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Introducing ‘website copywriting dissected’ – a new blog series

Friday, March 18th, 2011

by Steve Kellas

A couple of weeks ago, we Stumbled Formstack’s Anatomy of a Perfect Landing Page. We’re quite taken with it, and it inspired an idea: what if we could write about the perfect page of copywriting?

Once we started talking about all the aspects of copywriting that would go into a perfect page, we realised quite quickly that when it comes to writing copy for a website, the answer to what is ‘perfect’ depends on what kind of page – or even what kind of element on the page – you’re copywriting.

More value, more hands-on

So, instead of trying to cram a bunch of thoughts into a post or two, we have decided to publish an entire series on web copywriting, right here on our blog. Oh yeah, and we’re doing this for free.

Why would we do this? Because we think it has value – not just for those who might want to be (or already are) copywriters, but also for anyone who would like to understand what makes website copywriting such a skilled discipline, quite different from other forms of copywriting.

What will we cover in the website copywriting dissected series?

To give you some idea as to the depth we’re going into, our first 6 posts in the series are dedicated to home pages: headlines, sub-heads, calls to action, email sign ups, testimonials, and body copy. Later, we’ll cover:

  • About us pages
  • Team pages
  • Case studies
  • Testimonials
  • FAQs
  • Guides and other information pages
  • Product and service pages
  • Contact pages

In each post we’ll talk about how to write each component, and how it fits into the overall picture of the purpose and goals of the page.

How to keep up with the series

If you haven’t done so already, add our RSS feed to your favourite reader, or subscribe to the Big Star Copywriting Blog by Email.

This way you’ll get the next part of the series each week, and be able to comment, ask questions and talk about the content in real-time.

Would you be interested in this series as an e-book? Let us know in the comments below.

Coming next week: Copywriting home pages Part 1 – The perfect headline

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Web copywriting – the 3 goals approach to successful content

Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010
Steve Kellas

Steve Kellas is the Content Director for Big Star Content

Last week I wrote about reviewing and refreshing your web copywriting. Today, I want to expand on that topic, and give you an example of how a professional web copywriter goes about writing a page, blog post or any other piece of copywriting.

When writing a page for your website, e-commerce store or your About Us section, do you stop and ask yourself what the goal for that page is? If you, as the web copywriter, don’t know what the point of the page is, how will your customer?

Start your web copywriting with goals in mind, and then edit the page to make sure that all your copy moves the reader in a specific direction. Here’s a quick how-to guide to web copywriting using this approach.

Before writing or reviewing a page, set your goals

Be specific. Don’t just set a broad objective like ‘convert customers’ or ‘engage’. Be REALLY specific. Name the exact ONE action you as the web copywriter would like your customer to take on that single page. Here’s a few starters:

  • Add the product to Cart
  • Submit an email address for our email newsletters
  • Enter personal information as first step in sign up process to register for seminar

Did you notice how specific those were? They describe the exact action I would like the customer to take from that particular page. But, these wouldn’t be our only goals for our web or SEO copywriting, right?

Right.

Why good web copywriters always have a plan ‘B’ and ‘C’

Having established your main objectives for the page, you can now list 1 or 2 more (secondary and tertiary goals). These can relate to the main targets, or be slightly more broad in their application. Secondary targets when copywriting for e-commerce sites could be ‘browse more items in this category’ or ‘read a customer review’. They are still specific actions, however.

Use the 3 goals to web copywriting as a guide

Now that you written down your 3 main outcomes per page, you are ready to craft your web copy. Try to write your first draft to point towards your main goal and lean toward your secondary and tertiary goals.

That is, spend most of your effort in setting up and delivering your reader to your MAIN objective.

Once you have written your first draft, go back and make sure that everything you have written directs your reader toward your goal, or supports the main goal. If you have written copy that isn’t reflective of that main goal, then strip it out.

Do this for your blog posts too.

To demonstrate, here are my 3 goals for this post:

  1. Explain a copywriting skill that readers will be able to use right away
  2. Encourage reader to view another blog post
  3. Use specific keywords that will help attract more readers through search engines

Can you see how your copywriting will benefit from being single-minded? Write your goals now, and see if your content does what it’s supposed to do.

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The Tae Kwon Do Guide to Learning to be a Copywriter

Thursday, October 7th, 2010

Steve Kellas is the Content Director for Big Star Content

I used to take tae kwon do lessons. It was fun, and I was in the best shape of my life. I learned a lot from those sessions and part of what I learned helped me to be a better copywriter and gave me some great lessons of my own to teach to my own students in copywriting courses. Here they are in no particular order.

Practice until it hurts

This was probably the biggest lesson for me. I am not naturally athletic, so I had to practice at the gym, at home, and even in my mind, visualising each kick, punch and routine so that when I had to test for my belt, I knew what I was doing. It was really hard, and sometimes all that practice made me hurt physically, mentally, and yes, emotionally. But then I’d see my instructor practising on his own, by himself in the gym, rehearsing his moves. And it was then that I ‘got it’. I couldn’t just learn something once and move on. If I wanted to be an instructor, I needed to practice continually and constantly. Honing my craft. And that’s one secret to learning copywriting successfully – you have to practice it. You have to employ the various techniques over and over again with countless products and services. You need to rehearse and keep track of your killer headlines and calls-to-action. It’s not something that just happens over night for most people (although there are some gifted writers out there). Once you ‘get it’, keep practising – it only makes you better.

Learn to take your punches

In our gym, I got hit. A lot. And that meant that I had to get okay with getting hit. In fact, it was one of the things that I appreciated about my instructor. He was very frank with us about being in a real-life self-defence scenario. The one thing that makes most people do the wrong thing is their fear of being hit. If you can get over this fear (it hurts, but isn’t that bad) then you’ll have a clear head to defend yourself appropriately. Likewise with being a copywriter. You get feedback. Constantly. And a lot of it isn’t complimentary – especially at first. But that’s okay. It isn’t meant to hurt you, it’s meant to get the best out of you. When you get over your ego as a writer (it hurts, but isn’t that bad) then you’ll have a clear head to write better copy next time. You can do amazing things when you don’t think about it. One session that sticks in my mind was when our instructor saw that as a group we were not achieving all that we could. He made us line up on one side of the mats. Then, standing on the opposite side of the mats, he asked us to jump across the room and kick him. One at a time, we attempted and failed. He then stood in the middle of the mats and asked us to do it again. This time, we all were able to jump the distance and kick him. Once again, he stood on the opposite side of the room and commanded us to forget the distance. Forget the space. Not to think, just to do! And sure enough, one by one, each of us jumped and kicked much much farther than we ever thought possible. And that’s another secret of being a good web copywriter – not over-thinking the job. When you get a block, it’s because you’re thinking too much. It’s amazing what you can achieve when you switch your mind off and remove the blockages of thought. Simply starting and doing is enough to bridge the gap and make it across to the other side. There is one big difference, though, in learning to be an SEO copywriter. In martial arts, you can’t make a losing match better; but in writing, you can always edit later.

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3 Ways Digital Copywriting Training is Like Training for a Marathon

Wednesday, September 29th, 2010

Steve Kellas is the Content Director for Big Star Content

Disclosure: I don’t run, unless I’m late for the train. But I write and I run courses for copywriters.

I have never liked running. The thought of running a marathon is not that appealing to me. So why would I choose it as a metaphor for my post today? Because I respect those marathon runners for their dedication to their craft. And knowing a few people who have run marathons, I asked them about their training and what it takes and that’s when it hit me – digital copywriting training is like training for a marathon that you run every 6 months.

Here’s why:

1. You have to be disciplined

My friends and colleagues who have run marathons cite this as the number one element of their training. You don’t just go out and run a marathon – you have to ‘earn it’. They made a plan to improve their fitness and performance to get them into shape and keep them there in the weeks leading up to the marathon itself.

Likewise, the world of the web copywriter is always changing, and if you want to keep up, you have to discipline yourself to keep pace with the changes and constantly evolve and improve your performance. You need to practice and learn new things.

Take classes, attend webinars, read blog copywriting, keep pace, keep up.

2. Reaching beyond your comfort zone leads to better results

I was told you can’t improve your running if you just run the same distance in the same amount of time, week after week. You must reach beyond your current comfort zone and set a goal of improvement and work hard to achieve it – even experiencing discomfort in the process.

The same goes for copywriting. If you want to stay in this career, be prepared to step out of your comfort zone regularly. That’s good. Stay there. Keep pushing yourself to learn something new, to write for a format you never have before. Try using social media to expand your network and discover new techniques.

3. Learn from someone who has done it before

If you are wanting to run a marathon, you could try to figure out how to get from the sofa to the 26 miles on your own, but why would you?

You would join a running club, partner with an experienced runner, get a coach, read books, and take training sessions.

The best way to learn something is to do it under the guidance of someone who’s done it – someone who can fast-track your learning curve and get you started faster than you could on your own. And that’s precisely what copywriting training can do for you. If you want to learn to write better web copy, or how to use SEO techniques in your copy, you should learn from someone who’s done it.

Support and Motivation

Of course, all this training takes its toll. A good coach or trainer is also there to give us boost when we’re feeling burnt out. That’s why when I run a copywriting course, I always tell everyone attending that I’m available after the session – months after – to answer their questions and concerns. I know this helps them because the ones that do make contact always say how great it is to feel understood.

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SEO copywriter, web copywriter, digital copywriter – which one do I need?

Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010

Derryck Strachan is the Managing Director of Big Star Content

If you’re an online business of any size, you will have recognised the need for written content. At the very least you will have embraced the fact that to get anywhere on the search engines you need to have optimised your web copy to include the keywords that are most relevant to your business.

If you’re already trading online or contemplating launching a web business and you haven’t recognised the need for a copywriter, then let’s quickly deal with why it’s worth investing in good quality writing by looking at the different words that are used to essentially describe the same role.

  • You get better search engine results
  • You get better conversions
  • You get better customer retention
  • You get higher spend per customer

That’s it essentially. But fairly compelling reasons to place high value on your web copywriting.

However, in marketing our services over the last few years we’ve noticed confusion in some of our customers as to what kind of copywriter they need – SEO copywriter, web copywriter or digital copywriter?

There is no real difference – there are only good and bad copywriters

There will be those out there who disagree. For example, there are companies who want to invest – mistakenly in my opinion – in the cheapest possible content available in the belief that “it’s only for search”. This is a short-term and ineffective use of content.

For example, creating one well-written press release can have a dramatic effect on traffic and search results compared to writing hundreds of badly written, keyword-stuffed landing pages.

In addition, badly written content does nothing to sell your products or services to your customers.

If you’re writing online you should be writing for people AND search

Any copywriter experienced in writing for the web should be able to write to improve search engine results, improve sales and improve customer engagement, while saving you time on any in-house resources you currently use for content creation.

Essentially, while the search returns may be different if you type each phrase into Google, there is no real difference in the job descriptions attached to each term.

However, there are differences in how the terms are used. In my experience these are not down to any inherent difference in job title or in qualification but due to what clients may be looking for in a copywriter or confusion as to what copywriters actually do (or are supposed to do). I’ve based these observations on the kinds of enquiries we get related to each keyphrase:

Mistake #1 – SEO copywriting is a highly technical form of writing so I need an expert.

Writing for search is not a difficult skill to acquire. The basics can be learned by attending a one-day copywriting course and by watching the results of your work over time.

However, good copywriting IS a skill that takes time to develop. Anyone can put keywords in a sentence. Not everyone can write well enough to sell your product or service successfully – in fact, if you want to get the best results you need someone with experience and a track record.

Too many businesses are still hung up on search results without questioning the effectiveness of their copy to get sales.

Mistake #2 – An SEO copywriter is uniquely qualified to undertake writing for search

This may burst a bubble or two but if you are already good at writing, learning to write for search is not that hard. There are some good courses available online (for example, Heather Lloyd-Martin’s SEO Copywriting Course) but it’s not a skill that requires lots of academic training or years of experience.

Again, ANYONE can put keywords in a piece of writing but that doesn’t mean that piece of writing is going to do your company any favours. Conversely, a writer who understands your brand and your customers and knows how to write to sell can make an extraordinary difference to your bottom line.

Mistake #3 – Web copywriting and copywriting are distinct disciplines.

Yes and no. The writers who get the best results from writing for the web are those who understand the medium and understand how people read online and engage with different content channels such as blogs, social media, articles, press releases etc.

However, the structural differences in writing for the web are slight in comparison to the shared values of good web copywriting and copywriting in general. These include:

  • Understanding who you are writing for
  • Talking about benefits not features
  • Creating a consistent tone of voice
  • Crafting compelling calls to action
  • Writing well-structured stories that people want to read

Mistake #4 – I can get away with paying less for an SEO copywriter because it’s “just for search”

The “just for search” argument doesn’t really hold up. Pay for cheap, poor quality content now and you will regret it later.

First of all, it’s far less effective than better quality content. A good article gets people sharing your content and that generates more links, a good press release gets circulated – again more, good quality links. Badly written blog copywriting can have your keywords in but they won’t get readers and you won’t be posting Tweets saying, “please come and read some of my keywords on a page.”

Secondly, you can’t just put content up and pretend it’s invisible. Everything you write is out there in the public domain and could be read. If you employ a search agency that is producing content for you that you are not checking, go and search for it now because that content is representing your company and your brand online. It’s out there FOREVER.

Mistake #5 – I don’t need a digital copywriter, because they will be too expensive

If you search on Google.co.uk now for digital copywriter, you will most likely find a list of job adverts. It’s intriguing, but digital copywriter isn’t a term that businesses use (in my experience) to find a copywriting service – it’s largely a term that is used by digital agencies as a job title in recruitment ads for copywriters.

I like the term digital copywriter because it encompasses a range of skills that don’t all fit under the other umbrella terms of “online copywriter”, “SEO copywriter” or “web copywriter”.

Being a digital copywriter typically means writing for all types of content including lots of areas that aren’t covered by the web or SEO copywriter terms such as:

It also suggests a broader expertise covering all areas of Internet marketing, rather than just narrowly focusing on writing web pages.

As for cost, it’s understandable when the term is associated with agencies some business owners immediately think a digital copywriter will cost a fortune. Rest assured that’s not always the case and having one source for all your content, that can also advise you on aspects of your Internet marketing strategy, can deliver real value to your online marketing.

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4 and a half reasons not to take a copywriting course

Monday, September 20th, 2010

Steve Kellas is the Content Director for Big Star Content

Last week, I wrote about copywriting training and courses being for everyone, not just for those who want to be a copywriter. This week, I’d like to give you some reasons NOT to take a copywriting course.

1. The person giving the course or seminar is not a copywriter

This might surprise you, but some of the people giving courses on web copywriting are not, and have never been, a professional copywriter employed by other copywriters for their skills. Nope. They might be good marketers and sales people. Heck, they might be decent people. But, you’re paying good money for your search copywriting course, so get to know something about the person who is going to teach the ways of the SEO copywriter.

Copywriters offering to teach you and have been in their industry (be it advertising, digital, direct) bring not just the material itself (which, frankly, you can find in a book) but a wealth of experience, lots of client experience, and a plethora of tried-and-true copywriting techniques that actually work for different and varied businesses.

2. It’s too good to be true

You found a great looking copywriting course that you can take at home and it’s almost totally free! Sorta. I think…Well, maybe.

Good luck with your money, sport.

Even in copywriting, the old adage I used in this reason not to go to a copywriting course holds true. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Don’t believe their masterful hype. Check out the details, phone them up, get a solid outline of what you’re going to learn, and please, make sure you read reason 1 above.

3. There is no support – email, live or otherwise

When you are paying good money for a copywriting course, whether it is distance learning by books, DVD, online video tutorials, a legitimate course program will offer some kind of support for you. A live course obviously has some form of support built in.

Copywriting isn’t like maths. There isn’t always a right answer to your conundrum, so having a way of getting specific help to whatever your question is will make your experience much better.

4. You can’t see any examples of their work

Who are their clients? Can you see any work they have done? If all you can find are the examples you see on their advertising for the course, that’s not enough. Have the confidence that the person who is going to teach you can actually write well enough to get and keep happy clients. If they can’t produce any samples or actual people you can talk to, don’t bother signing up.

And now for the half…

The cost is too high for your budget

I almost didn’t include this reason simply because I think there’s no price too high for a good education and training. However, I’m not blind to the reality of life. I’ve been there myself, and I would not feel comfortable suggesting you break the bank to get take a course. There are plenty of options out there that fit many budgets: day courses, half-days, weekends, online training and so on. For businesses on a budget, find out if your trainer will travel to you and train your content providers at your location and for a fixed rate, rather than per head.

There you have them. Got any to add yourself? Or have you been on a copywriting course that you wish you hadn’t?

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Should a copywriter give the public what the public wants?

Thursday, September 16th, 2010

There’s been a trend over recent years, a sales and marketing research trend that has worked hard at trying to identify exactly what it is that your customers really want. What are their true desires and unfulfilled needs? What is is that you aren’t offering that they truly crave? Where are the commercial holes in your product range and how can you fix them? Focus groups, quizzes, questionnaires, crowd sourcing, interviews, you name it. No expense has been spared in the pursuit of identifying and then meeting, as yet, unfulfilled customer needs.

A bridge over troubled spaghetti

Malcolm Gladwell,  the famous author, futurologist and Simon & Garfunkel mashup offers a famous analysis of the ‘giving the public what the public wants’ take on things in his famous  TED Talk In the name of research, if you get the time, do try to check it out, it’s brilliant. It might also help inspire your copywriting.

In his lecture Gladwell makes the compelling argument that the food industry undermines itself by asking people to share their preferences through focus groups and questionnaires. That the industry is asking an unanswerable question. That people don’t really know or simply don’t have the ability to define an optimum product. In other words – People don’t know what they want.

According to Gladwell,  if you ask people what kind of coffee they like the consensus is – Dark, rich, hearty roast! And that’s true for somewhere between 25 and 27 percent. However… in reality, most people like milky, weak coffee. Who puts their hand up and admits that when asked though? As Gladwell says: “The mind knows not what the tongue wants.” The mind doesn’t know what the mind wants either.

Tell me something I don’t know

So what’s this got to do with SEO copywriting? Simple. Of course you need to understand your audience – to do your research, to get inside the head of your reader, to be able to relate to and empathise with the pain they feel, their hopes and their motivations. Knowing your reader goes without saying. But knowing what moves them isn’t the same as letting them dictate what you write for them. Why not?

Because they don’t know what they want to read.

Don’t try and second guess perfection. Use your experience and your abilities to deliver the sort of copy content that delights and surprises people. You might even delight and surprise yourself in the process.

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How to write a killer blog post in 15 minutes – ten pro copywriter secrets for INSTANT content generation (PART TWO)

Thursday, September 9th, 2010

Derryck Strachan is the Managing Director of Big Star Content

If you haven’t got your own pet copywriter chained to a desk producing hot content all day or you don’t enjoy the masochistic pleasure of constantly trying to find new ideas for blogs then this post is for you. You could, of course, always outsource to someone else. It’s easier and probably cheaper than doing it yourself.

01.  Throw in something controversial

Having a strong opinion is good – stimulating debate is also good. You want people to be talking about you, arguing about what you’ve said, linking to your blog posts.

While being controversial is good, being outrageous is probably not so good, although, if you know who you’re writing for then you know the people you DON’T want to offend (and those you can get away with offending).

It’s my belief, for example, that written content is the single most important factor in any Internet marketing campaign – way more important than web design. I don’t go around shouting about that because web designers NEED words for the sites they design and generally they’re really, really nice people who look kindly on copywriters – it’s an age-old partnership, and that shouldn’t be forgotten in these times of outsourcing and remote working.

I don’t have any such qualms about TV advertising – it’s a total waste of time and money.

02.  Use metaphor

Metaphor is a magic potion to a copywriter, turning him or her into an invincible warrior. Analogy is to a copywriter as Obelix is to Asterix. And simile is like a friendly druid, infusing every post with wit and wisdom. These are powerful weapons in any writer’s arsenal. Don’t get me started on neologism, the copycrats won’t like it.

03.  Respond to other people’s posts

How often have we been told that the Internet is a conversation? Blogs aren’t just a forum for spouting off about your own stuff, they’re about engaging in a dialogue. Responding to other posts in your sector not only allows you to express an opinion on a pertinent issue, thereby demonstrating your expertise (and the fact that you’re paying attention) but can also stimulate further debate. Don’t be afraid to share your opinions – if you have something interesting to say then post comments on other blogs and publicise your responses through social media.

04.  Keep something back for the next blog

When I really get into writing a blog post or article I often go off at a tangent. Rather than pursue too many points in one go, I chop off the tangent and there’s the starter for my next blog. It’s like making sour dough bread and will keep you in freshly baked blogs in perpetuity.

Maybe it’s better to think of your list article like a hydra – cut one head off and two more grow in its place. Each point on your list can generate individual blog posts, or other lists. I’ve already got at least 10 potential blog titles out of this list. For example:

  • Six ways to create an unmissable article title
  • Why lists ALWAYS pull in readers
  • How to use your keywords to build your blog posts
  • Why genuine insight always wins over opinion in article writing
  • The Asterix and Obelix guide to copywriting

05.  Don’t be afraid to recycle

As I said in my last post, blogs have a cumulative effect on both readers and search engines. Success is about the consistent delivery of relevant content over time PLUS dogged promotion of that content through social media, commenting, guest blogs, email marketing and other channels.

Recycling is OK as long as what you’re recycling has value – rework ideas, repackage content – there are new readers out there who never saw your original post, there are old readers that want to be reminded of your insights. Feel free to rewrite old articles with a new spin, use new stats to rekindle old debates. It’s all grist to the mill.

06.  Don’t be afraid to over-deliver

If you have something interesting to say, get it out there. Share your knowledge but remember to deliver real value. There are too many blogs out there holding back on real insight and expertise because they are trying to protect their knowledge. As a copywriter with over 15 years experience, I’m confident that I can share any of my expertise without jeopardising my chances of winning a new customer or losing an existing one.

Those who genuinely value that expertise will recognise its worth and will employ me to improve their content. Those who wish to do it themselves are welcome to what I have to offer – experience and insight don’t come overnight and we still have training courses and products to sell.

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