Freelance Writer Appreciation Week is held from Monday 14th to Sunday 20th of February. You’re not alone if you’ve never heard of this “holiday” – few people have! However, if you are a freelance writer, this week can be utilised to market your skillset to potential clients in a meaningful way.
Writing cannot be ‘mastered’ – it’s not a craft that has a specific formula. There will always be more to learn; therefore it’s important that writers continuously hone their skills. Failure to keep your tools sharp results in a dull blade, hence why in this week’s blog, we’re offering a few of our top tips on website copywriting.
Website copywriters are experts in creating high-quality text and resources that promote a product or service. Web copy is typically seen on website pages or blogs, although it may be found anywhere that promotes or sells items or ideas online.
It’s not as straightforward as entering keywords into a template and pushing “go” – the very best copywriters know how to speak directly to individuals. The craft goes beyond producing concise content, but also carefully considering your tone of voice and choosing specific words to optimise search engine visibility.
First of all, you need to fully understand your audience. Who exactly are you writing for? 65% of consumers say a brand’s tone of voice helps them build an emotional connection to the company, hence why we recommend that you approach a piece of web copy as you would a conversation.
Speak to users on your website in the exact same way that you’d speak to them in a meeting. A good test for this is to read your text out loud. If it doesn’t sound like what you’d say if you were face to face with your customer, then it’s not right.
Keep in mind – in verbal speech, tone of voice is communicated through pitch and inflection. In copywriting, you portray emotion with word choice, punctuation and style of font.
Think about your choice of words; people tend to remember negative words. Simply rewriting sentences to include positive words can elevate your content considerably – for example, “Don’t get left behind” might become “Get ahead of the competition.”
Just as visitors to your site must be wooed and persuaded by the excellence of your brand – you need to prove to the search engine ranking spiders that your web content is both relevant and useful.
Before you start constructing any copy, you need to decipher an SEO strategy. Here are three important SEO factors to consider when drafting website content. Planning these elements before you start any copywriting will ensure that your page is properly optimised for search engines.
Keywords
Use relevant keywords or phrases in your text. These keep your page focused and help your target audience find you through organic search.
Schema
Schema is code that tells search engines what your content is about so they can effectively index your webpage. Schema also allows you to include more information in your SERP entry, such as event dates, locations, or customer reviews.
Headers
Headers not only help readers scan your page, but H1, H2 and H3 tags let search engines know what type of information and content is on that page and how important it is. As such, your main keyword should be in your main header tag, with supporting keywords in your H2 tags.
To create interest in your product or service, you need to deliver immediately what you have promised in your headline. Only provide the necessary information – nothing more and nothing less.
If a particular topic requires longer copy, ensure that it’s well written and remove any unnecessary verbiage. Make each individual phrase and sentence concise; this will create content that succeeds on a larger scale. The less fluff your readers need to sift through in each individual sentence, the more invigorated they’ll likely be to read more.
Level up your copywriting with these tips and start seeing action on your website. With a single goal, strong copy and SEO-backed content; leads and purchases will increase.
Of course, if you’re feeling a little overwhelmed by the idea of copywriting, website design or social media management, get in touch with Cordis to discuss the topic in greater depth. As a full service marketing agency, we can help you create content that’ll leave your audience hanging on every word!
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