3 Reasons Why You Might be Reluctant to Start a Hotel Blog

One of the best ways to enhance hotel marketing efforts is to start a hotel blog. But many small properties and boutique hotels don’t engage in blogging. If you’re a property owner or hotel manager, you may be reluctant to start a blog for one of these 3 reasons:

Gloria Rand’s New Website Copy Generates Higher Sales of DOM Dugout Manager

Oviedo, FL – April 16, 2012 – Gloria Rand – SEO Copywriter is pleased to announce that the new website copy she wrote for CSI Creative Sport Innovations has generated increased sales of CSI’s signature product, the DOM Dugout Manager. CSI hired Gloria to rewrite the Home page and Store page for CSI’s website, www.dugoutmanager.com, in an effort to jumpstart sales of their dugout organizer. 

Why Your Small Business Website Needs SEO from the “Get-go”

[tweetmeme]By Gloria Rand
Are you planning to launch a new small business website? I have some advice for you. Take search engine optimization into account BEFORE the site is built. Too often a small business owner will call me to optimize their website after it has already launched. This is one of the most common SEO mistakes. But the best time to optimize your site is when you’re still in the planning stages.

Do keyword research before you write web content

 
Ideally, an SEO copywriter should work hand-in hand with the web designer to create the overall look for the small business website. Once the copywriter completes the keyword research and writes the copy, she can let the web designer know how much space is needed for headings, sub-headings and body content.

Doing SEO after the site launch creates added expense

 
If the SEO work is done after the website is launched, the web designer may have to be called back in to make adjustments. For instance, the web designer may have to lengthen the page if additional copy has been written to include the necessary keywords. Now you’re paying a second time for work that could have been completed the first time around.

How I work with small business owners

When a client hires me to write copy and optimize their brand new website, the first thing I do is send them a “web creative brief.” This document asks a series of questions including:

• What is the purpose of the website?
• Who is your target audience?
• What are your products or services?
• What is the main unique benefit that your product or service offers?
• What keywords do people use to search for your product or service?

Once I have that information, I can do keyword research and then start writing copy, incorporating those keywords. I also will write the meta tags for each web page. Once the client has approved the copy, I will forward it onto the web designer so that she can adjust the spacing of the site to fit the words. The web designer can also add the meta tag information to the site’s code. Once all the work is done, the website is ready for launch!

If you need copy written for your new small business website, contact Gloria Rand for a free consultation.

© Copyright 2011 Gloria Rand

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? To publish this article in your ezine or website, please include the following:

Gloria Rand is an Entrepreneur, Speaker, Copywriter & Marketing Consultant who works with entrepreneurs and small business owners to implement SEO strategies and social media marketing for online visibility, profits and success. Leveraging her background as a writer and producer for the award-winning PBS news program, “Nightly Business Report,” with her own experience as a small business owner, Gloria helps professionals turn great ideas into cash cows. Link up with Gloria at www.gloriarand.com or www.fb.com/gloriarandcopywriter.

What’s Keeping You from Starting a Blog?

[tweetmeme]Do you want to start a blog for your business, but have been reluctant to get one going? You’re not alone. I recently posted a Facebook question that asked, “What is your biggest fear about starting a blog for your business?” These were the top three answers:

1. I take too long – (procrastination)
2. I don’t know what to write about
3. I don’t have the time

Let’s tackle these excuses one at a time, so I can convince you that a blog will be worth your effort.

#1 – Procrastination.

There are a couple of ways to beat the “I take too long” excuse.  Take a deep breath, and as one of my friends and life coach Jenn Lee says, “Be Bold.”  And get organized.  Make a list of 10-20 topics to write about. Once or twice a week, sit down at your computer, and set a timer for one hour to write. At the end of the hour, save your work and come back to it another time. If you finished the article, great! If not, that’s ok too. You’ll finish it the next time. Remember, it usually takes a while for a habit to become routine. And that’s what blog writing will be – a new habit.

There’s an even easier way to beat the procrastination excuse. Hire a professional copywriter! Preferably, one that is trained in search engine optimization to make sure your blog gets noticed by Google and your target audience.

#2 – Not knowing what to write.

I hear this excuse a lot whenever I talk about blogging for business. But it’s not as hard as you might think to come up with topics. Set up a Google alert for keywords related to your business. Look for news items that would be of interest to your audience. Read other blogs in your industry for ideas. Put your own spin on an article you like. If you’re still stumped, check out this list of 42 blog ideas.

#3 – I don’t have the time.

This excuse is similar to the procrastination one. And it’s certainly one I can empathize with, especially if you’re a small business owner. There are only so many hours in the day, and you wear so many hats already!  If you’re trying to market your business on Facebook or Twitter, the thought of starting a blog may be overwhelming. But, it will be worth it. Companies with a blog attract 55% more visitors to their website than those without, according to Hubspot.  And if you are using Facebook or Twitter or LinkedIn, you can share your blog articles with your fans and followers.

My advice is to follow the steps I mentioned above. Spend one hour a week on a blog. Write as many articles as you can, and save them as drafts until you’re ready to publish. Take advantage of apps that will automatically post your blog on social networking sites, such as Facebook’s Networked Blogs app.

Or, hire an SEO copywriter, like myself, to do the work for you. That way you get the benefit of having a blog, without having to spend the time and energy writing it yourself!  If this sounds like the solution for you, email me today for a quote.

SEO Trend for 2010 – Making Best Use of the Title Tag

With 2009 rapidly coming to a close, it’s time to start making plans for 2010. And what better way to do that than to talk about upcoming trends in Search Engine Optimization.

In the past, I’ve talked about how important it is for each Web page to have a unique, keyword-rich title to display on a search engine results page.

That advice is still relevant, and will continue to be so in 2010.

But I’m not talking about the “Title Meta Tag” that displays at the very top of your web browser. I’m talking about a different “Title Tag.”  This one contains text that pops up in a box when your mouse hovers over a particular word or image on a Web page.

See the grey box with text hovering over the image on the screen-shot below?

Title Tag Displayed on Webpage

That’s a title tag.  This device gives you the opportunity to add a fuller, keyword-rich description of the image or word the title refers to.  Remember, the search engine spiders are pretty savvy.  They want to see unique content. So don’t repeat the same keywords in your title tag. Use slightly different words that still contain the meaning you want to get across to your visitor.

In the example above, the title tag is displayed over a graphic. But you can also add title tags to page links.

If you’re planning on revamping your Web site in the new year, keep title tags in mind. They can be a useful tool to enhance your search engine rankings.

If you’d like more information, please feel free to comment here, or e-mail me at gloria@gloriarand.com.

Why “Home” has no place as a website title

How many times have you searched on Google and found a listing where the title only said “Home Page” or “Home”? You have to look below the title to the description to discover the company’s name and/or its business.

Why does this happen?

Most likely, it’s a lack of knowledge, time and/or money.

Companies that use “Home” or “Home Page” as the only title for their main landing page may not realize they are limiting their ability to attract new customers.

These firms may not have the budget to hire a web designer and/or a copywriter proficient in search engine optimization who would explain why it’s vital to have keywords in a title.

An SEO copywriter knows that web page titles and descriptions must contain keywords that people use to search for a particular product or service in order to attract the search engines and potential customers.

Some companies try to save money by creating their own sites, using a simple template provided by a website hosting company. But that decision may wind up costing them money, because the failure to include keywords means potential customers may not be able to find their site on Google.

A company that relies on “home page” for its title doesn’t provide any clues about its business. Someone searching online must rely on the description that is displayed on the search engine results page (SERP). But if there are no keywords in the description either, the chances of a site appearing among the first ten or even 20 listings are slim to none.

A few hosting companies won’t let you eliminate the word “Home” from the website’s title. But don’t let that stop you from adding keywords in a short description following the word “home.” If you can’t figure out how do it yourself, ask your hosting company’s technical support group to make the changes for you. And if they won’t do it, find someone else who will.

“Home” may be where the heart is, but your potential customers won’t go there, unless you give them a keyword to show the way.

It Pays to be Persistent and…. Patient!

For anyone starting a business, landing that first client can be challenging, frustrating, and ultimately, rewarding.

It takes guts, persistence and, as I learned, patience.  Instant gratification is overrated.  It’s much better to wait for something.  Think back to your childhood. Waiting for Christmas morning to arrive.  The presents always seemed sweeter, if you had to wait for them.

So it is in business.  You may be impatient to get that first sale. I was… at first. But I also knew that all good things come to those who wait.  I decided to be patient, especially since my potential clients were a pair of awesome life coaches, who took a chance on a fledgling SEO copywriter.

I had finished the copywriting course and was half-way through the SEO copywriting course when Jennifer Lee and Leah Turner of Creating Your Masterpiece came into my life.  They came to speak at a meeting of Mothers and More, a non-profit support group I belong to.  They talked about the importance of setting goals and taking action. The message came through loud and clear to me.

The next morning, I decided to put into practice what I had learned so far about SEO and checked their website to see if it was optimized.  It wasn’t.  They needed help. I swallowed my nerves and sent an email thanking them for the great presentation.  I explained that I was starting my own freelance business as an SEO copywriter and could help get their website to move higher up the search engine ranks.

Leah and Jen knew SEO was important; they just hadn’t had a chance to do anything about it yet.  I submitted a proposal to them, but they rejected it – saying it was too expensive.  I could have given up right then, but I knew they needed the help and I knew I could do the work. So, heeding the advice of other copywriters I’ve studied, including Heather Lloyd-Martin, Ed Gandia, etc., I offered to scale back the project for less money.

They agreed, but couldn’t commit right then because taxes were due, etc. The coaches encouraged me to stay in touch, because they wanted to get their site optimized.  I emailed them periodically and sent them a sample of my work to show what I could do for their site.  That did the trick, because two months later, they agreed to my original proposal for the full amount!

FYI – I’m currently putting the final touches on a new revision of Creating Your Masterpiece’s home page since they have changed the focus of their business and are updating their site. It should be uploaded soon. Watch for it! www.creatingyourmasterpiece.com

July 26 update – I uploaded the new home page  today. It was a long time coming, but I think the results are well worth it.