SEO Copywriting for the Big Bucks.

Hello Folks.

Been Blogging everywhere else, but not here. Figures.

Copywriting in general - those long pages about one product, self-help, millionaire or "lose all your weight and be invisible" web pages are in the past (for me) and have been for sometime. Looking at the copywriting blog I have set up (elsewhere) I do wonder why I bother calling it copywriting anymore as I write web site content more than anything else these days.

And to give it a name - SEO copywriting has also been the focus for a very long time. The problem with that is SEO service providers - at least half of them - are just big fat scammers. I look at a web site, analyze the stats, look over the tags and code, check the target market and do all the right things. Without going into a huge explanation here - I am starting to feel like the only person around who:
#1-wears a white hat and rides a white horse.
#2-does no ppc or adwords.
#3-follows up forever with clients.
#4-works well with other webmasters.
#5-gives a fair amount of work-time to each client.
...and the list goes on.

How anyone can call themselves an SEO company who recommends ppc or adwords is just beyond me. I suppose it is all in what your individual business ethics are - and it is business to the tune of Big Bucks for some companies. It's all about target markets, niche target markets and who can afford how much.

Research and study should be the focus for SEO service companies and not "how big is your web marketing budget?"

This should not be looked upon as a rant, but rather a warning and advice entry. Look local for SEO services so you can come face to face with the people you are doing business with or at least know where the offices are in your area. Otherwise you might be asking for trouble and an empty bank account.

Verb.

:)

Do you know how to blog?

Verb on Blogging.

Active is the word to describe what a blog should be. "Active" as in "moving along". Blog when you have something to say and even when you don't.

I don't know how to blog, so don't ask. If blogging were a real talent, I would not know how to describe blogging to anyone as I am still a novice myself and wonder why anyone reads blogs. Well, I read them when they are interesting, informative and uh, funny.

I don't have a problem with a blank page, I can fill up a blank page (or screen) pretty quickly. But would anyone want to read it? Probably not. And, guess what? No one does. My blogs are various and wide spread. I post in at least one blog a day and to my knowledge, almost none have been read. So, why would I continue to blog? To clear my mind? To haphazardly spew out words and verbs to the stratosphere?

Not really. I just want to add links to my websites. Some blogging places do that quite well. So I blog.

The thing I need to learn is how to do it right. Make my ramblings count for something. If someone had read one of my blogs, just once in the last month, I would have fallen in love. No doodah man.

I suppose one of the reasons (other than the links) that I love to blog is to read my own words on the screen. How stupid is that? Pretty much:

"Stupid is as stupid does." - Forrest Gump

But, I can tell you that it is a necessary "active" part of being a copywriter. Write, write and write some more. I actually don't care that people do not read my blogs - as long as google likes them, I consider myself well read.

Verb

Cyphering on blogging..

Yo Buddy,

I have been thinking that blogging would be a good thing to do as all the newsletters, e-news, websites and yadda, yadda, yadda ALL say what a business booster blogging can be for your business. I write out my thoughts all the time in about 10 different blogs to keep my hand in on writing in general so I don't sound like a doofuss when actually sitting down to write for something meaningful. It does help sometimes.

It has helped my vocabulary some but I do still sound like a doofuss most of the time. I just type, type, type. I did figure out a couple of things so far.

My last blog entry was geared towards the website of a cyber friend. It is a web site that I particularly like and helped me know a lot about the fellow. I liked him when I started reading his pages. It also gave me the idea of doing something similar for a couple of my websites. Maybe. I don't want to steal someone else's ideas but my thoughts and his thoughts are going to come out differently when written down so I am thinking it will be OK. Plus, what I write about will be my own subject matter and not his.

I did figure out that if I put something in the text of the body on this blog that it will show up in google when you use the tags that are entered. Yeah, granted that is pretty basic information but have you looked? I had not when I set about writing this particular blog. Now, I know that I can blog about something of interest to me and other people might find it if I keep to the subject and tag it correctly. WooHoo! This is NOT new news but knowing (and not guessing) is real knowledge. I guessed it would work that way after reading it about... oh... 1,000 times. HA!

I kept telling myself I would look into it when I had time. I have never had that much time. It seems that until a thing is proven, I hold back to the bitter end. Like with the DVR. I just updated our cable TV last month to include the DVR and the DVR service. When it comes to getting into my pocketbook - I can hold onto a nickel until the buffalo poops. I am not a tightwad, just frugal. Sounds better too.

Back to blogging in general. Since I have a gob of web sites I could have created my own blog area a long time ago. I didn't and still do not want to "spend" the time involved to learn how to build and manage any blogging space on the internet. This site will do just fine and it is free.

I can save another nickel.

I wanted to blog today even if I had nothing (once again) to say - 7-7-7!
21 is my lucky number. If there is such a thing.

Until next time - keep 'ur puck moving.

EB
buddy web works

Funny Web Sites - Part 1.

I have a friend that I met on a group site. He seems like a very nice fellow and after chatting the in the group with others and posting off and on we saw that we viewed thing very much the same. I sent him my urls and he sent me his so we could look at each others websites.

I love the text and just about every single thing I have read at his site and want to post one thing from one page here. It is a hoot. This guy is a blacksmith, makes knives and swords, sells them on the internet. Cool, eh?

At his site these are the "Ye Olde Shoppe Rules"
(for a blacksmittys shop)

1. Safety First Always !!!!!

2. This shop is neither Idiot Proof or Politically correct. If you have a problem with that, perhaps you should limit your visit to the time spent reading this far.

3. Think before you act. If is sounds like a good idea, it will sound just as good 2 minutes from now. If it sounds dangerous or unsafe, it won’t get better with time.

4. It is alright to be Incredibly Stupid as long as you are the only one who knows. If you do something incredibly stupid and hurt yourself or someone else, I will tell everybody.

5. If you do something incredibly stupid and hurt me, I will notify your next of kin.

6. All metal is hot until absolutely proven otherwise. If you touch metal to see if it is hot, see #4 above.

7. Black iron is hot iron. Red iron is even hotter.

8. If you don’t know ask, if you don’t understand ask for an explanation.

9. Any tool used to handle hot iron also becomes hot. That includes the anvil after a day of hard forging.

10. Beware of the Dragon’s Breath, the almost invisible flame at the mouth of the gas forge.

11. Take the hot cut out of the anvil when you are done using it.

12. Appropriate eye protection when grinding, cutting, welding etc. is a must.

13. Wear a respirator when necessary.

14. Make a list of the things you can do without, left hand, right eye, etc. Now protect the rest.

15. Never work tired.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I loved the rules and of course, knowing nothing about blacksmithing, I had to laugh at some of them. But, I am sure he is quite serious about the rules.

It reminds me of going over to Silver Dollar City at Branson, MO about a dozen times in my life and seeing the place grow but most of all seeing all the crafters and talented people who keep things from the past alive for us today. The backsmiths, broom makers, glass blowers, candle makers and you know, just about anything you can name.

I do want to give you Woody's site url so you can go there and enjoy the many pages of useful, funny and fun text he has at his site. I agree with almost all of what he says and will continue to go there, when I have time and need a laugh.

http://hansoncustomknives.com/index.html

If you sign his guestbook - be sure to tell him "VerbatimEB" sent you. I am jockying to get some special pricing on a couple of knives and this might put a feather in my cap for that.

Later folks,

Verb
www.buddywebworks.com

Notes on Writing for web sites.

Hello Blogger Buds,

I read a really interesting blog a week or so ago and wonder if I can find it again. I can never manage to hand onto addresses for blogs. Think that is some kind of mind game? If so, I am playing it with myself.

The fellow I was reading had a web site and I found his blog through a link from his site. He was writing about writing for web sites and the funny thing is I already knew most all of what he was talking about and have applied most of it to web sites I have designed, written for and so on. There was one thing though that caught my eye that I did not remember and that is about the length of text for web pages - by length, I mean to say how long across a line should be. Now all the web sites I build wind up having lines that are 60 characters long or there abouts and it is something I was well aware of but just don't think about anymore. It comes automatically when I am writing for a web site.

Let's see if I can put it like he did.

One of the most important ways you can make type easier to read on-screen is to control the length of each line of text. Lots of sites just let text run from one side of the screen to the other, and for those who have high-resolution screens, this can result in lines of text that are so long they're very difficult to read.

You can control the length of your text by creating HTML tables that are specified in pixels, rather than in percents. A good width for a line of text is between 60-70 characters, and this translates roughly into a table that's between 350 and 500 pixels wide.

The easier it is to read your text, the more likely someone is to read it. That's why good sites that have a lot of text, have a lot of blank space on the side, because it's more important to make your text readable than it is to fill every inch of the screen.

That is sort of what the guy was saying and about line length and white space - yes, I leave lots of white space normally except at a few sites that are busy, busy, busy on purpose. White space is a whole other subject and maybe I will save that for next time.

Also when I was at this guys site I realized he was selling software to build web sites, in fact it might have been the whole purpose of his site. I stayed there for quite a while as his writing was good, informative and well organized. I love reading good stuff. I may try to find his site again. I just have to remember what I was searching for when I stumbled upon it. I guess I should have bookmarked it. I do forget to do that too.

I stopped bookmarking a while back when it became more of a hassle to look down the list of bookmarked sites to find the one particular one I needed - as I have about a thousand bookmarked. Yeah, really.

Until next time - keep ur stick on the ice.

verb

An Invitation...

Hello Blogger Buddies,

In the past I have managed blogs far and wide but I am going to start using this blog for um... probably everything I do. Including but not limited to:

webmaster issues.
SEO - what's good, what's NOT.
ALL my websites and some clients websites (jargon).

And today I am sending out an invitation to you all to join a new group for webmasters and computer geeks as a place to gather and SHARE knowledge. If you are not into SHARING, don't apply to join. I want and need ACTIVE members there. Here it is:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/WebShoppeWonders

You will need to let me know you found the invitation here at blogger (blogspot) and you must have a yahoo ID profile with information in it. No one gets in without first filling out an application too. Yes, it is a process to get in. Any group worth it's salt always has rules, regulations and a guard at the door. For this group, that is moi.

I have been using Web Easy Pro Professional 6.0 to build websites and would love to have some others folks in that group who are knowledgable about this particular piece of software. Is that YOU? I need help and you may be the person to do that!

Well, off for now - gotta do some HOUSEWORK today - yuck!

Have a great and blessed one!

Verb

:)

Starting Out

Although I have other blogs I want to centralize most of that and have decided to post about everytihing here.

To start out? Nothing yet today - uh, JUST STARTING FRESH.

Verb