by Kyrill Poelmans | May 5, 2015
The question that we get asked a lot is: “How To Write High Converting Titles?”. It’s more than just making sure that you don’t use more than 55 characters.
We’re going to help you by answering this question, but first there is one important thing that we have to start with.
Writing good titles is a combination of technical and creative aspects.
This article is about converting titles, so the creative part would get more attention, but for the complete image we want to start with some technical stuff like the SEO text editor.
Start Optimizing Rankings With Our Easy SEO Text Editor
Everything starts with a good basis and, in this case, your basis should be our Textmetrics SEO text editor.
This SEO text editor makes sure that you won’t use too many words in your page title and that you optimize your title technically.
It also increases the optimization of the rest of your page.
That’s the first thing you have to think about! You want your page to be found, otherwise your title can be really good, but still standing in the shadow of the most popular articles.
This first point doesn’t really have to do anything with your converting rate, but the more people that see your page title, the more people that could click it right?
That’s why we think that our SEO text editor should be everyone’s starting point.
Well, now that this part is cleared out, we can skip to the creative part. But keep the technique in mind!
4 Greatest Tips For Higher Converting Headlines
#1. Use numbers to increase conversion of your headlines
The first step to high converting titles is to use numbers in your title. Not just random numbers, like: “3455 Going on a trip to Rome” but numbers that give extra value to your article.
People like numbers. For example, you want to write a blog about your trip through Europe. Your page title could be something like: “My Roadtrip Through Europe“.
But well, that doesn’t sound very exciting and one of the reasons is: It doesn’t have any numbers in it!
For example try something like: “32 Days Of European Roadtrip Adventures”. Way better, don’t you think?
Why do numbers help to create higher converting headlines? That’s actually a question that isn’t that easy to answer.
It has something to do with perception, large numbers are even more popular than small ones like a 60 days guarantee sounds more than two months.
It probably also has to do something with the fact that people like the structure of lists. Like: “7 Cute Kittens Dancing With Dogs” or something like that.
Want to know exactly why numbers are effective in conversion? This article from Hans Villarica can tell you more about this subject!
#2. Eight is your lucky number for the best converting headlines!
Research of shows us that titles with five to nine words and titles with sixteen to eighteen words are more converting that titles with less or more words.
Titles with eight words are rated the best:
Our research showed titles with eight words had the highest click- through rates with these headers performing 21%
better than average- so consider the length of your title if you want to get clicks.
– The Guardian
This has probably something to do with the limits of the human brains. People scan titles and can only pay attention to a few words.
Titles with eight words are probably the easiest to scan, with some valuable information in the front and in the end of the title.
If you use the SEO text editor, it will tell you how many words and characters you should use to create the best converting titles!
Something like “32 Beautiful Days of Amazing Roadtrips Through Europe” would be a good converting title according to the first two tips.
#3. Guide for Conversion: Does punctuation have influence on conversion rates?
The answer to this question is: YES! Titles with colons and question marks have higher conversion rates than titles without.
People feel personally addressed by titles with question marks and this is what you want to reach. That is how you get higher conversion rates.
By using colons in your title, you’re showing some kind of expertise. At least, that’s what people think. Your article gives thé answers to their questions.
It’s quite simple to apply these tips and the results will be great!
#4. Guide: How To Get The Best, Fastest, Easiest and Simplest Conversion In 2015?
Well, the title of this tip might be a bit confusing, because of course you shouldn’t write a title like that. But this title summarizes the next tip for higher conversion rates.
Use modifiers in your title. This can be words that have something to do with the subject of your article.
For example, you’ve got an article about backlinks. The title that you have in mind is: “Linkbuilding: Best Way To Get Backlinks”.
You could also choose to use this title, by adding a few modifiers: “Guide for SEO Linkbuilding: Best Way To Get Easy Backlinks”
This tells the search engines and your future visitors a lot more about the subject of your article.
Other modifiers that you could use are words like:
“How to…”, Great, Easy, Simple, Tips, Guide, Best, Fast, Checklist etc.
Consider adding them to your titles for better results! This tip might even be more valuable than the limit of words in SEO text editors, so keep it in mind!
Of course there are a lot more tips for better converting headlines, but according to us these are the most important ones.
Start using these tips and a free trial of our Textmetrics text editor and in no-time you will be able to score higher conversion rates in the search engines!
by Kyrill Poelmans | Apr 30, 2015
In the past, people saw link building as some kind of trick to raise their search engine ranks quickly. But this old style link building strategy is history now.
Nowadays, Google bots learned to see the difference between real incoming links, that people share because they want to link to a website with valuable content and links provided by old style link building.
Link building has changed and your own link building strategy should change too! That’s why we’re going to learn you how to build backlinks new style. Qualitative links are the next big thing, but how do you get good backlinks?
#1 Write valuable content to increase shareability
People share content that they like. It sounds quite easy, but it is the way it is. If you write crappy content, then you probably won’t get any backlinks unless you post them yourself.
Make sure your target audience rates your content as valuable for them and maybe even lots of other people.
If you produce valuable content and you promote it in the right ways, people will read your content and share it with their friends!
#2 Use cross promotion for quality backlinks
Back in the days when search engines were quite easy to manipulate, exchanging links was a popular way to build links very quickly.
But Google is a lot smarter now. They don’t care if you get inward links from a website if you have totally nothing in common. These links became completely useless in new style link building.
But there still is a different way to use this strategy. It only costs a bit more of an effort, this is what you can do:
Use cross promotion!
Cross promotion is a promotion technique in which two companies work together to promote their websites.
The main condition for this technique to work is that these companies must have something in common, like:
Textmetrics and a company that makes web designs or a supermarket and a butcher.
Google sees that the companies that backlink to each other have something in common and that’s why these links are seen as valuable.
#3 Register in qualitative directories for better results
In the past, building links in directories was something that you should definitely do, anywhere, anytime you could.
The more backlinks you had, the better. That’s was the motto of old style link building.
But things have changed. If your website gets linked to in too many bad rated directories, it can have a really bad influence on your search engine rank:
There is a chance that Google will give you a penalty.
That’s the reason why it’s really important that, if you decide to use directories for link building, you make sure to choose the right ones.
You have to be picky to decide which directories are valuable to register your backlinks to and which aren’t.
#4 Active attitude in discussions and forums
This next way to generate backlinks that actually will lead your target audience to your website might be the most valuable tip that we want to give you today:
Mix in online discussions about your companies specialties
You might think, what does this have to do with backlinks. Well, more than you think, but before we explain this link we must tell you something about the past of backlinks on forums and blogs.
In the past, a good way to generate some relevant backlinks was to post your links to popular blogs or discussions on forums. Marketers posted them on almost every opportunity that they saw.
But since a lot of blog owners blocked this way of creating backlinks, this technique isn’t that successful anymore.
But wait, then what to do next? Well:
No worries, there is still a very good way to promote your website through blogs and forums. The only thing that has changed is that you have to make a little bit more of an effort to create these backlinks.
Look for discussions or blogs that are relevant to your companies products, services or published content. React in a natural way and mix yourself into the discussion.
When the time is right you can post a link to your company, just the way so it totally fits in the discussion.
If you succeed to use this technique in an effective way, we can guarantee you that this gives you quite a lot traffic on your website!
#5 New style social media, best way to get new style backlinks
Back in the days that people started to use link building as a technique, social media sites weren’t that big as they are today.
For us, it looks like ages but Facebook and Twitter weren’t that popular 10 years ago.
That’s why this last step to get valuable backlinks has everything to do with this “new” way of communicating.
Google has also followed this development and that’s why social media links became way more important in search engine optimization and creating backlinks.
There are a few ways to create backlinks through social media:
- Building a social community around your brand or company
The way to build a strong community is to make sure that you promote your content the right way.
Make sure that your content is shareable because the more shares and likes you get, the more Google rates your content as relevant and valuable.
- Use opinion leaders to speak for you
Another way to promote your links through social media is to find some opinion leaders to speak for you.
They are people that inspire other people to do what they do, and to use what they use, so of course they are the best persons to tell everyone how great your website/brand/product is!
So, how to build backlinks new style?
As you have seen in this article, the most important words to describe how to build new style backlinks are:
Relevant & valuable
Link building isn’t about just posting links anymore, it’s about looking for and finding the most relevant and valuable ways to promote your content, company and brand.
Don’t forget, this is the way to do it now, old style link building can kill your seo strategy! New style backlinks combined with a free trial of Textmetrics will make sure that you’ll rise in the search engines even faster than you could imagine.
And by following this guide, you should be able to rock the world of new style link building! Isn’t that awesome?
Liked this Textmetrics guide? Share on twitter now!
by Kyrill Poelmans | Apr 20, 2015
You might have heard it already, but tomorrow Google officially launches their new ranking factor for their search engine results. The mobile usability of your site already was a very important thing, because almost every person searches online with their mobile phones, but now it becomes even more important. Is your website not mobile friendly? Then you have only one day left to change it! Go with the flow and make sure that this factor won’t be a killing point in your SEO strategy. Even though your content is optimized now (if you use our tool) this is also a very important factor. So keep working on your SEO!
Test your mobile usability yourself
In order to help you all out, you can test your usability yourself through the following link: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/. You should also check your site on your own mobile phone, maybe you will find some defects that Google can’t detect.
Other ranking factors
In 2013 MOZ published a pie chart with the results of one of their research projects under 128 SEO experts. The question that they asked was, which of the known SEO factors weighs the most and which one doesn’t have that much influence. Even though it’s just a gamble because nobody knows for sure, we think this one is pretty representative for the real ranking. After tomorrow, they have to add the new ranking factor to the chart, but it’s still a useful chart to take a look at!
With the help of Textmetrics you’ll be able to cover at least 20% of this chart without any hard work. Start your free trial today and don’t waste your time on things that could have been very easy!
by Kyrill Poelmans | Apr 17, 2015
Basic tips & tricks
Of course, SEO copywriting is really important. But in the end, the main goal of your webcontent is probably to reach your target audience. To make sure they like, understand, share, feel your content. That’s why you should write for your target audience. Don’t just write what you like to write, but write what they want to read. That’s how you reach your future customers! But that may be easier said than done. That’s why we made a little list of the basic tips and tricks for target oriented writing!
Tip #1: Know yourself
It may sound a bit stupid, because of course you know your business. You know exactly what you do. But lots of businesses forget to tell why they do what they do. What their motivations are. And let this last thing be the most important thing.
People mostly don’t buy Coca Cola or Apple because they think the physical product is better than their opponents, they buy it because they like the motivation of the companies. ‘Think different’ (Apple): We’re not for everyone, just the ones that understand our status. ‘Make it happy’ (Coca Cola): We will help you to enjoy your life, Coca Cola makes everyone happy.
You have to keep your motivation in mind at all times. Don’t (let someone) write a word before they know your business from the inside and the outside. You will write the best content if you truly know yourself.
Tip #2: Know your target audience
The next tip is to know your target. A good way to make sure that you know your target, is to describe them by using a persona. Just make a little list of personal characteristics of someone in your target audience. It could be something like this:
John Sparks, 26 years old, lives in London but grew up in the countryside. He love to play soccer with his friends in the weekend but he also likes to grab a beer in his favorite Irish Pub in the neighborhood. He lives with his girlfriend in the middle of the city, but in the summer he likes to go on a holiday, back to his roots. John is a professional marketer.
The next step is to write your article or content for this John Sparks. By using this technique you make sure that you will see your target audience as people that you can communicate with, not just as customers. An important aspect to consider is the education level of your audience and making sure that you write your content at the right reading level – not too complex, not too easy.
Tip #3: Speak the same language
If you write your content for John, then you have to make sure that John wants to read your content. You reach John in a different way than you reach Janet, a fifty year old lady from France. But to reach them the best way you can, you should think about a few things.
Are you talking to professionals? Then you can talk with more technical terms as when you talk with amateurs. Does your audience read your content for fun, or to learn something? That are some of the many questions that you could ask yourself. Every target audience speaks their own language and it’s your job to be the interpreter of your business.
Tip #4: Think like your audience
The next step is to think like your audience, not like a business that tries to sell your product. People like John are looking for a lot more than just a product. They’re looking for a solution or an experience, and that’s something that you should provide. You should focus on what your audience is looking for, and not on what your company is trying to sell.
Tip #5: Know where to lead or find your audience
Sometimes it’s just important to be visible for your audience. When you rule an organization like the government or something like that, then it’s just important that they know where to find what they are looking for.
But a lot of companies have to find their target audience themselves. Than you have to find out where to find your audience. You have to find out on what social media or forums they are. If you know where to find them, then you will be a lot closer to knowing how to reach them.
With the tips that we gave you today, you must be able to become quite a good targeted writer. Do you have some tips of your own, about how to write for your target or about anything else? Feel free to leave them through the support form! If you want to know how to reach your target audience in the search engines, you should check out the free trial of Textmetrics. In this tool you’ll be able to find numerous tips to technically optimize your texts for your target audience.
Create your free Textmetrics account below and start optimizing your web content!
by Kyrill Poelmans | Apr 13, 2015
Today it’s time to clear things up about the large amount SEO myths. After our new SEO myth buster special, nothing will be the same anymore. If you just Google for a moment (yes, you can try if you want) and search for SEO tips and tricks, you will find thousands of pages full of tips. But if you look closer at these tips and tricks, you will see that there are a few tips that are inconsistent with each other. We’re here to solve these inconsistencies once and for all!
SEO myth #1: Keywords are death
One of the first things you will see if you google for SEO tips, is the word: KEYWORD! But the first inconsistency will come with this word. Some of the SEO experts say that it’s really important to make sure that you focus your content on keywords that are related to your website. But at the same time, some of the experts say that the keywords are death. This sounds like it’s now useless to use keywords, because Google will look right through this intention to raise in their rankings. But that’s our first SEO myth that we want to clear up.
Keywords are not death! The fact is, keywords are just as important as they always were. But there are also a lot of new techniques that Google uses to collect the best websites for a search word. That’s why it’s smart to take all these new techniques with you if your writing content but you surely must think about your keywords! It’s also smart to use some synonyms of your keyword and some related words because Google now scans for more than just your targeted keywords. If you want to make sure that you use just enough keywords in your content, you should use the free trail of Textmetrics to check the technical optimization of your texts.
SEO myth #2: Longer articles are better!
This is another myth that we need to clear up. Longer articles aren’t always better. You don’t have to write long articles unless you really need that much space to explain your subject. Our tip is always: Think of your audience. If you think they want to have more information about the subject, write more. If you think just a simple article is enough, then write less.
For the search engines doesn’t make any difference in the rankings. As long as your story is unique and compelling, you don’t have anything to worry about!
SEO myth #3: ALT-tags and descriptions are very important in SEO
This myth is quite a big one. ALT-tags and descriptions should be very effective in SEO ranking. Well, they aren’t. Yes, we think it’s important to use clear descriptions and ALT-tags with your visual content, but it has no (measurable) effects on your search engine ranking. They might appear in the google image search, but that’s all of the SEO effects that you will get by using an ALT-tag or description.
SEO myth #4: Penalties for duplicate content
A lot of people think that if you duplicate your content, Google will give you a penalty for it. Well, that’s not the full truth. Yes, if you try to manipulate the search engine results by duplicating your content over and over again, with the goal to mislead Google, then you have the chance that they will punish you. But if you just rewrite some articles or duplicate some earlier written content on your website, then you have nothing to worry about!
SEO myth #5: Once you’re at the top, you will stay there
Some people seem to think that linkbuilding and SEO is a once in a lifetime thing. You need to get some links, make your pages optimized, and BOOM, you will be the SEO king. That’s a big myth, even if you are at the top of the search engines, think about the fact that you’ve kicked someone off the top by climbing there. That could also happen to you. That’s why you have to optimize your content, again and again. Never stop working on your SEO ranking, it can always become stronger!
We hope that we have helped you by busting these SEO myths, don’t get fooled again! Now go on and optimize your content with our Textmetrics, because you heard so, keywords are not death! 😉
