The Turner Ink blog contains rants, bloopers, observations and opinions. It also has handy tips on grammar and punctuation such as colons: semicolons; and full stops. As well as some very useful ‘how tos’. Feel free to leave comments. Be nice though.

Turner Ink

Copywriting Services London

Archive for the 'Website & SEO copywriting' category

What kids can teach us about search

2nd
Mar
by Sarah Turner

Me to my nephew Jack: What are you up to?

Jack: I’m just looking for something online

Me: What you looking for?

Jack: Some goal posts. I just put ‘goal posts’ into Google but I couldn’t find what I wanted.

Me: What are you after then?

Jack: Ones for the garden. Let me try ‘garden goal posts’. Nah. I wanted smaller ones than that. Let me try ‘pop up goal posts’.

Me: Oh there they are. Is that what you were looking for?

Jack: Hmm. They’re a bit expensive. Let me try searching for ‘cheap pop up goal posts’. Yes, these are the ones I want. DAAAAAAAAAD! Can I have your bank card please?

Jack knows that when you’re searching online, using a long tail key phrase will always get you what you want.

Jack is 8.

Bookmark and Share

Tags: page titles, seo writing
Posted in Website & SEO copywriting | comments icon No comments yet »

Personalised Search: Good or bad for SEOs?

28th
Jan
by Sarah Turner

I was chatting to friend and colleague Matt Hodkinson from YourSeoConsultant this week. And we were talking about Google’s introduction last month of personalised search for ‘everyone’, and whether or not it would have a detrimental effect on search results.

Google personalised search works like this: if there’s a site you frequently visit, Google is more likely to show you this site at the top of the organic listings than some other site; even if another site has better content and better links. So for instance, if I’m looking for hard-to-find books, The Book Depository would rank higher on my search engine results page than Matt’s because I’ve visited their site frequently in the past.

Now, as a customer I’m thinking ‘great!’ Google’s giving me more relevant and accurate listings. Although it could be argued I want Google to find me sites I haven’t visited before – not show me ones I already know.

But from an SEO perspective haven’t things have just got a whole lot trickier? Not only does a site need to be fully optimised and have oodles of links coming in, it’s now competing with a potential customer’s previous shopping habits. And the Search Engine Result’s page will now look different for everyone; The Book Depository site will rank high on my results but not on Matt’s.

There’s been a bit of a hoo-hah about privacy issues as well. Google will now keep a record of a user’s browsing history for up to 180 days; unless of course you opt out. But, let’s be honest, most people won’t bother.

And it’s received a fairly lukewarm reception from SEO types, although Matt doesn’t feel there’s too much to be concerned about.

“Because it is personalised search, and the results will be relevant to the user, there’s much more chance that a user will click through.

The caveat I suppose is that a customer may visit a site a number of times and still not find what they want which is why they keep looking – and of course they’ll keep being shown the same site.”

Matt continues “Google’s not here to make life easy for SEOs. It’s here to give a user the best results and experience possible. And it’s up to good SEOs to make the best of the opportunities that present themselves.”

This will be an interesting one to watch.

Follow Matt on Twitter @YSEOC .

Bookmark and Share

Tags: seo company, seo writing
Posted in Website & SEO copywriting | comments icon 3 Comments »

7 things your visitors hate about your website

15th
Dec
by Sarah Turner

1. You talk about yourself

How many times have you seen this? ‘Barratt and Bloggins was formed in 1982 and has successfully been delivering award-winning cutting edge solutions for our clients for the last 25 years.’

Blah, blah, blah.

Here’s the thing: people visiting your website only care about themselves. They want to know what you’re going to do for them; how quickly you’re going to do it; how it’s going to save them time; how it’s going to get them more clients; earn them more money; make them thin. Whatever. You get the picture. It’s all about them. Not you.

 

2. It’s difficult to buy anything

Your visitors love what you sell. Well, at least they’re quite interested in what you sell. And they might just want to buy something from you. So why make it so hard for them? Yes, Whistles, I’m talking about you.

Poor navigation, difficult to find products, hidden delivery costs and a ten minute check out process does not make a good shopping experience.

Your customers want to find products easily, throw them in a basket, go to the checkout, and pay. So let them do that.

 

3. You love your web designer more than your customer

Yep, your designer may be quirky, work in Hoxton and have won some award from Design Week. But is he designing that swanky website for your customers or his portfolio?

Think about your audience. What age are they? Where will they be viewing your site? Remember not everyone will have a huge screen, Flash, and a high speed connection. Nor will they have all the time in the world to wait for it to load. So what exactly were you thinking Thomas Edison?

 

4. You stop them getting to the good stuff with stupid intro pages

‘Skip this’ is the most clicked link on the Web after ‘Click here’. Would you go to Selfridges and be happy to stand outside the door for ten minutes waiting to be let in? No, you wouldn’t. So why delay your customers getting to your website?

Check this out for the most hellish intro ever. Not sure hellish was the look they were going for.

 

5. You don’t have a web designer at all

Need a website? Oh I’ll do it myself. After all, how difficult can it be? Yeah, Lings Cars, how difficult can it be? Let’s pack a few more moving things in there shall we?

If you don’t value your business enough to have a professional, clean looking website, why should potential customers value your business? Yes, you can get websites designed for £200. It doesn’t mean you should.

 

6. They can’t call you

It doesn’t matter how small or large your business, your phone number should be easy to find; top right is ideal. Sometimes the answer really isn’t in the FAQs. And no, your visitor doesn’t want to fill a form in, or send an email, or write a letter. They just have a really quick question that needs a really quick answer. So make your number really visible.

 

7. They don’t know what to do next

So your customers have read the words and they like the pictures. Now what? Don’t leave them hanging. Tell them what to do next with a call to action. Buy Now, Click Here, Download Free E-book, Check Availability, Call Now, Register Now, Get A Free Trial, Sign-Up, Join Now, Get Free Quote.

 

Anything I’ve missed? Share in the comments.

Bookmark and Share

Tags: bad copy, bad design
Posted in Website & SEO copywriting | comments icon 6 Comments »

Why are (some) PR agencies right up their backsides?

13th
Nov
by Sarah Turner

Copy spotted on a PR agency website today. I dunno. Perhaps luxury goods brands like this kind of thing. But it all seems a bit lah-di-dah to me. What do you think?

[Something] PR is cognisant of the connoisseurship and the hunger for luxury goods and services by the affluent market. Our agency knows how to communicate to that luxury lifestyle PR market in award winning PR campaigns. We strive to position our clients as leaders in their respected industries – putting a face to the name of the company and making it more accessible. Even with the ups and downs of the economy, a distinct luxury market segment has emerged over the past couple of years. We develop tactics to reach that market in innovative online and traditional media.

The truth is impressions that are generated from PR can indelibly define the brand by enhancing the product, service, or attributes. The old adage that you never get a second chance to make a good first impression is relevant to launching and sustaining a PR campaign, particularly in the luxury end where spearheading your messages to penetrate the luxury market is essential.

Bookmark and Share

Tags: bad copy, public relations
Posted in Bloopers, Press Release writing and PR, Website & SEO copywriting | comments icon No comments yet »

Why you shouldn’t aim to get to the top of Google

21st
Oct
by Sarah Turner

If you’re in the process of getting a new website, or jigging around with your old one, have you sat down and thought about what you want your site to actually do?

Very often I have conversations with potential clients whose sole aim is ‘getting to the top of Google’. Come hell or high water, they want their site to appear at the top of the search engines. That’s it. That’s their goal. And nothing more.

So, ok, you’re at the top of Google for your chosen phrases, but now what?

Well, that’s just the beginning. Because the next part is actually getting visitors to click through to your site. So we’re talking about a well written page title and meta description tag to improve your ‘clickability’.

And then, of course, there’s the site itself. How easy are you making it for your visitor to buy; download; book; donate; add to basket; find out more information; or call? Easy as possible if you want to increase sales. Because, let’s face it, for most of us it’s all about sales.

And this is where some people go really wrong. Because if the sole aim of your site is to achieve number 3 on page 1 of Google you’re going to feel it’s job done the moment you’ve achived that. 

I got a comment on the blog the other week from a chap who runs a bed and breakfast in Blackpool. He told me he was really high on Google, he got hundreds of people a day visiting the site, but wasn’t getting any bookings. A quick visit to his site and it was easy to see why: it was awful. Hard to read, hard to look at, hard to navigate, hard to book, and hard to find out any information. Seriously, when I close my eyes I can still that site; the image of it has burnt into my retinas.

The point is: don’t have ‘getting to the top of the Google’ as your sole aim. That’s just the beginning of the job. It’s great that you’re driving visitors to your site. But what are you going to do with them once they’re there? Getting sales should be your real focus.

Bookmark and Share

Tags: google, seo writing, web writing
Posted in Website & SEO copywriting | comments icon 4 Comments »

1 2 3 4   next page »
 

Definition of a blog: A blog or web blog is a website usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. (Wikipedia.com)