The Importance of Your Keywords & Content‏

The Small Business Marketing Unleashed conference may be over, but we still have some information from it to share with you in case you missed it. Share your thoughts on the conference.

Our reporter Abby Prince was in attendance and among the video interviews she came away with was one with SuccessWorks Search Marketing Solutions President and CEO Heather Lloyd-Martin.

Be sure to check out that video on our sister site WebProNews to hear some discussion from an expert on content and keyphrases.

Naturally, Heather spoke at the session titled Keywords and Content.

Keywords and content. These things are perhaps more important to the Small Business than even the larger enterprises. Where the big boys tend to already have that brand recognition, people will search specifically for their sites, but for the small business, SEO tactics are ever so important for getting found.

SEO Copywriting

When it comes to copywriting for SEO purposes, Heather says you don't want to overdo the content. Cramming it too full of keywords can actually hurt you.

"Search engines don't pay your bills, but your prospects and customers do," Heather said.

Content that is too obviously laced with keywords for keywords' sake can be a major turn-off for a customer, and it will be hard for them to take your site seriously.

Heather notes that people really buy based on their emotions and decision-making. "People don't buy with the reality, but with a fantasy."

Tapping into those emotions is going to be a little difficult if you are to fixated on keyword cramming.
Before you look into keywords, ask yourself, "What does my product/service really offer?"

List your benefit statements. Think emotional benefits. Need ideas? Watch infomercials!

Keyphrase Research

When conducting keyphrase or keyword research, think of ways to get into your customer's head.

"It's about reaching people at all phases of the buying cycle," says Heather.

This includes the awareness, research, and purchasing phases.


- Awareness - general overarching keyphrases

- Research - reviews, blog posts, brand/features comparison

- Purchase - make/model search

Pages that Heather suggests writing for your site include:


- FAQ pages

- Designer/Manufacturer info pages

- General, "how-to" info (how to choose furniture, how to buy digital camera, etc.)

- Articles

- Blog posts

- Newsletters

I would also like to point out that archiving your newsletter on your site is also a good idea.

Heather suggests using 2-3 keyphrases per page with around 250 words per page depending on the page and content.

Place keyphrases in headlines, subheadlines and hyperlinks, and sprinkle the keyphrases through the copy where they fit and make sense (from a natural writing perspective).

As far as titles, make them read like a compelling headline, create a unique one for every page, and include main keyphrases you are targeting for each page.

Stay tuned to SmallBusinessNewz for yet more helpful tips straight from Small Business Marketing Unleashed.

About the Author:
Chris is a content coordinator and staff writer for SmallBusinessNewz and the iEntry Network. Subscribe to SmallBusinessNewz RSS Feeds.