Content creation

As Google constantly changes its algorithms, quality content is now more important than ever. But if you outsource your content needs quality content doesn't come cheap, but don't let financial matters cloud your judgement unless you're happy for your website to disappear from sight. Everything you put on the web will reflect on your company. One naff article or poorly written blog post could have a detrimental effect on your online visibility and reputation. Not only that, but if you insist on every piece of content being a blatant sales message your traffic is going to take a nose dive. You see, quality is important. If you're still not convinced, or need a bit more ammunition to convince the holder of the purse strings, here are 6 points that are worth remembering. 1. Reputation Already mentioned, but so important I'll say it again - ...

For many, content marketing is seen as one of online marketing's necessary evils. Yes, it brings greater visibility, higher rankings (with a bit of luck) and a potential boost to customer service, which all helps your bottom line. But it does mean you either have to find the time to write the stuff yourself, delegate or hire in the services of a copywriter. The other big aspect is that it will only work if people can find your articles, so how can you make sure your writing is being found and being read? On the surface that sounds like a tough one, but the following points should help. Over here! If only your blog posts and articles could jump up and down to grab the attention of potential readers. Well they can't, but by checking your Google analytics you ...

As an online marketer your search engine optimisation strategy should be led by content and that means blogging. Some love it, some hate it, but regardless of your feelings about the whole thing blogging is something that has to be done if you want to get your business high up in the Google rankings and yourself a reputation as an expert in your field. Sorry, that's the bottom line - you really don't have a choice in the matter. If you don't believe me, here are a few stats courtesy of Hubspot to back me up about companies that blog: They get 55% more visitors They have 97% more inbound links They have 434% more indexed pages As if that wasn't enough evidence for you, 57% of companies that blog have acquired at least one customer because of it. Now are you convinced? Building your blog Making the ...

When marketing your business, you're going to do a lot of writing. Regardless of whether you have the resources within your company to cope with this, or hire in a professional copywriter, one thing you're going to need a lot of is ideas for your content. Ideas can come from anywhere at any time, so you have to make sure you're ready to record them when they strike because you never know when the next one will come from. So what's the best way to go about that? Here are a couple of ideas for you that work for me. Pen and Paper It doesn't matter how technologically advanced we get, there'll always be a place for the humble pen and paper. Ideas can come at you from all angles during your working day: Customer comments Articles in magazines and newspapers New items on ...

No, we're not talking about what you think we're talking about - this post it all about how to keep your copywriting message on target. On the face of it, writing copy may seem simple, but it's not. For a start, you have to take a big step back from your business and look at it through the eyes of your customers. It has to be powerful and persuasive and it has to flow. That means meaningful paragraphs that slip from one to another without sounding like a load of disjointed ideas. So how do you achieve that? Well, here are 7 tips to help you out. 7 tips to retain clarity in your copywriting 1. Focus This is very important. Think of your ideal customer and write to them. If you try and write something for everyone, your message will become garbled. So, ...

This post originally appeared on our other blog, Freelance Copywriter's Blog, but we also wanted to share it with you. You all know how important it is to produce a continual stream of content. But under no circumstances is that content to be a blatant sales pitch. What? I can’t sell? Then what’s the point? If you generate content that is just all about selling, no one is going to read it and people will be turned off your company because of it. But, if you generate content that is full of cracking information that people love, you’ll draw them to you. Mind you, just because you can’t directly sell through your content doesn’t mean you can’t use it to gently persuade them to take a specific action. What I’m talking about here is to get your reader to do something you want them to do (other than put pounds in your ...

There are lots of companies out there who generate loads of white papers. These documents are used to outline a particular issue faced by their customers and how it can be resolved. The are a mix between a brochure that highlights the benefits of a product or service and an educational article, conveying technical information in a marketing format. But once published they are all too frequently left to gather dust in an archive somewhere. The information contained within the white papers is hugely valuable,  so surely it makes sense to make the most of it? Make your white papers go further White papers can be relatively short, or they can go on for 50 pages or more; that's a lot of information. One of the best ways to get a bit more mileage out of them is to re-purpose the content for your ...

Copywriters, in a strange way, are a lot like doctors. We use our skills to find someone's pain point (a challenge they are wanting to overcome) and to help them overcome it by offering them the panacea they've been looking for (the product or service that will resolve their issue). Diagnosing their pain and removing it is all it takes to make a sale. Regardless of whether you're writing for a B2B or B2C market, every consumer has a problem they are looking to solve. After all, if they didn't they would be on your website or reading your brochure looking for a cure. Pain as a motivator Pain is a motivator. If you touch a hot iron, you'll be quickly motivated to move your hand. It's the same in sales. For consumers, it's things that will make their lives easier, make ...

Everyone thinks they're a comedian, but few can actually pull it off. I'm sure you've experienced a night out with friends when one of them starts cracking jokes or making (what they think are) funny remarks. They think they're hilarious, but the rest of you are cringing hoping they'll shut up because what they think is funny is very far removed from what the rest of you class as a laugh. The same can happen of you try to use humour in your copy - just because you find something funny doesn't mean everyone else will too. Admittedly, there are times when brands manage to pull off humorous copy, but before you try it think long and hard about the image you've worked to hard to create for your business. And if you're dead set on being funny, ...

Everyone knows you use keywords in your web copy (and website structure) as part of your search engine optimisation strategy. But they are not just purely for your website. If you also blog and dabble in article marketing, you also need to use your keywords if you want your content to be found. The problem with that is, because many people are desperate for their content to come up in the search results, they end up cramming their keywords into their writing. In fact, sometimes it gets so bad it renders the writing completely unreadable and it certainly doesn't give value to the reader. But does that really matter? After all, the content is just there to build links, right? Wrong. Yes, it is there to build links, but it is also representing you and your company. Can you imagine the damage that ...

Content generation is vital if you want to boost your online presence. But how can you make sure people find your content? If it can't be found people won't read it, and if people don't read it there won't be a constant stream of traffic to your website. A bit of a problem. Well, this post looks at how you can make sure people find your content. Making sure people find your stuff 1. Research You are writing for a specific audience, therefore it's essential you research that audience and find out what they want to read about. What is it that interests them? What problems are they facing that they need help with? Basically, you can't start writing for them until you know the answers to those questions. 2. Call to action Once they do find your content, remember to ask them to do ...

Fantastic, benefits heavy copywriting is great, but it is better when coupled with a powerful call to action. And yet, you'd be amazed at how many people completely forget to add one. For hours, they slave over their copy, analysing every word until it is as strong as possible only to forget the call to action. The result? The reader is convinced by your copy, is ready to buy, but then reaches the end and wanders off - all because you didn't tell them what to do next. If you don't have a call to action, your conversion rate will take a nose dive. Many would argue that you should give your customers some credit and they'll know what you want them to do. Well, if that was the case, why is your conversion rate so low? And besides, what ...

Have you ever had someone turn round to you and exclude you from a conversation with the missive - "It's OK, you wouldn't understand."? OK, there would be occasions where it is quite possible you wouldn't have a clue what they were talking about, but that doesn't make their assumption any less irritating. After all, surely it's their job to explain the topic clearly and in such a way that anyone could understand it. It's a bit like copywriting - everyone can write, but writing persuasively and clearly isn't something everyone finds easy. That doesn't mean to say they can't, it just means they are not practiced in doing it, which is why many companies hire in the expertise of a copywriter. The value of a copywriter What's the difference between a copywriter and ...

Nothing stays the same, especially Google. As an internet marketer, you'll understand the need for keeping up to date with the latest techniques and news if you are to keep your website in the eye line of your customers. Google changes it's search algorithms, not to be difficult, but to improve the quailty of its search results. Here's what Google said about the latests change: “The “Panda” algorithm change has improved rankings for a large number of high-quality websites, so most of you reading have nothing to be concerned about. However, for the sites that may have been affected by Panda we wanted to provide additional guidance on how Google searches for high-quality site. Think about… Would you trust the information presented in this article? Is this article written by an expert or enthusiast who knows the topic well, or is it shallower in nature? Does the site have ...

Content marketing - it's what makes the internet go round. Everyone knows that, as an online marketer, you have to 'own' as much of the web as possible to make sure your customers find you online. And that generally means a lot of blogging and article marketing. But because you are reliant on your SEO to get found, an alarming number of people out there are still writing for the search engines rather than their living and breathing human audience. To illustrate my point, here's a short question and answer exercise: So there you have it - you dabble in article marketing and content generation to get more people to visit your website. If it's people you're after, why are you still writing for the search engines? Stuffing your article with keywords may (you ...

    Content, content, content - you know the search engines love it, but writing it without a purpose will have little or not effect to your online marketing strategy. You already know that the regular addition of new content will have a positive effect on your search engine  strategy. It will generate more traffic to your website and more business. That's because you understand that:   Articles/Blogs + SEO = Rankings   But if you just publish any old thing, you could end up doing more harm than good. Think about this for a moment, if you merrily churn out (or pay a copywriter to create) vast swathes of keyword rich articles to your website, are you really adding value? I'm driving traffic!     True, you probably are, but... If you are publishing content that doesn't give your reader anything or ask anything of them, what's ...

  Why is it that so many corporate and professional business services websites are written in a stiff and formal tone? Granted, they are serious businesses, but that doesn’t mean that to portray a sense of professionalism you have to use intensely complex language. The result is generally, an underperforming website that no one wants to read because it’s too boring and the language completely unfathomable. If you want to make someone think… “Yes, this is great. They sound just like the company I need” …you have got to write in an approachable, accessible and friendly manner. Making friends Writing in a conversational tone is the best way to get readers on your side. That doesn’t mean you have to ‘dumb-down’ your language, it just means creating something your readers can relate to. Your website will be instantly more accessible. I know what you’re saying, most of your ...

  Getting someone to find your website is one thing. Encouraging them to read your content while they are there is something entirely different. If you market your business online you probably spend hours producing content that is designed to promote you and your business and build links. To target your audience you would have done a mountain of research to come up with a list of topics for your blog posts, articles and website copy.   Once you’ve uploaded your fantastic value-laden information and hit publish… …absolutely nothing happens. No matter how often you check there are no tweets (not even ...

  In any business relationship, trust is probably the most important factor. After all, if someone doesn’t trust you they’re not going to buy from you. So, when you’re creating your marketing materials, your copy has to convince your readers that you are trustworthy. Before I go on to explain how this can be achieved, I want to look at how you can build trust through blogging. The posts on your blog are very personal to you so your reader instantly connects with you because they feel they know you through your words. This is the exact type of connection your sales writing has to replicate.  The problem is ...

Just about any copywriter you meet would have, at one time or another, uttered the words - content is king So you know how important content is and you understand the importance of social media in today’s marketing strategies but do you know how to use them to optimal effect? Content and social media – a marriage made in heaven I spied a post recently on Social Media Examiner called How Content and Social Media Equal Marketing Success which investigates the union between content and social media. The video interview with Jo Puilizzi (author of Get ...

  STOP – LOOK – LISTEN Those three words were probably drilled into you when you were a child. You would also do well to remember them when copywriting. That might seem a strange thing to say but when creating sales and marketing content, many people just dive straight in. That’s because it’s usually one of those jobs that is squeezed in between other projects. And there’s the problem – content creation shouldn’t be seen as one of those jobs you have to fit in now and then. It’s vital for your business from an SEO perspective and for getting your message out to ...

  Are you a serial blogger? You know, the type of person who churns out a post, forgets about it and then churns out the next. The content you produce for your blog is very valuable so you must make the most of it. Unlike other forms of communication, a blog post won’t disappear or be used as tomorrow’s chip wrapper. Once you’ve hit ‘publish’ it’s up to you to make the most of that content and keep it alive. If you want a long shelf life on everything you post, follow these 6 simple steps. 1.  Follow up The world is constantly changing so your original ...

  Blogging is an excellent way to boost your business’s online presence. Yes it takes time but, believe me, it really does work. I’m a copywriter and have been blogging for several years now and it has really helped be cement my position within the Google rankings. Blogging means you are constantly putting fresh content out onto the web. This constant content feeding generates traffic which is vital for your search engine optimisation strategy. As you know SEO is all about getting found on the web for your chosen keywords. So by writing your blogs in line with your SEO strategy (i.e. using the keywords you want to be found for), you’ll attract readers and as a result, visitors to your website. To help you get the most out of your blog posts and their SEO potential I have ...

  What is content marketing? It’s all about building your reputation as an expert online. That doesn’t mean posting loads of mediocre articles and blogs in the vain hope that someone will read them. Content marketing is about providing quality, informative and interesting information that will add value to your readers. The 3 elements of content marketing If you want to excel at content marketing there are 3 things you have to do: Create content that sells you Write content that’s optimised for the search engines to increase its longevity Repurpose your content and spread the word ...

  How to brief effectively The beginning of your relationship with your chosen copywriter is vital. You’ve done your research; you’ve asked the right questions and you’ve found the perfect writer to help you with your project. So what’s next? Your copywriting need could be anything from website copy or brochure content to newsletter content or case studies. Whatever it is one thing remains the same – you must give your writer all the information they need to create your content. I use a detailed pro-forma to extract the information I need. Sometimes my clients are so great they email me immediately with everything I could possible want to know about their company and product or service. Other times I’m only given the barest of instructions. But that’s not enough. What your copywriter needs to ...

  Copywriters are always having to come up with new ideas. Whether it’s for blog posts, client projects or for their own web copy, fresh and original content generation is a part of their daily life. I’ve been working as a freelance copywriter for several years now and I would be love it if i could just sit at my desk in the morning and create an unlimited number of original ideas without any effort. Wouldn’t that be great? Just think how easy it would make anyone’s life if they could simply produce idea after idea after idea. Never again would a project stump you, you’d write oodles of great blog ...