactics you can implement right now.
Have you ever used any of these tactics to increase your website traffic and earn more money? I can’t wait to hear what you’ve to say in the comment box. See you at the top!
Photo Credits: hand drawing | Girl Notebook