I noticed that the list is missing twitter id’s for everyone, so I took the liberty of collecting them into a list of my own.

100. Mike Filsaime
@mikefilsaime
Marketing Dot Com

99. Kevin Lange
@kmlange?
SMG Search

98. Sam Lawrence
@SamLawrence
Go Big Always

97. Dan Greenberg
@mrDAG
Stanford Entrepreneur

96. Jonathan Mizel
@jonathanmizel
Marketing Letter

95. Javier Barragan
@flycell
Flycell

94. Muhammed Saleem
@msaleem
Muhammed Saleem

93. David Bullock
@davidbullock
David Bullock

92. Dawud Miracle
@DawudMiracle
Dawud Miracle

91. Mack Collier
@MackCollier
The Viral Garden

90. Mitch Joel
@mitchjoel
Twist Image

89. Nathaniel Stevens
Not found
Yodle

88. Mohamed Marwen Meddah
@MMM
Start Up Arabia

87. Rod Roudi
@rodroudi
Zeta Interactive

86. Justin Palmer
@caged
Alternateidea

85. Liz Strauss
@lizstrauss
Successful Blog

84. Brad Fallon
@BradFallon
Free Line Report

83. Brad VanAuken
@theblakeproject
Branding Strategy Insider

82. Robert Pearson
Not found
Tattoo Bin

81. Wendy Piersall
@eMom
Sparkplugging

80. Jim Turner
@jim_turner
Social Media Marketing Mastermind

79. Doug Haslam
@DougH
Doug Haslam

78. Chad Sollis
@kingsol
Sollis Family Chronicles

77. Kevin Hillstrom
@minethatdata
Mine That Data

76. Alisa Leonard-Hansen
@alisamleo
Socialized

75. Greg Boser
@GregBoser
3 Dog Media

74. Scott Monty
@scottmonty
Scott Monty

73. Mark Earls
@herdmeister
Herd

72. Brian Kalma
@krianbalma
Brian Kalma

71. Alan Rimm-Kaufman
@rimmkaufman
Rimm Kaufman

70. Jeff Arbour
@jeffarbour
The Hyper Factory

69. Hugh MacLeod
@gapingvoid
Gaping Void

68. Adam Ostrow
@adamostrow
Mashable

67. Bruce Clay
@BruceClayInc
Bruce Clay

66. Francois Gossieaux
@fgossieaux
Emergence Marketing

65. Joel Comm
@joelcomm
Joel Comm

64. Leo Laporte
@leolaporte
Leoville

63. Chris Baggott
@chrisbaggott
Compendium Blog

62. Andy Sernovitz
@sernovitz
Damn I Wish I’d Thought of That

61. Tamar Weinberg
@tamar
Techipedia

60. Loren Feldman
@1938media
1938media

59. Gary Vaynerchuk
@garyvee
Gary Vaynerchuk

58. Stephen Denny
@Note_to_CMO
Denny Marketing

57. Valeria Maltoni
@ConversationAge
Conversation Agent

56. Sugarrae
@Sugarrae
Sugarrae

55. Michael Port
@michaelport
Michael Port

54. Vitaly Friedman
@smashingmag
Smashing Magazine

53. Patrick Altoft
@patrickaltoft
Blogstorm

52. Kurt Peters
Not found
Internet Retailer

51. Mike Moran
@MikeMoran
Mike Moran

50. Lyndon Antcliff
@lyndoman
Linkbait Coaching

49. Todd Malicoat
@stuntdubl
Stuntdubl

48. Michael Gray
@graywolf
Wolf Howl

47. Anita Campbell
@smallbiztrends
Small Biz Trends

46. Rohit Bhargava
@rohitbhargava
Influential Marketing Blog

45. Frank Kern
@masscontrolkern
Mass Control Site

44. Stephen Spencer
@sspencer
Stephen Spencer

43. Steve Rubel
@steverubel
Micropersuasion

42. David Alston
@davidalston
Tweetpr

41. Chris Garrett
@chrisgarrett
Chris G

40. Aaron Brazell
@technosailor
Techno Sailor

39. Chris Winfield
@chriswinfield
10e20

38. Ann Handley
@marketingprofs
MarketingProfs

37. Christopher Angus
PingPongPie

36. Dharmesh Shah
@onstartups
On Startups

35. Vanessa Fox
@vanessafox
Nine By Blue

34. Jeremia Owyang
@jowyang
Web Strategist

33. John Jantsch
@ducttape
Duct Tape Marketing

32. Neil Patel
@neilpatel
Quick Sprout

31. Danny Sullivan
@dannysullivan
Daggle

30. Michael Fortin
@michelfortin
Michael Fortin

29. David Meerman Scott
@dmscott
Web Ink Now

28. Matt Cutts
@mattcutts
Matt Cutts

27. Dr. Flint McGlaughlin
Not found
Marketing Experiments

26. John Reese
@johnreese
Income

25. Linda Bustos
@Roxyyo
Get Elastic

24. Brent Csutoras
@BrentCsutoras
Brent Csutoras

23. Andy Beal
@andybeal
trackur

22. Chris Brogan
@chrisbrogan
Chris Brogan

21. Bryan Eisenberg
@TheGrok
GrokDotCom

20. Geoff Ramsey
@geofframsey
eMarketer

19. Ben McConnell
@benmcconnell
Church of the Customer

18. Robert Scoble
@Scobleizer
Scobleizer

17. Chris Pirillo
@chrispirillo
Chris Pirillo

16. Richard MacManus
@rww
Read Write Web

15. Lee Odden
@leeodden
TopRank

14. John Chow
@JohnChowDotCom
John Chow

13. Arianna Huffington
@huffingtonpost
Huffington Post

12. Jason Calacanis
@JasonCalacanis
Calacanis

11. Jeremy Schoemaker
@shoemoney
Shoemoney

10. Avinash Kaushik
@avinashkaushik
Occam’s Razor

9. Darren Rowse
@problogger
Problogger

8. Jackie Huba
@jackiehuba
Church of the Customer

7. Aaron Wall
@aaronwall
seobook

6. Pete Cashmore
@mashable
Mashable

5. Rand Fishkin
@randfish
seomoz

4. Michael Arrington
@TechCrunch
TechCrunch

3. Brian Clark
@copyblogger
Copyblogger

2. Guy Kawasaki
@guykawasaki
Alltop

1. Chris Hughes
@chrishughes2
my.barackobama.com Profile (must be logged in)

I have a hard time believing that some of these marketers don’t have a twitter account, if you know one that I’m missing on the list, speak up. Here are details on how the list was compiled.

Each link is something I use on a regular basis (a few of them are links to places I think are cool or gain inspiration from).

All of them provide either useful information and / or services to writers and most should be helpful no matter what your skill level.

So use them wisely and don’t be greedy, share yours with me too.

Essential Resources

These are some of the tools that quickly earned themselves prime real estate on my bookmarks bar.

Word Count

I use this one all the time. When it comes down to it we get paid based on how many words we write, even crappy writers get paid for their words.

This tool is simple and there are tons of them out there. Cut and paste your text into the field and it will give you either a word count or a character count.

Eye Tracking

Thanks again to Mr. Nielson and his timeless content, we gain a greater understanding of how users / readers use websites.

Utilizing eye tracking, makes it possible to gauge what people actually read on web pages. This article breaks it down into much more depth, so it is important that you read and understand the concepts.

In a nutshell, when you look at a website, you look at it in an F pattern. Down the left hand side and across the top of the site in an “F” shape.

The articles are long, but worth a thorough read no matter what you do or how much time you spend online.

Thesaurus

We all need them; we should all use them, A thesaurus is as important as a dictionary to someone who wants to use words for a living.

I use this one because it is fairly reliable and combined with a dictionary and an encyclopedia.

Sometimes a thesaurus can open you up to a whole new way of saying what you want to say.

Research

Research Journals

Any good web writer has to also be a good web reader. Research is the defining line between someone who writes and someone who creates.

Where you find your information is as important as how you write it, so use credible sources like the Directory of Open Access Journals which offers access to both scientific and scholarly publications.

There is some pretty in-depth stuff in there, so for technical writing this is a good place to start.

Google News Services

With their plan intact to take over the world someday, Google is ahead of the game when it comes to instant delivery of information to its readers.

There are two different ways to do it

1. Sign up for their RSS reader and have all of your favorite sites’ RSS feeds delivered to one place and updated dynamically.

2. Use their Alert system to have news delivered to your email.

I say try the RSS; it is the fastest way to stay up on what is going on and it will continue to grow in popularity.

Wikipedia

The Wiki is an open source encyclopedia. By open source I mean anyone can edit it. If you see a line you know to be incorrect, you can change it. If there is a section that is missing information, you can add it.

I use the Wikipedia as a resource all the time, and it is a handy way to get a general overview of almost any topic out there.

Their information is usually complete, although as you can imagine their accuracy may be questionable. So don’t use them as your one-stop shop for information.

The Fun Stuff

Rhyme Thesaurus

This is one even those who don’t write can enjoy. Find that elusive word that rhymes with pickle for your masterpiece, (for pickle alone there were 45 results).

Don’t start at work, because this Rhyme Thesaurus will keep you writing silly poetry for hours.

Alphabetize

There may be those random times when you need a list of words alphabetized, and this is the tool that will help you do just that.

If you have long lists of items putting them in alphabetical order makes it much easier for people to get to the one they are looking for.

Cliche Finder

This one is a little strange, but I’ve included it just because you don’t realize how many cliches you use on a daily basis.

Enter a word / phrase and it will deliver all of the known cliches with that word / phrase in them. Just so we are all clear, that’s a big no on using cliches in any type of writing.

Name Anything

Need help naming something?

Whether you want help naming your next pharmaceutical venture, your next band or your next pseudonym these naming tools are a good place to get ideas.

My next band name is Who Da Chic, oh yeah.

Headline Templates

Headlines are often a source of frustration for writers; fewer words really are harder to write, (you can see how creative I was in titling these articles).

Sometimes the usual tricks to get past writers block just don’t work with the short and catchy expectations of the dreaded title.

I’m not saying use them, but here are 54 Proven Headline Templates That Sell to give you ideas.

Urban Dictionary

Another fun afternoon-long website is the Urban Dictionary, and while I don’t recommend using many of the words in your web copy it is a good giggle to pass around.

Convert Your Images to ASCII Art

This isn’t a writing tool, but it is a handy way to impress your friends. Convert your images into ASCII, or numbers, characters and letters.

For those of you who don’t know what ASAII art is, some of it can be beautiful and some of it is crap. Here is one of the former; this example from ASCII Art is simple and well done.

Online Reading

Online Library

If you enjoy reading online books there are plenty of resources, but here are the best two in my bookmarks for finding a wide variety of genres and titles.

This one is geared towards academics so Read Print has a great selection of classic authors to choose from.

More Reading

This is a fantastic site, FullBooks had lists and lists of titles to choose from, all organized alphabetically. I am particularly impressed with the speed this site loads, click and instantly you are on the next page. Very efficient.

Games

Practice Typing

This is a great typing exercise because it doesn’t actually use real words. They are close to real words, so it forces you to un-train your fingers from typing words and re-train them to type letters.

This is the coolest typing practice site I’ve ever seen and I give it to everyone that wants to learn to type faster.

Free Rice

Help people while you increase your vocabulary; it’s a win-win situation. For every correct word definition, they will donate 20 grains of rice to people who need it. Free Rice wants you to help people and get smarter all at the same time.

Word Games

Not only are word games beneficial for writers, they are also good for keeping your mind limber. If you don’t use your noggin, you lose it.

This site has several word games to choose from; these are the best kind of games to play because you take something (namely a strong brain) away with you.

Organizations

National Writers Union

Pretty self explanatory, the National Writers Union is dedicated to all writers, whether you write screenplays or Viagra brochures.

The dues are on a sliding scale based on your writing income, and they are reasonable no matter what you make. Those dues entitle members to support, jobs, help in filing grievances, and even health insurance.

Poets and Writers

This is a non-profit organization and they offer tools like lists of other literary organizations, writing contests, conferences and other important networking information for writers and poets alike.

Pen American Center

The Pen American Center is another resource for writers that includes freelance and web writers. It is a membership that will cost you, but 100 dollars a year may be chump change compared to the networking this site makes available to you.

BBC Learning English

If you want to learn English why not learn it from the BBC? After all, they bloody well invented the language.

They will teach you News English, or Business English, grammar and vocab; there is a little bit for every level of English speaker. Even those of us who have spoken it our whole lives have something to learn here.

Most of us know the BBC for their savvy reporting and snarky tone and this website offers that and some learning too.

Writers Resources

This is quite literally the biggest list of writers resources I have ever seen all in one place. It might take you ten years to get through all of them, but you’ll want to bookmark it and spend the next ten years trying.

What’s Next

This concludes this particular series of articles dedicated to writing a good blog post. Not only will these articles help you in your blogging, they will help you in all aspects of your writing career.

If you haven’t read the first three in the series, be sure to take a look at them too.

Pt. 1 – The Basics
Pt. 2 – Tips and Lingo
Pt. 3 – More Lingo

Don’t push away from the table just yet, make some space because there is so much more to learn.

Making sense of all of that information helps when you have a firm understanding of the terminology people are using and what will be expected of you.

Types of Content

This guide is designed to give a general overview of different types of web-based content.

Quality Content

When it comes down to it quality content is writing that people will read, refer to and share for years to come.

It may not be a quick fix for a struggling website, however it is a good way to build credibility in a specific industry. Asserting yourself as an authority within that industry is an honest way to generate natural links and traffic.

This can be achieved in a number of ways

• Well researched informative articles
• How to’s
• Lists of tips
• Best of lists
• Info not already published on the web
• Instructional articles

I stress this point here because many of these writing methods and definitions are not considered good practice.

Well thought out writing that imparts an interesting and informative message is really the best way to go.

Your tools should always be a snappy title, a unique voice and even a strong opinion.

Quality content must be

• Original
• Timeless
• Unique
• A marketing tool

For more information on online copy, (I’m going to drill it into everyone’s head), read over these three articles too.

• How Good Copy Sells More Online Pt. 1
• How Good Copy Sells More Online Pt. 2
• 9 Edge Pieces of The Quality Content Puzzle

If you’d like to read more about quality content from someone else’s point of view, take a look at 25 Ways to Add Quality Content to Your Website.

Viral Content

All of those forwards in your inbox, things someone found funny so they forwarded them, those are all examples of viral content.

The ultimate idea is writing something that people will like enough to bookmark and forward to their friends who forward to their friends who forward to their friends. You get the idea.

Although I don’t advise creating the next ‘Best Girlfriends Day’ forward, creating factual, reliable and interesting copy is far better for credibility.

This is achieved by posting well-written articles with catchy titles, good research, scannable formatting and interesting information.

Linkbait is different in that it also tends to be successful when it is controversial and opinionated too.

For some more in-depth information on viral content there are two articles you should read, 5 Reasons Why Viral Content is the New King and The 7 Secrets of Viral Content from Daily Blog Tips.

SEO Content

First of all SEO means Search Engine Optimization. Ensuring your copy is well optimized should be done no matter what type of writing you are working on.

The initial idea of SEO content was developed to earn visibility in search engines based on the formula the engines used to rank sites in their results pages.

Essentially the idea of copy optimization encompasses several different factors

• Search engine friendly
• Navigation within the copy
• Formatting
• Keyword saturation

Many people throw the term around loosely, and because it is used by so many there is no strict definition of SEO copy as a rule anymore.

Make no mistake, the best way to do well on the web overall is to post good writing that is both well-researched and interesting.

SEO content is generally frowned upon as a source of traffic and rankings on search engines.

Linkbait

Like a shot of tequila, the sole purpose of linkbait is to create a buzz. The concept can be achieved in many ways, but basically you have to generate something that wows people enough to make them share it…with everybody they know.

It’s not as easy as it sounds, part of it is picking your topic, part of it is snazzy writing and part of it is knowing which audience (and social networks) to submit it to.

If done right, linkbait is great to generate interest in a website, and you don’t have to be Shakespeare to make it work for you.

Create linkbait by

• Writing definitive resources for hard to find information
• Being first to report the latest news in the industry
• Writing something opinionated about something (or someone) very popular
• Saying something really funny

Performancing breaks it down very well and my examples above are based on their article on The Art of Linkbaiting.

This is another technique that is somewhat frowned upon in the industry, although there is the possibility of stumbling across and posting something that earns popularity in its own right.

Spam

Not just for email anymore, spam is used in different applications, it’s new and improved spam. Essentially spam is an attempt to get as many keywords as possible into articles to manipulate search engine results.

A practice often used under the guise of search engine optimization.

This practice can earn web designers traffic and rankings (and money from various affiliate schemes).

Generally they are in the form of information stripped from other sites by a program and changed just enough to pass as original copy.

Their sole purpose being pages and pages of content filled with keywords.

Results-Based

Technically all of the above can be called results based writing.This term means essentially copy that gets results, whether that means better traffic, visibility in search engines or higher conversion rates.

Most websites want some form of results-based writing; corporations, small businesses, online services, all of them need marketing.

The ultimate job of a web content writer is to get results from the writing. In fact, the ultimate idea is to convince a customer to convert after they read the first 3 words, or 5 words, or sentence.

Sadly enough for us writers, the goal is to write so well that people don’t read our work because they are too busy filling out the form, buying the service or subscribing.

What You Know

If you have completed this series of articles so far (and read all of the links too) you are in a unique position. You already know more than many ‘writers’ out there.

The majority of potential clients don’t understand that content is a fundamental key to a quality website.

So our position is often overlooked and undervalued. Don’t get discouraged, your words are important and if you continue to plug away researching and writing good stuff you will continue to get work.

Plus I will continue to post helpful articles here which will educate you and help you to further your knowledge within the industry.

Be sure to read Pt. 1 The Basics and Pt. 2 Tips and Lingo if you haven’t already and stay tuned for Pt. 4, which will complete this specific series and provide new writers with tons of cool tools, resources and practice.

This installment is dedicated to insider tips and important lingo basics.

Pt. 3 is dedicated to even more terminology, specifically types of content and Pt. 4 will offer tools and resources found across the web.

Getting Started

We’ve discussed writing catchy titles, but a successful blog post means more than just a good headline. Research, terminology and the opening lines of your post are just as important.

The ultimate goal of most websites is to convert sales or get subscriptions, so the first few lines of every post need to be designed to keep your readers on the page and ideally to convert them right away.

More Reading

If you haven’t already read it, check out the first article of this series too Write A Blog Post Pt. 1 – The Basics

Again I turn to Copyblogger to give you some information on Opening Your Blog Post With A Bang.

Another article worth reading before you begin is Seth Godin’s post which offers 56 Ways to Get Traffic to Your Blog. Take a minute to read the comments, there are plenty of resources about the topic there too.

Finally, it is important that you understand How Users Read the Web before you start writing. Because when it comes down to it, people are lazy and they don’t really want to read stuff.

I recommend that every web-based writer read the above article from time to time, because although it is 10 years old it holds as true today as it did the day he wrote it.

The Lingo

Knowing the basic terminology used within the industry will make your job easier no matter what you write.

Blog Post

Blogs can be about anything. There are corporate blogs, animal blogs, political blogs and even blogs about blogging. Posting on a blog can be as simple as uploading an image or as detailed as the post you are reading right now.

A blog post can be considered an article or a post. Many businesses hire writers to help them maintain their blogs by writing and posting articles to it.

This can be done in a variety of different writing styles (and called a number of different things), each of which I will define for you later in the series.

You can even make money posting to your own blog using affiliate programs like Google Adwords, but the best money to be made is writing for clients who want quality over quantity.

Article

Although almost every blog post is an article of sorts, not every article is a blog post. Articles can be used in a number of applications, for ezines, newsletters, in print, for linkbuilding and on blogs.

Like a blog post an article can be about anything, I’ve written articles about renting horses to taking road trips to plastic surgery.

The concept of articles really began in journalism, articles were written initially to deliver news. Web articles are another animal entirely, however that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t write them about breaking news.

The earlier you catch a story the better.

Keywords

These are the words people use to find you in the search engines.

For example: on my horse site I just wrote a post about black horses, the title is (not at all catchy) Base Horse Coat Colors – Black

Some of the basic keywords for that article would be:

• Horse
• Black
• Base
• Coat
• Color
• Coat colors
• Base coat
• Base colors
• Black base
• Black horse
• Black coat

This is based on the idea that when people are looking for information on black horses they will type something similar to one of the following phrases into a search engine:

• “Black horse color”
• “Horse coat colors”
• “Black horse coat”
• “Black coat base”
• “Black base coat”
• “Base coat colors”

Too many keywords and you end up with spam, which is always to be avoided. However if you want to be found, you have to put yourself out there.

The easiest way to include keywords into your website copy is to write authoritative articles about your industry. This will help people find what they are looking for faster and help the search engines recognize your site for industry-related keywords.

Links

Essentially links are text that navigates to a new page when clicked.The idea is to earn yourself as many incoming links as possible.

For example: Say I become privy to interesting and brand new information. I write about and post it online, as more people hear about it they begin to look it up and it brings me traffic.

Other bloggers want a piece of that pie without too much work so they write a short paragraph summery and link back to my article. They use my news and supply me with a link as their source.

This is further explained in the next section of the series, however the idea of earning natural links is not just a way to manipulate the system.

Linking to other people within your text (like I do in this article) is not a bad idea, it is a good one. Always give credit where credit is due and you earn respect of those you source.

The below articles are a must read for beginners, they will help you grasp the concept and understand how it is best used to help you (and those you link to).

• Why Links Matter Pt. 1
• Why Links Matter Pt. 2
• Why Links Matter Pt. 3

They are not the bible of links, but the information is well laid out and they are easy to grasp conceptually.

Be sure to read Part 1. The Basics and if you haven’t already, and stay tuned for Parts 3 and 4.

Until you find the time to take a night class or two you can use this series of simple (but long) guides to writing a blog post with a solid foundation.

The Basics

Here are some of the basic elements of writing on a blog, whether you use it to find work or write about your favorite hobby.

Every bit of reading I link to in this series of articles is essential for those who want to write online and do a good job of it. Read them once, then read them again. I still go back and read through many of them from time to time.

In fact, some of the examples I use in this series are over ten years old. A testament to the idea of quality content.

Headlines

A good headline can make an article; the idea is to keep it short and sweet, make it catchy and include a keyword or two.

Copyblogger lays it out very well in their article about Writing Headlines That Work which provides examples of different types of titles and the capitalization that should be used.

Another helpful list by Chris Bloczynski offers 99 Headline Techniques to help give you some quick ideas.

Or if you just need some inspiration, check out Wordsmiths cool little title tool.

HTML

HTML means Hypertext Markup Language and is used to format both pages and posts on websites. Generally the formatting is left to the designers, however it is handy to have a working knowledge of the language.

I will expand on HTML in an article dedicated to it. However, these links offer basics for new writers.

HTML Code Tutorial is a very comprehensive guide and they offer tutorials, forums and resources.

And if all you need is a handy cheat sheet, this HTML Quicklist is a fantastic tool.

Punctuation

My first issue here is the excessive use of multiple punctuation marks across the web.

One question mark is enough, adding more does not make it a stronger inquiry, and don’t even get me started on multiple exclamation marks!!!!

Extra punctuation smacks of infomercial and that is never the vibe that should be pursued, unless of course, you are writing an infomercial.

My second issue is that when it comes to editing, I run across more punctuation errors than any other kind of mistake.

Building credibility through your writing (especially on a blog) means that you need to proof read your work and keep excess punctuation to a minimum.

For a quick and easy reference sheet (which everyone should scan over periodically) check out National Punctuation Day, they offer a section dedicated to each punctuation mark.

Or if you want to read something more involved, the University of South Florida put together a resource called Punctuation Made Simple. It’s long, but worth a read, especially if it’s been a few years since you sat in an English class.

Common English Errors

We all have words or phrases that somewhere along the way we seem to have memorized incorrectly.

In fact, there are plenty of slip-ups that people use every day without even realizing they are wrong.

Your loved ones may think it’s cute, but I can almost guarantee that your readers won’t.

Although our misuse may not be intentional, as writers we are expected to know better and avoid the common mistakes.

Washington State University put in a lot of work to make it easy for writers to brush up on their Common English Errors.

Fair Use Laws

Another point I will elaborate on later; images are a good way to help emphasize points, explain concepts and even make readers giggle.

If you use information or images that don’t belong to you always source them.

While there are plenty of places to find free images for use on blogs and websites, you must respect Fair Use Laws if you want to use them.

For a plain English version check out the Wiki.

These laws are put in place to ensure that everyone receives credit where credit is due and to make sure everyone stays honest.

Stay tuned for the second installment filled with tips, lingo and resources.

Not only must good copy be engaging, it needs to promote your product / service to your target market. Web copy is geared towards marketing, so it is important to understand the key elements when attempting web-specific copy.

Writing Copy That Sells

There are a few basic points that need to be understood when preparing content, articles and ad copy for any website. Here we will discuss the last three:

Using Clever Anchor Text Can Increase Click-Through Rates

Anchor text is the text used to connect a URL link to web copy (using HTML). The words are significant when they direct to your site and should be relevant because they point to you. The idea is not to rank for ‘click here’ it is to rank for your keywords.

For example: at the bottom of this article is a link to the previous article. The anchor text is the title of the article because there are keywords in the title. Were I to change it to read ‘click here to see the previous article’, I’d have created a wasted link because neither ‘click’ nor ‘here’ are relevant keywords for my site.

When choosing anchor text, be sure to remember to:

Good Internal Linking Structure Increases Usability

From a basic usability standpoint, it is important to have a sensible internal linking structure on your site. Beyond handy menus and highly visible buttons, there should be links anchored within the copy too. Giving readers options at the end of every page and citing previous posts for reference makes navigation easier and increases usability.

Good internal linking will help:

Every Page Should Close With A Marketing Hook and Navigation Options

The goal is always persuading the reader into conversion / buy mode, so links to the main selling pages, the products page, and the contact page should be well-placed throughout every bit of content.

Links are particularly important in areas of copy with a marketing emphasis, the reader should only be a click away from buying at all times. Content is often the selling point, so it should include a way to buy.

Any navigation within copy should:

As you can see good copy is more than just fancy words. If you are interested in learning more, have a look at my services page, my portfolio page or just contact me directly.

(See how the paragraph above demonstrates all three points of this article?)

Not only must good copy be engaging, it needs to promote your product / service to your target market. Web copy is geared towards marketing, so it is important to understand the key elements when attempting web-specific copy.

Writing Copy That Sells

There are a few basic points that need to be understood when preparing content, articles and ad copy for any website. Here we will discuss the first three:

Even Good Copy is Bad if it Doesn’t Close The Deal

Good writing comes in many forms, although it’s doubtful that Lord of the Flies will effectively sell vacation packages to Hawaii. The web is a different media, its concepts are more involved than the printed word.

Not only does it require proper grammar, but it requires knowledge of target markets, keywords, optimization, formatting and image placement.

Savvy web-copy must include a few key elements:

Copy Should be Directed Towards Qualified Traffic

If the point of web-copy is sales, then the traffic it attracts needs to be from a qualified market. Getting traffic can be easy, but getting targeted traffic requires effort and know-how.

The idea is to get the sale / conversion instantly. In theory, a reader should be converted before even reading the landing page. In reality, if readers aren’t convinced by one page, they should be offered navigation to another page designed to convince them.

Earning qualified traffic means:

All Content Should be Interesting, Informational and Persuasive

This goes without saying, but if you are interested in reading more, check out my articles on quality web content and how it helps websites.

Stay tuned for the second edition, where I will discuss the last three elements of web-copy.

Words, The Most Valuable Aspect of Your Site

Now that we’ve established a little about what quality content is, it’s time to discuss how it works to help your site.

Not just to earn traffic, but to earn those dollars too.

Quality content is essential in all facets of a website, from headlines to the about page, every word of the copy should be geared toward making your site more useable and generating sales.

Obvious Strategy

Creative, quality content is a key component in any marketing and should be designed to:

Why Content Helps

Every site needs content for one simple reason; text is essential for keywords to appear on the page. And keywords are what the search engines look for to categorize and display your site.

The idea is to have enough keyword placement, while at the same time providing useful information and original content. It has to be a balance that satisfies both the search engines and the readers.

In the end the readers are the consumers, and that makes them the important part.

Why You Need Search Engine Love

Search engines provide your traffic, so generating consistent, keyword-rich content keeps your site earning traffic for a good spread of terms.

Specific keyword placement without compromising ideas means structured posts and a knowledge of marketing, paired with an interesting spin on the subject matter.

Why You Need Your Customers More

From a marketing perspective, no amount of traffic helps if the consumer isn’t biting.

Ultimately content needs to be consumer-friendly by being:

Well-written content makes it easy for the consumer to understand, purchase and use the product or service your website is selling. Every page, post and article should do this by answering these three key questions:

1) What action should the consumer take?
2) How can the consumer be persuaded to take that action?
3) What does the consumer need in order to take action?

As you can see quality content is more than just snazzy writing. Have a look at my services, contact me and get started today.

Producing top web writing is a time consuming process, requiring good research & depth of understanding.

Tight, well thought-out content has many benefits for a website:

Getting Attention

A cornerstone to your website, content has to attract readers and keep them around. Beyond being well written, quality content has to be useful.

Helpful content offers something to the reader pertaining to your industry. Things like tips, resources and references can all be designed to pique interest and create a thirst for more.
Timeless content Quality copy should be written with the idea that it will be used and cited for years to come.

Generating Traffic

The ultimate foundation, traffic generation grows as a website gains readership and hones its usability. Content has to be consistent in quality and offer something readers want.

Original content eliminates duplicate content issues and keeps readers interested by supplying new ideas, the latest resources and fresh perspective.

A unique style is essential to gaining a readership following which increases traffic. People appreciate consistency of style and will react to a unique voice.

Sales Growth

Hooking readers with quality and keeping them around with originality is pointless unless it accomplishes the end goal of most websites; increasing sales or conversions. Reputation management paired with credible copy builds a solid foundation for marketing.

The marketing hook is a persuasive suggestion built into the conversation of the content, whether it is a blog post, a social article or your home page. People quit reading when they suspect a sales pitch, marketing needs to be subtle and composed in a useful framework to successfully promote your product or service.

Linkbait

Growing initial traffic and sales drive a website into public view and linkbait will help keep it there. The idea draws on all of the above points and combines them to create posts that are universally interesting enough that people will continue to link to them.

Posting first is essential when posting about current events and press release information. Being quick on the draw means that others will use your posts for research and link back to your site.

Guides are another way to generate linkbait. Guides with good resources, previously unpublished information, well-researched lists and concise instructions will be shared and linked to, over and over again.

Be sure to see How quality content helps your site too.

As you can see quality content is more than just snazzy writing. Have a look at my services, contact me and get started today.

Submitting your articles to article submission websites can help you gain exposure. Many web designers & marketers search the databases to discover new articles they can syndicate.

A guide for submitting your articles to article directory sites…

Basic Guidelines

Article websites are used by webmasters for extra content; they use your articles and in return you are allowed an author resource box to place a link to your site and contact information.

As articles are copied across different sites, they provide a decent number of backlinks and some traffic. These backlinks are not keyword rich, but add to the overall strength of the site.

How to Submit

Submit your site to as many article directories as possible, each site is a little different, but most ask for standardized information.

You’ll need to:

Usually, the forms consist of these fields: Category, Article Title, Keywords,
Teaser, Article body, and Resource / Author box

Final Tips

Follow these final tips to get the best results.

This article is intended for those who have a very basic level of understanding when it comes to marketing on the web.