Writing Your Website
Hints From Professional Website Copywriters
by Susan Greene

Your goal should be to gain placement on page 1 or page 2 because, let's face it, most searchers (myself included) can't be bothered going through the thousands of websites the search engines bring up for almost any search request. Searchers will typically go through the first or second page seeking the most relevant listing. If they don't find what they're looking for, they're more likely to change their search request and use different keywords than to keep plowing through pages of search results hoping to luck into the right one.

So how do you get on page 1 or page 2 without buying a sponsored (paid) listing? As an Orlando, Florida website copywriter, I get asked this question a lot.

Writing Your Copy for Google

Because Google is the #1 search engine, I tell people to target their copy to meet its requirements. Unfortunately, those so-called requirements, which are actually sophisticated algorithms, are not published anywhere. Furthermore, Google keeps changing them.

Google intentionally keeps their algorithms secret so that website copywriters (like me) and web designers won't be able to "fool" the search engine into giving them high rankings. Keeping them secret also helps Google maintain its edge as a superior search engine over competitors.

So back to the original question: How do you obtain high rankings for your website without buying paid advertising on search engines? Most web writers would agree, the key is to keep in mind Google's main objective--to provide the most relevant, informative websites for search requests. Follow these tips and you should do well in the rankings:

• Have unique, useful keyword-rich content. The more the better. Continually add new, relevant content to keep your site fresh and growing.
• Have good keyword-rich title tags and meta tags which truly reflect the content of your site.
• Use a hierarchical structure so that your site is user-friendly.
• Have sitemaps with links that make it easy for the user to find and get to what they want.
• Design sites to work with any browser. That means you may have to ditch that fancy flash introduction you were so proud of.
• Have other sites that are relevant to your business link to you.
• Also link to other sites that could be relevant to your visitors.
• Don't cross-link with link farms (useless websites with little information of value created primarily for the purpose of exchanging links) or spammers.
• Don't try to use any tricks to fool Google or other search engines. Eventually you will be caught and penalized, the penalty being banishment from the search engine. Ouch!

 About the Author

Susan Greene, http://www.susangreenecopywriter.com, is a freelance copywriter located in the Orlando, Central Florida area. If you would like assistance with your writing project or permission to reprint this article, please contact Susan at susan@susangreenecopywriter.com or call
(407) 578-5528.