Greetings! Today's video post answers the common reader question: "What should I focus on first in an SEO copywriting campaign?" This question is asked ever more frequently, by businesses both large and small, because there are so many SEO copywriting and content marketing opportunities out there that it can be overwhelming. Back in the day, SEO copywriters were primarily concerned with creating websites and producing content for those sites. Now,

Ask yourself: Are you so afraid of the worst happening that you're holding yourself )and your SEO writing( back? I started thinking about this after reading a Fast Company article about LeBron James and the Miami Heat. After a grueling loss to the Dallas Mavericks, the Heat teammates held a players-only meeting. Brian Windhorst, who covers the team for ESPN, was quoted as saying, "Guys were telling each other to stop playing afraid." Wow. That's powerful stuff.

So are you all that ? This week's latest and greatest web writing news is about website speed and usability, new Panda insights and old Panda hangovers, smart branding, effective blogging, and ensuring your )optimized( content is both original and relevant'and all the while being an incredibly gracious and search-friendly social media host. To help you in being all that , this week's SEO content marketing roundup is chock full of resources, guides, and tips.

SEO Copywriting Certification Grad, Kellie Craft Kellie has always had a passion for helping others. For years, she has volunteered at her daughter's school, writing monthly newsletters and articles for the newspaper, hoping the information she provided would be useful and helpful to others. After spending over 25 years in the corporate world, the dreaded day had come. The company was sold out to a foreign organization that came in and shut down 90% of the U.S. operation.

Greetings! In today's Q&A video post, Heather addresses the question: how can I save money on SEO copywriting services? You may have noticed that truly professional SEO copywriting isn't cheap. You do get what you pay for. So the challenge is if you want to build out really good content for your site, you're looking at either: A( learning how to do it yourself, which is an investment in time, or B( outsourcing your SEO copywriting to a professional,

I know t his will sound weird coming from the SEO content chick. But I'm going to say it anyway. Some companies should give up on blog writing and kill their blog. Here's why. SEO content marketers )myself included( agree that blogging for B2B and B2C companies is a smart SEO and customer engagement move. Blogs are great for marketing and lead generation. Google and Bing reward strong resource sites. Sounds like a win/win - right? Well, not always.

Integrated marketing dominates this week's latest and greatest web writing news, as content and social media marketers, SEO and search professionals alike recognize the need to incorporate other specialties into their marketing mix. Enjoy this week's mix of hybrid picks: Content Marketing: Different takes on content marketing ROI are offered up at The Customer Collective .

The Conversion Scientist, Brian Massey Brian Massey is the Conversion Scientist at Conversion Sciences and he has the lab coat to prove it. His rare combination of interests, experience and neuroses was developed over almost 20 years as a computer programmer, entrepreneur, corporate marketer, national speaker and writer. Conversion Sciences was founded to fill the Web with helpful, engaging and entertaining online Web sites that convert visitors into leads and sales.

Welcome back! In this third post of her Q & A video blog series, Heather addresses the oft-asked question: How can I make my e-commerce site better for the search engines ? Many smaller to mid-sized e-commerce companies are now striving to make their sites as good as they can possibly be, after suffering the fallout of Google's Mayday and Panda/Farmer updates. Over the past financially-stressed year,

Are you fearful of a business #FAIL? Whether you've been in business ten days or ten years, it's easy to make little mistakes that can have a lasting impact. Here are the 10 most common business mistakes I see smart writers make: Missing deadlines. Don't do it, unless you have an extremely good reason. It makes you look flaky and puts an undue strain on your client. If you know up front that you can't make a deadline, express your concern or don't take the gig.

The triad of content, SEO, and social is the common theme running through this week's latest and greatest web writing news. Posts about crafting unique and compelling content, engaging the reader, creating social buzz, and ensuring optimization across the spectrum )wait, does Google like it?( dominate the blogosphere.

Guest Author, Stacey Acevero Do you like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn? Well I've got a reason to love all of these social media platforms. We use these outlets to learn new information, disseminate interesting information we find, engage with new people and share ideas. But what most don't realize is that social media is in fact great for SEO and can help boost your search engine rankings.

Welcome back! In today's video post, Heather answers a question from the LinkedIn SEO Copywriting group: What does a SEO copywriter do, anyway? It is an excellent question, as many folks are somewhat mystified by the words "SEO copywriting." Whether you're in the Web writing profession, or are considering hiring an SEO copywriting, you will learn a lot in just a few minutes, as Heather tackles this question in her second Q & A video post. By the way,

I don't typically write about personal "stuff" on the SEO copywriting blog. Marty Weintraub's post, " Manage Like You're Dying: A Humbled Entrepreneur's Reflections " inspired me. Thank you, Marty, for sharing your story so others can do the same. I'm going to tell you a story not many people know. Eleven years ago, my then-husband committed suicide. Saying that I was "devastated" doesn't come close to describing how I was feeling.

Maybe it's due to the tax season, but there seems to be a lot of number crunching going on in this week's latest and greatest web writing news. From content marketers trying to make sense of data and social media marketers measuring returns on relationships, to the SEO and search community analyzing the relative impact of social influences, valuation is the common denominator.

Heather Georgoudiou is an in-house SEO copywriter for Revenue Performance, Inc . an internet marketing firm that specializes in the hospitality industry. A graduate of Rollins College, she writes optimized press releases, web copy, newsletters, email blasts, and social media posts. Heather was the winning candidate for free SEO Copywriting Certfication Training last June, with her entry referencing F. Scott Fitzgerald. What got you interested in SEO copywriting?

Welcome! Today we're introducing a fun new feature to Heather's Monday how-to video blog series: answering your questions! Yes, Heather is accepting questions you may have regarding anything SEO, content marketing, and web writing, then answering via her video blog post. How cool is that? Please submit yours to laura@seocopywriting.com and thank you!

I cringe every time I hear this question before anything else is discussed. Maybe you do too. "How will )insert SEO copy idea here - usually a bad one( help with the search engines?" On the surface, it doesn't seem like such a bad first question to ask. After all, "SEO copywriting" stands for "search engine optimization copywriting." Good writing = higher rankings has been a common mantra since the beginning of SEO time.

4/13 ROUNDUP With social media flexing its ever-growing muscle in all things marketing, this week's latest and greatest web writing news is concerned with the online "face" of business, from cohesive social media policy and strategy to sound )brand and industry( reputation management. Content and social media marketers, as well as SEO and search folks, seem more than a bit self-conscious about presenting their best face and a unified voice,

Guest Author, Marjorie Steele When we freelance copywriters/independent web ninjas first started out, any business was good business. Most of us - myself included - finally quit that hated job with one, two months' savings in the bank and a stack of incoming bills that wouldn't wait. Any paying gig was cause for celebration! For those of us who have been blessed with success, however, it doesn't stay this way for long. The list of clients and projects grows,