Entries Tagged 'copywriting tips' ↓

In the wonderful world of website marketing, there are a number of things you must have if you are to leave your readers fulfilled rather than frustrated.

As an avid online shopper and researcher, I’ve come across a number of websites over the years that have simply left me cold.

There’s nothing worse than landing on a site and having no idea what to do next; or finding a site that makes you go round and round in circles just to find the simplest of information.

So, I decided it was time to form a list of website must-haves. 

Below are 5 things that your website must have, but I am sure you can come up with many more, so please leave a comment below with your list of website must-haves.

Website Must-haves

1. Photo

Whether you’re a freelancer, sole trader, partnership or larger company, make sure you get some photos of you and your team on your website.

People like to know who they are dealing with, especially as they will be (more than likely) doing business with you remotely. It helps to add a personal touch and makes your company appear more approachable and accountable.

2. Contact details

The FAQ page on a website is very useful, but it shouldn’t replace the contact page.

It is so frustrating to click on a ‘contact us’ link only to be taken to a forum or FAQ page. Don’t make your readers jump through hoops just to get in touch with you. Make sure your phone number, email and postal address are plainly visible.

If you use a contact form, make sure you have staff monitoring the incoming enquiries. I’ve lost count of the number of companies I’ve wanted to contact, filled out the form and never heard from.

3. Benefits

If there’s one thing your readers want to know, it’s what are you going to do for them.

They don’t really care about you or your company; they just want to know that you can solve the problem they have.

Your website copy should be firmly focused on your reader, their needs and the solutions you can offer.

4. Clear navigation

 There’s nothing worse than being on a website and having no idea where to go next.

Make sure your navigation is very clear and that your users can move between pages easily.

5. Call to action

If your web pages don’t include a call to action, your reader will simply wander off and look at a competitor’s site that does tell them to ‘buy now’, ‘call now’ or ‘sign up now’.

You might think that any intelligent person would know that you want them to get in touch, but if you don’t spell it out, it’s unlikely to happen.

Over to you

So they are my 5 website must-haves – what are yours?

Let’s see how many we can come up – leave a comment below listing your top 5 must-haves.

This article was supplied by printed.com digital printing, suppliers of high quality business cards members of the Direct Marketing Association.

The author’s views are entirely his own and may not reflect the views of FreelanceCopywritersBlog.com. If you are interested in producing a Guest Post for this blog, please get in touch with your ideas.

When it comes to promoting your business, get your hand in before the competition with a business card that tells your customers who, what and where you are. Next time they need those services, they’ll know who to call.

Every business has to ‘buy’ its customers, in one way or another. Spending your budget on business cards is a very simple but extremely effective marketing strategy. There’s nothing like getting your name out there when it comes to attracting business. Not only this, but compared to placing adverts in papers or on the radio, creating business cards is incredibly cost-effective thanks to digital printing. Digital print runs are short and economical, and supply high quality material quickly. Follow these five steps to make a business card that stands out from the crowd and enhances the professional image of your business.

1. Content

Small as a business card may be, it’s all about getting the right information onto it so that your customers know who you are, what you do, and how they can get hold of you. Leave just one of these out and your cards are as good as useless. Don’t forget contact details, including a website address and phone number. Social media information is vital in this day and age: add your Twitter name or Facebook URL to broaden your customer base. Once you’ve got down the basics, it’s important to add a personal touch that demonstrates why your company will deliver above and beyond the competition. Creating a tagline that’s catchy but not flippant should achieve this. A call to action such as “Visit our website” or “Contact us here…” will put your customers on the right track. Lastly, proofread your content again and again before going to print – there’s nothing like a typo to put off potential customers.

2. Design

Your content won’t work its hardest unless layout, images and logo make it presentable. An attractive design grabs the attention, and images have the capability to convey a message as well as or sometimes better than words – and sometimes in less space. If you go for something a little bit different (check the internet for ideas on creative business cards) make sure it fits with your branding and ethos, so that it really inspires people to think rather than coming across as a gimmick.

3. Be Brand Consistent

Content, design and logo should match your wider branding, from in-store branding to website design. This strengthens your brand and reduces customer confusion. If your business card uses one colour scheme, and your website another, your branding will be weakened. Make sure your designs support and integrate with each other to make your message more powerful.

4. Quality

The best design in the world will suffer if the printing is poor quality. Choosing a print company with a good digital colour machine, and which prints on 400 gsm stock or heavier, will ensure your cards are completely professional. Business cards should ideally be coated on both sides for durability and sleekness. Ask for some test prints to make sure the design prints well.

5. Going to print

Digital printers produce the best quality cards for the least amount of money. Most companies require designs of at least 300 dpi, but ask your chosen printer for their individual guidelines and requirements. The company should be able to advise you on matters such as design and layout, and offer test prints before the full print run.

With a little effort, and attention to detail, the company will be able to produce business cards that perform far beyond the outlay invested in them. The whole face of your brand will be improved by the use of business cards, which give off a slick and professional impression. As long as pitfalls are avoided (including typos, missing content, inconsistent design and poor quality printing), your handy business cards are the ideal way to circulate the capabilities and details of your company, in a neat, pocket-sized and transportable form.

Why did you hire your copywriter?

It’s a fairly safe bet that your answer includes one or two of these reasons:

• You needed someone with experience
• You needed an expert in their field
• You don’t have time to do it yourself
• You don’t have the right skill set to create effective copy
• You wanted to make sure your copy worked

Basically, what it comes down to is that you’re serious about making your business a success and the best way to do that is to surround yourself with experts who can make it happen for you.

What does your copywriter do?

Have you ever asked that question?

Not many people (other than copywriters) understand what it takes to create amazing copy. So, what happens after you’ve briefed them?

Well, they will spend a lot of time getting to know:

• You
• Your company
• Your style
• Your products/services
• Your target market and their needs
• Your brand

Then they’ll research your competitors and what’s happening in your market. If necessary, they’ll make suggestions about how to tweak your original brief to ensure optimum results.

Once all the background has been done, they’ll use their experience and expertise to create your copy, using tried and tested techniques to get the most out of the words.

They’ll  go to great pains to make sure the writing is firmly focused on the reader, providing them with everything they need to counter any objection they may have and to reach a buying decision.

The writing will then be shaped and laid out for optimum effect.

I’m sure you’ll agree that’s a lot of value.

The first draft arrives

You receive your first draft and, in light of all that I’ve said above, why oh why do you turn round and say…

“Oh, I think it would be better like this…”

…and promptly make changes to the layout, wording and, worse of all, fill it with ‘we’ and ‘me’?

Granted, there may be a few things that need amending, but you hired a professional writer because they understand how copy works, and how to use it to convince your readers to buy.

To illustrate this point, let’s say you were about to have some plastic surgery done. After your consultation, during which time your surgeon outlines the procedure that will take place and how the surgery will be performed, would you say…

“Actually, don’t you think it would be better if you did…?”

No, you wouldn’t because they are an expert in their field and you trust their judgement.

Finding the right copywriter for you

Make sure you do your homework first.

Rather than leaving your search for a copywriter until the eleventh hour, plan ahead and look around.

Have a search through Google and see who you can find; ask for referrals from trusted local businesses.

Make a short list of people you think you could work with, and then phone them for a chat. If you get on, invite them in for a meeting so you talk over your project face to face. Ask for samples of their work – and don’t be put off if they don’t have anything to show identical to what you need. They don’t need to be experts in your industry – that’s your job. Their job is to create copy that sells.

As you are going to be working closely together it’s essential you ‘click’.

As for their fee – let’s put it this way, if they’ll do all that you ask for the price of a tea bag, you’re looking in the wrong place.

Good copywriting isn’t cheap, but it is an investment that will continue to work for your business for as long as it’s ‘out there’.

As with everything in life, you get what you pay for.

So, when you next need expert copywriting help make sure you find the right person for you and trust them – they know what they’re doing.

Writing copy might sound easy, but it’s a lot harder than you would think.

I’m sure, at some point, rather than using a copywriter you’ve sat down to write a piece of marketing copy for your business.

Distancing yourself from your business to write something that’s focused on your reader isn’t easy.

How to you make sure it flows?

How do you keep it clear and uncluttered?

7 Ways to keep you copywriting uncluttered

These 7 tips (for copywriters and non-copywriters) will help your writing flow and keep it crystal clear.

1. Focus

Don’t try to complicate your copy by addressing more than one idea. Keep your writing focused on one main aspect to keep it clean and uncluttered.

2. Clarity

It’s very tempting to start using great long words in an attempt to make yourself look highly educated.

Don’t.

The best copy uses simple, plain language that is accessible to everyone.

3. Plan

Always work out what you want to say before you start writing.

Your writing should follow a structure with a beginning, middle and end – just like you were taught at school.

By creating a plan, your writing will flow and follow a logical structure.

4. Layout

The layout can be as important as the content. Use it to clarify meaning by using headings and sub headings to signpost information. Bulleted lists and bold type can be used to highlight key points and benefits.

5. Be familiar

If you are writing about something complex, try to link it to something in everyday life that your reader will understand – using similes in this way can help make complex ideas simple.

6. Don’t be clever

It’s very tempting to add in a pun or two, but remember not everyone is going to find it funny. As a rule, it’s best to keep humour out of your copywriting.

7. Start with the most important

The most important part of your copy are the benefits, so make sure you get them in first in your heading and first paragraph. The rest of your copy should back them up with features and a strong call to action.

By following these simple ideas your copy will flow and get your message across clearly. Give it a try and then come back and tell us how you got on.

Let’s clear one thing up straight away, yes, I am a copywriter and of course I’m going to say you need someone like me to write your website copy for you.

But, as you read on, I hope you’ll begin to understand exactly why it’s essential you use a website copywriter to get the most out of your online marketing strategy.

OK, so you’ve just spent a small fortune on your website’s design. It looks really cool, but it’s full of Lorem Ipsum so you now have to start thinking about content. Your web designer is champing at the bit to push your site live, but you’re dragging your feet because you have no idea what to write.

That’s when the suggestion is made…”why don’t you hire a professional copywriter to create your text for you?”

So, to explore the possibility you start getting quotes and then nearly fall of your chair when they start talking in the thousands of pounds (by the way, this fictional website is quite big).

Finally, you decide the only thing for it is to go it alone and get one of your office juniors to write it for you. The problem is they have no experience in writing for the web.

When your website is finally published, absolutely nothing happens – next to no traffic, no leads, nada, zero, zilch.

Why you need a website copywriter

Once you’ve paid for your new website, why let it go to waste by filling it with sub-standard copy?

Good copywriting doesn’t come cheap, but because you will be paying for a professional writer’s experience and expertise, it will be worth it.

You will save yourself a lot of time and a lot of frustration because the copy will actually work.

Why?

Simply because a copywriter will be able to produce copy that is:

• Written from a unique perspective (i.e. they can distance themselves from your company and put themselves in your customers’ shoes to make sure it offers the information they want to know)
• Written for your customers
• Benefits driven rather than all about your achievements as a company
• Visible to the search engines
• Compelling and persuades the reader to take action
• Designed to sell not inform
• Professional and reflective of your business and your brand
• Simple and unambiguous

Above all, it will provide you with a great return on investment because it will draw targeted traffic to your website and convert those visitors into sales.

If you’re expecting to pay a few pounds per page, forget it.

Good copywriters have been honing their craft for years. They know what works and what doesn’t work. They understand how search works and how to get the most from a page of copy. They have invested a lot in the knowledge they possess.

If you want to portray an image of professionalism online make sure you hire the best people – designers, photographers and copywriters.

It’s your image at stake – think about it.