SEO Content Writing Helpful Hint #3

Have you ever shopped at a retail store that didn’t have someone working behind a cash register? Of course not! In most stores, cash registers are easy to find. They have a light with a number on it, a sign that says check out or pay here, or some other way of letting you know where you can trade your money for a service or product.

Each page on the website should have a purpose (usually selling something).

The “purpose” for each page can also be called the call to action. Placing a call to action on each page gives the website’s customer a place to trade his or her money for a service or a product. The call to action may be “give us a call to find out more information!” It might be “To sign up for an appointment, please fill out the form below.” You may be trying to get the potential customer from the home page to the services page. No matter what the call is, you should work it in to every page of text. If there is no call to action on the page, then why even have the page on the website?

In many cases, a call to action is associated with contact information. Because of this, you probably want to include contact information in a visible spot on the page, not buried beneath (or mixed with) a lot of text.

For more information, please visit http://www.hitwebdesign.com or call 1-866-211-0743.

SEO Content Writing Helpful Hint #2

Your 350 to 500 Word Advertisement

What does good web content writing do for you? It improves your chances of selling your products or services! When writing text for your website, you’re almost always writing to sell a product, service, person, or idea. You should start selling from the first line on the page. You’re really writing a 350 to 500 word advertisement.

Robert W. Bly, author of The Copywriter’s Handbook, says “If you feel the need to ‘warm up’ as you set your thoughts on paper, do so. But delete these warm-ups from your final draft. The finished copy should sell from the first word to the last.”

For more information, please visit http://www.hitwebdesign.com or call 1-866-211-0743.

SEO Content Writing Helpful Hint #1

Use Specific Keywords

Instead of “he has worked in the area for several years” try using something like “he has worked in the Atlanta area for several years” OR “Luis Argyle has sold Ford trucks in the Atlanta area for over 15 years”, etc. In this example, you could even mention what trucks (F-150, Ranger, etc.) Luis sells.

If you are offering a service or a product to a specific area, then use the city, state, region as a keyword. Be specific in the products or services you offer. If you sell jewelry, mention what kind. If you build homes, where do you build them? If you were searching for the service/product you are writing about, what keywords would you use?

          HIT's TOS Provisions Protect Client and Company

             An Alarming Italian Court Decision

A hosting company's responsibility for 3rd-party, hosted content was recently emphasized by a court's surprising decision in Italy.

According to Google, four of its employees were recently tried in Milan for “failure to comply with the Italian privacy code,” and for “criminal defamation.” The charges were levied in relation to an event that happened in 2006, when Italian students uploaded a video on Google Video depicting the bullying of an autistic student. Google, after learning of the “reprehensible” nature of the video, promptly pulled it. It was only online for a few hours, but that was long enough for a judge in Milan to  find three of the four accused Google employees guilty of failing to comply with privacy rules.

According to Matt Sucherman, VP and Deputy General Counsel for Google in Europe, “none of the four Googlers charged had anything to do with this video. They did not appear in it, film it, upload it or review it. None of them know the people involved or were even aware of the video's existence until after it was removed.”

Too bad, said the Milan judge. 

             Mutual Responsibility For The Benefit of All

The ruling raises two issues. First, and most troublesome, is the lack of impunity Google employees received from the Italian court regarding the uploading of the video, in spite of Google's responsible and quick action once it was notified. This decision varies sharply from commonly accepted notions among Internet users regarding the posting and hosting of user-supplied information.

According to Sucherman, “(The judge's decision) attacks the very principles of freedom on which the Internet is built. Common sense dictates that only the person who films and uploads a video to a hosting platform could take the steps necessary to protect the privacy and obtain the consent of the people they are filming.” Google promises to appeal vigorously the decision and hopes to vindicate the individuals convicted.

Furthermore, the ruling shows that hosting companies must take active and aggressive stances regarding the content their customer or clients wish to post or display. Doing so protects the client as well as insures the longevity of the company.

As for HIT Web Design, several content restrictions have been spelled out in the company's Terms of Service (TOS). Unfortunately, many customers fail to read this document prior to hosting their websites, only to find out the hard way that the material intended for use is inappropriate.

             HIT Must Take A Stand

The Italian court's decision illustrates the potential ramifications a hosting company may experience when an offended or violated individual decides to escalate notice of his or her plight in the courts. Therefore, HIT Web Design legitimately and responsibly must draw the line on what it considers inappropriate material. In some cases, this is a judgment call that others may disagree with, but HIT's position is designed to protect the innocent and unsuspecting, and to preserve its integrity as a company, and therefore errors on the side of conservatism.

In general, anything that could potentially hurt or harm another individual in any way, or that is in poor taste or derogatory, or that is illegal, is contrary to the TOS of HIT Web Design.

Thus, the following categories are addressed in the TOS—

          • Gambling

          • Pornography

          • Illegal Drugs

          • Alcohol

          • Fraudulent Financial Schemes

          • Offensive Material

          • and many more—consult the TOS for a full list.

The Internet is meant to be a free and valuable informational mecca, and it is based on the principle of  responsibility of those posting (who should use good judgment) and those hosting (who should review and take down when appropriate), but the irresponsible acts of a few can potentially jeopardize the enjoyment for everyone. Sucherman warns, “If that principle (of reviewing and removing by the hosting company) is swept aside and sites like Blogger, YouTube and indeed every social network and any community bulletin board, are held responsible for vetting every single piece of content that is uploaded to them — every piece of text, every photo, every file, every video — then the Web as we know it will cease to exist, and many of the economic, social, political and technological benefits it brings could disappear.”

For more information, please visit http://www.hitwebdesign.com or call 1-866-211-0743.

© 2010 HIT Web Design, L.L.C.