Here’s my dilemma. A consultant and friend (an expert in SEO) is trying to convince me to start using a bunch of key words regularly and often in my blog – so my name and website will rise to the top of the Google chain. “This is the way to get business online,” she said, matter of factly.
As a reasonably astute entrepreneur and marketer, I’ve known this for quite some time. But if you’re dedicated to, and known for, producing tight, engaging copy – it’s quite the challenge to insert into your lilting prose such charming terms as corporate writer, annual report copywriting, annual report writer, marketing communications writing, corporate newsletter writing, web writer, professional corporate writer, professional speechwriter and, let’s not forget, professional speechwriting.
I do, however, want to increase my profile and reach more prospective clients, so here it goes:
As a respected and professional corporate writer, I have often been perplexed by the lack of good corporate writing. So much of it – whether it’s annual report copywriting, corporate newsletter copywriting, or web writing – lacks depth and compelling storytelling that will resonate with readers.
Besides the talent question, a key problem – which I discuss in the marketing communications writing class I teach at NYU – is that a lot of professional corporate writers don’t do the necessary legwork, like establishing key objectives for their work, or understanding the needs and perspectives of their audience, or tailoring their key messages accordingly. As a result, especially for professional speechwriters who are doing professional speechwriting, the material falls flat.
I’ve learned these lessons from my many years as professional corporate writer, which I have put to use as an annual report copywriter, web writer, corporate newsletter copywriter and professional speechwriter. And let’s not forget my experience in marketing communications writing.
OK, done. Award-winning prose? Nah. But I’ll take comfort in watching my Google profile climb to the top!
Fun stuff. Don, you drove home an important message about the need for marketers to utilize SEO in a fun, engaging way. You also showed by example how independent marketers (freelancers) and large marketing/advertising agencies alike need to treat themselves as their own clients. You taught by example…and served your own marketing objectives. Nice.
So Don – I love what you wrote – very amusing and not as cringe inducing as you fear. But seriously – isn’t a blog profile enough to describe who you are and what you do? Could you find a way to design your profile into every page, perhaps, in some way hidden, except for your name and picture? My website is sorely lacking in what’s called “meta-tags” which serve a similar purpose but are written in the code of the page rather than on the page itself. wonder if you can apply those in a blog. These are all questions rather than answers as I’m struggling with the same thing myself.
A profile on every page is a great way to reiterate your name if that’s what you think people search for. Hidden content is for the most part ignored by search engines, and are one of many SEO techniques referred to as “Black Hat”. These often punish your rank rather than improve it. Meta tags are a great way to improve keyword content, and you can certainly use them in a blog article, but SEO is more about many little things that are coordinated to make up a complete solution.