Hi everyone,
For today’s blog post, I wanted to focus on a topic that goes back to my roots – writing! I knew from the age of twelve that I wanted to be a journalist. My love of English and media studies at school left me no other option than to pursue the career of my dreams. I went on to study Journalism at university and have since had vast experience writing for various print and digital publications. So who better than a qualified journo to give you some copywriting tips for your businesses web pages or associated blog section?
BLOG COPY
One question I’m constantly asked by brands is what type of content to include in the blog sections of their website. If you’re a business who does not currently have a blog attached to your site, you’re seriously missing out on an invaluable opportunity to engage with your existing clients, as well as the potential to attract new clients who may be interested in what you’re posting. You are also missing out on an opportunity to boost your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) ranking, but I’ll go into more detail about this below.
Having a blog attached to your site, whether you’re a product or services based brand, gives you a chance to interact with your audience in a number of ways.
1.Educate:
Having a blog on your website allows you to interact with your readers in the form of education. It allows you to keep abreast of the news within your industry, and means that you can relay information which may be useful back onto your readers. This may then result in increased sales due to people valuing your credibility shown through your writing. It gives you a one up on your competitors and affirms your stance within the industry sector. For example, if you’re makeup artist, why not consider doing educational blog posts on the correct way to contour according to face shape? Or do a new product review including images and your detailed insight. If you’re an avid vlogger as well, you can include a video within your blog post. If you’re a furniture brand, educate your audience on the kind of timber you use, where it is sourced from and the process of manufacturing. Alternatively, you could even do a trends forecast for the following year.
2. Personalise:
A blog section allows you the chance to show some personalisation behind the brand. It gives you an opportunity to write about the exclusive behind the scenes happenings of your business. Your consumers will stay engaged and interested in what you have to say, if you’re not in constant ‘selling mode’. While promotion is also important and I’ll talk more about this next, your consumers need to know that you’re human too. There’s a face behind every brand, and blogging is a great method allowing your readers to see it. For example, you may be a hairdresser who recently did the hair for a gorgeous bride on her big day. Why not write a post about the happiness you feel when chosen to be a big part of someone’s important day, and the processes you undertook to make your client feel special. Include pictures of yourself with the bride and bridal party. You might even want to get a testimonial from the bride herself which you can also include in a promotional post at a later time. Alternatively, you may be moving offices or the business may be organising a morning tea fundraiser and the blog section will allow you to show your readers the great work you’re doing for your community.
3.Promotion:
Perhaps the most obvious way to use your blog is for promotional purposes – just be aware to not overdo this one. A great way to incorporate a promotional blog post is by offering special discounts, freebies or free shipping for a particular service or product. Then go on to discuss the key benefits of this product or service to entice your readers to actually purchase!
Sometimes these categories may overlap. For example, you could have a personalised promotional post in which you’re a clothing brand who showcases what the girls in the office are wearing that particular week. You can include links to your online shop for each product and also include the RRP.
Remember that with any post, you have the opportunity to then go on and share it across all your social media pages for further reach. This in turn will generate more traffic to your website.
WRITING TIPS
- Blog posts give you the opportunity for long or short form copywriting.
- Keep the writing engaging, colloquial yet informative. Do not ramble on repetitively. Be succinct.
- Write for your key demographic. If you’re a yoga studio appealing to millennials you can include abbreviations and up to date lingo. Perhaps don’t do that if you’re an insurance broker or accountant. Use language that appeals to your specific customer.
- Include lots of images. There’s nothing worse than seeing a huge block of text, it’s intimidating and people won’t read past the headline.
- Research relent keywords to boost SEO.
- Include hyperlinks to external websites within your copy.
WEBSITE COPY
Your website copy is the face of your brand. It’s the first thing people see when they come across your page. Website copy may be required for the following such pages, amongst many others.
- Home
- About
- Services / Products
- Pricing
- Testimonials
WRITING TIPS
- Keep the writing on these pages short and succinct. Deliver as much information as you can in an engaging manner, without bombarding the reader with too much text.
- SEO is key on these pages. Research the keywords to include within your copy, but by the same token, do not overdo it as google will put a black mark next to your name for overusing keywords.
- Incorporate images within these pages.
Need help to get started on your website or blog copy? Get in touch via our contact page today!
X Cat.
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