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Module one:

SEO Copywriting Certification Training

Heather Lloyd-MartinFourth Edition

SuccessWorks Search Marketing, Inc., © 2013 | www.seocopywriting.com page 1

Targeted per-page keyphrase strategies

Welcome back!

If you finished the action steps from module three, you probably spent a few hours neck deep in keyphrase research data. (And, if you haven’t finished yet, what are you waiting for?)

From here, the process becomes much, much easier.

Let’s get started.

Examining your keyphrases

As we discussed in the last chapter, your keyphrase choices can also correspond with the buying cycle:

• Peopleinthe“awareness”phaseareusinggeneral,overarchingkeyphrases(like“digitalcamera”).

• Asyourprospectdoesherresearchandnarrowsdownherchoices,thekeyphrasesusedmovefromgeneraltohighlyspecific(“Snaptix10.1megapixelzoomprices.”)

Now, let’s take a look at your website (or your client’s site.) Think of your home page as an introduction. It gives you a taste of what appears throughout the site - but the home page is just a preview. The specific,

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meaty information is found on the inner pages.

Here’s a simplified version of how the keyphrases would flow (and what the keyphrase list might look like) for an outdoor patio furniture store:

Notice how the phrases get more specific as you move from top to bottom? Whether you have a ten-page website or 10,000 pages, your website is (hopefully) structured in the same hierarchical way.

A smart keyphrase strategy helps the site position at all phases of the buying cycle - not just when someone is ready to buy. Your site can position when a prospect is in the “research” and “awareness” phases, too.

Here’s what can happen when you do it right:

A potential customer needs a freelance copywriter. She doesn’t know how to find one - or hire one - so



she types multiple search queries into Google.

Every time she searches for freelance writing-related terms, your site appears in the top results.

Eventually, your prospect thinks, “Hmm, I keep seeing this company in the search results. The owner has written a lot of great blog posts and seems to know what he’s talking about. I should give him a call.”

Boom - a conversion!

The key to developing a per-page keyphrase strategy is simple: Segment your keyphrases, choose keyphrases that match a page’s theme and intent, and use those terms in your writing, Titles, and meta descriptions.

Here’s how to make it happen.

Revisiting your keyphrase seed list

It’s time to review your initial keyphrase seed list. Depending on your site’s size, your keyphrase seed list might contain hundreds – if not thousands – of different keyphrases. Is this initially overwhelming? Well, yes. But consider this: Every one of these keyphrases represents a new way for customers to find you online. That’s pretty exciting!

The next step is to segment your list by the type of keyphrase. If you used the keyphrase workbook for your seed list, you’ll want to have it handy. If you wrote your list on a sheet of paper, you’ll need a few more sheets for the following steps.

Your Excel document has seven additional keyphrase tabs (not counting the seed list tab):

Awareness keyphrases: These are the general, overarching keyphrases (like “home electronics”) that describe what you offer. Typically, these keyphrases are placed on your home page or category pages.

Brand keyphrases: Brand keyphrases are keyphrases that include the company’s brand name (Hilton New York, See’s chocolate truffles). If you’re working with a larger company, prospects might be highly familiar with the brand and use it as a search term.

Category keyphrases: Many general awarenes keyphrases do double-duty as category keyphrases. For instance, if you are selling electronics, a category page might focus specifically on “digital cameras” – and there would be product links, informative reviews and reviews linking from this page.



For instance, Amazon.com has a category page focused on the Kindle – notice how all the links are related to the Kindle in some way:



If you are working with a service business, a category page might outline the specific services you offer under a particular heading. In the case of this local massage company, all related pages to auto accident massage would link from this page:



Subcategory keyphrases: Major sections of a main category are composed of subcategory keyphrases. For instance, if you owned an online clothing store, women’s leather jackets would be a subcategory. In the case of the Kindle, Amazon includes “Kindle Accessories” as a subcategory.



The Bloomberg Business site highlights “Apple” as a subcategory under “Technology.”

Seasonal keyphrases: If you have any keyphrases that are seasonal due to holidays, events or even keyphrase popularity, they would go on this list. Google Trends can help you determine if a keyphrase is searched on seasonally, or all year long.



Product keyphrases: Product-level keyphrases are highly specific. Using the Amazon Kindle example again, this would be a product-level page:

If you are selling services, a “product-level” keyword might be the specific name of a service you offer. For instance:



Research/question-oriented keyphrases: If you’re a blogger or social media writer, question-oriented keyphrases are your best friend. Once you know the questions, you can write about the answers - and know that you’re giving your readers exactly what they want to read.

As an example, let’s revisit the keyphrase research for the massage therapist. One of the ad groups was “benefits” - and if you expand the list, you’ll see:

Think about the blog post possibilities, such as:

• Fivebenefitsofsportsmassagetherapy

• Whatarethebenefitsofregularmassage?

• Tenmassagebenefitsforweekendwarriors

Simply go through your seed list and include each keyphrase on the tab (or tabs – yes, a keyphrase can be on more than one tab) where it belongs. Once your keyphrase workbook is complete, you’ll have a quick-scan way to see your keyphrases and match them to your site pages.

Although this step is time consuming (but much less so than actually compiling the keyphrase seed list), it’s also a very easy way to track your current keyphrase list and see how your keyphrases are segmented across the various “types” of phrases. What’s more, it makes your final keyphrase research step incredibly easy.

And let’s get to that step right now: Strategizing your per-page keyphrases.



Strategizing your per-page keyphrase choices

You’ve done the hard part and sweated through the initial research. Now, it’s time to choose the best keyphrases for every page you’re writing.

Don’t worry. You can master this fairly quickly. To complete this step, please download the Keyphrase Strategy Excel document.

If you’d like to see a completed document, please download the Client Example Excel document. This is a completed form that I’ll often provide clients (complete with noting pages that could be rewritten, edited or handled by the client.) We’ll talk more about the differences between rewriting content and editing it in the next module.

Here’s how to complete a per-page keyphrase strategy in just six easy steps!

1. Chooseapagethat’srelatedtothekeyphraseresearch

2. PlacetheURLofthepageintheURLcolumnofyourkeyphrasestrategyworkbook.

3. Considerthethemeandintentofthepage.Isittosellaproductorservice?(Ifso,refertoyourproduct-levelkeyphrasetab.)Isitasubcategorypage?(Ifso,checkoutyoursubcategorykeyphrases.)Doesthepageincludeanybrand-relatedterms?(Lookatyourbrandkeyphraselist.)Doyouneedtastyblogcontent?(Checkoutyourresearch/questionkeyphrases.)

4. Choosetwotothreekeyphrasesfromyourkeyphrasestrategyworkbookthatrelatetothepage.Remembertochoosekeyphrasesthatyoucanactuallyuse(thatis,theyshouldn’tbemisspellingsorgrammaticallyincorrect.)Thesewouldgoinyourkeyphrasecolumn.

5. Ifthereareacouplemorekeyphrasesthatcouldwork,includethemonyourlist.Justknowthatyou’lleventuallyfocusonyourtopchoices.

6. Spendthetimeyouneedtodoitright,butdon’tspendhoursagonizingovereachkeyphrasechoice.Youcanalwayschangeyourmindlaterifthekeyphrasedoesn’tflowwiththewritingoranotherphraseseemsmoreappropriate.

Keyphrase strategy tip: If the client provides the keyphrase list, the phrases may not be neatly divided up into “product-level” and “research/question” tabs. Don’t panic. Simply review their list and choose the best keyphrases for the page.

Can you overlap keyphrases and put one keyphrase on two (or more) pages? Yes! In fact it’s a great idea. Let’s say that you were working with a “sports massage” subcategory page – and you also had another article that was about the benefits of sports massage therapy. You can optimize for the term “sports massage therapy” on both pages. If there was a FAQ page about the benefits of sports therapy, you could use it on that page as well. The keyphrase is a natural fit for all pages.



Really. It’s that easy.

The keyphrase strategy document is an incredibly powerful planning tool. Plus, just like your keyphrase research list, your strategy document is a living document – you’ll want to refer to it often and update it as you add new pages.

Additionally, if you are working with multiple writers, having a per-page keyphrase strategy makes it easy for you to assign work, to ensure your writers are focusing on the “right” words, and to streamline your efforts.

Looking ahead to Chapter Five

Congratulations! Together, we’ve reached the halfway point of your SEO copywriting training. In the next lesson, we’ll dovetail your newfound competitive analysis, benefit statement prowess, and keyphrase strategy with a killer SEO copywriting strategy. Plus, we’ll discuss how to write and edit powerful content that converts like crazy.


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