Entries Tagged 'website copywriting' ↓

Freelance copywriters love words. They are their tools of the trade.

Words are powerful – they can make us feel happy, sad, empathetic, love and hate. But most of all, in the hands of a skilled freelance copywriter, they can be used to encourage, persuade and convince us to buy the product they are promoting.

When successful copywriters write the copy for a product or website, they choose their words carefully to ensure they stick in the reader’s mind. Just think for a moment – what do beanz meanz? Heinz! See, a simple slogan but one that is unforgetable.

This type of association works when the slogans and messages that ring true for the reader or consumer. If they jump off the page and capture your attention immediately, the copywriter has done their job.

As in the example above, the memorable use of ‘beanz, meanz, Heinz’ using a ‘z’ rather than an ‘s’ catches the attention of the audience Use memorable words in your copy. Remember the goal is to catch the attention of the reader.

This is where the fun starts. If your copywriting is going to be attention grabbing then it is time to get creative. Play with words, their spelling, even their context – anything that will create a phrase or headline that will lodge itself firmly within the minds of your audience as forever being associated with the product you are trying to sell.

Online readers are notorious scanners, but there is some copy that is just so enjoyable that the audience eats up every word. If you have the talent to write in this way, do it. You will be a lot more memorable if you can entertain and interest your readers.

Write for your audience and make sure that your copy sticks in the mind. Whether you are writing for yourself or someone else, it is the one thing that will bring you success.

Let me ask you something. What do you look for in a website?

You probably want a website that is eye-catching, interesting and that is going to give you the answers you are looking for.

In that case, why do so many businesses tick the eye-catching box and then stop?

Website copywriting is the best way to get visitors and keep them.

But be warned writing great online content is not as easy as it would seem. Yes you can probably write, and yes you know your business better than anyone. But that is exactly why you should get a website copywriter in to write the content for you.

A website copywriter is trained to write to your reader. You may think that is easy; if it were, every website you came across would be like that, but very few are.

Here are 6 simple steps to help you create a sticky website:

1. Loads of white space

Break up your text into bite size chunks. Short paragraphs will make it appear easier on the eye and more readable.

2. Simple language

Keep your language simple. People will be put off by fancy words and long sentences. Don’t forget to use the magic words.

3. Benefits

Ask yourself what it is that your customer wants. Website copywriting is all about selling the benefits – What is it about your product that will make their life easier? Answer that in your first paragraph and you’ll have them hooked.

4. Titles and subtitles

Break down your text and give it headings. That way, your reader can see at a glance what your page is about.

5. Keywords

You would have done your keyword research but don’t over stuff your copy. Concentrate on 2 or 3 main keywords per page. Use them in the titles and then once or twice in the body text. Remember you are writing for your reader first and the search engines second.

6. Call to action

Once you have your reader don’t leave them wandering what to do next. Make your call to action as clear and simple as possible.

Take a look at your website. Could it be improved?

If you were honest, I bet it could. So please never make the mistake of thinking about the services of a website copywriter as an expense. Instead, think of it as an investment. Any money spent will be recouped many times over.

Great Freelance Copywriting isn’t just about putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. It involves far more skill than that – in fact you could call it an art. There may not be any paint involved but words are intricately woven together into something powerful and compelling. There is no magic formula as it isn’t an exact science.

Before you can even start writing you have to have ideas. Whether you are writing a sales letter, brochure or webcopy, what you produce has to break through all the other sales messages out there, grab your reader’s attention and cling on to them until they have got out their credit card and bought your product.

It sounds so simple, but creativity can be elusive. Everyone has their own way of stimulating their creative flow and here are a few of mine:

• Walking the dog
• Going to the gym
• Read a book, magazine or newspaper
• Write down anything and everything that comes into your head
• Read some websites
• Imagine yourself as the buyer
• Work somewhere else other than your usual place
• Brainstorm keywords

What are your favourite ways of stimulating creativity? Do you use the same methods as me or do you have some far more interesting ways? Come on, don’t be shy share them with us.

Sally Ormond

Aunt Aida isn’t, as you would imagine, a sweet old lady living with hundreds of cats who spends all her time baking cakes. In fact, Aida isn’t even a person. But as a freelance copywriter, I can’t live without her. She provides the backbone to all my writing.

AIDA is all about the elements that your writing needs to make a sale. If your copywriting skills are going to be effective you have to learn how to:

• Capture your readers Attention
• Arouse their Interest
• Create a Desire
• Get them to take Action.

That would be far too much information to impart in one article, therefore I shall break down the process and here we shall look at how to go about grabbing your readers Attention.

How does a copywriter grab their readers’ attention?

First things first, if you are writing a sales letter, your attention grabber is an effective headline. If you are writing an email then it is the subject line.

For the purpose of this article I shall be looking at writing a sales letter. Your headline will be at the top of your letter but, to create instant impact, it can also be on your envelope as this will be your first opportunity to grab the attention of your reader.

So what type of headline works best?

• One giving news?
• One promising a benefit?
• One that arouses curiosity?

One that sells or promises benefit will always be a winner, but the most powerful one is the one that is a combination of all three.

If you are stuck for ideas try starting it with ‘How’ or ‘Now’:

‘How this copywriter will increase your sales conversion rate’

‘Now, even better quality, even lower prices’

When is the best time to write it?

I’m not referring to the time of day here. Everyone has their own opinion on this; some say at the start before you write the body of your copy, others say at the end. There is no right or wrong answer so go with whatever feels right to you.

One tip is to come up with several headlines and then pick the best one. You may find that different ideas occur to you at different times in the writing process.

Forget the full stop

Never, never, never end your headline with a full stop.

Why? Well, what does a full stop tell your reader to do? That’s right, stop reading – that is last thing that you want to happen.

How long should it be?

Quite simply, as long as is necessary to get your message across. But be sensible. A headline that goes on forever will be a complete turn-off.

So that about wraps up how to grab your readers’ attention. If you have any other ideas why not post a comment? It would be great to hear someone else’s take on this.

In a few days I’ll post the next article in this series addressing how you can arouse your readers’ interest.

What I am about to tell you will probably revolutionise your business. It will give you access to one of the most prized commodities of the modern world. It will change the way you work forever.

What am I talking about?

Time.

It is the one thing many of us never seem to have enough of.

Picture this scenario:

It’s raining; I’m standing in the bus queue and strike up a conversation with the guy in an orange hat next to me:

Orange hat: ‘Miserable today isn’t it?’

Me: ‘Yes, beginning to wish I hadn’t left the office.’

Orange hat: ‘What do you do?’

Me: ‘I’m a copywriter’ [Orange hat nods but has no idea what I’m talking about] ‘I write web copy, press releases, newsletters…’

Orange hat: ‘Oh.’

Me: ‘But most importantly I save my clients time.’

Ta Da! There you go, the most important aspect of my role (other than producing killer copy for a range of copywriting services), is that I will save my clients time.

Whatever you do – running your own business or work for someone else – you know how important time is. There never seems to be enough to get everything done.

Shall I tell you why?

Because you are trying to do too much.

If you own your own business you would have noticed the correlation between success and time. The more you have of one, the less you have of the other. This is why you hire people to help you. Your time is precious so you need to use it effectively.

Many business people are capable of writing their own copy.  But it is time consuming. To help your business flourish you need to let go of some of the work. A copywriter will help you with that. Not only will they write cracking copy, but they can also use their creativity to help devise new and innovative ideas.

You should think of copywriting as an investment not an expense. If you do, you’ll see your business soar and you’ll have the time to enjoy your success.