Websites People Read

Top TEN Writing Blogs Announced for 2008-2009

The winners have been selected, the race was tight, but Copyblogger took the lead for the third time in a row!  Michael Stelzner announced the winning writing blogs on his blog recently.

According to Michael the first three positions were separate by only a percentage point, so if you are already a fan of Brian over at Copyblogger, check out these two blogs:

Men with Pens and Deb Ng's blog entitled Freelance Writing gigs.

Not a writer?  This blogs should still hold your interest as crisp, compelling content is the cornerstone for successful marketing campaigns and value-based websites/blogs. 

Congrats to the other seven of the top ten blogs:

Write to Done

Confident Writing

the Regengade Writer - who just posted a comprehensive post on LinkedIn success.

Remarkable Communication who just wrote about autoresponders

The Writing Journey

Freelance Parent

Urban Muse Writer

Congratulations to all of the winners!

Find a Different Word!

Steve, over at Brains on Fire just wrote a post about banned words that lists some of the most over used words and phrases currently used in the marketing of businesses.  He put the word out on Twitter asking followers what words they thought should be banned.  There is a lively conversation taking place in the comment section with additional thoughts being added by readers.

Here's mine:  Quality.

Have you ever been driving down the highway and passed a sign that advertises an upcoming diner with "Good food!"

I always yell out "As opposed to WHAT?"  Bad food?

Quality hits me the same way.  You offer quality products and services, as opposed to what?  Crap?

I created a business alphabet exercise (modified from a fiction writing workbook) that requires you come up with a word or phrase that starts with every letter of the alphabet.  It forces you "outside the box" (one of those banned phrases) and think creatively about the benefits you offer to your customers. 

Give the business alphabet a try - have your employees fill the form out as well then combine the lists.  You might be surprised with the results.

What is your dreaded word or phrase?

Photo courtesy of Compare Store Prices

What Kind of Content Should You Add to Your Site?

I'm preparing for a speech I'll give tomorrow entitled "30 Marketing Tips in 30 Minutes."  As part of the list I have several items that can be categorized under the title "becoming known as an expert."

We all have some niche of expertise within our industry, but how many know what that is?  How many people say "gee you need to call so-in-so, they are the best when it comes to "x."  You want that person to be you! 

So how do you begin to make that happen.  As with anything marketing or branding related nowadays, the first answer that comes to mind is a blog.  Today the writer at SEOmaha, talks about useful website content and he focused on the importance of a blog.

Write what you know - tips and techniques, nightmare stories, best practices, great books you've read, plans for success.  With a regular blog posting you create traffic to your blog, a fan base of readers who look forward to your comments and you foster the reputation of being an expert in your field. 

What kind of website content should you add?  Content that adds value, teaches, shares an opinion and also content that gets people talking and participating.  The great thing about the blog is the opportunity to join in the conversation.

Start to brand yourself as an expert in your field with a blog.  Need help? 

Do You Have to DO To Successfully Sell?

  I have a question.  Is the old adage true "do as I say, not as I do?"

I have recently come across professionals in the web development/web marketing field that "talk the talk" but don't "walk the walk."  If you were to visit their sites, you wouldn't find evidence of what they recommend to their customers happening on their own site.

I'm reminded of the children's story of the shoemaker whose children were barefoot because he was too busy to make his kids shoes.  I once attended a party where I met a woman whose husband was a carpenter.  He was famous for the beautiful furniture and cabinets he crafted and yet his wife had been waiting years for him to make something for their home.

Is it okay for a developer to talk about the importance of optimizing your site but when you visit theirs you find no sign of meta tags or descriptors and the photos are missing alt tags and the title tag for their home page is...wait for it...."home page."

How important is it for you to take time putting in place for your own business, the elements your recommend for your customers?

And should customers expect to see you providing the example? 

I say yes.  I say - if a marketing expert suggests that you have a monthly newsletter to reach your customers then they had better be setting the example with one of their own.  If a developer talks about the importance of

Meta tags and descriptors, then if I look at the source code for their site I'll see a whole list. 

Am I wrong?  If you are getting ready to hire someone to provide a service for your business; i.e. marketing, writing, web development - do you expect that they do the same for their own business?

Photo courtesy of Questioning

Content Pilfering?

I have a Google Alert set up for several phrases; my name, my company name and a few industry terms.  Each day I receive an email or multiple emails with the latest on the web with my phrases of choice. 

Last week I received an alert that my company name had been used on a website so I clicked to explore what was being said. 

What I found was a mess.  Someone - can't tell you who because the site doesn't have a name and WhoIs was no help - had taken snip-its of articles that I'd posted on line and used them jumbled together at random.  The paragraphs made no sense and the links only went within the site, not back to my complete articles or my website. 

As I searched further I discovered several pages in which copies of my articles had been taken out of context and mixed with other random sentences to complete a blog post that made no sense.  I knew they were my words because the phrases reprinted were from distinct stories that had happened to me.  My company name was being used on a site that didn't reference me and in such a way that didn't accurately represent the original thought.

The blog has lots of Google ads and so I can only think that someone is attempting to make money by using other's content.  But why in snip-its?  Why steal? 

I filled out the Contact Us form in an attempt to contact who ever was using my content and since then, it appears as though my content has been removed.

But the question "why" still remains?  Why would someone do it in the first place when they can easily reprint my articles as long as they give credit?  Why would someone visit the site?  What would they get from articles that make no sense? 

Any answers?  Here is the site - see what you think.  Has this happened to you?  What have you done?

What is Your Site's Reading Level?

Movie Reviews

Found another neat tool today thanks to Omer Trajman over at WebWriting. 

It is a tool that measures the vocabulary in your site (blog, website) and determines the grade level of education you must have to comprehend the content.  The NY Times writes at an 8th grade level, and so does this blogger as you can see by the label above.

I tested a few of my fav sites and found them ranging from elementary level to college reading level!

Which begs the question:  Which is better?  Or does it matter?

When I was in the corporate world one of my peers talk and wrote using multi-syllabic words that frequently lost his audience.  Why use a five syllable word when a one-syllable word works just as well? 

If the goal is to be read and understood then unless you are writing for Word of the Day with a goal of challenging your readers, is it such a bad thing if you write at a lower level? 

So do you want to have a site that uses elementary words but perhaps life altering thought; or a site that uses more sophisticated language but perhaps challenges some readers intellectually?   

Reach Your Audience with Effective Headlines

I just found the coolest resource on the web.  Thanks to Shama Hyder's site After the Launch which I found because of an article Staci Wood wrote on Small Biz Trends - how's that for a round about manner?

Anyway the site is Advanced Marketing Institute and offers a really cool tool to analyze your headline or tagline.  Simply type it in and it will provide a score and feedback based on three categories:

Intellectual

Empathetic

Spiritual

This is a free tool which "will analyze your headline to determine the Emotional Marketing Value (EMV) score." 

Brian Clark at CopyBlogger is often speaking to the importance of a headline - it's the window to the soul of your content - whether that is an email, an article, your book or a web page - headlines are critical when it comes to capturing your reader's attention.

Type in your headline, twenty words or less 30 second commercial or test your tagline for its EMV.  Cool tool.

Okay - so my first headline for this post was:

Headlines/Taglines: How effective are yours?  Score 33%

So I changed it to:

How effective are your headlines?  Score 40%

The above title:  Reach your audience with effective headlines - score 67%

What should the score be?  From their site they say:

And for comparison, most professional copywriters' headlines will have 30%-40% EMV Words in their headlines, while the most gifted copywriters will have 50%-75% EMV words in headlines.

Let's just call me "gifted."  Just kidding.  But seriously - give a try and tell me what you think. 

While on the subject, here's another great resource: 5 Surefire Headline Formulas from CopyBlogger.

Image courtesy of NewsGrist.

Listening is Critical in Conversations and Website Content

I was reading Scott Ginsberg's latest post entitled 8 Ways to Avoid Conversational Narcissism.

Scott offers a wealth of information on the importance of listening, truly listening and how that helps to build relationships and improve communication.

The same can be said for your website content.

So often you'll visit a site and read company focused statements.  Here's an example found at Medical solutions:

Medical Solutions has a wide variety of New and Used Medical Equipment to meet the needs of the Healthcare Industry. These current production models and next generation units provide cutting-edge medical care beyond what you're used to.

In this first paragraph they mention a few customer-focused items:  wide variety and cutting-edge care, but by starting out the paragraph with their company name they may lose those flipping through sites looking for someone who "gets" what they need.  Remember, you only have 3-5 seconds to capture a new reader's attention.

When writing or revising your content - take time to interview your target prospects for what is important to them and what they look forward when searching the web.

How do you know if your website is written with the customer in mind?  The Future Now offers a great website tool analyzes your content and provides the information you need to know.

What tips and tools have you used to create a website that people enjoy reading?  Should you start your text with your company name or a statement/question that is more customer focused?  What captures your attention when you visit a new site?

Deborah

7 Elements of a Website People Read

Research shows that you have from 3-7 seconds to capture the attention of your readers before they leave your site.  So what does your site need to include to keep the readers attention? 

I have broken it down into seven elements.  These don't address the graphics, animination, podcasts or video clips - all additional components that add value.  I'm just looking at your basic content.  Is it enough to capture the reader long enough for them to see what you are all about?

How do you measure up?

      

Reader Focused

Is the content written with the reader in mind?  Have you asked questions and provided benefit statements that inspire a reader to take action?

Search Engine Friendly

Is the content key word rich?  Are there Title tags, Meta descriptors and Alt tags?  AllWrite Ink provides recommendations for areas may need additional attention to help improve your page rank.

Error Free

Is your site free from technical errors that hinder the Search Engines from navigating your site?  Are there spelling errors or other grammatical opportunities for improvement?

Reason to return

How often is the site updated?  Are there newsletters, blogs, articles or press releases that would encourage the reader to visit more than once?

Resource rich

Will readers bookmark your site as the place for valuable additional resources within the industry?

Call to action

Have you asked for the “sale?”  Do you have products for purchase, a newsletter sign up, a questionnaire?  Did you ask the reader to give you a call?

Easy to contact you

Do you make the reader WORK to find your contact information?

How well do you stack up?  Do you have a website people read?

Deborah Chaddock Brown

Blog Performancing Award - Vote Today

Today is the last day to vote for your favorite blog.  Truth is, whether you vote or not, visit the ballet site for a listing of some of the best blogs in the blogosphere.

2007 Performancing Blog Awards Categories include:

Best Design

Best Business blog

Best Content

Most Influential

Best SEO

Funniest

Best Entertainment

Best Parenting

Best Food/Health

and so on...oh, there is one category "Best Blogs You've Never Heard of."

Check it out - you are bound to find a few new places to visit.  See one you really like?  Give them a nod by voting.  As I said, voting ends today.

Copyblogger is nominated in three categories - one of my fav places to lite and if you haven't visited Brian Clark's blog, I would recommend that you do.

Think your blog should be mentioned?  There is a write in category so add your name to the list.  2007 Performancing Blog Awards.

Deborah Chaddock Brown