Scribe: New Versions & Better Features (And a Great Deal Ending Soon)

There’s a whole bunch that’s new and improved with Scribe – our content optimization service that makes SEO copywriting simple. Plus, we’ve got a fantastic promotion that’s coming quickly to an end.

Because there’s so much to talk about, I’m going to give you a quick bullet point summary that also serves as hyperlinked navigation for this post. Let’s go:

What’s Scribe?

First, let’s not assume everyone knows what Scribe is or does. Here’s a quick summary.

Scribe is a search engine optimization software service that analyzes the content of web pages, blog posts, online press releases, or any other web content … all at the click of a button.

Next, Scribe reports back and tells you how to tweak your content to get better search engine rankings and more traffic, all while maintaining quality reader-focused copy.

Find out more about Scribe here.

A great deal on Scribe (ending Friday, June 4th)

A few weeks ago, I released a free report on SEO copywriting that contained a special deal on Scribe if you used the promotional code PROMO27. That promotion is ending this Friday, June 4, 2010.

Here’s the deal:

With PROMO27, you get 300 monthly evaluations (our largest Advanced Plan) for only $27 a month. The Advanced Plan is usually $97 a month, so this is some serious savings.

Here’s how to get that great deal before time runs out:

Head over to the Scribe site to check out the demo videos, testimonials, and all the ways Scribe makes SEO copywriting simple.
When you’re ready, go to the Plans and Pricing page.
Select the Advanced Plan on the far left and click Sign Up.
Create an account, and click Register.
In the Promo Code field on the next page, enter PROMO27.
Once you’ve completed your purchase, you’ll see you’ve been subscribed to the Advanced Plan for $27 per month instead of the usual $97.

Remember, the code PROMO27 is the key to the deal, so don’t forget to enter it. But it won’t work after 5:00 p.m. Central on Friday, June 4, 2010, so hurry (because we’ll never be offering this deal again).

Get started with Scribe today.

New integrated keyword suggestion tool

The coolest new feature in Scribe is the new alternate keyword suggestion tool. This new tab shows you alternate related keywords relevant to your content, and the search volume for each term.

You’ll now discover other keyword phrases you should be targeting – either for more traffic or less competition – all from inside any version of Scribe. This is just one more way Scribe makes content optimization more efficient and effective.

Scribe 2.0 for WordPress

We’ve released a new version of Scribe for WordPress. Here’s what’s new:

You already know about the new integrated keyword suggestion tool for researching and evaluating keyword options based on search frequency.
You can now restrict or allow Scribe access for different authors/users.
You can manually select the theme or plugin you wish to use with Scribe.
You can now use Scribe for WordPress with WooThemes, the wpSEO plug-in, and the Platinum SEO plug-in.
We’ve corrected a bug that caused some WordPress pages to not analyze properly.
There’s now an enhanced Scribe widget box that shows you the number of evaluations you have left while editing.
Scribe WP is ready for the impending release of WordPress 3.0.

Watch the demo video for Scribe WordPress.

Scribe for Joomla

Scribe now works with the Joomla CMS thanks to the hard work of Joomla guru Barrie North of Joomla Shack and Harry Hopkins from Reliable Studios. Just as with Scribe WordPress, you can now optimize content for Joomla without ever leaving your Joomla control panel.

Watch the demo video for Scribe Joomla.

Scribe for Drupal

Scribe now works with the Joomla CMS thanks to the hard work of Drupal master Tom McCracken of Level Ten Design. Same story here … as with Scribe for WordPress and Joomla, the Scribe technology is fully integrated into the Drupal control panel.

Watch a demo video for Scribe Drupal.

All versions of Scribe included

A lot of you publish on multiple platforms, or have clients who do. So when you subscribe to Scribe, you get Scribe Web and Scribe for WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal, all inclusive. This will likely not always be the case, so yet another reason to get on board with Scribe today.

Free SEO copywriting podcast

Check out the podcast I did recently with John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing about SEO copywriting. This conversation combined with my free report will make your use of Scribe even more effective and efficient.

About the Author: Brian Clark is founder of Copyblogger and wants you to know that Thesis + Scribe = SEO Made Simple. Get more from Brian on Twitter.

Web Page Optimization Checklist

Before we get started with the new Link Building Series this week, I want to make sure everyone understands basic web page optimization.

While link-building plays a big part in getting top search engine rankings, what you do on the page is going to dramatically influence your CTR (click-through rate) and your conversion rate. So – first things first…

Web Page Optimization Begins With Keyword Selection

The first step is to choose the keyword phrase you most want your page to rank well for in the major search engines. Each page of your site, or blog post, will be optimized for a relevant keyword phrase.

The main page is optimized for your most general keyword phrase, the categories slightly more specific keyword phrases, and your pages/posts should be optimized for very specific keyword phrases – called long tail keyword phrases.

Long Tail keyword phrases are phrases with 3 or more words.

Let me give you a quick visual example of how this would be set up on a website about nail art. Your first step is to use your favorite keyword research tool and type in the phrase “nail art”. You can use WordTracker’s free keyword suggestion tool:

http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com

Home/Main Page
- Nail Art
Categories/Navigation
- Nail Art Designs
- Freehand Nail Art
- Nail Art Supplies
Pages/Posts
- acrylic nail art designs
- professional nail art supplies
- nail art step by step

That’s a very basic example, and it will vary with niches and keyword depth, but the goal is to start general and then get more and more specific as you get deeper into your site.

Note: While long tail keyword phrases generally have less search volume, they bring in a more targeted visitor and result in much higher conversion rates. Longtail keyword phrases also contain variations of shorter keyword phrases.

To give you an example one of my blog posts is optimized for starting a free online business, but also ranks well for the shorter phrase: free online business.

As that example implies, you can optimize a web page for more than one keyword phrase. I choose a Primary Keyword Phrase (the phrase I most want my page or post to rank well for) and also choose a secondary keyword phrase (or two). We’ll get into this more during the Link-Building series.

Web Page Optimization 101

Now that you have selected your keyword phrases, it’s time to optimize your pages. There are 7 places on your page where you want to include your Primary Keyword Phrase on each individual web page:

File Name
Title Tag
Text Header
Sub-Headings
Within Content
Within the Meta Description tag
Anchor Text of Incoming Links

I’ll often name my images with my Primary Keyword Phrase as well, if relevant, but that’s as much keeping my images organized for which post they go to as it is “image optimization”.

I don’t pay attention to things like keyword density, keyword proximity, or any other fancy SEO terms. I simply use my Primary Keyword Phrase in each of those places, and a few times within the actual content. Usually in the first paragraph, the last paragraph, and maybe once more somewhere in the middle (a couple of times on longer posts/pages). That’s it. Keep it simple

Web Page Optimization for Blogs

Optimizing blogs is very similar to optimizing web pages. I don’t use any fancy plug-ins to achieve this on my own blog. This post actually stands as a visual example where you can see all 7 elements listed above.

Even though you are viewing this blog post in your browser, I’ll point out each of the elements here so you can get a better feel for how it is done. This post is optimized for the phrase “web page optimization” – a low volume phrase (around 9 searches a day, or 3,285/year).

With a blog, the title of the post also becomes the Title Tag or page title as well as the Text Header. As you can see, I’ve used the phrase in both the title and the file name:

If you look at the top of your browser, you’ll see the post title is in the Title Bar and you’ll also see it as the text header above the post. You’ll also see that I used the Primary Keyword Phrase in the sub-headings throughout the post:

Once you publish a blog post, the post title is also used as the Anchor Text for internal links throughout your blog – specifically to your post, from your archive listings. Your post titles will often contain additional words, diluting the keyword phrase in that Anchor Text. With this post, the additional word is “checklist”.

So my blog will create internal links to this post like this:
Web Page Optimization Checklist instead of Web Page Optimization (preferred).

This is where our link-building strategy will help, which we’ll focus on next.

How do on-page factors affect CTR & Conversions?

Ahh yes – I almost forgot to come back around and explain that.

Before anyone ever arrives on your web page, they run across your link – either in the search results or on another website. What they see in the search results is your Title Tag and your URL. Or if they find your link on a web page and hover over it, they see the Anchor Text and the URL.

Example:

What you say in those few words will determine whether they click on your link or not. A compelling title may grab their attention in the search results. Or a descriptive file name may encourage them to click through to read the topic.

As for increasing your conversions, that’s all in selecting the right keyword phrase. You want a very strong message to market match between your keywords and your content. Meaning your phrase defines what they can expect.

With this post, the phrase “web page optimization” very clearly defines what a visitor will find when they click through. This will increase your chance of gaining a new subscriber or making a sale (ie increase your conversion rate) – versus the other option: they click the back button.

Recommended Reading:

What I have given you here is a basic overview of web page optimization. For a more in-depth understanding of SEO I highly recommend that you download (and read!) SEO Fast Start, a free search engine optimization guide by Dan Thies.

Grab it while it’s free!

Best,