How to write effective SEO copy for your website

As most mums of school age children are well aware, the summer holidays are a busy time. But now schools are gradually starting back, you can hopefully look forward to putting more energy into your career or business again. 

And one area that many businesses often get stuck on, is creating effective SEO copy for their website. SEO is a term that fills many freelancers and small business owners with dread. From the outside it can seem complicated and indecipherable, and as a result, many websites don't attract the attention they deserve from Google or potential new customers. 

But in fact, there's no reason to be afraid of SEO. Creating effective SEO content for your website is as simple as following a few basic rules. When you understand why keywords are important, and which ones are likely to work best for your business or freelance website, you can easily write good, SEO-friendly copy.

We know because when we started researching Talented Ladies Club, we realised that good SEO copy was going to be a vital part of our success. There’s no point spending hours writing useful and interesting articles to help working mums if none of them can find them!

So we looked into SEO in depth. We read whitepapers and sought out the best experts on the subject we could find. And while SEO is indeed often a mysterious and complex subject, having a basic understanding of good SEO copywriting principles can have a massive impact on the success of your website.

To help you ensure that your potential customers and clients can find out about you, we’ve shared our SEO copywriting knowledge in what is quickly becoming one of our most popular articles – How to write SEO copy for your website.

So if you’re thinking about writing a website for your business, or are worried that your current site isn’t working hard enough for you, take a look at our simple rules and make sure you use SEO to your full advantage.

How to unleash the power of Twitter - what we've learned

Until we started Talented Ladies Club, Twitter was a complete unknown to us. And if we're honest, we saw it as much more of a personal social medium than a useful (and powerful) business tool.

But as we try and help working mums find a way to make social media work for them, we felt that we should practice what we preach and open an official Talented Ladies Club account.

So we did and, well... we didn't so much really. We'd occasionally post links to our latest articles, and halfheartedly find people to follow, in the hope they'd follow us back. In the early days we were excited to get to 10, then 11, then, 12 followers. Getting to a heady number like 200 seemed like an impossible dream.

Then one day, while scouring our Google Alerts for interesting stories we saw something about Jacqueline Gold's #WOW competition in which she picks three female-run business to promote on Twitter every Wednesday. It seemed a great idea and we were determined to win - as we did the very first week we entered!

Excited about this new idea of Twitter competitions, we then searched for more, and found Theo Paphitis' #SBS. We also spotted that lots of people seemed to be tweeting about something called #purplebiz - a retweeting competition held daily.

#purplebiz is run by a company called The Purple Dog Network who, as well as their free Twitter contest, provide a range of packages to help businesses unleash the power of Twitter. By this point we knew enough about Twitter to realise that we knew practically nothing! And we decided to hire Purple Dog's services.

And here we are. We've had one 'lesson' already from Purple Dog (a 40 minute enlightening phone call) and are amazed at how much we didn't know about good Twitter etiquette. Like lots of people we had felt quite shy about venturing onto Twitter. When you tweet as a person, to people you know, it's easy to just be yourself on Twitter. But when you're tweeting as a business, to lots of businesses and people you don't know (and who don't know you) how do you act? What do you say? What should your personality be?

Now we feel much more confident about tweeting. Understanding the ratio of tweets (as a quick guide, you should tweet four times as many thanks and retweets that help others, than you should post personal, self-serving tweets) really helps, as does knowing where to find our mentions (in Connect) so we can acknowledge anyone nice enough to mention or retweet us.

To date, we're 6 followers short of 300 (if you fancy helping us reach the magic 300, you can follow us here) and are really excited about putting all our new knowledge about Twitter to good use, and enjoying meeting lots of lovely people. We look forward to chatting with you there, too!

We find out what it's like to be a celebrity working mum, thanks to TV presenter Amanda Lamb!

It's easy to assume, as we're juggling an obstinate toddler and the stress of getting to work on time, that celebrities have it easy. Not for them the every day struggles of childcare, demanding employers and guilt of your average working mum. But we forget - celebrities are every bit as human as the rest of us, and are often trying to cope with the very same issues!

As writer Lucy Mason discovered when she interviewed the very lovely TV presenter Amanda Lamb about being a working mum. It turns out that, rather than waltzing down red carpets all day in designer dresses without a care for their offspring, celebrities have just the same concerns as the rest of us working mums. Wanting to do the very best by their children, but also feeling the need to still do something that is 'them'.

To find out what Amanda Lamb thinks about being a working mum, and how she and her husband achieve their own work-life balance you can read the full interview here.

In the meantime, we hope you're having as sunny a Friday as we are here, and have a fun-packed weekend ahead!

Why working mums who work from home put in more 'office' hours

This probably won't come as much of a surprise to working mums - or anyone who works from home for that matter! - but a recent survey by video conference firm UCi2i discovered that home-working employees can put in as many as 24 extra days a year.

While the perception from their office-based colleagues mostly appears to be that home workers have an easy life, the reality is that the peace and quiet, time (and stress) saved by not commuting, and better work life balance are more likely to lead to better quality work and voluntary overtime. 

So if you're a home working mum angling for a well-deserved pay rise, suggest your boss takes a look at this news story!

We interview bestselling author and working mum Fiona Gibson

It's been a really busy few weeks for us. Not only are we putting together the content for our first free monthly e-mag (if you haven't already signed up for it, do so now!) but we've been interviewing some really inspirational working mums to find out how they have built and managed a successful career while raising a family.

One of these mums is bestselling author Fiona Gibson. Fiona started her career on magazines - working on Jackie, Just Seventeen, Bliss and More, where she introduced the infamous position of the fortnight column. More recently she was a contributing editor for Red magazine and a weekly columnist for the Sunday Herald.

Fiona reveals how she got her big break as a novelist, what inspires her books and how she fits her writing around her three kids. So if you're an aspiring writer, check out her interview for inspiration and maybe even a tip or two!

Talented Ladies Club in the Brighton Argus

Last month the Brighton Argus ran a story about Talented Ladies Club. Read it here.

Ever wondered how professional bloggers get their big breaks?

Today there are thousands - if not millions - of bloggers around the world. Many of them would, I'm sure, love to earn an income from their writing. And some actually do.

This week, we spoke to award-winning professional blogger Jo Middleton (self-styled Slummy single mummy) and found out why she started her blog, and how she got her first big break. We also squeezed some tips for other aspiring bloggers out of her.

So, if you're a wannabe professional blogger and you'd love to learn the secret to success, check out Jo's interview here now!

How to kick off your post-baby job hunt in style

The prospect of looking for a job after months - or even years - at home raising your children can be scary. You may feel like you've completely lost touch with the old 'work' you, and even a glimpse of your former office wardrobe can trigger a growing sense of dread (partly because you suspect little of it will still fit...).

But it's not all bad news. Relaunching your career is not just a chance to pick up where you left off - it's an opportunity to re-evaluate what work means to you, and actively choose a position that fulfills and excites you.

To ease yourself into a new job hunt properly, it's important to consider what you want from a job, and exactly what you have to offer. And as luck would have it, we've put together a helpful article helping you do just that. Learn the three key questions you should ask yourself before you start sending out your CV to all and sundry.

If you need a little morale boost when considering a return to the workplace, why not find out why working mums actually perform better, too?

And just to show you how we think of everything, here's some advice on what to wear when relaunching your career after maternity leave!

Thank Primal Detox it's Friday

Finally it's Friday. Night of guilt-free wine, homemade pizza and Coronation Street double bill. And given that between Kary and I we have only managed five and a half hours of sleep in the last 24 hours, hopefully it'll also be the night of eight hours of blissful rest.

But no one has looked forward to this day quite as much as our freelance writer Lucy Mason. In the past seven days she has voluntarily given up alcohol, fruit, chocolate, caffeine - basically pretty much anything pleasurable - in the name of Primal Detox. 

And given how grumpy Lucy can be when deprived of life's essentials (wine, chocolate and tea) it's not been the best week to plan a big career relaunch. Find out why in the latest installment of her diary of a mum returning to work. 

How we found the time to create Talented Ladies Club

If there's one thing every mum on the planet probably needs more of, it's time. Let's face it, most of us barely have time to dress in the morning (or in my case yesterday remember to put on makeup).

So we thought we'd share some of our top time-saving and time-making tips. Some of these are tactics we ourselves depended on to put Talented Ladies Club together. I personally banned myself from Facebook (which saved me several hours a week!) and woke up at 4am every day for several months on end to work on the website.

In fact it's amazing at how much extra time you can find in a day if you really try - and how much you can accomplish in it. Don't believe us? Read our time-saving advice and try it for yourself!

Why starting a business can put a smile on your face (even in this weather)!

On a May day when snow is possibly forecast for parts of the UK, and the rest of us are warned to expect a month's rain in a day, we need some good news to cheer us up.

One little ray of sunshine - especially if you're not in the job of your dreams right now - is a survey of female entrepreneurs by RBS. The survey found that women who ran their own businesses felt more confident and contented with their lives. (Apparently when it comes to setting up our businesses we're also quicker off the mark than men.)

So if you've been dreaming of escaping full or part time work and starting your own business, our news story should put a smile on your face! You'll also find plenty of good advice to help you make that dream a reality on Talented Ladies Club. Shame we can't do anything about the weather though...

Where DID she get that glow?

Our fashion editor always looks glam and glowing (or at least she does to us in our 'throw it all together two mins before the school run' way). And last week we finally cracked and asked her what her secret was. After all she claims to have two anti-sleep children and no time for an elaborate beauty regime. It turns out, her fabulously smooth complexion is down to a quick, six step morning make-up routine. 

Being kind people we couldn't keep this kind of gem to ourselves. So, for the benefit of all other harassed, time-and-sleep-poor working mums, here is the secret to a glowing complexion in just minutes!

Adventures of a single working mum

Saturday afternoon - the perfect excuse to sit down with a nice cup of tea (kids allowing!) and catch up on the first installment of our brilliant diarist and freelance copywriter, Annie Corbett. Adventures of a single working mum charts the worries and joys of being a working mum and possible owner of an inherited greyhound. 

So if you haven't had chance to read Annie's first installment, check it out now while we get part two ready to go!

Follow the ups and downs of a mum returning to freelance work

One of the purposes of Talented Ladies Club is to inspire women to continue to pursue their ambitions once they have children - and find flexible work, freelance opportunities or new business ideas that can fit in with their family's needs and commitments.

So we're very excited that one such mum - former freelance writer Lucy Mason - has agreed to share the ups and downs of jumping back into the world of work after having three children.

You can read the first installment of her diary here, as well as lots of other inspiring real life stories of mums who are already running successful businesses and managing thriving freelance careers. Who knows what their stories may inspire you to achieve??

Talented Ladies Club is now live!

Talented Ladies Club is finally live! So please come and take a look at the site. If you want to find out more about us, join our club or Like our Facebook page. We hope you enjoy the site!

Welcome to the Talented Ladies Club

International Women's Day seems as good a day as any for a 'soft' launch for www.talentedladiesclub.com. Soft because we don't yet have a website to introduce to you (we'll all have to wait until 16 April for that). But it does seem about time that we finally started telling people what we're doing. 

So, a soft launch it is. If you do want to see evidence of some other online presence, and keep up with our latest news, you can like our new Facebook page. In the meantime, we're happy to just tell you a little bit about what you'll find on www.talentedladiesclub.com when it does finally go live.

The purpose of the Talented Ladies Club is to provide inspiration, resources and connections to working mums. We want to help women who have children to achieve their career ambitions while balancing their responsibilities as a mum through working flexibly, going freelance or starting a business.

In short, we know there's lots of great talent out there, and we want to help working mums make the most of it to be happier, richer and more fulfilled. We aim to be the number one online information resource for working mums in the UK. A big ambition, but we're confident we can achieve it. After all, we are two very talented ladies :)