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If there’s any one thing that can be said about SEO with certainty, it’s that it manages to cause a lot of confusion.

For example, it seems like many people’s idea of SEO was formed 10 years ago, and hasn’t bothered to change with the times. Even an online veteran like Robert Scoble is completely clueless about modern best practices for search engine optimization.

So, before we go any further, let me answer the question posed by the headline . . .

Yes, SEO copywriting still matters.

Here’s why.

Search is still the biggest game in town

“Pick your survey, search remains one of the top activities on the Internet and has been for over a decade,” said search industry legend Danny Sullivan when I pinged him on Twitter. Danny pointed me to one such survey that shows search is the most common online activity after email, and that fact cuts across generations.

“People make billions of unique searches each month,” said SEO guru Aaron Wall via email, “and unlike Facebook flittering, those people are in focus mode.” In other words, compared with most Internet traffic, searchers are the most motivated people that hit your site.

If they’re looking for a product or service, there’s a good chance they’re looking to buy it. If they’re searching for information and your site provides it, you’ve got a great chance of converting that drive-by traffic into a long-term subscriber.

And of course if you’re a professional web writer, whether freelance or with an agency, this discussion is purely academic. You try telling the client not to care about Google traffic, and let me know how that goes.

So, search traffic is clearly important, as long as it’s targeted search traffic. Let’s look at the elements that constitute the modern practice of search engine optimization so we can attract those highly-focused visitors.

Off-page elements eat the biggest slice of SEO pie

Take a look at the image below, generously loaned to me by SEOmoz:

A quick review of the chart reveals that as far as SEO goes, what happens off your site matters more than what’s on it.

• 23.87% – The general trust and authority that your domain builds is the largest indicator of SEO success. As Authority Rules makes clear, what works for search engines is what works with people as well.
• 22.33% – The number of links to a specific page matters a lot too… so think twice about link viability when your content is just out of the gate.
• 20.26% – The anchor text of external links matters because this is Google’s way of finding out what your page is about according to other people, not just you.

In other words, it’s like my favorite saying goes:

What people say about you is more important than what you say about yourself.

In this case, Google wants to know that people are linking to you, and the words they’re using (link anchor text), because that’s a more trusted relevance indicator. So yes . . . compelling content is always rule number one. But just like great content goes unnoticed without promotion, great content doesn’t rank well if you don’t make it clear what it’s supposed to rank for.

But how do we get people to notice our content so they can link to it? That’s where social media comes in. Blogging, social news sites, Twitter, Facebook – these are organic content distribution systems powered by your audience (and their friends).

It may come as a surprise that some of the brightest minds in social media are SEOs, and they’re completely on the up-and-up and non-shady. It’s just that they’re too busy getting things done to proclaim themselves social media experts or some other nonsense.

The huge influence of “off-page” factors on search optimization is why I wrote the SEO Copywriting 2.0 series 3 years ago. I updated it for 2010, but it is still directly on point, because it deals with fundamental aspects of strategic content development that don’t really change.

If you haven’t, check out SEO Copywriting 2.0 to get more out of the remainder of this series. An understanding of content development strategies is critical before going the “last mile” with on-page optimization.

SEO copy is the “last mile” to strong search rankings

Are you familiar with the “last mile” problem in the broadband industry? You can have thousands of miles of high speed fiber optics carrying loads of data cross country, but if the final connection to the customer’s home is aging copper or pokey coaxial, the benefit of the optical cables is lost.

Likewise, if you do everything right by building an authority site that Google trusts, but don’t tell Google that your page content matches what people are actually searching for, the targeted traffic benefit is lost. That’s what effective SEO copywriting does – it tells Google which words are the most relevant ones.

You don’t have to optimize on-page upfront. But you do have to begin with the ending in mind from a keyword standpoint, due to the importance of anchor text when people link. We’ll go more into that in part two of this series.

And if you ignore this SEO stuff? Sure, you’ll get plenty of untargeted “long tail” traffic otherwise, but what good does that really do you? Even with an advertising business model, irrelevant traffic bounces off your site quickly, leading to disgruntled advertisers who don’t renew. And if you’re selling something, you’re only burning bandwidth.

The beauty of building a subscriber-focused online presence based on valuable content is that you can do well even if Google hates you. But the irony is, if you actually follow that path, Google loves you.

Take advantage of that. It’s the critical last mile of a well-rounded online marketing strategy that makes a huge difference to your overall success.

Traffic must convert, or why bother?

Now we come to the big point. Everyone loves traffic – it’s addictive and strangely gratifying in its own right.

But traffic doesn’t pay the bills. It’s people who take the actions you need them to who do.

Going back to that confusion, many think that a search-optimized web page is some ugly keyword stuffed mess that sends people running for the hills on sight.

That’s not true. At least not when done well.

Danny Sullivan said it well at the close of our discussion:

“Unfortunately, too many assume that SEO means trying to trick search engines. It doesn’t. It simply means building a site that’s friendly to them.”

And that’s what we’ve been talking about here at Copyblogger for four years now (and helping at the code level with Thesis). Now let’s further explore on-page optimization specifics in this Simple SEO Copywriting series.

Coming up next:

• Seven Best Practices for Effective On-Page SEO
• Does Writing for People Equal Good SEO?

About the Author: Brian Clark is founder of Copyblogger and CEO of Unglued Media . Get more from Brian on Twitter.

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Does SEO Copywriting Still Matter?

You’re a forward-thinker, a fast learner, and driven like a ‘Vette. Odds are you’ve got big plans for the year ahead. Whether you’re an in-house SEO thinking of new ways for your company to squeeze out search engine real estate or a consultant targeting potential new niches, you’ve got a strategy in mind for success in 2010.

Just out of curiosity… what’s your plan?

I don’t mean to be nosey, pinky swear. But while strategizing my own 2010, I realized it’d be helpful to hear from others in the search marketing industry to get an idea of where priorities lie. Maybe some readers would find it helpful as well.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/redvers/ / CC BY 2.0

Not that this is an easy question to answer. Internet marketing, like a complex machine, is made of any number of wheels and cogs, all connected and working together. However, as with anything requiring our time and attention, degrees of priority are required to maintain any semblance of sanity.

We all deserve to keep our sanity, right? So how about it? How devoted are you to the following Internet marketing initiatives in 2010? Is it mission-critical to integrate video across your site? Will creating a mobile-friendly site be your do or die? Is it cross-platform social media engagement or bust? When it comes to your time and effort, how vital are these pieces of the Internet marketing pie?

Of course anything can change at any time, but from the perspective you have today, how do you rank these Internet marketing initiatives’ relative importance for your holistic SEO strategy in the new year?

If the tactic doesn’t apply to you or your business, select N/A. If the tactic has already been completed and will not be revisited in 2010, select N/A.

View Survey

If there’s a tactic that figures prominently into your 2010 Internet marketing strategy that isn’t included on the list, it’d be awesome if you could drop it in the comments. And a note in the comments about your reasons for rating something high or low would be above and beyond nifty.

Reader Survey: What’s Your SEO Priority in 2010? was originally published on BruceClay.com, an SEO services company.

Continued here: 
Reader Survey: What’s Your SEO Priority in 2010?

Since John’s blog is primarily about making money online, I thought I’d come up with a post that shares some tips on how you can make an excellent income as an affiliate marketer. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Mitchell Harper and I’m co-founder of BigCommerce, ecommerce software which you can use to sell physical and downloadable products (such as eBooks or music) online. We have 40,000 customers between our Interspire and BigCommerce products.

We’ve recently launched our BigCommerce affiliate program which pays $300 per sale. Now to most this is extremely generous – after all, our highest plan is $149.95 a month, but why do we do it? We do it for two reasons:

1. So we can attract the top 1% of affiliates. We have two affiliate programs – our own in-house program and our Commission Junction (CJ) program. CJ is the biggest affiliate network in the world and in order to recruit their premium affiliates your offer needs to stand out. Offering (significantly) more commission than our competitors – GoDaddy, Yahoo Stores and Network Solutions – made us stand out because affiliates are always after the BBD – the bigger, better deal.
2. So we don’t have to expand our internal sales team. Affiliates are like a sales team for a company – except they work for commission only and no salary. An affiliate program is the smartest way to increase your sales without increasing your expenses, because you only pay affiliate commissions when a sale comes in.

So now let’s look at the other side of the coin – being an affiliate marketer. I’ve learned a lot about affiliate marketing in the last few years (our Interspire affiliate program has over 3,000 active affiliates and our BigCommerce affiliate program is pushing 1,000 active affiliates even though it was only launched last week) so I wanted to share some strategies which you can use to make money (and even a full-time income) as an affiliate marketer. Feel free to add your own strategies in the comments section below.

Here they are:

1. Take the time to write detailed reviews for the products you’re promoting and get them listed in search results. For example, did you know that Top10Reviews.com is one big affiliate site? The key is that they provide excellent quality reviews and comparisons between similar products, but no matter which product you choose they get their affiliate commission.
2. Use video to promote products. Grab your MacBook or a digital camera and record an unscripted review of the product, just like how CNet does. Be honest and talk about both the pros and cons of the product you’re reviewing. People appreciate honesty and you’ll build up an excellent following if you’re honest with your reviews.
3. Use offline marketing methods such as postcards to reach prospects. Let’s face it. AdWords is expensive and there’s so much “noise” online that it can be hard to reach the people you want. Why not try a more traditional marketing activity such as postcards? Just create a domain name such as AcmeProductTrial.com (where “Acme Product” is the name of the product/service you’re promoting) and forward that domain using your affiliate link.
4. Pick up on the pain points customers are having using products similar to those you’re promoting and address them. For example, if someone is having trouble using Intuit QuickBooks and you promote Microsoft Money, create a website with a comparison table and reviews from happy Microsoft customers and have a big “Try It!” button which of course links to the Microsoft Money website using your affiliate link.
5. If you can afford it, run Google AdWords ads which take visitors to a survey. Ask them questions about their particular situation (such as Internet security if you promote McAfee products) and if it makes sense, show offers for 2 or 3 related products after they’ve completed the survey. Clearly tell visitors you will use their responses to create a website with more information and even ask for their email address so you can link them to that site when you’ve built it. This way you can get real insight into their pain points and what they’re looking for out of the kind of products you’re promoting and you’ll make your affiliate commissions. You can then use the information you learn to setup landing pages addressing their concerns which of course include your affiliate links.

I could write a few dozen of these strategies because I know they work time and time again, but I’ll leave it at five for now. Remember, if you’re looking to make money as an affiliate marketer you need to promote products with a high conversion rate, large audience of potential buyers and excellent commission. The BigCommerce affiliate program, which pays up to $300 per sale is a great place to start

Discover the SECRETS I’ve Learned to go from zero a month to over $40,000 a month from blogging. Download Make Money Online with John Chow dot Com for FREE!

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5 Strategies to Make Money as an Affiliate Marketer

Happy Labor Day weekend! I’m sure everyone’s itching to start up the long weekend, so let’s do this weekly recap so you can go on your way and play!

Gmail had an outage on Tuesday. Users appreciated Google’s transparency about the source of the down time. Ironically it was caused by a server upgrade that took longer than expected and ended up knocking the server offline completely. Fun times had by all.

Gmail outages always cause a stir around the Web. Losing touch with your email is very stressful to some. And many people can’t afford to add any more strain to their pressure-filled routines. Forbes published their annual list of America’s most stressful cities. I know I’m a couple weeks behind on this, but if your city is on the list, make an extra special effort to relax this weekend.

Here’s an idea. Comfort food. Maybe something sweet and savory, warm and crispy melting in your mouth? Tomorrow is International Bacon Day! Whip up some toasty bacon, take a few mouth-watering photos, eat the bacon and let it warm your soul like sunshine in your tummy, and then submit your photos to the International Bacon Day photo contest from BBQ Addicts. Entries put you in the running for a bacon-themed goodie bag.

Winning stuff is awesome. But imagine finding a treasure worth more than $1 million in the $4 painting you bought at the antique mart. It’s a stretch, I know. But one lucky art collector discovered an original print of the Declaration of Independence, one of just 24 known copies, in just this way.

Sometimes there are treasures hiding right before my very eyes, and sometimes the important stuff remains under the hood and out of sight. Edward Lewis, aka pageoneresults, has compiled and analyzed the validation of prominent search industry sites and news sites. The SEO Website Validation Showdown will be regularly updated to reflect the sites’ validation of HTML, CSS and errors and warnings. The BCI blog has some work to do, but we fully intend to fill that red and yellow box with more green.

With Labor Day we welcome back the school year — “welcome” might not be the right word there, but you know. [Depends if you're the kid or the parent. For some it's the most wonderful time of the year. --Susan] When the fall semester starts, DePaul University in Chicago will offer a first-of-its-kind journalism course: Digital Editing: From Breaking News to Tweets. The class will look at how to confirm the validity of breaking news in tweets and how to use the Web to find story leads and context.

Looks like kids aren’t the only ones with homework to do. An online survey by Common Sense Media suggests that parents are out of touch with their children’s social network use. Fifty-one percent of children report visiting a social network every day but only twenty-three percent of parents believe this is the case for their child.

Another survey released last week shows that in July, the online video TV channel Hulu had more unique viewers than Time Warner Cable. Considering the scope of Hulu’s minimal market share when compared to highly-viewed properties like YouTube, these statistics suggest strong tendencies for online video viewing.

If you like statistics — who doesn’t? — you may get a kick out of an infographic that maps the prominence of the seven deadly sins across the country. Los Angeles seems to be a hotbed for greed, sloth and pride. That’s a triple threat that’ll get you far! Did your region make the map?

Things I learned from Boing Boing this week:

• Wikipedia’s making some changes to the article editing process. Find out what it really means.
• This week was the Internet’s 40th birthday. Happy birthday, Internet!
• iPhone fanboys/girls like myself will get a kick out of the Best iPhone Apps: Guide for Discriminating Downloaders.
• And to end things on an up note — we’re all mutants! Yeah! [Does that mean we're now owned by Disney? --Susan]

As a reminder, since Monday is a holiday, we’ll be closed and there will be no blog update. We’ll see you all on Tuesday. Have a great Labor Day weekend, everyone!

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Friday Recap - Sensation ‘Round the Nation Edition

A Guest Post by Steve Martile from Freedom Education.

It’s normal to have a bad day, right? Well sure. But what if you have a bad week or a bad month?

I’ve been blogging for just over a year. And if there is one thing that I’ve learned is that you’ve got to be consistent. You’ve got to be consistently putting in an effort to build your blog. It won’t build itself.

So what about those bad days?

I’ve had them and they’re no good. You want to bounce back quickly. Get out of that rut. The quicker the better. So you can get back to blogging, life and other things.

And it all begins with the proper mindset. Here are 3 Mind Power Techniques to Become a Better Blogger:

Mind Power Technique #1: Overcome Writers Block With A Physical Change

When you’re writing and you get stuck, do this. Get up, walk around and sit in a different spot. See your screen from a different point of view. Sit in a different location and gain a new perspective.

Sound to hokey?

You see one thing that’s true for anyone is that a change in your mindset will change your physiology - your body posture, facial expressions, etc. When you think new thoughts, the chemicals in your brain change. But what many people don’t know is that the opposite is also true. A change in your physiology will also change the chemistry in your mind.

This the same reason why some writers will use exercise as a way to gain new insights and spark their creativity. A change in there physical state creates a change in their internal state. Body movement is an effective brain stimulator.

So get your body moving. Get up and go for a walk, get some exercise or just change locations to trigger that inner change - the place where you get all of those great ideas.

Mind Power Technique #2: Track Your Progress

I think over the past 3 months, 70% of the blog carnivals I submit to have either quit or stopped publishing. Which tells me one thing, that more than 7 out of 10 people will quit blogging within 3 months of starting. Don’t let that be you.

Keep your momentum going by using this mind power technique #2: track your progress.

Let me explain.

Recently, I spoke to a sales representative from iperceptions - a survey company that provides statistics and data for websites. What they do is survey people who navigate your website or blog. As part of their surveying process they tested different methods and found something really interesting.

What they did was add a status bar at the bottom of each survey page. That way users could see their progress as they went through the survey. When they did this, the survey completion rates increased by an astounding 67%!

Basically, this is what happened. When users new how well they were doing, they kept going. But if they didn’t have any signs of progress, they quit the survey altogether.

How can you use this technique with your blog?

Start tracking the traffic of your blog by creating a blog traffic diary. I learned this technique from Yaro Starak @ Entrepreneurs-Journey.com.

A blog diary is basically a way to track the unique visitors and pageviews for your blog. I thought it would be a good idea to track my Newsletter subscribers as well. Here’s a snap shot of my traffic and newsletter subscribers each month from November 08 to May 09.

What I found from following this process is that I instinctively became more proactive. I started to think ahead about how I could improve my traffic. If I saw that my unique visitors were down one month, then I would brainstorm ways to improve my performance: either by creating better content or putting more effort into my marketing.

I’ve been pretty active with my blog diary. I still keep it up to date because it’s such a great tool. I’ve pretty much shared what has worked for me and what has not worked over the past year. You can see my blog traffic diary here.

Mind Power Technique #3: Use Comparison To Give Yourself A Boost

Here’s a mistake I made from the very beginning. When I was surfing and commenting on other blogs I would compare myself to those A-List Bloggers:

ProBlogger, StevePavlina, Zenhabits and a few others.

This seemed harmless in the beginning. It started with subtle comments to myself like:

• “Oh, he has more RSS subscribers than me,”
• “She has third party ads on her site and I don’t,”
• “He writes way better than I do!”

Then after a while this self-talk started to grow like weeds in my mind. As time went by I found more and more weeds taking up the space in my head. Which put me in a real bad mood, to the point where I didn’t feel like doing anything anymore - not even blogging.

The important thing here is to catch this internal dialogue quickly. You never want to compare yourself to someone who is better than you (unless you’re looking for ways to improve).

If you’re going to compare, then compare yourself to someone who is worse than you. You can always find someone who is down a notch from your current position.

As you start to compare yourself to someone who is worse off, you’ll start to realize how good things are. You’ll start to feel better about yourself and your position. You’ll start to feel more confident. And when you feel more confident, you’ll start to take action.

If you’re going to compare, compare yourself against someone who is worse than you. At least that way you can bounce back quickly and get back to what you do best.

Steve is a Mind Power Coach and the creator of Freedom Education - Mind Power for Your Personal Growth.  He is also the author of the ebook, The Genius Within YOU.  You can download his ebook here.

Post from: Blog Tips at ProBlogger.

3 Mind Power Techniques to Become A Better Blogger

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3 Mind Power Techniques to Become A Better Blogger