Katie McCaskey » web copy

8x Traffic in 1 Week

katiemccaskey — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 11:46:56 +0000

In the in-box this morning:

Just happened to pull up the Google Analytics today. Katie’s redesign has moved the traffic up by a factor of about 8x . Not bad for her first week.

Congrats !

The reason? Strategic content tweaks.

This client is building a niche-audience television network using “over-the-top” technology (“OTT”). This is cool because the content is piped online and directly to televisions. Probably the coolest thing—for full disclosure—is that this client is my father, and, this is our first time working together.

I’m going to share the content “tweaks” I did the past week for these results. The important thing to note is that the content itself is virtually unchanged. The traffic came from selective changes to the content’s organization and presentation.

8x the traffic in one week = sweet.

I promised not to share confidential numbers, but take a peek at one metric:

Last week: 1.8 pages/visit
This week: 3.3 pages/visit (83% increase)

Content tweaks

RVNewsNet.com is still a work-in-progress. However, here are the “secrets” that got us this far in a week.

Update Site Layout
Simplify Categories
Add Tags
Write Stronger Headlines

Update Site Layout

Don’t bury your content! Last week the site used a template that kept visitors three clicks from any show content. It also had pitifully small graphics—not so great for a visual medium!

Before:

RVNewsNet - Before (click to enlarge)

After:

RVNewsNet - After (click to enlarge)

This layout showcases stills from the shows immediately. A visitor can watch the video with just one click. The images are bigger, too.

Simplify Categories

You need to establish a leader when it comes to web content. Do this by constructing an easy-to-understand hierarchy. Organization matters. At RVNewsNet.com I condensed 30+ categories into much tighter organization. This helps a visitor navigate more easily.

Add Tags

There were so many categories because the team members updating the site confused categories with tags. Try fewer categories, more tags. Establish an editorial guide for contributors.

Leverage these tags by adding “related posts” plug-ins and a tag cloud. A tag cloud has the additional navigation benefit, too.

Write Stronger Headlines

Turn headlines like this:

NASA creates rv that runs on chicken fat

to:

NASA RV Powered by Chicken Fat

Note the following changes:

it’s shorter – great for readers who are scanning
selective caps put emphasis on keywords
keyword “RV” is closer to the beginning
…I’d like to believe this headline is more interesting, too.

Primary Content Didn’t Change

The video content and the blog content itself did not change. Rather, it was providing a more structured and organized approach that lead to significantly increased traffic — in other words, content strategy.

Now, if only Dad had hired me first!

“Katie McCaskey offers content marketing services and strategy to businesses of all sizes. Learn to make the most of your web content at www.katiemccaskey.com“

4 Tips for Compelling Copy

katiemccaskey — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 09:38:21 +0000

Dead literary critics: not your audience

Compelling copy is the foundation of engaging content — so what are the secrets?

Four tips to produce riveting copy online:

1 – Economy. If you can communicate in fewer words, do so. You needn’t always write a lengthy manifesto to explain your perspective. If you want to keep your audience, keep it short and snappy. Save the manifesto opining for your unshaven weekends in the woods. (Or that blog no one reads.)

If you must go long: give your readers frequent paragraph breaks, highlighted main thoughts, and make! it! great!

2 – Personality. Try not to be boring. Think in terms of stories. Ignore the temptation to be formal. Do not attempt to please dead literary critics.

Even boring, “necessary” content has the opportunity to engage. Check out the unsubscribe page at Groupon. But wait! Isn’t that video, not copy? Yes, but copy sets the scene. Copy instructs you to engage. Copy makes you to push the button and “Punish Derrick”.

(Caution: personality injection in legal notices isn’t recommended by my lawyer. Or yours.)

3 – Clarity. Hey, that reminds me of 36 other things I’d like to mention…. No! No! No! Veering outside the lane is fine, but too much weaving and wandering will distract and/or annoy your readers. Buckle up, and buckle down. Narrow your focus so each piece serves a clearly-defined purpose.

Editors pay writers for how they think. Your audience pays you with their time and attention. Can’t clearly convey your thoughts? Find the task too time consuming? Hire a commercial web writer.

(Things to look for: a web writer who understands content marketing, strategy, social media, and seo best practices. Yes: that’s a clarity-rich sales pitch to hire yours truly. It’s also a helpful reminder to be explicit in your copy if you want to direct your reader to a specific action.)

4 – Review. Take the time to review and revise. Then do it again. Your audience will thank you. They’ll also be willing to engage again.

While your version of “compelling copy” may differ based on audience, objectives, or goals, there’s one last secret, a magic bullet: make it genuine.

For more discussion on the topic, check out Junta42. (P.S. Here’s my approach.)

Web Content Strategy & Social Media: Food Retail

katiemccaskey — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:05:48 +0000

Content strategy required for independent food retail, too

Challenge:
Inform the public about the products, services, and philosophy of one of the Mid-Atlantic’s few remaining independently-owned, USDA-inspected meat processing facilities.

Solution:
Develop content strategy and related copy for a social media presence and new, CMS-driven website.

Client:
T&E Meats, Harrisonburg, Virginia
—

Excerpt:

Why T&E Meats
In 2007 Joe Cloud joined forces with farmer, author, and activist Joel Salatin to save one of the few remaining independent, USDA-inspected abbatoirs in the Mid-Atlantic.

The existing butcher shop had been named “T&E Meat Market” after Tommy and Erma May, the previous owners. Cloud and Salatin renamed it “T&E: True and Essential” to highlight the crucial role meat processing plays in the local food ecosystem and to mark the difference between sustainabily-produced local meats and the industrial system.

T&E enables farmers in Virginia to raise and direct market quality livestock by providing excellent processing services under USDA inspection.

A small-scale facility like T&E Meats skillfully and respectfully butchers its livestock compared to the mechanised and inhumane systems common to most large commercial meat processing plants.

We are the only remaining full-service butcher shop and abbatoir in the Shenandoah Valley.

See: T&E Meats website and T&E Meats Facebook page

The ‘lunatic’ singlehandedly taking on the US agricultural system (telegraph.co.uk)
Joel Salatin on Big Organic and the Future of Food (thekitchn.com)