copywriting tips - Express Writers

5 Tips on How to Come Up with Fresh, Inspiring Ideas When Copywriting Gets Repetitive

December 31, 2020August 5, 2013 by Adam Oakley

By now, most copywriting have learned this valuable lesson by heart: accurate, inspiring, pertinent, properly optimized, 100% unique web content is a must-have in any given set of circumstances. However, when it comes to putting theory into practice, numerous writers have a hard time trying to deliver a powerful, compelling message to the same audience, over and over again. After all, how many times could you possibly elaborate and share cleverly disguised marketing messages serving the same purpose, without becoming redundant and incredibly boring? Here are a few useful tips, showing you how to come up with beautiful, useful, invigorating creative ideas, while proving that there is life even after the most terrible writer’s block.

How You Can Be a Better SEO Copywriter in 3 Steps

January 1, 2021July 23, 2013 by Adam Oakley

3 Ways to Tap Into Your Creativity Like Never Before

Being a better SEO copywriter takes one thing, and one thing only: more writing. The old axiom is to commit to write 500 words every day, and maintain that schedule no matter what you’re writing about, but how are you supposed to come up with consistently great ideas for topics to write about? Content is king when it comes to SEO copywriting, and maintaining consistently great content is the key to success in the online realm, but many business owners can feel more than a little out of his or her depth when trying to keep up with a rigorous writing schedule, even if it is only 500 words per day, if they key to maintaining success is consistently engaging content.

Make Your Readers Love You With These SEO Copywriting Tips

January 1, 2021July 17, 2013 by Adam Oakley

When doing SEO copywriting, it’s easy to get bogged down in the “textbook” methods, and lose sight of the reader.

But writing without your reader in mind is simply a waste of time.

After all, being on the front page of Google isn’t going to do you any good if your content isn’t relevant, compelling, or engaging enough to draw a reader in.

At the end of the day, your goal as a copywriter should be to make readers love you.

That’s not to say you should completely ignore the basic tenets of SEO.

But you do need to find a balance between appeasing Google’s webcrawlers as well as your human audience.

How To Win at Social Media Copywriting

January 1, 2021July 6, 2013 by Adam Oakley

Social media: it’s become the standard for how we communicate, connect, and synthesize world news. Today upwards of 70% of the U.S. population has a profile on at least one social media platform. By 2018, the number of social media users around the world is projected to grow to 2.5 billion. With those numbers in mind, it’s clear that social media copywriting is more important today than it’s ever been before. While many people assume that all social posts are created equal, this simply isn’t true, and anyone who spends any time in the world of social media likely knows that great social media copywriting can go a long way regarding engagement and conversions. While social media copywriting is a bit easier said than done, this post is designed to help you hone your skills and start overhauling your social presence today. Read on. Why Social Media Copywriting Matters In addition to the fact that social media is becoming a near-universal method of connection, the people using social media are also becoming more discerning. Before virtually every brand on earth had a Facebook page, it was easier for companies to create content that stood out – partially because there wasn’t a lot to compete with. Today, though, Facebook alone sees the sharing of 30 billion pieces of content each month, and it’s getting tougher and tougher for brands to create content that gets noticed. While it’s unrealistic to expect that social saturation will slow down anytime soon, the one thing companies can do to compete is ensure that the content they create and publish on social media is as quality and relevant as possible. And the best way to do this is by focusing on social media copywriting. 5 Smart Tips to Improve Your Social Copywriting Great social media copywriting isn’t born in a day. Instead, it takes months (and, in some cases, years) to perfect. While few marketers have the patience to sit with it long enough to learn what works and what doesn’t, the people who do will find that, by improving their social content, they can subsequently enhance their entire social following. This, in turn, helps the brand build a stronger social presence and promotes things like sales, shares, and engagement, all of which promote a positive SEO cycle that helps a company dominate the internet. With that in mind, follow these five tips to improve your social media marketing, starting today: 1. Niche down: write to your target audience, rather than social media at large Right now, 78% of the U.S. population has a social media account, and the worldwide number is pushing 1.96 billion. As you can imagine, trying to write to all of those people at once will only cause your content to sink, and will simply mean that you don’t reach anyone effectively. While it’s important to write to your target audience in all of your online copywriting, nowhere is this more critical than on social media. Thanks in large part to the sheer saturation of social media, ensuring that you’re targeting your content to your primary audiences is critical, and the companies that do it are the ones with the best chance of enjoying a high ROI for their social material. While there are thousands of examples of businesses that are great at this on social media, one of my favorites is Innocent Drinks. The UK-based smoothie and juice company’s Facebook page is filled with material that caters to their audiences’ concern over sustainability, human rights, and the environment. Don’t get them wrong, though, Innocent Drinks isn’t all work and no play. They pepper things with humor to keep them light, and they do a great job of engaging their target audience as a result. Another company that does this very well is Bogs Footwear. Specializing in waterproof, insulated boots for men and women, the company’s social profiles are filled with social media copywriting that’s designed to appeal to families and outdoor enthusiasts. It’s wholesome, engaging, and “awe”-worthy throughout, and it just works. While these two companies have different target audiences, they both speak to them well, and they demonstrate exactly what is possible when you speak to your audience (rather than the massive population of Facebook as a whole) in your social copywriting. 2. Keep it brief – social media was designed for brevity While platforms like Facebook support long-form content more than, say, a platform like Twitter, it’s still important to keep all of your social media copywriting as brief as possible. This does not mean that you should sacrifice detail or quality in the name of meeting a character limit – only that social media is meant for skimming, and you’ll get more engagement on your posts if they’re easy to interact with in just a few seconds. To help you get an idea of how long the optimal social post should be, Buffer put together some research on the topic. According to them, Facebook posts with 40 characters receive a whopping 86% more engagement than longer posts. Tweets are ideal when they’re between 71-100 characters, and Google+ posts perform best around 60 characters. While these may seem too short, remember that you can always add a visual to help demonstrate your point, or provide a URL where readers can dig into a longer post, if they choose. No matter what you do, though, keeping your in-feed social media copywriting brief will work wonders in making it more efficient. With that in mind, cut unneeded words, and work to alter your copywriting so you learn to drive your message home in a succinct, compelling, and compact way. For some tips on how to do this, check out The Day You Became a Better Writer, by author and Dilbert creator, Scott Adams. 3. Pepper your social content with quality visuals While not a “copywriting tip,” per se, the inclusion of visuals is critical for effective social copy. In addition to the fact that adding visuals to your social content can help illustrate your points more effectively, they can also have a dramatic positive effect … Read more

A Copywriting Guide In 10 Slides

December 31, 2020June 21, 2013 by Adam Oakley

What Is Copywriting (In 10 Slides) – Express Writers from Julia McCoy This comprehensive copywriting guide visualizes in 10 quick-read slides what it takes to be a copywriter, what is involved in great copywriting, and real life examples of copywriting (the good and bad). For more copywriting tips and strategies, subscribe to The Write Blog. Join our weekly Twitter chat where we talk up-to-date principles on content marketing, copywriting and more with guest experts: #ContentWritingChat at 10 AM CST with @ExpWriters on Twitter. Copywriting Slideshare written by Julia McCoy, founder of Express Writers.

5 Simple Secrets to Copywriting Glory

March 23, 2022April 29, 2013 by Adam Oakley

It’s a question fledgling copywriters everywhere want to know: What separates good copywriting from great copywriting? How do you start making your skills and talents speak for themselves, so your work is more in-demand and highly-valued? (And, equally as important, worth more $$$? ) These simple secrets hold the answer. To reach the highest echelon of copywriting, take them in stride. [bctt tweet=”You know the basics of writing good copy, but something might be missing. If you’re craving to improve your writing skills to create a top-notch copy, check out @JuliaEMcCoy’s 5 #copywriting secrets ✍️✍️” username=”ExpWriters”] 5 Simple Secrets to Write Amazing Copy Every Time If you can master these secrets, you’re well on your way to greatness. GIF: Tenor 1. Make It Personal Above all, the greatest, most effective copywriting is personal to the target reader. Whether that means a 65-year-old grandmother, an investment banker, or a college student, your writing needs to hit them where it matters. It should speak to their wishes, fears, pain points, and needs. No two readers are alike. Treat their problems and desires as important, unique, and vital, and you’ll not only grab their attention – you’ll strum their heartstrings. Tips to Make Your Copywriting Personal Get to know your target persona as if they’re your best friend. Understand their personality, demographics, and preferences on a deep level. (Interviews, surveys, and social listening come in handy, here.) Imagine them as a real person sitting in front of you. What do they look like? How might they talk about their problems, interests, and dreams? Speak directly to them in the copy: Ask them questions. Repeat their realities/problems back to them so they feel heard. Empathize with them. Address them using the pronoun “you” (e.g. “Do you wish you had more free time?”) [bctt tweet=”‘…the greatest, most effective copywriting is personal to the target reader. Whether that means a 65-year-old grandmother, an investment banker, or a college student, your writing needs to hit them where it matters.’ @JuliaEMcCoy ” username=”ExpWriters”] 2. Surprise, Delight, or Entice Your Reader Besides making your copy personal, clinch grabbing your readers’ attention by adding a pinch of surprise, delight, or enticement to your copy. Joanna Wiebe of Copy Hackers is especially good at doing this. Look at this blog post she wrote called “Here’s why it’s so hard to write convincing copy”: In the introduction, she starts out by saying something we’re not expecting: That element of surprise (her against-the-grain opinion about online readers) hooks us and makes us commit to reading more. We want to know why she’ll never forgive Jakob Nielsen (of the Nielsen Norman Group). Another example from another great copywriter, Henneke Duistermaat of Enchanting Marketing, is this blog post on banishing perfectionism: In the post, Henneke takes a moment to describe why imperfection is actually perfect. She uses a metaphor about stained glass in a church to do it, and transports us in the process: For just a moment, you’re caught up in imagining that stained glass, and you understand Henneke’s meaning much more deeply. How delightful! As you can see, there is more than one way to inject an unexpected element of surprise, delight, or wonder into your copy. No matter how you do it, it’s an effective trick that snags and holds your reader’s attention – and keeps them coming back for more. [bctt tweet=”‘Besides making your copy personal, clinch grabbing your readers’ attention by adding a pinch of surprise, delight, or enticement to your copy.’ @JuliaEMcCoy on her 5 simple secrets in great #copywriting” username=”ExpWriters”] 3. Write Subheadings Like You Mean It Writing great copy is more than wordplay. In blog/article writing, particularly, it’s also about helping your reader achieve an understanding of your topic as seamlessly as possible. While you’re writing, think of ways to make the text easier to understand. What can you do to ease comprehension? One major way is to focus on writing informative subheadings for each section of your copy. At a minimum, they should summarize what each section is about. If you want to go further (and you should), try to add these other elements: Describe how the reader will benefit from reading the subsection. This subheading from a Smartblogger post shows how it’s done (the promised benefit: read the editing tips and you’ll transform your next blog post): Use intriguing words to incite curiosity. Scour your vocabulary and consult a thesaurus to use interesting verbs and adjectives to spice things up. Look at this example (from the same Smartblogger post as above): Tell a story with your subheadings (connect them to each other). Let’s look at another post by Joanna Wiebe for a good example. In this post on time management, she uses the subheadings to both describe each section of the article as well as tell a story (structured like she’s talking it out with herself). I’ve compiled them so you can see the whole picture: Good stuff, right? Try this technique in your own copy and see how much more compelling it becomes. [bctt tweet=”‘While you’re writing, think of ways to make the text easier to understand. What can you do to ease comprehension? One major way is to focus on writing informative subheadings for each section of your copy.’ @JuliaEMcCoy ” username=”ExpWriters”] 4. Write with SEO in Mind The best copywriters use keywords in their copy without breaking the flow or making the tone sound unnaturally stilted. Keyword-optimized copy is worth its weight in coffee (because I love coffee), so this ability is major for copywriting greatness. The thing is, great copywriters never need to count keywords. They have a natural feel for where to use them, how to use them, and when to use variations, synonyms, and related terms. If you’re still learning, though, there are ways to make your SEO copywriting better. Don’t be afraid to play with grammar in keywords. Keywords that sound awkward WILL make your copy sound equally awkward (“dentists San Diego” et. al, I’m looking at … Read more

7 Tips to Write Powerful Headlines That Are Content Superheroes

June 19, 2024April 17, 2013 by Adam Oakley

Good headlines are tough to write. But, when you get them right, they pack a punch and make your content unstoppable. That said, the best headlines are not always showy. It’s not about the shock factor. It’s not about making your readers’ heads explode. It’s mostly about being useful. That’s right – usefulness matters more than writing a pretty, punchy, or compelling sentence. When you look at headline writing from this angle, the task gets a whole lot easier. So, what can you do to make your headlines uber-useful? How can you write them so they speak to the heart of your readers (and thus become as powerful as Wonder Woman)? Follow me! 7 Smart Tips to Write Powerful Headlines (& Add ‘Oomph’ to Your Content) [bctt tweet=” With thousands of content out there, having an irresistible headline can make your post stand out. How do you do this? Read @JuliaEMcCoy’s 7 tips on writing powerful headlines. ” username=”ExpWriters”] 1. Make Your Headlines as Important as the Body Copy Rule number one: Don’t just dash off your headline as an afterthought after you write your main content. Don’t scribble something down and call it a day. Instead, give your headline the time and craft it needs to soar. Write variations of your headline using different words and phrasing. Play with various sentence lengths. Add numbers, turn it into a question, or try deleting it and starting from scratch. If you want the headline to be good, you have to give yourself time to hone it, edit it, and polish it until it shines. Great example: Jeff Goins, a successful online writer, spends as long as 30-60 minutes deliberating on his headlines – and, more often than not, he still goes back and changes them later. [bctt tweet=”‘Rule number one: Don’t just dash off your headline as an afterthought after you write your main content. Don’t scribble something down and call it a day.’ – @JuliaEMcCoy on writing powerful headlines.” username=”ExpWriters”] 2. Write Headlines with Their Purpose in Mind (for Users and for Google) While crafting your headline, think about the job it does in your content. This covers two areas: The purpose headlines serve for your readers: It tells readers what to expect and what your post is about. It (hopefully) piques their interest. It aligns with their information needs. The purpose headlines serve for content, SEO, and Google: It summarizes the topic of the post. It uses your focus keyword in a pivotal spot for SEO – the H1. It signals to Google that your content is topically relevant to various search queries. If/when your post ranks, the headline will often determine whether users click or not. As you can tell, the two main purposes of headlines intermingle. Crafting good headlines for your readers is good for SEO and Google. In Google’s Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines, Google explains that the page title/headline is part of the main content (MC). Above all, it must be descriptive and helpful. As you create your headline, keep these roles it plays in the back of your mind. Try to make sure it fulfills them. 3. Always Address the Reader (Entice Them, Play to Their Needs, or Grab Their Attention) If you’re not talking to your reader in your headline, you’re doing something wrong. Headlines MUST address the reader to be truly useful for them. This can mean a few things: Talking to them directly using “you” Asking them a question Telling them something amazing/surprising/useful/interesting Above all, describing the content they’re about to read Addressing your reader is always more engaging than talking about yourself. Your readers don’t care about how great you are – they want to know what’s in it for them. Give it to them! For proof, let’s look at BuzzSumo’s oft-cited study of 100 million headlines. They found that the headline phrase that got the most engagement on Facebook was “will make you”. In fact, it won by a landslide. Is it any coincidence that this phrase contains the word “you”? I don’t think so. As BuzzSumo explains, this phrase serves as a link between the content and the potential impact it will have on the reader. When this phrase is present in a headline, the reader KNOWS how they will benefit from consuming the content because you’re telling them directly. The typical headlines from the study with this phrase all include a direct benefit – how the content will make you feel, what it will make you do, or how it will make your life better. For best results, follow suit and talk to your readers in your headline. 4. Focus on Benefits for the Reader We already addressed this briefly in point #3, but it bears emphasizing: When you talk to your readers in the headline, tell them about a major benefit of reading the content. What will your blog post help them achieve? How will it make them smarter/savvier? What will they learn? Will it help them boost their lives, business, relationships, SEO, marketing, skills, etc.? The second you add a benefit, your headline becomes more engaging and powerful 5. Use Strong Adjectives and Verbs A headline full of weak words will not do any heavy lifting for your content. Instead, you need strong adjectives and verbs in your headlines that pack a punch. Examples of Weak Adjectives and What to Use Instead Any adjective with “very” in front of it (e.g. very pretty, very smart, very good) – Adding “very” is a weak way to pump up a lackluster adjective. Nix this formula and instead use one word that’s stronger. Replace “very pretty” with “gorgeous, or “very smart” with “genius”. (The chart below has more examples.) Image: ESLBuzz Examples of Weak Verbs and What to Use Instead Weak verbs are action words that don’t convey much information. When you hear or read them, you can’t quite picture the action they’re supposed to represent. Here are some examples: How to Have a Lot of Money Picture … Read more

Copywriting that Sells: 5 Tips To Help You Write For Your Buyer

December 31, 2020April 13, 2013 by Adam Oakley

While copywriting is all the rage in the digital business world, online content is only worthwhile if it can drive real results. Copywriting that sells is worth its weight in gold, and it has the potential to overhaul a company’s online presence entirely. From driving more conversions to helping businesses rake in the cash and build their bottom lines, persuasive copywriting is a powerful sales machine, and every company wants it. The catch, though, is that not many people know how to craft copywriting that sells. To be persuasive and compelling, content needs a precise mixture of things, and copywriters and businesses who understand how to create this are at a distinct advantage. With that in mind, read on for our top five tips to develop copywriting that sells. Copywriting that Sells: 5 Stellar Tips to Start Creating Conversion-Oriented Copy Today Think about a brand like Apple. Among its followers, Apple can do virtually no wrong. People rave about its products, its phones practically began the smartphone era, and every time it has a product launch, people sleep in tents on sidewalks for days in preparation. Now that is a company that knows how to create material that sells. Of course, it’s true that Apple has developed a premium product, and that you can’t enjoy such widespread evangelism without it, but it’s also true that Apple knows a thing or two about copywriting that sells. While Apple is one of the most prominent examples of a brand that does this well, it’s far from the only one. For many marketers, the prospect of becoming a sales machine like these major brands feels out of reach. Fortunately, that’s not the case at all. Whether you work in e-commerce or you have a local, brick-and-mortar business that’s in need of a sales boost, creating compelling copy is an excellent way to reach your goals, and these five tips can help you do it. 1. Create a headline your readers want to click When it comes to copywriting that sells, your headline is, without a doubt, the single most important piece of your content. If you think about it for a minute, a headline is a gatekeeper. It tells people what your article is about, and then invites them in. If your headline is a magnificent one, it brings people in in droves. If it’s not, people get bored and go looking for other content. With this in mind, you need to the time to craft incredible headlines. While learning to develop click-worthy headlines can be a challenge, it’s one investment is virtually guaranteed to earn a high ROI. By asking your readers a question in the headline, inserting power words, inspiring curiosity, or using a negative headline to inspire a reader’s sense of risk aversion, there are dozens of ways to ensure that your headlines are doing what you want them to do with your content: drawing readers. Although headlines are frequently overlooked in online content, they’re easily some of the most important pieces for promoting conversions and bringing in new traffic – all of which helps promote big sales down the road. 2. Break your content into short chunks If we’re honest, we can all agree that content that looks and feels like an unabridged dictionary isn’t very fun to read. And if you click onto a web page that’s just one long string of unbroken text, you’re probably going to click “back” in a hurry. When you evaluate copywriting that sells, you’ll notice that 100% of it is broken up into short, succinct sentences. Again, Apple is a fantastic example of this. Heck – the iPhone 7 announcement on their website is only four words long! By breaking your text up into short chunks, you do two things: you make it easier for readers to scan and you set your most important ideas apart. This, in turn, allows users to navigate swiftly through your content and can help your viewers make more sense of the information within it. 3. Keep your content credible with facts and statistics For copywriting to be compelling, it has to be credible, and there’s virtually no better way to ensure this than to add relevant facts and statistics to your copy. Well-researched facts pack a punch that almost nothing else does, and you can bet that readers will be much more willing to bite if they know there’s a financial, social, or emotional reason to do so. With this in mind, use facts and statistics to back up your statements. If you’re claiming a product will improve a person’s quality of life, add a bit of research to demonstrate your point. If you’re solving a common problem, add a statistic to prove just how common it is. People who are going to purchase anything from you must first be able to trust what you say, and quality stats are some of the best ways to inspire consumer confidence. Additionally, inserting relevant facts and statistics can help improve the authority of your copy and serve to position you as an expert in your industry. 4. Focus on the benefits rather than the features In the world of sales, this is an oldie but a goodie. When people make purchasing decisions, they tend to focus on the benefits first and the features second. For example, if you are looking for an in-home voice assistant system, you might want one that would help you streamline your days and stay organized. If a company appealed to those desires with copywriting meant to showcase the benefits and the lifestyle a voice assistant would offer, you’d probably bite. When you’re crafting your online copy, focus on selling a lifestyle or a feeling first, and the actual tangible facts about the product second. To revert to the Apple example once more, Apple doesn’t sell phones and computers – it sells efficiency, beauty, creativity, and “buck the man” rebellion. If it only focused on the features of each of its products, it’s safe to bet that the company wouldn’t have grown into the globe-dominating enterprise it … Read more