Style, tone, paragraphs, bullet points, target audience, call to action blah blah blah… You already know all about that, right? If you don’t already have a basic understanding of how to write copy you might want to read this article first before you jump the gun. But for all you Intermediate to Advanced Copywriters out there… I’ve got a treat for you!
A
It’s all about the Triple A’s: AUTHORITY, AUTHORSHIP and AUTHOR RANK. Use Google Authorship markup to boost your authority and AuthorRank which will in turn influence your PageRank.
B
Aim for high quality and organic BACKLINKS. The only way to obtain these natural links back to your website is by publishing content of high caliber. Think to yourself… Will this content bring me the kind of links Google sees as an indication of quality?
C
COPYBLOGGER.COM. Subscribe, read and learn! Follow Brian Clark, founder of Copyblogger.com on Twitter and other industry leaders for the latest in copywriting. Build a relationship with these individuals for Guest Blogging opportunities.
D
Understand where DUPLICATE content issues come from and how to deal with them. You can read more about how duplicate content affects rankings and domain authority in our Articles Section. It’s important to understand in order to avoid Google penalties.
E
Skilled copywriters don’t just write for the sake of it. They deliberately elicit the power of EMOTIONS. Anger, Disgust, Fear, Happiness, Sadness, Surprise. Learn how to craft your copy to make people feel the myriad of emotions that exist. This will lead to higher conversions and ROI.
F
Be aware of the FRESHNESS FACTOR. Rewrite old content and create new content consistently in order to attract more people and rank higher in the web results.
G
GOOGLE Analytics, Trends and Insights for Search. Make use of all the free tools Google has given you to see if your copy sucks (visits, average visit durations, bounce rates and conversions) and to also keep up to date with what’s trending and what people are searching for.
H
Study Abraham Maslow’s (1908-1970) HIERARCHY of needs and motivations from physiological, safety, love and belonging to esteem and self actualization. Apply it to your work in order to produce copy that converts.
I
Think INTERNATIONAL. Can you write for a global market? Are you prepared for the day when you get a client from Australia or Britain? Be sensitive to the subtle nuances of the English language and educate yourself about different cultures.
J
Be prepared to JUGGLE multiple projects at a time. Time management and organization is key here. Stop procrastinating and don’t let your perfectionist qualities get in the way of getting the job done.
K
You’ve been warned… KEYWORD stuffing is a big no-no. There’s a big difference between subtle keyword placement and going all out on your content like it’s a Thanksgiving Turkey!
L
Come up with some fantastic LINK Bait ideas. Link Bait is a piece of content so incredibly awesome that quality websites voluntarily link to it. These organic, high quality backlinks are exactly what Google is looking for as proof that your content is worthy of Page 1.
M
META Titles, Descriptions and Tags. Learn how to effectively write these so that Google can easily decipher what your content is about and index it accordingly. If you get this right, it can lead to higher CTR (Click through Rate) in the SERPS (Search Engine Results Pages).
N
Copywriters often need to be chameleons. Challenge yourself to write for a diverse range of NICHE industries. Here are 7 tips to create interesting content for boring industries. Hope it helps!
O
OGILVY, David (1911-1999). Learn from the Master and carry on his legacy through the copy you create.
P
Write “POWER Articles”. This is a term coined by Optimum7 and refers to relevant, credible and authoritative content of 1000-2000 words. Also utilize power words and power phrases such as free, secrets, imagine etc.
Q
Don’t forget that QUALITY content attracts quality links. Write copy that informs, persuades, entertains and connects and you’re on the path to surviving Google’s next algorithm update.
R
Take advantage of Google’s RICH Snippets. Rich Snippets enable you to display your picture next to content you’ve published on the web with a link to more content you’ve previously published. Benefits include increased click through rates.
S
Leverage SOCIAL Media and Social Bookmarking Sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ as well as StumbleUpon, Digg, Reddit and Delicious to expose and promote your content. After all, Google did confirm that it pays attention to social signals.
T
Here’s a very useful TWITTER infographic about the best time and day to TWEET in order to receive more retweets of your content and increased click through rate. http://blog.kissmetrics.com/science-of-social-timing-1/?wide=1
U
At the end of the day, USER is King! Google is looking for the user’s assessment and interaction as much as anything else when it is rating content.
V
Shut down your laptops, throw away your pen and paper and go away on a VACATION! No, really. Go on… you deserve it champ!
W
Take advantage of WORDPRESS and its user-friendly interface and useful plug-ins. InboundWriter has a great plug-in for optimizing your content and Optimum7 has also released a new and improved Duplicate Post Remover plug-in.
X
Channel your inner XENA Warrior Princess! Because she’s fierce! Okay… so I may have spent 10 minutes trying to think of something for this sadly forgotten letter and gave up!
Y
Another useful WordPress plug-in is YOURLS. This is an automatic custom URL shortener that directly posts your content to Twitter without removing the backlink juice you may get from having a link.
Z
Google recently bought a ZOO filled with boisterous Pandas and Penguins. Make sure you stay up to date and have a thorough understanding of these new fury and feathered frenemies.
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… “All copywriters do is work with the letters A-Z”
Still think so?
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