The Importance of Copywriters

laptop-keyboard-1515695Just how important are copywriters?  Forgive us this momentary pause in bias, but, we do happen to believe copywriters are EXTREMELY important to any and every business.  Even more important than SEO specialists who say they can turn every web site click into money in your pocket?  Yes, without a doubt.  While copywriters do often write with SEO strategies in mind, it’s the structured, meaningful content of the writing itself that is going to grab each consumer by the ankles and not let go until they have scoured your web site for exactly whatever it is they are looking for.

PANDAS AND PENGUINS

These days, SEO content necessarily relies more on quality content than merely stuffing a certain amount of keywords into a bunch of otherwise roughly worded text and expecting customers to engage.  Quality content is what great copywriting is about.  Quality content is what a great blog should have been about all along.  Google realized that and, with its Panda and Penguin updates to word algorithms, has decided to bring back higher quality to the text it categorizes for the consumer’s benefit.

GOOGLE WATCHES THE STATS

Google can tell how well a web site’s text works in compelling site visitors to click on links, thereby interacting with the business.  Through analyzing the time spent on the site, the page depth, and the bounce rate, Google can tell how well the text manages to do what it desires to do – produce a call to action from the consumer.  Copywriters who have experience with highlighting SEO in just the right way and are adept at being creative can get great results from a web site’s traffic.

BACKLINKS

Are backlinks helpful?  The answer is yes, when used naturally.  Are you getting the idea here?  Meaningful content.  Quality content.  Valuable content.  Honesty and Integrity with the written word.  Naturally used SEO words, phrases, and backlinks.  All these words/terms equate to the kind of organic backlinking that Google wants to see; it’s what Google is looking for; and it is what Google will reward with higher rankings in their search results.

Copywriters are in charge of directing quality content, along with a healthy dose of creative expression in understandable terms for the greater good of your business, to potential consumers.  Put a copywriter to work for you today.

 

 

Your Editing Checklist (No Matter What You’re Writing)

my-next-trip-1320575-mThe right editing job can distinguish good writing from bad. You could easily have the best text in the world, but poorly edited, it’s just going to reflect badly on you or your company. From your blog posts to your LinkedIn posts to even your press releases, it has to be perfect. Make certain you look for at least these things:

  • Content Readability: Think carefully about your audience for the piece. If you’ve used quite a bit of technical terminology, but your audience may not understand those terms, you may need to do some rewriting. Similarly, you have to consider attention span. Those visiting your Facebook page won’t care to read an entire blog post. Those visiting your blog likely won’t care to read an entire whitepaper. Attention span not only dictates the length of your post, but also whether you need short, staccato sentences, sub headings throughout, and bullet points.
  • Spelling: This is less of an issue than it once was thanks to technology, but it can still be a problem. You’ve probably seen lots of wacky auto correct errors, and in some cases, a spell checker may highlight a word that’s correctly spelled already or fail to recognize an incorrectly spelled choice.
  • Punctuation: Misplaced apostrophes, poorly used commas, and the downright murder of the semicolon spell one thing for well-written pieces: doom. In some cases, a period may be for dramatic effect. In others, though, it may show you weren’t paying attention to the grammar book in 7th grade.

If you’re concerned about your own editing abilities, have someone else take a look. Even if you grab the first person who walks by your desk, an extra eye on the content is never a bad thing, You can also email it to us. With fast turnaround times and incredibly cheap rates on editing, we’re the place to turn when you want to produce quality.

 

Self-Publishing? Why You Need A Professional Editor Now

see-the-world-1-928425-mAuthors who intend to self-publish their own work absolutely need to hire a professional editor; it just makes good sense.  Why?  What you DON’T want to do is be responsible for publishing your masterpiece full of spelling, grammatical, or punctuation errors, etc.  It will not reflect well to your audience, regardless if you have the best idea ever presented to mankind or not.  Mistakes and errors stick in the minds of avid readers, much more so than your message will if not delivered in a professional manner.

ANOTHER SET OF EYES (OR MORE!)

It never, ever hurts to have your work reviewed by colleagues, friends, or otherwise interested professionals before publication.  Doing so, you get other views and perspectives.  Who knows what might come from another interested party’s questions or comments?  It can only serve to make your manuscript better.  Likewise, before you submit your final material for the publication process, a professional editor should be consulted to ensure you don’t have any glaring errors that will come back to haunt you. Professionals are trained to spot these common mistakes and correct them before the finished work is complete.

A PROFESSIONAL EDITOR SAVES TIME AND FRUSTRATION

Hiring a professional editor can also save you time and endless frustration.  A writer writes; an editor edits.  After your initial ideas and thoughts have been formed and saved to a file, and after you’ve read and re-read your work countless times to adjust the words and phrasing, you are not the best person to then edit your manuscript as well.  You need a fresh set of eyes.  Writers are interested primarily in the content, in telling the story. However, spelling, grammar, and punctuation rules must be followed as well or story will get lost.  A professional editor can help ensure these rules are interpreted correctly and adhered to.

LANGUAGE USE HELPS PERFECT THE WRITTEN WORD

Many times, a professional editor is also able to improve language use, style, and even tone; therefore, it might be possible to communicate your ideas and thoughts even more effectively than your initial efforts.  There can be many concerns related to language use, as well as style usage.  Professional editors can help prevent common mistakes and also, at times, improve word choices.

An experienced author realizes he/she can use all the help available.  You want the best publication possible, right? You want it to be not only rich in content, but professional in language use, style, and tone as well.  A professional editor is a must; even if you consider yourself to be a good editor, one typically should not edit one’s own work.

 

First Person? Third Person? Should I Care?

self portraitWe write a lot of content in third person. It tends to sound more professional. In fact, almost all of the blog posts and article marketing pieces we write are in third person. We handle some second person stuff too. We even handle a lot of plural first person text. What we don’t handle very often is first person. Confused? Here’s a quick grammar lesson that ought to take you back to 7th grade. First person content is when you say “I,” or “Me,” in the text. In the plural form, it’s “We” or “Our.” Second person is “You.” Third person is “He” or “She.” Need a deeper explanation? Here’s one that may help. What works for your site? It depends a bit on what you’re looking for.

In some cases, you’ll absolutely want to go with first person. it offers a more personal feel. In other cases, it’s going to sound completely conceited. Figuring out whether you have the right tone is difficult. Try writing a few sentences of your site. Does “Please use my services.” sound okay? If not, try something like “Use the products of XYZ corporation for better widgets.” Sound any better?

It may take some trial and error to choose the right perspective for your site or blog, but the key is to stay consistent. Need help? Check out our writing services for the professional touch.