Winning words: The art of website copywriting

 

Copywriting is a difficult task and can be a drain on your time if it isn’t your forte. But many businesses slave away writing content but end up frustrated – not getting the results they were expecting.

 




Setting the tone

 

Being too stuffy is a common problem. Often in a work environment, we get caught in the trap of sending formal emails and using OEA’s– Overly Elaborate Acronyms. Many people struggle to turn this side of their brains off when writing to their customers. Stuffy, formal sentences can easily put people off – and remember, they won’t necessarily understand your jargon!

 

A lot of businesses we work with have an incredible story to tell and it’s our job to tell it. Don’t forget you’re talking to people and easy-to-read sentences never hurt anyone. Forbes recommends getting away from the office environment to write more engaging copy .

 

 

Copy the copywriter

 

The more time that is spent writing, doesn’t necessarily mean better content. More time spent often means more screen glare and head scratching. Writing copy often works well in short bursts and sometimes good ideas can come at the strangest times – whilst listening to Ed Sheeran atGlastonbury for example. Don’t force yourself to write if it’s just not working. Give yourself plenty of time to complete any piece of content.

 

Speaking of Ed Sheeran (you may have heard of him?), he apparently wrote 100 songs for his album Divide – most of which are now in a bin. Don’t be afraid to write some rubbish first before you perfect things.

 

 

Tick tock

 

Ok, so you most probably don’t have time to write 100 songs.The problem comes when you’re running your own business and slaving away at blogs for days at a time. Often, this is an inefficient use of your time at peak times.

 

Sometimes you can get too involved in a topic and you really need a fresh perspective -highlighted in point 6 in Express Writers’ list of ‘ 14Reasons you should hire a copywriter’ . That’s the point when you need to think about investing in a copywriter.

 




Get a schedule

 

It’s always a good idea to have a blog that you add fresh content to on a regular basis. The important thing about blogging is to be disciplined and to view it as a key part of your marketing.

 




HubSpot offer a completely free social media content calendar . A simple Excel spreadsheet to help you plan all your blog posts, social media and other marketing campaigns. Once you get started, you’ll instantly feel more organised. Plus, you’ll make more effective use of your time.

 

 

Selling the sizzle

 

I recently overheard someone talking about ‘selling the sizzle’. If you’re good, you can make a spaghetti bolognese sound like a tongue-tingling blend of slow-cooked Devonshire beef mixed with the finest ripened Italian vine tomatoes, seasoned with fresh basil from the foothills of Sicily. Admittedly, that’s a bit over the top but you get the point.

 

In the background, a good copywriter will also know how to structure your content for SEO. To get you found for the keywords people are using to find businesses like yourselves. But again, this takes research, knowledge of Google algorithms and site structure to make a difference. Is this something you have time to do properly?

 

 

Lost for words? What happens when your writing gets stale and you need to spice things up?

 

We often find that many of us are trying to do too much – manage a business, keep our staff busy and most importantly, keeping our customers happy. On top of that, we’re putting pressure on ourselves to produce more content and often trying to do it ourselves.

 

Know the signs of when to throw in the towel and handover to the experts. A short read that could save you hours…

 

Would you like to find out more about QuayClick and copywriting ?

 

Get in touch and see what we can do to help spice up your content and transform your business.