Does this sound familiar when it comes to your SEO, or search engine optimization, efforts?

• You added a bunch of keywords to your site but haven’t seen an increase in site rankings.
• You paid a big, SEO company to help you, but you are still waiting for results.
• You have no idea what SEO is and are just ignoring it!

If any of these sound familiar, it’s time to review your SEO activities and concentrate on what is most important. After all, SEO can significantly increase sales if done correctly.

Important SEO activities include the following:

• Conduct extensive research to find the appropriate keywords for your business.
• Add different title tags and descriptions to each page of your site.
• Use your keywords in titles, subheads, links and appropriate places throughout your site.
• Create a process for obtaining back-links to your site.
• Measure the results and make appropriate changes for the best results.

And while these are all essential to SEO, you may be focusing on the “technology” rather than this one, key factor that can make or break your search-ranking results:

Provide Valuable Copy!

Today, the search engines look for sites that provide valuable information to their customers. They don’t want to see repetitive keywords and sales language. They want to see Websites that offer information customers want to tell their friends about.

With this in mind, your SEO activities should start with an editorial calendar. Write down exactly what kind of information you want to share with your customers and when. Then, write the copy, insert the appropriate keywords and add the back-end tagging. You’ll also want to create appropriate Web pages for each product or service and guide site-visitors through the purchasing process.

But that at this point, know that your SEO processes have just begun.

Now, you need to monitor clicks and interest in the new content. If your customers are clicking on the internal links, purchasing products and services and sharing the information via social media, you know your copy is working.

However, if you don’t see an interest in your new copy, change it or add content focusing on a different topic right away. If you have no idea what to write about, check your social-media venues to see what your customers are talking about and look at what your competition is doing. You can also add a quick survey to your site and actually ask customers what they want to see on your site!

SEO Should Increase Site Rankings and Save You Money

The great thing about SEO copywriting is that you can monitor your site analytics and clicks, and see exactly what your customers and site visitors are most interested in reading. And if some copy is not working, you can change it immediately. This way, you are always giving your customers what they want and providing value. (Note: If you are working with an SEO company that does not provide this information, you are missing out on some important opportunities to exceed customer needs!)

SEO Is Not About Technology.

It can be so easy to hire an SEO service to automatically optimize your copy as you write it. But that won’t help you increase sales and site rankings as much as possible. Instead, focus on the value you are providing your customers via your copy and monitor the results.

This way, you’ll get to know your customers and be able to give them what they want. And this will not only help you beat the competition, but the search engines will also notice the value, and your site rankings will skyrocket!

To find out more about SEO copywriting and how it can significantly increase sales, please write to us belo or visit www.rembrandtwrites.com for more information.

It’s Time For Website Spring Cleaning!

Now is the perfect time to give your Website a fresh, new look and do some spring-cleaning. But don’t worry! It doesn’t need to take a lot of time or money, Here are…

3 Tips to Freshen Up Your Site Fast!

1. Fix errors.

Yes, this may seem blatant, but you really need to review your Website for bad links, grammatical errors, misspellings, and old content.

Believe me, new site visitors will find even the smallest errors, and that could mean the difference between a new sale and a lost customer to the competition!

2. Add new copy.

If you haven’t updated your Website with a new blog entry, article, white paper, or other content for over a week, it’s time to add fresh and valuable information your customers will want to read.

And if you can optimize it for the search engines, even better!

3. Be newsworthy.

When was the last time you posted a press release or were mentioned in a local newspaper? If it has been more than a month, get to work!

Create a newsworthy event, write an SEO press release and let the media know you have news!

Freshen Up Your Site and See Results!

By taking a few, simple actions today, you can significantly increase online awareness, build credibility with new site visitors and get the media talking about you. And with these potential results, this is some Spring cleaning you’ll want to start right away!

For more information to increase site traffic and sales, write to Melanie below or visit www.rembrandtwrites.com.

I get many referrals from business owners who spent a fortune on a top, PR firm or search engine optimization, SEO, services without seeing any results. They spent a lot of money purchasing “well known” services, and now they are weary of hiring another professional to help them.

Don’t Let This Happen To You!

Just because you hire a “top name” in PR or SEO services does not mean you will get results. But if you are an entrepreneur, you just don’t have time to babysit the consultants that you hire. With this in mind, here are….

3 Questions to Discover if You Are Getting Ripped Off with SEO and PR Services

1. Are you seeing results?

Is your PR and SEO consultant or services communicating with you on a regular basis? You should get a monthly report to see what is going on with your PR and SEO activities. If not, ask for one!

2. Have you been waiting a long time for things to happen?

Yes, it takes time to prepare a complete, public relations and SEO campaign. However, there are things your SEO and PR people can do right away to start generating online awareness and buzz. If it takes more than a month to see some kind of results, ask for a timeline of activities and why it is taking so long to get some online attention!

3. Are you paying for unknown services?

What exactly are you paying for? While it’s customary for PR agencies to be paid by retainer, make sure you are not paying for a huge mark-up on outside services like press-release-distribution services, SEO advertising, media research, and other services. Also, find out exactly who is working on your account. You may be paying for a big, well-known agency to do your PR, but if you have a new hire or intern working on your account, you are paying too much!

Get the Right Help.

Good publicists and SEO strategists often charge high rates for their services, but if they know what they’re doing, it’s well worth the money. After all, one, well-placed article can mean thousands in new sales, and one SEO press-release can introduce you to a worldwide audience of new customers. However, there are many people out there giving PR and SEO professionals a bad name.

With this in mind, review your current PR and SEO activities and know what is going on. If you aren’t seeing results, it’s time to ask questions and get answers. And if you have been ripped off by a PR or SEO service, please do not disregard these services for the future. Instead, conduct more due diligence and find new professionals who can actually help you meet your business goals. (Perhaps, you can ask them to start with a test project to reduce your risk and see how your working relationship develops.)

After all, if your competition is using public relations and SEO, and you aren’t, you could risk losing sales and valuable, new customers.

For more PR and SEO tips and information, please write to use below or visit www.rembrandtwrites.com.

By Melanie Rembrandt

Are people saying bad things about your small business online? Do negative comments appear at the top of the search engines when you do a search for your business name?

Well, instead of sitting back and watching your sales and credibility decline, take action!

Small Business Public Relations and SEO to the Rescue!

If you want to increase the number of positive mentions that appear at the top of the search engines when potential customers search for information about your business, it’s time to implement a PR and SEO strategy. Here are three things you can do right now to help your online reputation:

1. Post an SEO Press Release.

Write a press release about something newsworthy at your business. Ensure that it provides valuable information, is written in the appropriate AP Style, and potential customers will want to read it. Then, make sure it is optimized for the search engines with the appropriate keywords and links. If you don’t know how to do this, it is well worth it to hire an SEO copywriter to do it for you. Then, post the press release on free sites and use a low-cost distribution service, if possible.

2. Write an SEO Blog.

Post some new and valuable information on your site for your customers. Share some industry insights or expert tips. Write a blog that’s at least 350 words and then optimize it for the search engines. Then, post it on an industry site or your site.

3. Write an Optimized Article or Tip Sheet.

Create a Tip Sheet, eBook or ePamphlet that provides valuable information and is user-friendly. Again, ensure that it is optimized for the search engines, and post it online. Perhaps, you can give it away as a free gift when people register for your newsletter?

Repeat the Process.

Once you start posting and promoting valuable information online that has the correct SEO, you will start to see negative comments about your business move down on search-engine listings. If done correctly, they will be replaced with more positive information that you have some control over.

And for the best ROI, I highly recommend you work with an experienced SEO strategist/publicist. This way, you’ll see better results faster, and you can concentrate on your core, business activities.

Are you ready to improve your online reputation with SEO and PR? Get more information at www.rembrandtwrites.com.

Here are three, key questions to ask yourself to help stay on track with your business goals.

1. What is your Website saying?

When people visit your Website, what message do they receive?

If there are broken links, old blog entries and boring content, you will lose potential, new customers fast. These things may be on the bottom of your “to do” list, but it’s important to move them up as a priority. After all, you may be losing thousands of dollars in sales from one, faulty link!

2. Do you need to return messages?

Do you have a bunch of e-mail and voicemail messages to return?

When you get busy, it can be easy to push responses aside and forget about them. But this is not good business etiquette. Return your messages within 24 hours at the most. This way, you can get them off of your list and move on to other tasks.

If you ignore your inbox, you may be missing out on potential business, press opportunities and more. And if you don’t have the courtesy to provide responses, you are creating a bad impression that can reduce your industry reputation, customer satisfaction and overall sales in the future.

3. What is the status of current projects?

While keeping track of your Website content and returning messages is important, don’t forget about in-person interactions. While it may be easier to text a quick message, nothing beats talking to a team member face-to-face. This way, you can check the status of current projects, provide input, answer questions, and ensure things are going smoothly.

And if you are worried about your communication skills or wasting time in a meeting, just set aside a few minutes to touch base with someone on a particular project. Then, use this time to ask questions, and let the other person do the talking. Over time, you’ll get better at keeping your interactions succinct but meaningful.

Relationships are Important.

Business moves fast, but that’s no reason to minimize your communication efforts. Check your Website and provide the most valuable information you can to site visitors. Review your inbox and provide responses to people who are waiting to hear from you. And finally, don’t forget to get out of your office and talk to your team members. This way, you’ll create valuable relationships with all of the people you work with while building credibility that can help increase online awareness and sales.

Are you taking advantage of all the communication opportunities possible to build sales, awareness and credibility? For more information on SEO and PR activities, please write to me below or at www.rembrandtwrites.com.

You can use the latest online media lists, high-tech distribution services and e-mail marketing tools, but if you really want to build buzz without spending a lot of money, take advantage of search engine optimization (SEO) in your press releases. Why?

Here are 3 Reasons to Distribute an SEO Press Release

1.    Significantly Increase Awareness.

If you are already distributing traditional press releases, why not add one, simple step to help media members and your target market find you online? By adding the appropriate keywords and links in the right place on your release, you can jump to the top of the search engines the day your news is distributed and reach more, new customers.

2.    Save Money.

Big, press-release distributions with a wire service can be expensive. By optimizing your press release for the search engines, you can post the release on targeted sites yourself and build buzz without spending a dime.

There are also inexpensive, online press-release-distribution-services that focus on sending SEO press releases to the press. Media members look for specific words in online press-releases depending on their news beat, but if your press release isn’t optimized, your business may not appear in their search results.

3.    Prove and Improve Results.

By monitoring the links in your SEO press release and your site analytics, you can see how many people responded to your press release and the keywords that they used. If you receive a high level of new site visitors and clicks on your landing page, you know your press release is working. Plus, you have actual statistics to share with your leadership team. If the response levels are low, you’ll have a better understanding of what to change and improve upon in your next release.

Good PR today involves traditional activities and new technology.

Traditional public-relations activities are very important to establishing major, media interviews. However, you’ll also want to create an SEO press release to accompany these efforts. Then, you can reach a larger portion of your target market cost-effectively and receive specific analytics to see what’s working and what isn’t. More important, you can build online awareness that beats the competition and increases sales dramatically.

For more information about SEO press releases, please write to me below or visit www.rembrandtwrites.com.

Find out!

When new people visit your Website, what’s the first thing they see and click on? If you don’t know, it’s time to find out.

Check your Google Analytics and see what is going on. This is important. Why? While you may think you have a great Website packed with information for your customers and just the right search engine optimization (SEO) keywords, new site visitors may think otherwise. Take a look your Website pages to see where visitors spend the most time. If your top pages are not pulling in traffic, you have some work to do.

Here are a few suggestions…

· What do your customers want?

Which pages do your site visitors click on most? Why do you think that is? This information can tell you a lot about what your customers are looking for and whether or not you provide it.

If you have no idea why your customers are looking at some pages more than others, ask them. Run a quick survey on your site to see what kind of information they are most interested in viewing. If you don’t want to run a survey, start adding SEO content based on the topics posted on your most popular pages. Then, review the results.

· Is your site just about you?

You may think your Website is fantastic – because it talks about how great your products and services are, your background and expertise and your media clips. But what’s in it for your customers? If you are focusing on features rather than the benefits you offer, you are going to lose business to the competition.

Review each page of your site and change the SEO copy so you are focusing on how your products and services help customers solve their problems.

· What SEO keywords are you using?

While it’s important to conduct extensive research to discover what keywords your targeted audience is actually looking for, don’t forget common-sense terms. If you were a customer, what terms would you type into the search engines to find your products and services?

While SEO keyword research is essential, don’t forget to think about the key terms that are simple and come to mind first.

Stop and Look at Your SEO Copy.

As I tell my clients, SEO copywriting is an ongoing process. If you want to build online awareness and bring in sales, take the time to review your site analytics and conduct SEO keyword research. Then, it’s essential to write copy that provides valuable information to potential customers while including the right SEO keywords, placement and coding. And once your Website is up and running, your SEO processes need to be monitored regularly. This way, you can make changes to bring in better results.

SEO is a powerful tool to increase sales cost-effectively. But if you don’t use it the right way, you’ll waste valuable resources while the competition steals your customers!

What is happening with your SEO right now? If you don’t know, please contact me below or at www.rembrandtwrites.com.

Did you make a New Year’s Resolution for your search engine optimization (SEO) activities? If so, why? We all know that the chances of keeping a resolution are slim. Instead, why not make SEO goals for the year?

By setting goals, you can plan specific activities and timelines to actually make things happen. For example:

•    Research your keywords and finalize your list by 12/31/13.

Do you know what keywords your target audience-members are actually typing into the search engines to find your types of products and services?

Do you know what keywords your competition is using?

If you don’t know, it’s time to find out. Conduct research, or hire an experienced SEO professional, and make a list of your top keywords. This way, you’ll target the words that will actually bring in new customers.

•    Update your Website with your new SEO keywords by 2/28/13.

Once you have a set of good, SEO keywords to use, it’s time to revise your site. Make a list of the key pages on your site. (These may be the pages that have the most site visits or list the benefits that your business offers.) Now, rewrite the copy on these pages with your new SEO keywords using the appropriate headlines, subheads and links.

You’ll also need to update the back-end tags of each of these pages with the appropriate SEO copy. This is time-consuming, but it’s important to write copy that provides value to your site visitors. Otherwise, the search engines will pass you by… and so will new customers.

•    Make the New SEO changes on your site live by 3/15/13.

When your pages are updated and ready to go live, post the new content. Then, monitor the results.

How many people are clicking on your pages and when?

Are the search engines finding your new content?

What kind of feedback are you receiving from customers?

Once SEO changes are made, it’s essential to review the results and change the copy that is not working. SEO is an ongoing process.

You Get The Idea.

Now, wouldn’t you be more inclined to see results from this list of specific activities rather than just giving a blanket statement like, “My resolution is to increase site visitors”? By writing down what you want to accomplish and the timelines and steps it will take to make those goals a reality, you’ll see much better results.

You can significantly increase site visitors and sales with SEO by this time next year. But your odds of achieving this with a simple resolution are slim. Instead, make solid goals and be responsible for taking the actions necessary to make them a reality.

Do you need help with your SEO activities? Please write to me below or at www.rembrandtwrites.com.

Basically, your customers want valuable content. They want to know what you have to offer them. At the same time, the search engines realize this and look for valuable content on your site. The days of writing up quick pages packed with search engine optimization (SEO) keywords are over.

Today, your Website needs to provide valuable information to your customers that is unique and makes sense. If not, you will lose sales to the competition.

With this in mind, how do you use SEO content to your advantage?

•    Make SEO copywriting a priority.

If you don’t have a Website with the appropriate, SEO copy and coding, it’s time to make it a priority, especially if your business does online sales. When your target audience-members type in words related to your products and services in the search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo!, you want your site to pop up.

You may not think it’s a big deal to optimize your Website, but if your competition has an optimized site, and you don’t, they may just be stealing thousands of dollars in sales and new customers from you… without your knowledge!

•    Hire a professional, SEO copywriter.

SEO copywriting is a skill, and it’s not something you want to do on your own if you don’t’ have the appropriate expertise. Instead, spend the money and hire a good, SEO copywriter to help you. They can conduct the appropriate research, write your copy, add the right coding, and monitor results accordingly.

It may be expensive, but you get what you pay for. With a good, SEO Website, you will increase sales and online awareness dramatically. Plus, you’ll spend less than buying paid advertising and you’ll be able to concentrate on your business instead of writing.

•    Maintain your SEO.

SEO is an ongoing process. All of your marketing copy should be optimized for your keywords and provide valuable, new information to your customers. Once your site is optimized, it needs to be monitored on a regular basis. Then, you can remove copy that is not working and replace it with copy that does.

SEO is fantastic in that you can test it and see what actually brings in the best results. Plus, the results indicate what your customers find most interesting on your site so you can change your marketing, products and services accordingly.

SEO is Important.

Today’s business is all about providing value to customers with the best service possible. By knowing what your customers want, and being able to provide current information each week, you’ll be able to increase sales and word-of-mouth. However, if you fail to see the importance of SEO copywriting for your business, you risk losing a lot of money and new customers to the competition.

Are you ready to move forward with SEO and see your sales skyrocket? Start with a test project and see what happens. More than likely, you’ll be happy with the results and make SEO an important part of your business plans now and in the future.

For more SEO tips and information, please write to me below and visit www.rembrandtwrites.com.

Organic search engine optimization (SEO) is when you get a lot of people to visit your site without paying for advertising. However, many businesses ignore this valuable, marketing tactic. Yes, it’s great to have a pay-per-click campaign to increase site traffic using paid, advertising placements, but this costs money. And whether you have the funds available for advertising or not, it’s essential to take advantage of organic SEO.

Why?

While it will take some research time and effort, the results are well worth it. Good, organic SEO tactics and strategy will take your page to the top of the search engines for your keywords. Plus, potential customers will see these placements as more credible than paid advertisements.

How does organic SEO work?

You may be wondering how this mysterious, organic SEO works. It’s simple. A trained, SEO copywriter researches the keywords people are actually looking for online in relation to your products and services along with competitor information. Then, they use this data, along with common sense terms, to develop your SEO keyword list and a strategy on how to use the keywords.

At this point, your copywriter will add the appropriate words, links and tags to your online copy, in the right places, and follow your overall, SEO strategy. Then, your pages will be monitored and updated accordingly on a regular basis.

The results? Top, search-engine-rankings that beat the competition and bring in new customers!

And you can do your own, organic SEO, but a trained copywriter who writes “copy that sells” is well worth the money. You’ll end up getting better results than if you do it yourself. Plus, you’ll save a lot time and effort from writing and coding when you should be focused on your core, business activities.

Don’t forget organic!

The buzz today is all about eating organic fruits and vegetables. Well, this also goes for your SEO!

By creating an organic, SEO keyword strategy, you can take your site to the top of the search engines for the words your target-audience-members are looking for. It’s cost-effective, but more important, you’ll provide valuable information people will want to tell their friends about.

For help with your SEO copywriting, please write to me here or at www.rembrandtwrites.com.