7 replies to this topic

[Bernard]

Since there is no post in here yet, I thought I would offer up a page I wrote recently for discussion. I initially wrote it for possible submission to a general business print publication, so the intended audience is the non-SEO savvy business owner. What do you think?

Internet Marketing - Potential Pitfalls

[Scottie]

First off, I love that you have included a glossary of terms. How about making those terms in your copy into links to the definition? Some are, some (possibly confusing one) aren't.

Can I make a few suggestions?

[quote]Consultants worldwide offer their services to make your web pages appear at the top of search engine results[/quote]Changed:
[quote]Consultants worldwide offer their services to help your web pages appear at the top of search engine results[/quote]

[quote]Being banned from one of these engines can seriously poison your on-line presence (possibly negatively affecting the decisions of other webmasters to link to your site and lose more opportunities for publicity/traffic apart from the search engines).[/quote]Changed:
[quote]Being banned from one of these engines can seriously damage your on-line presence. One consequence of risky SEO practices is a reluctance from  other webmasters to link to your site and lost opportunities for publicity/traffic apart from the search engines.[/quote]

[quote]Some search engine spam techniques that should be avoided:[/quote]Changed:
[quote]Some risky search engine optimization techniques that should be avoided:[/quote]

[quote]When evaluating an SEO/SEM consultant, be sure that they do not employ any of those techniques[/quote]Changed:
[quote]When evaluating an SEO/SEM consultant, find out if they employ any of those techniques[/quote]

Under PFI-
You may want to note that PFI inclusion does not guarantee high rankings, only inclusion in the index. The real benefit is a regular schedule of spider visits so you can tweak the optimization and see results pretty quickly.

Overall, an excellent article Bernard! Very well explained.

[Bernard]

Thanks Scottie! That's exactly the kind of feedback I need. I've probably read and re-read that copy so many times now that my mind is numb (and blind) when I look at it again. Great suggestions.

FWIW, I had intended to link more of the terms to the glossary, but I got lazy. I'll admit it. I'll be fixing it up soon though.

[Jill]

FYI, you can also post your articles in the "Articles" section of the forum.

Jill

[Bernard]

Scottie, I've updated the page with your suggestions. Thanks!

Jill, OK.

[Scottie]

Very nice!

[projectphp]

Ok, and change:

This company promotes software that many consider as scumware.

to

This company promotes software that many consider to be scumware.

and

Most people are not aware that their software has been installed or how to uninstall it

to

Most people are not aware that such software has even been installed,  or how to uninstall it.

There are a few other little points of style, but that is just my pedantic nature, and I wont bore you with them.

My only other suggestion would be to try to find your own "voice", a tone that you write from. I often find that, simply by reading a few lines, I know instantly that Jill has written something, as well as more than a few of the other regular articles that I read.

My personal writing style is pretty informal and blunt, and often shocks mme when I come to proof read it. Over time I've got better at some of this, (although try telling that to my Uni philosphy professor ), but I still struggle big time writing reports etc.

That said, I found your article pretty good and useful. Nice one.

[Bernard]

Thanks PPHP, I'll take another look at editing it this weekend.

Oh, and.. that *is* my voice with the exception of Scottie's suggestions above. I wrote every word on that site without help or plagiarism.