10 Words and Phrases That Have to Go

Fingernails On a Blackboard

Like most web copywriters I spend more time in the 2-D world than in the 3-D world, aka The Matrix. So I see a ton of horrible (and I mean horrible) writing posted on big and small websites.

Now, I’m not a member of the grammar police and chills don’t run down my spine when a sentence ends with a preposition. But, folks, there are some words and phrases that are like fingernails on a blackboard.

So, my top 10 copywriters’ crutches that should never, ever be used again.

10. FOR FREE!!!! It’s not the word. There are two problems. First is the use of the word ‘FOR’. It’s not FOR FREE. It’s just FREE!!! The second problem is the formatting. Copywriters generate enthusiasm through the use of exclamation points – the more the better!!!!!!!! (Do you feel more excited?)

9. Absolutely Free. A variation on the above. It’s either free or it’s not. Absolutely free is akin to ‘somewhat pregnant’. You either are or you’re not.

8. As we speak. This annoying phrase began to pick up steam with mainstream media during ’07 and now is in common usage. Couldn’t you just say ‘now’.

7. Leading edge and variants: cutting edge, bleeding edge, ahead of the curve, et al. Come on, everything can’t be leading edge.

6. Amazing, which can be tied to any number of words: Amazing Product, Amazing Results, Amazing, SECRET Formula. Ummm, I don’t care how good it is, hand cream is NOT amazing. World peace would be amazing.

5. Discover, which is grossly overused by web writers because it sounds better than ‘learn’. What would you rather do? Learn the Secrets of Investing Success or Discover the Secrets of Investing Success. Discover has the whiff of adventure.

4. Best Business Practices. This utterly meaningless phrase appears on a lot of coaching and consultant websites. What the hell are best business practices? Same for ‘Reputation Management’, ‘C-Level’ and ‘outside the box’. Biz babble.

3. Completely Unique. Please see #9 above. It’s either unique or it’s not. This one is everywhere and it’s usually FOR FREE!!!!!

2. “Who Else Wants To Make A Million Bucks Before Supper!!!!! The bane of every copywriter’s existence – the long form, Dan Kennedy sales letter. Page after page of endless hype, changing type fonts and “testimonials” from Delores M., Los Angeles. Yeah, try to track down Delores to verify the veracity of her endorsement. Good luck, suckers.

And finally, the absolute must-delete phrase is:

1. At this point in time. It’s either “at this point” or “at this time.” Redundantly redundant and intended to, somehow convey importance. All it conveys to me is smiles at some other hack using this brain-piercing, ear-poking phrase. 

Hey, stop by the web site for contact information. I promise not to use any of these painful cliches in your copy. See you at www.webwordslinger.com    

Take Care Of Those Who Hold The Checkbook

Managing Customer Care:

“It’s easier to keep a client than find a new one.”

Yeah, it’s an old cliché, but it’s a cliché because it’s true. The key to long-term site success is an expanding customer/client base – repeat buyers of your goods or services.

Chances are, she won't be back

Keeping the customer satisfied, especially for web-based businesses, isn’t a walk in the park but there are things you, as webmaster, can do to manage client care, keeping the customer satisfied and coming back for more.

1. Maintain an accurate order tracking system.  If you use a delivery service like FedEx or UPS, you’ll get tracking software with your account. But, if you’re trucking 37 ceramic figurines to the post office every day, you’ll need an order tracking system – preferably one that can identify “downstream” problems like: “Hey, you’re going to run out of hula girl bobble heads next Thursday. Time to reorder.”

2. Stay involved. You may be using a drop shipper to manage inventory storage, shipping and handling, and it’s not always easy during the rush of the day to check tracking data – even if you’re shipping out of a spare room. Track all problem orders yourself.

3. Provide updates to the buyer. An auto-responder as soon as the problem is identified with an opt out box to cancel the sale. You may lose that one, but your straightforwardness and ease of use will make a positive impression.

Federal law requires that orders must be filled within 30 days, after which the buyer is no longer obligated to pay. Don’t ship without renewed buyer approval.

4. Provide US-based customer support 24/7. In this global marketplace, someone is always buying, and someone always has a question. Also, empower telephone reps to accept returns with the customer’s receipts. This saves on call-backs and significantly lowers buyers’ stress levels.

5. Use dynamic pages designed specifically for each visitor.  Best example? Amazon. My home page is different from your home page based on our past buying histories. All of this data is stored in Amazon’s database and when I log on, I’m bombarded with recommendations based on items purchased five years ago.

But Amazon stills calls me by my first name. That’s nice.

6. Last key point. Overdeliver. If prudent, drop a personalized email or even make a telephone call. People are really pleasant when the company CEO calls and promises satisfaction.

The whole point of quality customer care is to create word of mouth (WOM) viral marketing. Treat your customers or clients right, and viral WOM will do the rest in growing that client base bigger and bigger.

Hey, feel free to drop me a line about taking care of your copy and sales needs. Let's talk.

Webwordslinger

editor@webwordslinger.com

Site Visitors Don't Care About You. Sorry.

“What’s In It For Me?”

That’s All Site Visitors Want To Know

As a site designer, SEO, copywriter or some other someone working in the web world, chances are you have clients – clients who have objectives.

Umm, they don't care about you.
Sorry.

Some want to sell something, or lots of different things. Some want opt-ins for a FREE special report. Others want visitors to subscribe to their insightful newsletters or fill out a form. These are the objectives of the site owner – your client and person with the checkbook.

Naturally, these clients want their sites to meet their objectives. If the client is selling a vitamin supplement, her objective is to sell more jars of the product. If the author of a newsletter on precious metals publishes an “insider’s report,” he wants more subscribers.

If the site is soliciting donations, the objective is obvious – more donors, repeat donors, generous donors. Therefore, the site copy on the home page and landing pages is usually written to meet the objectives of the site owner and not the site visitor.

And the fact is, the objectives of site owners and visitors are distinct and, at times, even contradictory. The fact is that site visitors don’t give a whit about your clients, their web sites, their problems or their clever turn of a phrase. They want the answer to one very simple question:

What’s in it for me?

Let’s look at a couple of examples of site text with snarky, visitor comments inserted:

Acme Pest Control is a family-owned business (who cares, I got bugs) with deep roots in the Tri-City Area. (I said I don’t care. Bugs are eating my house.) We offer a variety of services to manage your pest problems (Can you get rid of my bugs?) safely, effectively and completely. (Umm, okay.)

We offer the latest in pest control technology (Huh?) and we guarantee our work. (OK, that part’s good.)

Out technicians are trained in the latest pest control technology, they’re certified and they’re friendly. (I don’t care if he looks like Quasimodo, I just want somebody so get rid of termites. Now.)

That little snippet of text is all about Acme Pest Control and closing another sale. Naturally, that’s the company’s objective, but it’s not necessarily the site visitor’s objective, which is to find a solution to a termite problem.

So, posture the text to meet the objectives of the visitor, NOT the site owner.

Got bug problems? (Why, yes, yes I do.) Want to get rid of them today? (That’d be great?) Want to keep your family and pets safe? (Well, of course. I hadn’t even thought of that.)

Tired of calling around trying to find a solution to your pest problems? (Oh, man, I’m so tired. Can you help?) We solve all of your pest problems quickly, safely and now. (How do I reach you?) You want to solve a pest problem, call us at (123) 555-1234. (I’m dialing, I’m dialing!)

We’ll be there today to help you. Guaranteed. (“Hello, Acme Pest Control…”)

In this case, the site text isn’t about the company (your client) it’s all about the visitor – solving their problems and serving their needs.

Unfortunately, even gigantic, global conglomerates use site text that’s designed to meet their global conglomerate objectives, not the objectives of the site visitor. I’ll bet you 99.9% of all 122 million web sites are designed to meet the site owner’s objectives. And that’s why so many sites crash and burn.

It’s blunt but true: site visitors don’t care about you, your site, your corporate history or you cool new headquarters. Those are the objectives of the site owners – to brag a little bit and “sell” the site visitor.

Forget selling. Provide solutions in your site text, focus on the visitors objectives not your objectives or the client’s objectives (this may take a little explanation and diplomacy on your part) but the results will be there in higher conversion ratios.

Don’t design a site to meet the site owner’s objectives. They’re different from the objectives of site visitors. Instead, write copy the simplifies achieving visitor’s goals and the site will convert, the client will make money and parades will be scheduled in you honor.

Need a little visitor love? Who doesn't? Stop by webwordslinger.com, drop me a line and let's get you some good lovin'.

DOMAIN PARKING: JUST PARK IT

Park It:

What Is Domain Parking and Why Do I Need It?

Once you’ve come up with the perfect domain name for your online business, the next step is to register the name through a registrar – in many cases the hosting service you’ve chosen. Once registered, you’re still not hooked up to the I-net, i.e. you lack any presence on the w3.

To show up at all, you have to park your domain. Parking simply means your domain is registered and has a route to and from the web. People can find you by typing in www.whateveryoursitesnameis.com. The point of parking a domain name? Several.

Search Engine Recognition

When you park your domain on a web host server, it is there. It exists. It’s real, even though there’s no website behind it. Just a few bytes for a single page. However, the simple step of parking a domain will make your domain recognizable to search engines. That’s a good thing. Even though there’s no content, the SE spiders will know your site is there. And being discovered by SE spiders can take time so park it ASAP and get the recognition process underway.

Generate Traffic

You won’t get any traffic through the natural results of search engine indexing because there’s no content or anything useful to the search engine user – yet. But you can tell all your friends and family to visit your site and start generating some traffic before your website is even started. In the world of ecommerce, every little bit helps – especially when you’re just starting out.

Domain For Sale

A registered domain name is a commodity. Domains are bought, sold and traded everyday – thousands of them. In fact, there are many domain brokers who will list your site and even put the name up for auction. A lot of people register domain names just to park them and put out the ‘For Sale’ sign.

If you’re interested in domain ‘homesteading’ – registering domains for fun and profit - use the services of a low-cost domain registration service, often associated with low-cost hosting companies. Many of these web hosts will register domains in bulk for as little as $2.95 per.

Do the math. Register 100 exceedingly clever domain names at $2.95 per and your registration costs are under $300. Your potential return, which of course depends on buyers’ interest, is significantly higher than your outlay. Good domain names are hard to find with more and more being registered daily so businesses are willing to pay big bucks for a good one.

Here’s an example. In 1996 a Denver-based publishing company registered the domain name Caboodle.com for the release of a new publication. When the publisher finished with the promotion, he kept the domain name on the off chance that someone might want to buy it.

Offers trickled in at first, usually in the $50 to $100 range. At last check, the publisher had been offered $2,000 for Caboodle.com. And he’s holding out for more. The fact is, he’ll get it because it’s a good name for a number of online businesses.

Free Parking

Obviously, the homesteading model falls to pieces if you have to pay monthly hosting fees – even really, really low hosting fees. Those 100 domain names you registered in bulk could easily end up costing you $600 to $700 a month if you have to pay for server space.

Make sure you get free parking for all domains registered through the host/registrar. Good hosts will let you park them for free so shop around and don’t pay anything for the tiny bit of server space your parked domain takes up.

Provide Contact Information

In the case of a ‘For Sale’ domain, parked on a host server, it’s helpful to provide at least a short form that potential buyers can complete. Good web hosts provide free tools and applications to create a simple, secure online form. Again, never pay for parking or site apps.

At the very least, include an email link so any potential buyer can contact you with an offer.

Under Construction

The most common use of domain parking is for sites under construction. If your site is simple and straightforward, you can be up and running in a few hours. No need for a “Coming Soon” sign.

On the other hand, if you’re creating a complex, deep site with lots of product offerings and a detailed back office, it could take several weeks to get everything just right before you launch. But that doesn’t mean you have to remain invisible to the public or to search engines. Go public with your site even as you’re building it.

This is a good idea because you can actually generate “type-in” traffic, SE acknowledgement and public curiosity. You may not get 10,000 hits a day while your site is in development, but you’ll get some. More importantly, you’ll be picked up by search engine spiders faster – before you launch.

Remember, look for a host that registers domain names in bulk at a low per registration price. Shop around. You’ll find registrars who will register a domain for one year for as little as $2.95. Some even offer FREE domain registration when you sign up for hosting services for 12 months. It saves a few bucks.

Your web host should also provide free parking for your domains registered through that host. If the host you’re considering charges a parking fee, keep looking. You can get it free.

If you’re domain homesteading, provide contact information on each of your parked sites so buyers can reach you to discuss terms. Find a host that gives you free tools and applications to create a contact information page for each site on the block.

And look for other hosting services and features. You want security to protect your digital realty, 24/7 tech support and lots of freebies. The hosting industry is hard-edged competitive so companies have to offer more for less all of the time.

So, take your time to find the right host, even if you’re just parking.

Site Promotion on the Cheap

Promo on the Cheap:

Got No Dough? No Problem!

The idea is sound. You built the website yourself on a razor thin budget and you’ve launched your on-line dream. Now all you have to do is wait for that traffic to start coming by and you can quit the 9-to-5 world forever, right? Oh, so wrong!

The only people who even know you’re on the world wide web are the people you told. You can wait for the next millennium before somebody stumbles onto your site – and that would be a total fluke!

In order to achieve success on the web (turn a profit or get your message out to more people) you must promote the site. Yeah, but doesn’t that cost a lot of money? It can, if you go to one of those high-priced boutique ad agencies, or even if you pay some on-line company $500 to distribute a grand opening e-mail announcement to six million people. But promoting your site doesn’t have to cost big bucks. And the bucks you do spend can be put to work delivering 100% productivity.

There are so many things you can do (must do) to promote your site and actually become a viable entity. Cheap. Real cheap.

Register With Search Engines

This one is a no-brainer, but how you register with the big three – Google, Yahoo and Inktomi – will make a significant difference in how quickly your site appears anywhere in search engine results. You can also ensure that your site is correctly and completely indexed. Not all sites are and their owners are trying to figure out what went wrong.

The best way to submit your site to a search engine is by sending the search engine a map of your site, aka, a site map. First, by sending the site map, you’re inviting the search engine to crawl the site. It may take a day or two but that’s better than the months and even years it takes for some sites to be crawled. One of the reasons for this is that spiders follow links. That’s how they find a site and index it.

When you provide the site map, you’ve given spiders complete directions to all of the site pages. This ensures that the site is completely indexed. Just because a spider crawled by doesn’t mean that it indexed all of the pages on your site – that is unless you provide a site map that shows all links to all pages.

A word of caution, here. Search engines (at least the big three) each want site map submissions in different formats. No surprise. But also, no worries. You can purchase site map generator software for less than $100 that will create maps of your site based on the quirks of each search engine. If you’re serious about promoting your e-biz, site map generators are worth the price – especially if your site changes often. Most sites do.

Submit Your Site to Directories

Directories are free and that’s always a good thing.

Directories like the Open Directory Project, the Yahoo Directory, Incrawler and others can drive a lot of traffic to your site. Directories review sites for quality issues, and if a site meets the directory’s criteria, it’s included and categorized by the topics of the site content.

Visit the Open Directory Project to see a great example of how these tools help connect buyers and sellers. You’ll find it at dmoz.org. Volunteer editors keep the site current and provide some quality assurance. The biggest problem, from the site owner’s POV, is that it can take weeks before an editor gets to your submission. However, you can get ready for that visit.

First, make sure the site is complete, all pages in place. An “Under Construction” page will exclude you. So will poor navigation, poor content architecture or little value to the typical directory user. Quality counts when you’re after a directory listing. And you should be.

Directories will point qualified prospects in your site’s direction. But it will also increase your link popularity – how many links connect to your site. This is one of the key factors in determining a site’s page rank. More quality inbound links from sites like the Open Directory Project or Yahoo is a real shot in the arm for an online start-up. Just be patient. It takes longer to get listed in a directory than it does to get indexed by a search engine. But it’s definitely worth the wait.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Ads

OK, not free, but also not too expensive if you use PPC effectively. Google AdWords is probably the best known of these programs but links off of other sites are also PPC.

There are a couple of nice things about PPC programs. There’s no long contract so if one program isn’t working you can try another. There are plenty from which to choose. Another nice thing about PPC adverts is that you can set a spending limit and once that limit has been reached the link disappears. You know, going in, what this thing is going to cost you.

Finally, since you only pay for actual clicks, 100% of the cost of your PPC ad delivers potential buyers to your site – motivated, qualified buyers who took the time to click on your link.

Start slowly. Test, rework and test again. Welcome to the world of e-commerce.

Exchange Links

Remember search engines like sites that are well “connected,” i.e. lots of links to other sites. There are web sites with lists of site owners seeking links exchanges. Also, you can often find link-seeking contacts on the forums or bulletin boards of webmaster sites. Exchanging links may improve traffic and give you a bump up in page rank (PR) but there are a few cautions.

First, avoid linking to sites that have a lower PR than your site. Of course, if you’re just starting out, you’ve got no page rank so any link helps. Well, almost any.

Search engines want to deliver quality, relevant results to their users. That’s what they do. And part of the relevance of any site is determined by its links. The links on your site should be related to the subject or products you sell. If you sell life insurance online, links to financial investment sites would be helpful in furthering a user’s search. A link to a clothing outlet store wouldn’t be useful. Make sure your links are related to the subjects of your site and that your inbound links are on sites related to yours.

Buy Links

You can, you know. There are sites that auction links. This enables sites with low PRs to link to sites with higher PRs, which improves the PR of the lower-ranked site. It can also drive traffic if the connection between the two sites is in sync.

Run a Google search for “link auctions” and buy your way to success. Just proceed slowly and make sure the link to your site remains active. Also, make sure it’s cost effective. Banner links, on average, have a click through rate of about 1%, which means for every 100 pairs of eyeballs that see your banner, one will actually click through to your site. Think about your own computer use. When was the last time you clicked on a banner?

The key objective is to get noticed by search engines and buyers – not an easy thing to do in the world’s busiest marketplace. If you’re just starting out, organize a plan that uses some or all of the above suggestions. It’s a time consuming process but one that pays dividends big time.

Need some heap with off site marketing. Call me. We'll get traffic to your site in just days,

Lator, gator,

Webwordslinger.com

My 10 Favorite Desktop Blogging Clients & Why

10 Cool Desktop Blogging Clients:

Do More With Your Blogs

Third-party blog services like Google’s Blogger or Wordpress are used by millions of people with something to say. Unfortunately, these services come with a couple of significant problems.

First, before you start blogging on Wordpress.com, read the Terms of Service (TOS). Carefully. One critical limitation jumps out at you. Wordpress prohibits blogs that “sell” services or products. So, if you’re a lawyer who posts free legal advice to her Wordpress blog, and provides a link to her law firm’s website, that blog will likely be banned.

There are lots of cases in which useful blogs have simply disappeared because Wordpress considered them to be commercial, even if these blogs provided good, solid, useful information.

The second problem with these popular blog services is that they’re limited in what they can do. Oh, you can post a picture or add some pre-constructed widgets, but the fact is that Blogger, Wordpress, TypePad and other third-party blog services are template driven, limiting how your blog looks. In fact, because bloggers choose from a limited selection of templates, blogs on the most popular platforms all look alike.

Desktop blogging clients are more sophisticated than their baby brothers and sisters. Desktop blogging clients function more like a website with an administrator’s desktop console to control the look and feel of the blog.

These desktop blogging apps function across different platforms, a real time-saver for the professional blogger who posts to numerous blogs on a variety of platforms each day. A single, desktop client enables pro bloggers to post to numerous blogs from a single application.

However, each desktop blogging client has unique functionality when it comes to managing blogs on different platforms. However, there are plenty of desktop blogging clients from which to choose. Just do a little digging to find the application that suits your particular blogging needs.

Be sure to check the features offered by any blogging client you consider. For example, some come with strong spell checkers. Others don’t have any spell checker, which means you have to create the post in a word processor, then cut and paste it into the blog. When you’re posting to six or seven blogs a day and getting paid to do it, you want to streamline the posting process as much as possible.

When shopping around for the desktop blogging client that best suits your needs, here are the important considerations:

1. Can you post through any server?

A good blogging client allows you web access via Linux, OS X, Work on Windows and other server-side platforms. This way, you can post to your blog from anywhere.

2. Does the desktop blogging client work with my blog platforms?

Not all do. But, with a little research you’ll find one that works on your blogs, even if they’re hosted on Blogger – the blogging app with the least client support. If the blogging client you’re considering syncs up with Blogger, you’re probably covered.

3. Does the blogging client have a WYSIWYG editor?

Again, if you can create and layout your posts in a WYSIWYG editing window, it saves time and all those extra steps to cut and paste from a word processor, upload pictures or graphics separately, re-position images and other repetitive chores.

A WYSIWYG editor allows you to create a post within the blog platform so no cut and paste is required. No reformatting, either. What you see is what you get. WYSIWYG.

4. Does the desktop blogging client provide content management options?

Specifically, category control. In which categories do you want a post to appear? And when? A good blogging client puts you in control of category management, enabling you to expand or reduce the number of categories you employ.

5. How much does it cost?

Some really good desktop clients are free. Some cost a few Euros each month but not enough to put a dent in the pro blogger’s margins. While cost is always a factor, in the case of desktop blogging clients, the costs are insignificant when weighed against the value these apps deliver. So don’t let cost be the sole, determining factor in your choice.

6. Does the client add tags automatically?

Through the administrator’s console you want to be able to tag your posts to social bookmarking sites like Digg, Reddit, technorati, del.icio.us and other tag services – with a single click. Another time saver.

7. Does the client enable advertising?

The desktop blogging client should handle adverts from a variety of sources – pingoat, ping-o-matic, weblogs, Ping Technorati and other ad placement services.

8. Does the desktop blogging client enable custom markup?

If you’re serious about your blogs you want to be able to create and upload your own HTML code snippets across all platforms. Your blogging client should make it easy to add or delete code on the fly and from any location.

There are dozens of desktop blogging clients from which to choose. Here are some of the most popular, and certainly clients to consider before making your final selection. You just might find something better than your current app.

Check out these blogging clients to see which does the best job for you.

Ecto Windows/Mac, free trial, $17.95, supports TypePad, Drupal, SquareSpace, Blogger, Blojsom and other popular blog apps

Bleezer Windows/Mac/Linux, free, enables custom markup, WYSIWYG editor

Live Writer Windows XP/Vista (only), free, developed by Microsoft

Flock Windows/Mac/Linux, free, download 2.5 for upgrades

ThingamaBlog Windows/Mac/Linux, free, supports all third-party blogging services

Gnome Linux, WYSIWYG editor, applet or stand-alone app, strong spell checker

Blogjet Windows (only), free trial, supports Wordpress, Blogger, BlogHarbor, etc.

Deepest Sender runs inside Firefox, SeaMoney, free, supports Blogger, meta Weblog

Drivel Journal Editor Linux. Free, supports most third-party blog services

Newz Crawler Windows (only), free trial, easy custom mark ups

There are other options, but these will get you started.

If you’re serious about blogging, if you’re a pro blogger – even if you use one of these desktop blogging clients, check out some of the other cross-platform blogging apps available.

Cut down on your content creation and posting chores with the right desktop blogging client, and get serious about your blogs.

Looking to grab a few more web pixels with a couple of blogs? Don't blame you. It's a good way to go, but before you sign on with a third-party blog service, like the crapfest over at Wordpress, check out these desktop blogging clients and control the look and monetization of a well-constructed blog.

Later,

Webwordslinger.com