Here’s a common scenario:

President Bob: “OK, people! It’s been a tough year and this holiday Xmas shopping season could make or break our company. But we’ve got a secret weapon: we’re launching the X-5000. This product has got it all. Our competitors are going to be falling over themselves.”

Sales VP Sally: “We’re going to make this happen, Mr. President. The X-5000 is going to sell itself.”

President Bob: “Lucky for you, it won’t have to. You’ve got your sales campaign ready to go with a custom sales letter, new SEO website content for our custom landing page, newsletter update and all the rest of it.”

Sales VP Sally: “Totally, boss, we’re… come again?”

President Bob: “You have all those promotional materials ready, right?”

Sales VP Sally: “Jerry in Marketing was supposed to have all that ready.”

President Bob: “Well, Jerry’s been away with pneumonia for a week and he was already behind, working on those brochures I asked him for two months ago. You know that. I haven’t seen a draft of any of that promotional stuff. Have you seen any website content? Newsletter? Anything?”

Sales VP Sally: “Noooooo… I just thought he’d be taking care of it.”

President Bob: “So, Jerry’s away. And you haven’t drafted anything…”

Sales VP Sally: “Um, well, copywriting isn’t really my job…”

President Bob: “Jerry won’t be back until next week at the earliest. We have to have stuff going out yesterday.”

Sales VP Sally: “I guess I could draft something.”

President Bob: “I’ve seen your writing. That’s why you’re not our copywriter. And it’s looking like Jerry isn’t going to be for much longer either. That lazy germ-infested weasel…”

Sales VP Sally: “We’re just going to have to hire an outside copywriter to get this done, then.”

And that’s where we come in. Happy holidays, Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah, people.

I’ve gone over some of the standard website SEO strategies on this blog before, but if you want something a little more comprehensive, feel free to go right to the source: Google. That’s right — Google has published it’s own official SEO Starter Guide. It’s actually been out for a while. Here you go:

• Google Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide

Why am I just giving this information away on my website? Won’t my clients be tempted to just read the document and stop using my services? I doubt it.

First of all, Google has already shared this information on search engine optimization with millions of people. And SEO wonks like me have been helping give this information away for free in a more curated form for years. I’ve been giving it away and I’ll keep giving it away.

Second, there’s a difference between knowing the rules and being able to actually do the work. SEO is akin to the game of Chess, in that the basic rules can be learned in a single session: expertise takes years.

The advantage in sharing this information with my clients and colleagues is that they understand the value that an SEO website copywriter provides to them. The more they know about the process, the more they’ll appreciate the work that’s being done — and the better they’ll be able to strategize their website presence for their business.

Need help with your website? Contact us today to learn more about our SEO website copywriting services

1. What is the client selling?
2. What is their target market?
3. What kind of messaging is likely to resonate with the target reader?

Doing my homework is essential. That means talking with the client, reading their current marketing materials, checking out what messaging the competition is using, understanding the benefits (not just the features) of what the client is trying to sell and analyzing the metrics for campaigns that have run before to see what has worked. For a website copywriting project, that research process might require anywhere from a couple of hours to a few days to wrap my head around a particularly complex industry.

That research process can be a lot of fun. Some days, it’s my favorite part of my job. The opportunity to learn new things all the time is one of the best parts of being a professional copywriter.

1. We write well. Sure, SEO for website copywriting is important. But the content has to be readable first. Great copy gets results.
2. We give good advice. Sometimes, clients don’t quite know how to proceed with their communications strategy. We help them see where they need to go and assist them in adapting their communication strategy as their companies grow.
3. We understand social media, online marketing and traditional marketing. It’s not enough to have great messaging. We help our clients understand how to get those calls to action out there in blogs, newsletters, press releases and more.
4. Convenience. For big companies, we’re a handy add-on for their existing communications department, able to take on projects big or small on the fly. For smaller companies, we are the communications department.
5. We’re easy to work with. Customer satisfaction is important to us because a lot of our business comes from referrals. So when you’re happy, we’re happy.

If the messaging on your website content, press releases, brochures or other marketing methods aren’t getting you results, then change it. Particularly with online content, its remarkably easy to switch up calls to action or sales pitches at the click of a button. As this video shows, the same principle holds for your business copywriting as for the guy who’s holding a sign on the street.

1. heatherlloyd: Taking time to put yourself in your target audience’s shoes helps you create copy that’s more targeted and less mechanical

2. charismatickid: If you read your copy out loud and you hear the same keyphrases over and over, it’s time to edit.

3. healymonster: Copywriting tip: Write like you talk. People get sucked into copy that’s easy to read.

4. CopywriterTO: #Copywriting tip: Get your readers’ attention by starting your copy with a compelling story.

5. Mainecopywriter: Copy Tip: Only 10% of your copy gets read. Use subheads to capture attention and draw the reader into the copy.

6. Cbreecopy: Tip: Shorter is not always better. Longer titles are more descriptive and provide better SEO.

7. caseyfleming: #Copywriting tip: Talk about your customers 90% of the time and your company only 10% of the time.

See the full list here. Thanks, Eric!

Boy, were we ever wrong about that.

Sure, our clients have gone on to get us to relaunch their websites, handle their monthly newsletters, get them some media attention, etc. But the blogging ghostwriting gigs tend to be long term. There are a couple of reasons for this:

• The same reason the company hired us to blog for them in the first place – they just don’t have the time to do it themselves – doesn’t go away unless they eventually hire a full-time in-house communications and marketing person. Even then, they sometimes keep us on, preferring to have their in-house expert work on other projects.
• Company owners and managers just don’t understand Search Engine Optimization (SEO). They just know it works. And they want an expert to keep ensuring their website gets traffic.
• We’re still cost effective. A blog ghostwriter is almost always a better use of resources than getting a salaried in-house communications person (or another top executive) to blog for your business.

Are you interested in hiring a freelance blogger to blog for your company or non-profit website? If you’re in Vancouver, let’s meet up and discuss how it works. If you’re outside Vancouver, no worries — we’ve got clients coast to coast and we’re happy to carry on relationships over the phone or Skype. Contact us today and get us blogging for your business

More than ever, companies need me to ghostwrite their company blogs and keep their marketing communications efforts maintained. The summer is also a good time to launch ahead with marketing strategic planning and bigger website and communications projects that perhaps got delayed when things were humming.

If you’re a business owner or marketing manager for your company, now would be a good time to talk to make sure all your projects maintain momentum so you’re ahead of your competitors in September. If you’re in Vancouver, let’s meet and have a consultation about your next marketing or communications project

Kick the tires and see all that we have to offer:

• Website Content Audit
• Website Content Writing and Consulting
• Communications Plans
• Newsletter Writing
• Case Study Writing
• Blog Writing
• Press Release Writing
• Sales Letter Writing

Out of town and prefer to do the consultation over the phone or by Skype? Let’s set that up. We work with clients from coast-to-coast across North America, in Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, San Francisco, New York and more.

It may be sunny and nice out everywhere, but someone’s got to keep that website, blog or marketing strategy running while the rest of you are contemplating the hot sand between your toes. We’re happy to take care of it.

Contact WRITEIMAGE and get moving on your website content and communications projects today

I contacted my friend, Kathryn Haley the owner of the recently-launched Vancouver-based business Home for Her to ask her about her experiences in setting up and maintaining the content for her online presence. Kathy’s business serves independent women homeowners by providing guidance and creating confidence in all areas related to owning a home. Because of the nature of her specialized business, she needs to communicate very clearly what she has to offer her target market.

Here’s what she wrote when she had put the finishing touches on the website:

This site is finally ready to go live and I am filled with excitement, exhaustion and hope.

I am excited because this process has taken me far out of my comfort zone and I have discovered I thrive on that feeling. I must…I seem to put myself there a lot these days.

I am exhausted because setting up websites is not my strength, and it has taken a lot of tweaking, screaming and several bottles of wine. It is a work in progress so please give any feedback or comments to help improve your experience.

There you have it. Putting the website together in the first place is not an easy thing. Frankly, this early step in developing a business can be so intimidating that some people realize that perhaps they weren’t ready to become entrepreneurs after all and quit the project entirely. (That’s awfully sad, but if you can’t do it yourself and you don’t have the budget or willingness to out-task the web copywriting, there aren’t a lot of alternatives — unless you’ve got one of those businesses that can thrive just fine without the web. Selling crack, for instance…). But those who do launch often find themselves re-energized and full of purpose as soon as their business goes “live”.

How do you maintain the website content? Well, you’ve got a few options. First, write the stuff yourself. Again, if you haven’t got the time or talent, the next option is to hire a copywriter, such as… me.

A third option which I often make use of myself to supplement my own efforts and maximize content freshness, is to cross-post content with strategic partners. Of course, it also helps build links which help gather Google juice to turn a lonely website into a well-trafficked, SEO-friendly site.

Whichever method you choose has benefits but can also pose challenges, as Kathryn notes:

The written content for the site comes from myself and from guest writers. I have posted a couple of articles that I have written myself. The content comes from conversations I have with design clients or friends and simply thinking about some of the biggest problems I have had to deal with over the 13+ years of being in the renovation industry.

Once I determine a topic and actually start writing it usually only takes about 1 hour to finish it. My challenge is getting into the head space to write… I find myself second guessing whether readers will think the posts are silly.

What kind of content seems to work best for Kathryn? It’s important to mix it up:

I believe it is the variation of writing styles, topics and experts that provides the best experience for the reader. It creates a ‘something for everyone’ site that has mass appeal. The variation of topics also allows me to use SEO on a wide range of keywords, maximizing exposure to Google and other search engines.

The site also benefits from the cross promotion that each writer brings.

Are you having difficulty launching your website? Or are you finding it difficult to ensure the content on your website is fresh and Google-friendly? If you would like a free consultation about your website content strategy or need a copywriter to get your articles written, go ahead and contact me

If you have other tips about creating and managing website content or just want to reply to this post, please leave a comment!

Is This Content Still “Fresh”?

Why is fresh important? Google loves new content on your website. Old content gets downgraded in search engines. Pages with fresh content gets crawled more often and also have a higher chance of getting noticed by customers, colleagues or Internet surfers who may just turn out to be unexpected but welcome evangelists for your organization.

Bottom line? Keeping your content fresh is an important part of your overall web marketing strategy.