The Magic of Copywriting

The Magic of Copywriting

Proprietary and Confidential

Agenda

• Introduction

• Pay Per Click Best Practices

• Landing Page Best Practices

• Organic Search (SEO)

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Search Engines are only as good as

the results they deliver. Users

demand relevance in search results,

and websites that meet their

expectations after they

click through.

Relevance - The (Search) Holy Grail

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Where Consumers Search

Googleeveryone else

Y!

B

A

Hitwise January 2010

Where Consumers Search

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Anatomy of a SERP (Search Results Page)

5


organic

Anatomy of a SERP (Search Results Page)

Sponsored / PPC

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Sponsored / Pay Per Click listings

• “Auction” - bid on keywords

• Quality score - secret sauce

• PROS:

• Immediate Results

• Control of How and Where Displayed

• Can Test and Change Daily

• CONS:

• Costs Money Each Time Someone Clicks

• Very Competitive

• Need Knowledge to Avoid Wasted Spending

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Organic listings

• Google displays most relevant

• Tie breaker - secret sauce

• PROS:

• Clicks are „virtually‟ free

• Most people click on top organic links

• CONS:

• Takes time to see results

• Limited control

• Clicks may be „virtually‟ free, but SEO efforts are not!

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“Heat Map” – Eye and Click Tracking

Users Look & Click on Organic

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10,000 Foot Perspective

• Business– Customer Perception: We know the customers best, we talk to them and they

buy our goods/services.

– Posture: Look at all the things we do!

– POV: “Business Unit”

– Company Metaphor: Yahoo

• Agencies– Customer Perception: We know the customers best – we can measure

behavior and improve efficiency metrics in how they engage with the goods/services!

– Posture: Look at how we are moving the needle.

– POV: “Distribution Channel”

– Company Metaphor: Google

• Customers– Customer Perception: We know ourselves best – this is how we want to do it.

– Posture: Wouldn‟t it be cool if I could do it “this way.”

– POV: “What I Want Now”

– Company Metaphor: Apple

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Agenda

• Introduction




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Writing Pay-per-click Ad Copy

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• Products (keywords) should already be organized into focused ad groups.

• Customers are already “in the market.” They basically know what they want.

• Goal: Create and test targeted, relevant copy that differentiates your site in a crowded marketplace.


Ad Copy: Basic Format

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• Google Ads:

• Headline (Limit: 25 Characters)

• Description Line 1 (Limit: 35 Characters)

• Description Line 2 (Limit: 35 Characters)

• Display URL (Can Be Used for Optimization, e.g. MassiveCompany.com/Widgets)


Ad Copy: Keyword Insertion

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• Inserts the keyword into your copy, or uses default text if the keyword is too long

• Finds the “matched term” from your keyword inventory (so make sure your terms make sense – e.g. „Houses in Chicago,‟ not „in Houses Chicago‟)

• Frequently overused, but helpful for tail terms in larger Ad Groups

• NOT a substitute for a good account organization and tailored messaging

Format:

{KeyWord:DVDs} at Amazon.com

Low prices on {keyword:hundreds of DVDs}

Qualified orders over $25 ship free

Amazon.com


Ad Copy: Basic Restrictions

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• No cute spellings (unless Brand name): EZ, Kwik, Git-n-Go

• Must use proper grammar

• No excess or strange punctuation: Only one exclamation point allowed

• No superlatives unless substantiated on landing page by a third party

• Capitalization may be Title Case or Sentence case… Words cannot be in

ALL CAPS (unless Brand name)

• Watch the price points – only use if you‟re sure you can beat the

competition

• Ampersands (&) are all right, but don‟t overuse

• No inappropriate language


Ads – Best Practices

• Creative optimization is one of the most effective ways

to improve account performance.

– Use multiple ads per ad group and measure conversion rate

and CTR.

• Can increase the number of targeted consumers to site.

• Can reduce the cost per conversion and the CPC for this traffic.

• Consistently rotate out losing ads and rotate in new test ads.

– Test a variety of tactics.

• Use strong call-to-action phrases.

• List prices or promos.

• Include brand terms and taglines in copy.

• Alter display URLs to provide a consistent message.

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Ads – Best Practices

• Analyze ads and make changes accordingly

– Analyze ads in a few high-performing ad groups. Keep the

best ad in each group and replace the other ads with two

new ads to run in rotation.

– Test new ads regularly with a small number of ad groups.

Only expand successful tests to more groups.

– Use conversion rate and conversions per 1000 impressions

to measure strength of ads.

– Typically, turn off Google‟s Ad Optimizer and evenly rotate

ads.

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Ad Copy: Strategies

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Strategy Definition Example

Brand Use Your Brand Ameriquest – Mortgages

Competitor Use your Competitor Faster than Dominos

Call to Action Use a strong call to action DVDs – Buy Now

Keyword Insert the Keyword Great Deal on [Keyword]

Price Point Use the price Rentals from $69.99

Geography Use location specifics Los Angeles Apartments

Official Site Use “Official Site” to establish

trust & credibility

Circuit City – Official Site

Product/Service

Features

Highlight feature or differentiator Pets Welcome!

No Credit Required


“Key Messaging” Strategies for Creative

• “Key Messages” To Test

– Clean

– Very Specific

– Structured Keyword Use Instead of Keyword Insertion

– Pointed Questions

– Value Proposition: Fast

– Value Proposition: Local

– Value Proposition: Easy

– Emotional Appeal: What you want

– Emotional Appeal: Support Local

– Value Proposition: Nearest Geo-Focus

– Validation Tactics: Trademark

– Attention Grabbing: Using Symbols and Characters

– Keyword Bolding

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Ad Copy: Testing

Best Practices:

• Write Multiple Creatives and Use Concrete Data to Pick the Best Performer

• Google, Yahoo and Bing All Have Auto-Optimization, Displaying Creativeswith Good CTR More Often

• Auto-Optimization is Engineered to Make the Search Engines More Money –Focus on Conversions/Conversion Rate/CPA whenever possible

• For High-Volume Campaigns, Disable Auto-Optimization

• Begin with 3-4 Creatives per Ad Group, Each Utilizing a Different Creative Strategy

• After a Sufficient Amount of Impressions/Clicks, Begin Removing Non-Performers, Until Only One Ad is Running

• Begin Testing Discrete Elements Against the Winner

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Ad Testing

• Remove underperforming ads

– High CPAs and low conversion rates

– Recommend limiting number of active ads to 2 - 4

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Ad Copy: Testing

• When testing is completed, may generalize findings to

entire account for bump in CTR.

• Keep in mind the number of variables involved,

however:

– Ad position

– Types of Keywords

– Changing Bids

– Seasonal Shifts

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Ad Copy: Testing

• Bad Reasons to Test:

• Haven‟t done anything in a while

• Tired of the same old messaging (it is always new to the user)

• Don‟t know what else to do

• New site functionality/layout

• Want to undercut the competition ASAP

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Creative Optimization Tools

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Ad Enhancements

• Use brand name and registered trademark symbol in

ads to highlight authority

• Test capitalization and variations in display URL

– Can be used to reinforce search phrases and to convey

relevance of landing page to searcher query

www.mypersonalapartmentquestassistant.com

www.MyPersonalApartmentQuestAssistant.com

www.mypersonalapartmentquestassistant.com/Boston

www.mypersonalapartmentquestassistant.com/Promotion

mypersonalapartmentquestassistant.com

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Beware Ad Optimizers

• “Show better performing ads more often” Ad Option is ON

• Recommendation• Enable ad rotation option

• Pick winning ads with emphasis on conversion rate (if possible)

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Sample Ad Copy – “Apartments in Huntington Beach”

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Sample Ad Copy – “3 Bedroom Apartments”

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Sample Ad Copy – “Pet Friendly Apartments”

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Ad Copy: Summary

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• Write customized creatives for each ad group, targeted to the keywords within each ad group.

• Put the keyword in the ad copy to show relevance and attract the user‟s eye. When the keyword appears in the ad copy, it is bolded. If the account organization is solid, this need not be done through Keyword Insertion.

• Emphasize the unique aspects of your product or service that set you apart from other websites – otherwise you‟re lost in the jumble.

• Include a strong call to action so the users know what to do on your site once they get there – not “Click here,” but “Call Today!”

• Test multiple creatives for each ad group. BUT . . .

• Don‟t futz too much if things are working well – there are other levers to pull


Agenda

• Introduction




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Understanding Conversion

Conversion requires:

C = 4M + 3V – 2(f – i) – 2a*

• Motivated visitors to your site (or page)

– Qualified via keyword query and your Search Results text

• A clearly defined Value proposition on your landing page

– Headlines that instantly state the benefit

• The least friction possible (page layout, color, ineffective copy, etc.)

• Balanced with an incentive (free whitepaper, risk free trial, special offers, etc.)

• The least amount of anxiety possible(filling out a form name, call to action buttons)

* © Marketing Experiments

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Map “who” and “why from keyword to:

Ad:

1. Keyword used within ad

2. Headline of ad

3. Implied in value proposition

Landing Page:

1. Headline of landing page

2. Text of landing page

3. Benefits statement of landing page

Keyword: Viking River

Cruises China

Conversion Funnel Best Practices

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Landing-Page Analysis

• Map over motivation from ad text to the landing page.

• Ex: KWs like web conferencing, collaborate, and remote access solutions should be reiterated in the headline.

• Add credibility to the brand/product:

• Follow best practices – and provide appropriate real estate for toll free numbers.

• Message the unique value proposition clearly on the page.

• Why should a visitor choose WebEx over the competition?

• Consider testing specific call-to-action messages:

• Ex: Get Free Trial, Start 14-Day FREE Trial, Try it FREE Now

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Free Webex Trial

Get Web Conferencing, Collaboration

& Remote Access Solutions w/ Webex

www.webex.com


Sample Best Practice LP

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Sample Best Practice LP

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A.

B.

C. D.

E.

F.

G.

Objective: Take one existing landing

page and optimize it based upon best

practice principles.

Revisions include:

A. Clearly mapping over motivation

from ad text to headline.

B. Provide proper real estate to the

customer service phone number.

C. Use arrow for forced eye path to

CTA.

D. Message “no credit card required”

clearly on the page.

E. Use a value added CTA message.

F. Add credibility by associating

testimonials with company logos

and/or images.

G. Value added content for this page

should include what is included in

the free trial.


Sample Conversion Paths

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Promise Made,

Promise Kept?



38

Promise Made,

Promise Kept?



39

Promise Made,

Promise Kept?



40

Promise Made,

Promise Kept?


Google Browser Size Snapshot

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Google Browser Size Snapshot

• Google Browser Size is a visualization of browser window sizes for people who visit Google. For example, the "90%" contour means that 90% of people visiting Google have their browser window open to at least this size or larger.

• The data is generated based on the browser size of users who visit Google.com. Google says that it found that the install rate for Google Earth increased by a whopping 10% simply by moving it 100 pixels higher on the page.

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Agenda

• Introduction




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• Unique content (authority)

Creating a depth & breadth of well-

tagged, unique content around areas of

expertise in logical silos,

helps Google identify

a site as a subject

matter authority.

SEO Best Practices - Content

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Site: Visit Long Beach

http://www.visitlongbeach.com/

Content is 99% in flash

SEO Site Architecture – Flash / Java Script

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SEO Site Architecture – Flash / Java Script

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Which site wins?

Beatles

Site One – 5 Pages

Beatles

Site Two – 30 Pages

Take Away: Build topic expertise by increasing the depth of content on your

topics

Site Content

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Source: Hubspot 2008

More pages = More Links

• Creating more, great content inspires more linking!

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Listing Creativity

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• Your 2-second ad

• Relevance

• Keyword(s) included

• Domain familiarity

• Differentiation

• Call to action

• You have some control!


When it comes to website content, the following

Content Optimization Best Practices are key:• Title Tag

• 6 to 12 words long• Keyword focused• Keyword used at beginning of tag

• Meta Description• 12 to 24 words long• Keyword focused• Keyword used towards the beginning

of tag

• Meta Keywords• 24 to 48 words long• Keyword focused• Keywords should be grouped in

related clusters

• H1 Tags• Only one H1 Tag per page• Keyword focused• Should not be duplicate of Title Tag

• Keyword Focus• Each page should be focused

around one primary keyword or phase

• Primary keyword selection should be based on keyword search volume research

• Keyword Usage• Primary keyword should be used

within all page elements and significantly within body copy

• Keyword usage should be based on average usage within top search engines

• Content Depth• Each page should have a significant

depth of body copy content in relation to the topical focus (approx. 200 – 600 words)

SEO Best Practices - Content

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Body Content - Best Practices

• Pages should generally have a minimum of 200 words- ideal = 400-600.

• Body Content includes web site navigational menus, so, menus should be minimized and use relevant topic terms as much as possible.

• Body Content should not overly repeat keywords but should use topically related words e.g.

– Creating a music page without a mention of CD, MP3, Album, or Tape may point out that you are not as much of an expert as someone else.

– A „Beatles‟ page without the associate words Ringo, Volkswagen, or Bugs, leaves a search engine to guess what you are talking about.

• Competitive analysis & keyword research is „key‟

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Content Analysis for Apartmenthunterz.com

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“Apartments in Huntington Beach”

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SEO Content Development Best Practices

• Two audiences:– Humans (hi-fi)

– Spiders (lo-fi)

• Keyword research– Tools

– SEO Best Practices state that each page should be structured around one particular keyword

• Keyword frequency– Tools are available to help determine this frequency

• Care should be taken to distribute the content according to specific subject areas

• This SEO content “siloing” should mirror an inverted pyramid which moves from general to specific

– For example, “Apartments in California” >> “Apartments in Southern California” >> “Apartments in Hollywood”, etc

• Continual content creation– In fact, the search engines will adjust their frequency of crawling a site according to content freshness

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• Providing a platform for user generated content allows you

to exponentially increase

– Content on your site

– Page count of your site

• Blogs, forums, wikis and other Web 2.0 functionality not

only allows consumers to actually create content for you

but gives them a way to establish a relationship with you

which builds confidence and trust

• Blogs are well regarded by search engines because of the

„freshness‟ of their content

User-Generated Content

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Photo Optimization

Page 56

Alt tags help search engines determine the content of an image. Google also uses alt tags

to add images to their image search gallery. Images that lack an alt tag can possibly be

categorized using surrounding text, but an alt tag prevents the search engine spider from

making its own decisions about images. In addition to alt tags, images should also be given

descriptive file names to enhance categorization and optimization.

Alt Tag Recommendations

• Create a descriptive keyword-focused alt tag for each image.

Image File Name Recommendations

• Include the keyword in the image file name.

Image Caption Recommendations

• Add descriptive, keyword-focused captions to enhance other on-page optimization

efforts and image categorization.


Video Optimization

Videos are increasingly driving traffic and being

incorporated into universal search results. They should

have optimized title tags and meta data as well as

keyword-focused surrounding body content to ensure

proper indexing.

Video Optimization Recommendations

• Create unique meta data and tags for any video pages added to the

site. Create unique content on the pages that will reinforce the

keyword focus and categorization of the video.


Questions?Brooke Temple

[email protected]

310-582-5726

Date post:	14-Jul-2015
Category:	Real Estate
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The Magic of Copywriting

Real Estate