Content is King!

How many times have you been told that?

Well, it is true. Internet marketers have been telling you for years if you want more organic traffic you must publish more web content targeted at your long tail keywords. Finally, you’re taking notice and more and more companies are adding page upon page to their websites of new content.

But of course, hiring a talented copywriter doesn’t come cheap. So, adding hundreds of new pages of content to your website is going to be expensive.

Now, there is a group of you out there who think you’ve found the perfect solution to this. I can see you patting yourself on the back because you think you’ve got the best of both worlds – shed loads of new content without the high price tag. If that’s you, you’ve probably done one of two things:

• Out sourced your content writing to an Indian company or elsewhere in the world where you can pick up loads of articles for next to nothing
• Decided to take the DIY approach and written it yourself

Big mistake!

Yes, you are increasing your web content at a great rate of knots – but at what cost? And I’m not talking about how much you’ve paid for it; I’m talking about the cost to your reputation.

Why you shouldn’t value quantity over quality

Watering down the quality of your website content in this way could have a seriously detrimental effect on your rankings. Remember those? You’ve quite possibly spent years working on your search engine optimisation to achieve great rankings, do you really want to jeopardise them now?

A big part of your SEO strategy is building back links. Of course, people will only link to you if you provide great content. If you start to water down the quality of your content with poor articles, people won’t want to link to you. And if they don’t link to you…you got it, you’ll start sliding down the rankings faster than soap down a helter-skelter. If you want to attracts links, your content must be entertaining, intertesing and appealing.

But there is a more serious consequence – yes, even more serious than affecting your rankings. Low quality content will have a detrimental effect on your company’s image. Now for the science bit – take a look at these equations:

Great Content = Increased value + Positive effect on your company’s image

Poor quality content = Disappointed readers + Negative effect on your company’s image

OK, so maths was never my strong point but I’m sure you get the gist.

Why am I telling you this?

Because, if you don’t invest in quality content for your website you are going to do some serious long term damage to your reputation.

If you’re not particularly bothered about anything I’ve warned against here, go and hire a company that will generate oodles of content for you for just a few pounds. But if you do care about your image and reputation, invest in a quality freelance copywriter and focus on getting quality content. Yes, it will cost you more but the long term benefits speak for themselves.

The choice is yours.

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A strange thing for a freelance copywriter to write about? Well, yes and no.

One question I often get asked is why do I think I can write better copy than someone who’s involved in the business and knows it inside and out.

Well, there’s the answer. Yes, you know your business better than anyone else. But because you know it so well, you become totally absorbed by it. How often have you been asked what you do by someone? And by the time you’ve finished explaining they’ve dozed off, lost interest or are completely confused?

You see, there lies the problem. It is very difficult to take a step back from your business to see it from someone else’s point of view. If you are writing your own marketing materials, you have to write for your reader. You have to get into their shoes and explain exactly what benefits your product or service will bring to their lives – which isn’t easy.

But there’s more to it than that. Writing to attract and engage readers isn’t as easy as it sounds. Below are a few pointers to show how you can improve your writing, and turn it into great sales copy:

Think about your reader

Many businesses, when they write their own copy, don’t have their reader in mind. They tend to write content that they would want to read, which is usually very different from what their customers want.

Think about your readers – what type of people are they? What age are they? What are they interested in? Only when you have looked into this can you decide what tone to take. Should the voice you use be casual, formal, conversational?

If you are writing to a teenage audience, you’re likely to take a different approach to an audience who are 40+. They will have different priorities and interests so your copy must reflect that.

Grammar

We all hated it at school, but it’s a vital part of getting your message across. You will be judged on your use of the English language. Therefore you must ensure you follow the grammatical rules (although they can be bent at times to achieve certain effects).  Spelling is also key – make sure everything you publish has been proofread. There is nothing more off putting than reading something full of spelling and punctuation errors.

Your writing will say a lot about your company – sloppy use of grammar, spelling and punctuation will suggest your business is one that doesn’t care about attention to detail!

Headlines

The headlines you use in your communications will determine whether or not they get read. It sounds harsh, but most people judge content by the heading.

A weak and uninspiring heading won’t encourage your audience to continue reading. Therefore it really is worth spending a lot of time coming up with the perfect headline.

Make it simple

One trap that many business owners fall into when it comes to writing their own copy, is that they write it in jargon.

Your readers are only interested in one thing, and that’s what you are going to do for them. If you write copy that is centred on your business, how great it is, and full of jargon, your reader will be switched off in an instant.

Target your reader in everything you write. Make sure you show the benefits of your product and service to them.

But above all, make sure you use simple sentences and words. Many business people have a hang up about using an impressively large vocabulary when writing. That is one of the biggest turn offs ever. No matter how educated your audience, keep your words and sentence structure simple. People lead very busy lives these days so they want to be able to read quickly. Therefore the layout of your communication is also important – make sure the benefits stand out by placing them in bold type or in a bulleted list.

Why am I telling you this?

All your written communications (website copy, email marketing, newsletters, case studies, press releases etc.) reflect your business. Therefore it is vital you get them right.

Most people don’t consider hiring a copywriter because they think they can do it themselves. But let me ask you something, you can probably lay a few bricks if you tried hard enough, but would you consider building an entire house on your own? Probably not.

When your business relies so heavily on your written communications, it really is worth thinking about bringing in the professionals – after all you don’t want all your years of hard work to come tumbling down.

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“Sally is working hard in her English lessons and is producing some exciting and thoughtful stories. However, her written work would benefit from using a wider vocabulary and bigger words.”

That is what my middle school English teacher thought of my writing skills. I wasn’t using enough ‘big’ words. I’m sure many of you reading this had similar experiences at school. It was as though your intellect was being judged by the number of syllables your words contained.

After reading this, I used to keep a thesaurus beside me and changed perfectly good words for more complex counterparts.

However, as a copywriter, I am now doing the exact opposite – Ha! Take that English teacher.

Keeping it simple

Using complicated words that attempt to utilise every letter of the alphabet may make you feel more intelligent, but that’s not how your reader’s will view you.

I’m going to let you into a little secret – it’s not just you that leads a busy life.

These days, we are all running around like headless chickens trying to get everything done. Therefore the last thing we want is to be faced with ridiculously complex words.

Whether you are writing to personal customers or other businesses, the key to successful copy that works, is  simple language.

Step away from the thesaurus

People often argue that if you are writing for the B2B market, you have to write in an intellectual stuffed-shirt kind of way.

Wrong.

At the end of the day, your copy is going to be read by a human being. After all, despite what Dr. Who would like us to believe, the human race is still running things.

In a way it’s more important to write simply for the B2B market because you are writing for people who are incredibly busy. They want to be able to glance over your copy, be shown the benefits of your product and how to order. That’s it.

A freelance copywriter is not there to make you sound intelligent

Sorry, but we’re not.

You hire us to write strong copy that sells. Therefore when the first draft is sent to you, don’t complain that there aren’t enough three syllable words in it.

The copy’s function is to inform, convince and sell.

Let me repeat that – we are not here to make you sound intelligent. We are here to sell your products to your readers.

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More and more businesses are moving to the internet. But that can cause an issue over web copy.

Many companies sell products made by other manufacturers. But they aren’t going to be that manufacturers only outlet online. So, you then have the situation where you have several websites selling the same products.

There’s nothing wrong with a bit of healthy competition, but there is the issue of duplicate content to worry about.

Most manufacturers will produce standard ‘blurb’ to accompany their product. This will go into details such as how it’s made, main uses, features etc., – you know the kind of thing.

But the problem is that many businesses simply use this standard sales message on their websites too. The result is the same content written in several different places on the web which can seriously damage their search engine results.

So how do you get around this problem?

Well, you’ll either have to get to grips with SEO or hire a good SEO copywriter to write fresh, original content for you.

How to brief your copywriter

Yes, copywriters write for a living, but that doesn’t mean they are also mind-readers.

If you want great copy, you have to give a detailed brief identifying exactly what you want. Sometimes people are surprised at the level of information a copywriter needs. But let me ask you something – if you were having a new kitchen fitted would you just point the fitter to your kitchen and leave him to it, or would you pick out the units you wanted, show him where they were to go and decide on a colour scheme?

So, for every product you sell, your copywriter will need the following information:

• What the product is
• What is its major benefit?
• What evidence do you have to back this up?
• What variations does it have (size, colour, shape, speed etc.)
• Are there any reasons why someone wouldn’t buy from you?
• What are its main features?
• What makes this product better than its competitors?
• What objections might your reader have to buying this product?

Then they’ll require information such as:

• What are the primary key phrases you’re targeting on this page?
• What are the secondary key phrases?
• What is your brand personality?/What tone do you want to convey in the copy?
• What do you want your reader to do after reading this page (call you, go to order page, email you…)

Depending on the product, your copywriter may well have other questions to ask.

The key is, whenever you are commissioning a copywriter to write for you, (whether it’s SEO web copy, brochure content, a newsletter etc.) always provide them with loads of information.

When they provide you with a requisition document to assess the project, make sure you answer all their questions as fully as possible. This will give them a better chance of hitting it right first time.

Remember, a copywriter if a professional writer, not a mind reader.

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Normally, when I talk to you about copywriting I hark on about how important it is to write about the benefits of the product you are trying to sell.

That’s because benefits are the vital element to make your reader understand that you product is for them and so are a copywriter’s best friend.

However with the Case Study you have the prime opportunity to bring your benefits to life by dramatising them.

It’s not an easy road

Writing case studies isn’t easy, but the time and effort you spend honing them will be well worth it.

Testimonials are great, but case studies will carry more weight.

Why?

Because they are perceived as being truthful; you are telling your reader a story. Your case study will have a hero (your customer), a predicament (the problem they face), a narrative (what you did and why) and finally a happy ending.

So how can you be sure you write a compelling, interesting and relevant case study?

7 tips to creating a winning case study

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that writing a case study is simple. It isn’t. There are a lot of bad ones out there so I’ve put together a few tips for you to help you create a winner.

1. Tell it from your customer’s perspective otherwise it will just come across as a piece of hype. Readers will be able to relate to your customer, after all they may well be facing the same problems. Let’s face it they probably are – if they weren’t why would they be reading your case study?
2. Use real people in your photos if you can. Not everyone will be willing to do that but it adds weight to your case study if you can.
3. Include as many facts and figures as you can. And give specific examples of what you did to solve their problem. Wishy-washy information will get you absolutely nowhere.
4. People love pictures so use shots of your customers premises, machinery or whatever is relevant to your case study. This will add a sense of realism that you can’t achieve by using stock images.
5. Let your client speak directly. Include plenty of relevant quotes and make sure you attribute them to the right person (including their full name and position). This is a great opportunity to present a new voice to your case study – try and use their language to add authenticity.
6. Give it a good structure – a brief introduction to your customer, what their problem was, how you solved it, what the outcome was and future implications for them/their business.
7. Make sure it is clear how they benefited from your product/service/expertise. This is crucial. If you tell your reader how your customer benefited they will associate that with how THEY will also benefit.

Now for things you don’t want in your case study

As I’ve already mentioned, your case study is your opportunity to prove to your readers that you can do something amazing.

If you want to sell something to a specific audience, you’ve got to prove to them they need it and that you’re good – very good.

Below are list of 4 elements you don’t want in your case study:

1. A beginning that talks at length about your customer’s business. If you want to add information about their company, turnover or premises etc., put it in boxes at the side of your case study.
2. Challenge and solution but without the results. Proof is the name of the game and without results you have proved absolutely nothing.
3. No quotes. Your customer’s voice is essential. They need to speak to your reader and tell them precisely what you did for them and the results they have seen as a result.
4. Dull narrative. Long words, complex sentences, excessive jargon, and an awkward flow create a boring case study. If no one wants to read it how can you prove yourself to them?

More and more people out there are taking an increasingly cynical view of “marketing speak”. Unsubstantiated claims are boring and damaging to your business.

People love to read about other people and their experiences and case studies provide the perfect vehicle for a friendly and non-salesy look at your business. Of course they are also superb vessels for a bit of stealth marketing – but hey! You’re proving what you do works, there’s no hard sell.

Sally Ormond – freelance copywriter

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The debate about which is best, long or short, copy is one that is bound to rattle on for many years to come. Often what it comes down to is personal preference.

Many people claim that short copy will win hands down every time because:

• Nobody reads long copy
• If it’s an advert is has to be short copy
• People are too busy to read long copy

Well for a start someone must read long copy because it does its job (writers arguably make more from long copy that short). Plus, if by claiming adverts must be short, does that mean because people won’t read long adverts they’ll automatically read short ones? And by the same token, just because people are too busy to read long copy do they have time to read short?

Getting it all into perspective

When people talk about long copy they immediately visualise sales letters that go on for eternity. But that doesn’t have to be the case.

A long piece of copy could refer to a two page sales letter as opposed to a ten page one. Or it could equally refer to a twenty line email rather than an eight line email.

Size doesn’t matter

The main importance of any sales communication (whatever form it takes) is that it is relevant to the market. If you wrote a short, snappy and powerful advert that was totally irrelevant to its audience it wouldn’t work. If you wrote a six page sales letter that was completely irrelevant that wouldn’t work either.

Therefore its relevance is more important than its length.

So, when discussing the merits of long or short copy you would consider it as longer or shorter copy. But it is the relevancy of the information it contains that is more important here.

Your sales message should be as long as is necessary to get your audience to reach a buying decision and hand over their credit card.

Sally Ormond – freelance copywriter

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As copywriter’s we know what our audience wants, right?

All we have to do is give them an unbelievably good offer and they’ll say yes. They’ll identify our product with the life they’ve always wanted to live so they’ll snap our hand off just to get it.

Great – but is it?

Does life really happen like that?

Wake up to the real world

There is a problem here; one that you may not have thought of.

What if they really don’t what your product?

“Ha! Of course they do – how can they possibly refuse the offer?”

Oh boy, there’s the problem straight away. You’re assuming they’ll buy your product no matter what.

You can’t lead a horse to water…

OK, I don’t have a horse but that heading sounded better than “You can’t lead a Spaniel to a tablet”.

Take my Springer Spaniel, Jerry (yes, he’s Jerry Springer) – he may not be the most intelligent dog in the world but he knows about medicine. Just like a kid, when he’s given a course of tablets from the vet, he’ll do anything to avoid taking them (not that I take my kids to the vet, it’s just that they know medicine usually tastes horrible and really don’t want to take it).

Put it in his bowl of biscuits and he’ll eat every crumb but leave the pill. Put it inside a piece of cheese and he’ll eat round it.

The trick is to find something he will eat (please note this is not a problem with my other dog, Scooby. But then again he is a Labrador and will eat anything). I have learned to tailor my ‘sales pitch’ to him.

The only way I can get him to take his medicine is by grinding up his tablet and sprinkling it on a piece of bread thickly spread with Marmite. Hand that to him and he’ll take your hand off and love you forever.

The moral of the story is – research your market

At the end of the day, if you pitch the wrong product to your audience they won’t buy it.

Pitch correctly, to the correct audience and you’ll end up with a loyal customer base that’ll come back again and again. They’ll value the product you sold them, remember you as a company that ‘doesn’t force their products down their throats’ and will trust you for future purchases.

Remember then, people not buying doesn’t necessarily mean your copy is poor or your offer is weak. You can’t make people buy simply because you want them to. Make sure you research your market thoroughly – make timely offers to the right audience and you’ll grow a marketing list that’s worth its weight in gold.

Sally Ormond – freelance copywriter

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As a freelance copywriter, I use social media to promote my company and the services I provide. Up to now that has been mainly through blogging, article marketing, bookmarking, Twitter, online forums and networking sites. But there was one outlet I hadn’t delved into – Facebook. I am on facebook in a personal capacity but had never considered it for business use – until now.

Can facebook really help businesses?

Before I go any further, I’m not an expert on using facebook fan pages – I’m still learning myself. But with the growing popularity of social media marketing I realised that it was something I was going to have to get to grips with sooner or later.

Facebook pages seem to becoming increasinglt the second home page for businesses online. As such, SEO is an important factor in the design of your page. So how do you squeeze the most SEO benefits out of your facebook page? Well here are a few pointers to kick you off:

1. Choose a great name and stick to it – your business name is ideal.
2. Pick the best URL possible. Now, if you have 25 fans or more, you can choose your own URL (mine is http://www.facebook.com/freelancecopywriting) in which yo ucan incorporate you keywords.
3. Make your About Us box count – this is prime realestate for your keywords so use it wisely.
4. The info tab should include http’s of related websites and specific information such as your keywords, geographical location etc.
5. Post direct links to your website from your page.
6. Use your facebook badge of your websites to show people you’re there.

Is it really worth it?

Well, here are 11 mindblowing reasons your business needs Facebook curtesy from Social Media Examiner:

1. There are over 350,000 million global users of facebook
2. There are 100,000 users in the US alone
3. The average facebook user spends a staggering 55 minutes on it every day
4. Nearly 80,000 sites use facebook connect
5. Facebook fan box is becoming pervasive
6. The average facebook user has 130 friends
7. The average facebook user “fans” 2 pages per month
8. Only 4% of pages have 10,000 or more fans
9. Wall posts do’t impact popularity so make use of video, photos and links
10. Customised news feeds
11. Real-time search ability changes the game completely

Beginning to see how it will help your business?

Get yourself a fan page today like mine – see how you get one with it. Why not come back here and tell us all about your experiences and any tips you have picked up along the way.

Briar Copywriting – Leading UK Freelance Copywriter

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This was a question that was raised during last week’s online Q&A session on copywriting as a career with The Guardian.

Clean copywriting is very tight, concise, compelling sales copy – clever copywriting is there to impress.

Which is best?

As the Q&A discussion discovered, it rather depends on your audience. However as 99% of my copywriting work is commercial print or web based – I shall answer that question from my experience.

Short and sweet wins every time

When I’m approached to write sales copy (whether is for brochures, email campaigns, posters, adverts or SEO website copy) I follow a simple formula which is designed to have maximum impact.

We all lead busy lives these days; sales messages are everywhere – in newspapers, on buses, on the tube, on radio, TV, magazines, the internet…the list is endless. Considering the number of messages we are faced with on a daily basis of you want yours to get through it must be powerful and concise.

Because of this your message must be noticed, resonate with the reader, convince and compel them to take action.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it!

The winning formula

I mentioned earlier that I follow a formula to create clean and compelling copy. Before I tell you what that is you must remember one thing. Every audience you write for is going to be different. An approach that worked for one group of people may fall short of the mark when used on another group. So always bear your audience in mind when creating your copy.

So where do you start? Well, how do you normally read things? from the beginning, right? And what do you find at the beginning?

1. Headline

This is the hook that will get some interested in your copy enough to read it. If you get your headline wrong, your whole sales pitch will be lost. If you need inspiration read magazines, look through newspapers or check out the home page of Digg – that is a great source of inspiration.

However you create it, it must draw your reader in to the rest of your copy.

1. Beginning

Once your headline has pulled them into your message web, hit them with the main benefits of your product/service. Hit them between the eyes – tell them exactly what the product/service will do for them.

At the end of the day, your reader will only buy if they are going to benefit in someway – point that out to them immediately and your half way there.

1. Middle

Now you’ve shown them the benefits of your product/service their hand is poised over their wallet – but they’re not pulling out their credit cards just yet.

They may be interested in your product now, but you’ve got to make them want it. Help them visualise how amazing their lives will be if they had it. Make them want it by telling them supply is restricted or the price is going up soon or they’ll be amongst the first to won it, they’ve been specially selected…

1. Finale

This is it – they’ve grabbed their wallet, they’ve taken out their credit card…does it end there?

It will if you don’t tell them what to do next. The final step is to write a strong call to action. If you don’t tell them to buy now, call now or order now they won’t know what to do and will look elsewhere.

Headline + Benefits + Want Factor + CTA = SALES!!!!!

If you want your sales copy to work every time, keep it strong, keep it tight, keep it simple. Don’t try and be clever.

Sally Ormond – Freelance copywriter

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Yesterday’s post announced the Q&A session I was asked to take part in for The Guardian today.

Well, as you can see, I am still able to type!

Loads of excellent questions were thrown at the panel covering all aspects of copywriting and how to get started in the industry. Not only did we manage (I hope) to help a number of the participants, I think we learnt a lot from each other too.

Find out what it means to be a copywriter

Starting out as a new copywriter can be a daunting experience. There are so many things to think about:

• Do I start as a freelance copywriter or get a job with an agency
• How do I find clients?
• How do I start my portfolio
• Do I need an online presence?
• Do I need any special qualifications?
• Are there any courses I can do?

The best way to find out how to get started is by asking someone already doing it.

Visit The Guardian’s forum and discover a few tips for starting out in the world of copywriting. If you can’t find the answer to your question here, drop me a line and I’ll do my best to help you.

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