Copywriting

3 Ways for online copywriters to optimize every page of copy they write.

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Three cogs representing three areas of web page optimization.As an online copywriter you probably focus a lot of attention on applying your skills as a copywriter, page by page.

Nothing wrong with that. I do the same. I always want each page of copy I write to be the best it can be.

But I also have to consider three other factors that will impact the performance of my copy. In other words, online copywriting is about more than just writing words that sell.

Here are the three other factors I pay attention to. Once I have addressed them all I can finally relax in the knowledge that the page ready to be published.

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Love your message, and watch your freelance business grow.

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Love your message.I have been saying this for years, and have woven the thought into various talks I have given, webinars I have created and posts I have written.

But I have never written a single post that focuses solely on the power of finding the right message for your freelance business.

So here goes. Here’s what I want you to do…

Stop trying to sell yourself.

And start selling a message that excites you.

Selling yourself is really, really hard. Emotionally it’s hard to stand up or get on the phone and sing your own praises. Most of us feel uncomfortable doing that. We do it very badly, if we do it at all.

Also, trying to sell yourself and your expertise is a terrible way to differentiate yourself from other freelancers.

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Why a shared vision works better than a style guide.

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A shared company visionWork with any company of a reasonable size and you’ll likely be presented with a style guide.

Style guides for writers can be quite long. They give you instructions on the length of headlines, the use of images and other visual content, the number of words you need to write, the phrases you must use and mustn’t use, the tone of voice you should aim to achieve, and so on.

Honestly, they are a nightmare. A pain in the rear for any self-respecting writer or copywriter.

So why do companies create these ghastly guides? Well, they are aiming for consistency in the writing on their websites. They want everything to look much the same and to be written with more or less the same tone of voice.

Plus there is often some nonsense put in there by their lawyers.

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When social media over-promises.

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Poor quality web content and social media.This morning I saw a post on Google+ from a web marketing company I follow.

The post had a headline and about five lines of text. It promised me information that could dramatically improve my web marketing efforts. It was well written and compelling.

So I clicked the link and was taken to the article on the website.

The article was a crashing disappointment. Just basic information that pretty much any online copywriter already knows.

It’s not that the article was bad. It might be useful for someone who had just begun studying the craft of online writing. But that’s not what was sold in the Google+ post.

This is happening more and more. Social media updates over-promise, and the website content they link to under-delivers.

I have stopped following a number of companies for this reason. It’s really annoying to be tricked into clicking through to an article or post that proves to offer far less than I was led to expect.

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Power up your copywriting with causality, a strong narrative and a healthy respect for cognitive dissonance.

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Snack bars for copywriters.In my last post I wrote about the human obsession with causality, and how copywriters can use this weakness to their advantage.

Today we’ll move to the next stage and consider how causality is a building block of narrative.

I know…it all sounds weird. But keep reading and all will be explained. (And if you didn’t read the last post, you may want to read it now, before you continue with this one.)

Let’s work with an example.

Imagine you decide to invest in gold bullion.

Naturally, you are going to read all about the yellow metal, its ups and downs and the various forces at play that influence its price.

Then one day you read an article about price fixing, and about how gold prices are actually under the control of a shadowy force, comprised of international bankers and billionaire oligarchs.

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On judgment, causality and copywriting.

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bike and copywritingDuring the summer months, after work, I either take my kayak out on the river, or cycle for an hour along the local bike paths.

When I’m cycling I always stop at the same park bench for a rest at the half-way mark, exactly 10 kilometers from my home.

A couple of weeks ago a gentleman sat down on the bench next to mine and starting talking to me. He seemed to have an axe to grind about the number of Muslims living in Montreal.

To support his opinion, he told me a story about how he had seen a couple of Muslims sitting at one of the park’s few picnic tables that are specially designed and designated for people in wheelchairs. But when a man in a wheelchair approached the table, the two Muslims waved him away and carried on with their conversation.

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