Copywriting

SEO? Or not?

Question from a recent e-mailer: Does my copywriting experience include developing keywords for search engine optimization, aka SEO? Permit me to answer this question with a little story.

In a past life, I wrote and published an eBook. The site that promoted my eBook was ranked #1 in Google for several years.

What was the secret? Obsessive focus on the book’s topic.

The site was called PostcardMarketingSecrets.com. The eBook was called (surprise!) Postcard Marketing Secrets. And my e-mail newsletter, which was archived on the site? You guessed it: Postcard Marketing Secrets for the win!

This keyword trifecta made me a lot of money.

And now, the downside: Between 2002 and 2004, postcard marketing was hot. It was trendy. And everyone wanted to do it. Especially people in the FIRE sector of the economy. (FIRE stands for Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate.)

Then came the end of the housing bubble. That thing started hissing air in mid-2005.

During 2005, I noticed that my eBook sales were declining, and, alas, they never recovered. I closed the postcard marketing eBook business in 2006.

The moral of my SEO story:

It can work very well for as long as there’s a market for your product or service. But when the market changes, uh-oh. Your business needs to change too. For me, the change involved closing the eBook business.

My been-there-done-that advice: If it’s warranted, go ahead and include SEO in your business promotion plans. But don’t make SEO the be-all end-all.

After all, there’s a reason why the marketing mix includes more than one ingredient.

Does your marketing mix require new copy? To get started, give me a call 520-690-1888 or send an e-mail.

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