~~~Writing for the Search Engines~~~
From: Pat Barone
Hello:
When I first designed and wrote my website, I did so without a thought
to SEs - yes, I was horribly naive and, well, new. I am a weight
management coach and personal trainer. As I perused the web, I decided
I did not want to be associated with the hardcore bodybuilders or the
salacious quick weight loss quacks. I wanted to present good, sound
medical information and my practical program for weight loss that
really works.
Then, as I learned more, I realized that it didn't matter whether my
approach was helpful to the many women I've worked with and would be
helpful to many more who could now find me on the web -- I was going
to have to compete with the people I was trying to distance myself
from in terms of SEs.
I'm in a $32 billion industry that can and does pay a fortune for
rankings and usually delivers nada. I have something wonderful to
offer but am frustrated at my invisibility in terms of search engines.
Any ideas, directions of pursuit? I'd appreciate any advice you might
have.
Pat Barone, Trainer
www.patbarone.com
~~~Heather's Response~~~
Hey, Pat!
You've raised some good questions. It seems like you're discussing
two different issues here - branding yourself, and good search engine
visibility. So, let's talk about what you can do!
I typed "weight loss" in Google, and came up with 1,410,000 results.
Wow! Does this mean that you'll never, ever, be found in the search
engines? No. Remember, just because you're in a more competitive
market doesn't mean you'll never get a top ranking. What it does mean
is you'll have to try harder and think creatively.
First off, brainstorm other keyphrases that may also be beneficial.
For instance, you mention that you are a "weight management coach."
That could be another keyphrase for you, and it will drive very
targeted traffic. You can even test it against "weight loss coach"
and see what happens. If you archive articles on your site, you can
see if you can edit them for additional keyphrases like "how to lose
weight. Or, if you wanted to get really creative, you could set up a
special "ask the experts" discussion board. With just a couple of
paragraphs before the discussion threads, you can try to optimize for
the terms "weight loss discussion" or "weight loss message boards."
See? You have tons of keyphrase options!
For information about writing for keyphrases, please check out "How to Write a Keyword-Rich Home Page the Search Engines Will Love". The copy you have posted now doesn't really accentuate your keyphrases, and it could be hindering your rankings.
As a side note, I wouldn't even try to optimize for the keyphrase
"weight loss," by itself. I'm guessing that it's too competitive,
anyway - and it really doesn't describe what you do. For a healthy
SEO campaign, you need *qualified and targeted* traffic. Even if that
means that only 50 people per day visit your site, those people will
be looking for exactly what you offer - which is weight management
coaching, weight loss coaching, weight loss personal training, etc. -
and not a diet quick fix.
You mentioned:
"I was going to have to compete with the people I was trying to
distance myself from in terms of SEs."
Yes, you will "compete" with other companies for high rankings. If
you do everything correctly, you'll only be competing against the
people who *really know how to optimize*. We've taken many small
business sites from SE obscurity to a page one ranking, so it IS
possible. However, *branding* your business and telling your
customers how you're different isn't the search engine's job - it's
yours. If you want to get yourself and your methods known, try:
* Writing weight management and weight loss coaching articles and
distributing them to other Web sites (as well as posting them on your
own site).
* Posting to discussion groups.
* Developing cross-promotion techniques.
* Creating an ebook (or something else) that people can download (in
fact, Jill and I were discussing this today!).
* Making yourself available for press interviews.
* Recreating your Web site to push your unique sales proposition, and
accentuate your benefits.
All these methods will help you brand yourself - and eventually drive
more traffic to your site. Sure, they take time - but I think you'll
find it was definitely worth it!
Thanks for your question! Keep 'em coming!
Heather
~~~Jill's unsolicited 2 cents~~~
Great stuff, Heather! Just in case Pat hasn't checked it out, I
highly recommend using WordTracker to find those keyphrases you may
never have thought about.
Jill
~~~Send Us Your Questions~~~
If you have questions about online copywriting or search engine optimization (or both!), just zip us an email to questions@rankwrite.com. We've had some folks ask if their question
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