The short answer is yes, but only if used properly.

When I began my online writing career the trend with keywords weighed heavily in favor of putting as many relevant keywords into your copy as possible. This was great for search engine rankings, but made for awkward - if not impossible to read- copy.

Thankfully, search engines today don’t favor pages that are stuffed with keywords, and the practice can even get you banned.

So how, and where, do you use keywords so that you get good search results while still retaining copy that people want to read?

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Popularity: 23% [?]

It doesn’t matter if you’re a Fortune 500 exec or a one-man freelancing show. There will be times when you look at companies whose services compete with yours, and your stomach will sink into your shoes.

How can you possibly live up to that, you wonder, gawking at what is clearly The Cleverest Ad Ever Written, or enviously scanning hundreds upon hundreds of comments on a blog that isn’t yours.

I’m here to tell you that just because your nemesis appears to be the best thing since sliced bread right now, it does NOT mean that you should throw up your hands and throw in the towel.

What it means is you’ve got to USE those jealous pangs to your creative advantage. Some tips and reminders from a copywriter who refuses to see success as a popularity contest.

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Popularity: 24% [?]

The first year you do business online, you’ll love the convenience of instant payments by PayPal. But then your business will grow a little more, and some customers will ask you to pay by credit card. You must upgrade your PayPal account in order to offer them this.

Once your account is upgraded, PayPal will help themselves to a wee little service charge for every transaction you make. Bank-account-to-bank-account payments incur one fee, and then credit card payment fees are even higher. The regular PayPal fee is 2.9% plus .30 USD. I forget what the credit card fee is; I think I blocked it out.

Gradually though, as your client invoices grow larger, you’ll see more and more money being deducted from what they pay you. You might think, “Oh, it’s such a such a small amount.” But what if I told you that you’d be making $70,000.00 this year? And then what if I said that I was going to take out of that $2,030.30, for no real reason. You’d be disappointed, right?

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Popularity: 14% [?]

As a copywriter, I work with a lot of coaches and consultants. Although I’m not a podcasting expert and have no intention of becoming one, I often think that many of them would benefit from hosting speaking events and interviews on their websites. This is easily accomplished via podcast.

Next week, Leesa Barnes (pictured to the right) is giving a FREE class on How Podcasting Can Help You Stay Profitable During an Economic Slow Down.

It’s scheduled for Wednesday April 16, 2008 @ 8pm EDT.

I don’t listen to audio very often because many people who run podcasts are unqualified due to their horrible sounding voices. (Oops, did I really say that out loud?)

Leesa Barnes, however, always grabs my attention because her vocals are smooth like buttah and she always over-delivers with her lively and engaging presentations.

I promise, you’ll learn a lot from Leesa Barnes. So if podcasting compliments your business and you want to know more, check out Leesa’s class.

More details are available here.

- Dina at Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing

Popularity: 13% [?]