SEO Writer Takes a Chance with .CO

Renee Mirabito is a Copy and Content Writer. She is 27 years old and lives with her husband and two dogs in Melbourne, Australia. She has a BA in Literature, and an MA in Writing. When not working, she can be found out cycling, or just having fun with friends. Also, an avid traveler, she’s been lucky enough to see a much of Europe, Asia, and of course, Australia. She’s launching a new site at seocontentwriter.co.

Mike:  Tell me about your business.

Renee:  Growing up, I always wanted to write. When I was still at university, a teacher suggested I try and get some writing work online to build up a portfolio. Things really took off, and by the time I graduated I had a strong enough client base for it to be my full-time job. I was also having a lot of fun, and the work suited me well. When I started, I had no idea what search engine optimization was, but I learned plenty on the job. By the time I had enough experience to get the job I initially wanted in Journalism, I’d already fallen in love with online writing. While I still do some feature writing for magazines, most of my work is for websites and blogs. I launched my website in 2009, but didn’t really put a lot of time into it until the beginning of 2010 when I started writing full-time. I’m really happy with how it is looking now, and with the increase in hits I’ve had over the last twelve months.

Mike:  As an SEO article writer, what type of results have you delivered to your clients?  How has this helped them in search engine rankings?

Renee:  It’s really satisfying when a client calls me up and says, ‘Hey, I’ve just Googled myself, and I’m number three now. This stuff you talk about works!’ A lot of people are really surprised by the results you can get just by changing your web copy. Probably one of the best results achieved was for a real estate business. Over the course of six months the company went from #68 to number #9 for one keyword, and from #27 to #11 for another. A lot of the businesses I work with have spent money on sponsored search results, and been really impressed at being able to achieve organic results for a lower outlay.

Mike:  How are you expecting this domain to have an impact on your business?

Renee:  My goal for seocontentwriter.co is to drive traffic to my main site. My main site is flash, while I love its look, it can make climbing the Google ranks that little bit harder. Also, I felt that a blog was the best way to keep putting fresh content online. Content is king, but I think a blog is the best way to achieve this, rather than constantly changing the copy of a main site. I’ve had the name registered for a while now, and have mostly been playing around with formats and ideas. In the new year I plan to build it up as a really useful resource for small businesses, who don’t have big budgets for their online marketing.

Mike:  Any concerns about it being a .CO?  Do you feel that a .CO can rank as well as a .COM?

Renee:  Initially I had reservations about a .co domain, but some of the pre-release prices paid encouraged me to go ahead with the idea. A .co definitely has the potential to rank as well as a .com, in my opinion. I think that their performance is really going to depend on how people treat them. If they are regarded as a local domain then that is what they will become. If they’re sought after, and regarded in the same light as a .com, then they will rank the same way. When I chose my domain, it was a bit of a gamble. Ultimately I decided getting the keywords I wanted in the domain name was more important than having my ideal TLD.

Mike:  What advice have you given clients regarding the selection of a domain name?

Renee:  Having multiple domain names is a great way of improving your SEO. Whether you want to set up a blog, or simply point domains at your existing site, it’s a very cost effective way of improving your traffic. For local businesses, I’ll always advice they purchase their trading name, as well as a keyword domain, such as ‘sydneylocksmiths.com.au’.

Mike:  Do you have any other online marketing strategies that you recommend to your clients?

Renee:  Most of my clients are small businesses, who don’t have a massive budget for their online marketing. While many businesses have websites, they don’t pay a lot of attention to SEO in their copy. Beyond making a company look more professional, a few changes to copy can help a site to rank a lot better. I really encourage all of my clients to build up their content with information that is helpful to visitors. It’s also essential to keep offering new content all the time. Of course, Google loves this, but you also give your visitors a reason to keep coming back.