Tag Archives: copywriting

Common Issues to Fix in Your Website Copy in 2022

There’s no denying that websites and web apps continue to increase their power and capabilities. As a result, users have a better experience, conversion rates increase, more time is spent on sites, and more sales are generated.

But despite all of these benefits, there is a huge element that isn’t getting enough attention: Website Copy! Your website copy may be the single most important element of your online presence. After all, a good third of conversion rates rely directly on good quality website copy to help prospects understand what they need.

The internet is constantly changing, and SEO is ever-evolving. If you want to remain competitive in five years, you must regularly update your website and content.

So, here are ten copy issues on your site that will be common in 2022 (and beyond) and how you can fix them.

1.  Engaging Readers with Visuals

According to a recent survey, posts with visuals receive up to 650 percent higher engagement. Visuals are much more interesting to readers than dense blocks of text. If you have eye-catching photos and diagrams, embed them in your posts. They help break up chunks of information and make your writing more fun to read.

Additionally, adding images helps you with SEO, allowing you to explain concepts better visually. You can find free-to-use photos from sites like Flickr, PixelUnsplash or use a service like Canva (free for basic designs).

A good rule is to use a photograph or illustration for every 250 words you write since visuals help increase reader retention. Just be sure not to go overboard; too many visuals can overwhelm your message.

2.  Use Click-Worthy Headlines

Headlines play a vital role in improving your click-through rate and search engine ranking. If you want to get clicks, you need to focus on catchy and concise headlines. A boring headline may get lost in social media feeds or might not fit well with search engines’ requirements.

Your best bet is to keep it short, interesting and use relevant keywords if possible. While there’s no magic number in length, research suggests around 65 characters can increase readership by up to 35%.

The more intriguing your title, the more likely someone will be interested to read further. It ultimately leads to more traffic for your site—and in some cases even increased sales from those who make purchases online. So be sure to craft a compelling headline using relevant keyword phrases and one that drives emotion.

3.  Use Short Sentences

Long sentences are hard to process, especially if they’re filled with industry jargon or complicated concepts. It’s easier to read and understand shorter sentences that use everyday language. Short sentences also keep readers engaged and moving quickly through your copy, which keeps them on your website longer.

Research suggests that readers understand up to 90% of what they read if the sentences are not more than 14 words. Comparatively, only 10% of people comprehend 43-word sentences. Shorter words mean less reading time—which means more chance to pique their interest long enough to make a purchase.

As such, cut down on big-worded bloat whenever possible. Instead of using many buzzwords and long phrases, opt for simple words and clear concepts, so customers don’t have trouble understanding what you’re selling them.

4.  Present Solutions Not Features

Whenever you describe your product, focus on how it solves problems instead of how cool its features are. It’s easy to fall into advertising mode and try to sell your product by listing every awesome property one by one. But since features aren’t inherently valuable, no one cares about them until they understand what value they can get from them.

To give people that value, talk about why solving a problem is important and how much easier life will be when a problem is solved.

For example: Don’t say Increase visibility with A/B testing. Instead, say You won’t believe which button converts better! Test different versions of your homepage buttons with our easy A/B testing tool.

With this type of copy, visitors have context and an idea of what they should expect next. They also have a sense of urgency because knowing which button works better makes readers want to take action right away.

5.  Consider Tone & Voice

The tone is one of those things that can be incredibly difficult to define but important for making your content engaging. Depending on who you are and what you’re writing about, your tone should be light-hearted, humorous, intelligent or conversational.

When writing website copy, think about your audience. Think of how you would speak to a customer over a sales call. Would you be direct and to the point? Or more conversational and casual?

The right wording also shouldn’t feel like a robot wrote it. Rather, the tone should match what one expects from the brand as a whole.

But no matter what approach you choose, keep your goal in mind (to provide value) and know that you’ll need to tweak things as time goes on. For example, you can try using text analysis tools to see if people respond better to jokes versus informative graphs—or whatever other variables might be relevant.

6.  Include Personality

Many startups fail because they’re not aware of how important it is to build a brand around their website. The truth is, consumers are drawn to personality. Studies show that companies with likable characters got more website visitors than their competitors.

Readers want to feel like they know you on a personal level, even if that means just through your writing. It helps form a bond between your business and its customers by giving them an insight into who is behind it all, which leads to greater trust and, ultimately, sales.

One way to do so is by telling stories. It doesn’t matter if it’s personal experiences or ones you learn about while researching. Stories are one of the best ways to keep readers engaged with your brand. So don’t hesitate when creating content—make it fun!

7.  Consider SEO Implications

We’ve all heard that content is king. But even as we go to great lengths to produce unique content, it won’t do much good if nobody can find it. According to Moz, 44 percent of people who search online click on a search engine result page (SERP) one or more times during their session.

Consequently, one should use SEO best practices when writing a website copy. After all, making your target audience happy requires doing what it takes to get your content ranked highly by search engines.

For example, use keyword research tools like Ubersuggest to identify existing keywords related to your business. Also, keep track of organic traffic sources using Google Analytics, so you know where most of your readers are coming from. Finally, use Google Search Console (formerly known as Webmaster Tools) to see how well each page ranks.

Closing Thoughts

The modern web is all about providing your users with engaging content, and a good copy is a vital part of that.

As you create more high-quality content on your website, remember to take time to think about how it will connect with your audience. Who are you trying to reach? What kind of topics are they interested in? And how can you communicate those topics effectively?

Test out different types of copy to see what resonates best—and never be afraid to experiment! You’ll always be improving as long as you keep an open mind. With any luck, in five years, we’ll have much better websites thanks to these strategies.

Three More Types of Writing That Can Make You Money

As a copywriter one has to look for new clients and projects almost everyday. Last month, we delved into the world of writing for money, and listed three types that are always hiring. Now, we’ll take a look at three more, and give you tips along the way on how to succeed.

Reviews writing

Online reviews are important for many reasons. First, they give potential customers some insight as to how well the product works. If there are no reviews, a potential buyer may not take the risk and purchase it. Also, reviews can give the makers of the product criticism as to how they can improve the next time.

That’s why there are many review job postings available. There are two types of review jobs, honest and dishonest. An honest review job typically involves the maker sending you a free sample of their product, and you give them your opinion on it.

Dishonest reviews, on the other hand, may send you a free sample, but they want you to write a positive review regardless if the product is good or not. These are used to trick people into buying a product that may not necessarily be quality.

Shilling may not be the best for some people, so try going for review jobs that just want your honest opinion, whether it’s good or bad.

To write a good review, keep it short and to the point.

Erotica

This technically counts as fiction, but it’s so big in the writer’s market that we fill it warrants its own section. Many clients, whether it’s for a site or because they’re trying to make the next 50 Shades of Grey, want a story that’s steamy and can entice their readers. They may use euphemisms on sites that don’t allow erotica, saying they’re looking for a “romance” story.

To be an erotica writer, you obviously need to have a general knowledge of sex and how you can describe it sensually with words. Also, if you’re a man (as I am), try writing under a woman’s name, as you’ll land more jobs that way. Sorry guys, that’s life.

Journalism

From the big name newspapers to the small-fry indie publications, employers are always looking for more writers, whether it’s guest or a full-time position. Some journalistic-style articles will just require you to do some googling, and others will require you to actually get out there, get your feet wet, and talk to people. Others just may want your opinion on an issue.

Scout for different publications and see if there’s an open job. Also, look for the publication’s preferred writing style. Some may want you to write in a traditional journalistic approach, and others may want a more relaxed, clickbaity tone.

And those are just a few of the many types of writing that makes money. If you’re not sure if you can succeed as a writer, just build a portfolio and send out applications. Who knows? You could find yourself with the writing job of your dreams. Some of the greatest writers only succeeded because they never gave up.

Want to share any other kind of writing that gave you a nice income? Feel free to do it.

Writing about a product? Remember the 4 P’s of Marketing

3 tips to write better blog content
Finding My Fountain Pencreative commons licensed ( BY-SA ) flickr photo shared by Charles Kenny

Marketing marks the most in-demand task of a freelance writer. Writing tasks are integrated especially in SEO strategies. Besides, marketing is the soul of a company because through this, services and products are well-introduced to new target clients. It also unveils the updates regarding a certain product that benefit its users.

As a consequence writing and marketing are linked and it is a good idea for every freelance writer to take a look to marketing basics.

If there is an area that is specially linked with marketing, it is copywriting and even more narrow aspect of it the texts related with products.

Freelancers must always remember the four P’s when it comes to writing texts for products.

Here are some facts that you need to know about the 4 P’s of Marketing

  1. Product – Marketing’s main goal is to introduce product or services. Hence, as a writer, one must know what the product is. Writing about it involves knowing about it sincerely. Facts, details, and every single update about the product must be known by the writer. Highlight the special traits of your product. Enlighten your readers that what you are talking about is a competent and effective product that anyone can use. You will know that what you are doing is correct if your readers are convinced that your product is good through giving a response. In other words persuade them.
  2. Price – This dictates how consumers will react on your product. The ample amount of product will surely leave a great impact on product’s price. However, having low price does not mean good. Setting high price is also good especially if the product is actually made from authentic materials or ingredients. Do not let the expensive price of jewelry appear really expensive. Then, explain the good signs of a well-given price. Of course it depends where your text will be published, but if you are writing a review for a blog, sayins that the product is worth its price is a good idea.
  3. Place – Indicating where a product or service can be bought helps in promoting effectively. This assures the readers that they can satisfy their longing for the product because they can easily avail it in a nearby store. Since most buyers prefer online, freelancers should know how to perfectly explain a good place where people can pay for these goods online, or even at the nearest store. The availability to purchase the product is definitely helpful for students. It is very likely that your client is one of the sellers, so this will be easy.
  4. Promotion – If you are just the writer you do not have to do the promotion yourself, but always is a good a idea that the clients let you know how they will promote the article. For example you can add a couple of twitter texts related with your article if he will use twitter. Depending on the information that you have and your client tastes, you also can link your text with any other promotion that they are currently developing. Actually it will give more coherence to the full marketing strategy.

Here are some of the things that you should know about the 4 P’s of Marketing. Marketing must be nourished and taken care of.

Tips to get value in your Google research

I will share some tips to get more value in your Google search when researching in order to write about something. These tips are not new and I am sure most of the people already know them, but it is very helpful for Internet beginners.

Exact words

If you want Google to search for your words exactly as you have written them then put your words between quotation marks:

“like this”

Similar words

If you are interested in a topic, then you can tell Google to look for similar words too adding a tilde before the word:

~like this

You get that symbol  by pushing shift + ` in an English keyboard.

Search in a specific website

This option is really useful when you need to have an idea about how other posts about the same subject look in the place where you are about tu publish. Do it

site:thesite.com

Or you can focus in a specific type of webs:

site:org

site:com

site:es

Type of file

Yes, it is also possible! Are you looking for a pdf?

filetype:pdf

other example: filetype:docx

Remove searches with a specific word

Sometimes there is another topic that uses  the same words, but are not related with yours. For example, if you look information about the fruit apple you could try

-software -hardware -computer

And you will remove all the sites with these words.

These are the most basic tools Google offers you, and they are very useful in some researches.