Business Writing & Copywriting Blog

Focusing on your readers when writing

Dec 15, 2008 No Comments »

There is an avalanche of articles and blog posts teaching you how to write well. Even “reputed” and “revered” bloggers and content publishers cannot resist publishing these clichéd blog posts and articles that are perpetually regurgitating the stuff that has already been told to you at least 133 million times. They almost, always begin with: put the reader first. What exactly does that mean? Does it mean always trying to please your readers and write about things that only cater to their whims and fancies or does it mean actually writing something that benefits them? Most writers who teach you how to write seem to be focusing on the former. It should be the latter.

Whenever you are starting to write a new blog post, an article, or even a business webpage for one of your clients or for yourself think about why the reader should read what you are writing. Are you merely trying to please your visitors so that they visit your blog or website again and again or do you really intend to communicate your actual feelings?

To be honest I too have tried my hand at a couple of blog posts that were merely written to generate traffic because I felt people wanted to read such blog posts. But this is a myth promoted by web writers and bloggers who don’t want you to try something new and want to keep the territory safe for them. Don’t write for your readers to please them, write for them to really share something genuine with them otherwise it begins to sound stale and inconsequential eventually. Have you noticed the deluge of how-to lists and resource lists that tell you 50 ways of doing this and 100 ways of doing that? Do you ever follow those 50 or 100 methods? I am sure you save them (as I often do) thinking that someday you will definitely use them. These people publish these lists simply because they know that such lists draw lots of traffic and encourage people to bookmark them. They rarely go beyond that. So how can you really benefit your readers?

Share with them instead of presenting to them chunks of information and lists of methods and tips. Be one of them. For example have a look at Steve Pavlina’s blog; I think life improvement blogs will come, make a mark, create some ripples and instant celebrities, and go, but Steve’s blog is going to sustain. This is because he doesn’t present lists of things that can help you become a super achiever. He simply shares with you his experiences. He doesn’t sound like an expert or an authority figure. He automatically becomes an authority by sharing whatever he experiences and learns.

This is how you focus on your readers when you write; you become one of them. Don’t preach them, don’t tell them to do this and that in order to attain Nirvana. Simply, share your growth with them, share your experiences, and encourage them to share theirs.

Taking up assignments that are not in my field

Dec 12, 2008 1 Comment »

Of late – for the past 5 odd months – I have been taking assignments that I haven’t mentioned on this website, for instance designing and developing websites and setting up content management systems such as Joomla and PHPNuke. These assignments are so not content writing. But they earn me some good money, some quick money. The amount of money that I make writing content for say, 5 projects, I can make the same amount with just one project of designing a website. You might wonder then why the hell do I write content instead of making websites?

I used to make websites a few years ago and in fact only those people approach me for web designing and development work who somehow know that I used to make websites. I wrapped up my web design and development business because my soul was not into it; I wanted to write. That is why I started providing content writing services to various clients. Back then I needed to heavily advertise using AdWords because very few people were looking for content writers and online copywriters. I don’t know why I never stopped learning the new web design and development techniques. So when people started creating CSS based layouts I also learned how to do that and when people started incorporating Ajax functionalities into their applications I also used them while working for one of my permanent clients. Maybe that is the reason; I have always been in touch with web design and development and I never work on a project half-heartedly even though my primary business is content writing.

There is another reason why I often get this work. When new clients approach me many times they are just starting a new website. So they ask me by any chance do I know a good web designer. I often reply that I don’t know any web designer but there are a few websites that I have designed and if they like those designs and if they are ready to pay what I am asking for maybe I can give it a try. This is how everything begins.

Especially these days I try to do as much work as I can because one is never sure of the prevalent economic conditions. Although I don’t prefer designing websites if they get me some good money in little time and I have to do something that I already know it becomes difficult for me to refuse. Does this mean I am ignoring my core business? I don’t know, maybe. On second thought, I think earning money and creating a backup is also essential for my content writing business. With enough money I don’t have to take up “desperate projects” and I can be choosy. I am still thinking about it.

My thoughts on SEO Content Writing

Oct 18, 2008 No Comments »

Recently a client approached me with a requirement of hundred articles for his various products and he needed me to write a small sample to help him make up his mind. Generally I don’t send samples because there are enough samples on my website but sometimes the requirement is unique enough to warrant a sample and in such cases I don’t mind providing it. He liked the sample a lot and then asked me whether I could provide him SEO content. I told him that the sample article that I had sent him was in fact an optimized article and he should get some good traffic for the chosen keyword. He was quite amused and happy that I had sent him an “SEO article” even when he hadn’t asked for one.

Although elsewhere I have explained the difference between normal content and SEO content if you ask me, frankly every well-written article is a search engine optimized article. Still, there is some difference when the relevant keywords come in focus. Clients often ask for a percentage density for the keywords of their choice. For instance many clients want the density of the keywords to be around 3% to 4%; this means of the total number of words existing on a page the keyword should take up 3% to 4% of the total number. Does it matter?

Nobody is sure. What matters is the relevance. Using the right words you need to explain the right thing. For instance if I want to talk about SEO content and if I want people to find my page that talks about SEO content then I should use this phrase at least a few times on that page. This has to be done till the semantics used in search engine ranking algorithms become highly intelligent. They have already improved a lot but you still have to use the exact keywords. Here I would quickly like to add that sometimes when you are looking for a writer Google also shows the results that contain the word “writing”.

So how do you create SEO content?

• Use the keywords: If you want to be found for a particular keyword then you have to use the keyword on the webpage but you shouldn’t overdo it because that proves counter-productive. Instead organize your content in such a manner that your important keywords get highlighted naturally.
• Organize your content logically and highlight important portions: This is very important especially when you are writing for web pages. The reading on your webpage should be as seamless as possible. Highlight the most important portions of your content using headings, subheadings and bullets. Use your keywords in headings, subheadings and bullets. Repeat your important key phrases and keywords at least once or twice in the first paragraph and definitely include your keywords in the title of your page.
• Stay away from creating abstract text: Being a writer I love literary experiments but not at the cost of my clients. When you are writing copy, SEO content, use precise phrases and use the exact words. Straightaway say what you mean to say and never leave scope for confusion. Why is it necessary to stay away from abstract style of writing? Straight writing is friendlier towards both your human readers and search engine crawlers; they can easily make out what you’re trying to sell and what you’re trying to promote.
• Research your keywords: It is very important to know for what keywords you want a particular webpage or the entire website to be found on the search engines. For instance if I want my website to be found for the term online copywriter then I must optimize my content for this particular phrase. But then I need to be sure whether people looking for me use this expression or not; maybe they are using something totally different that I am not aware of. So I have to find the keywords and key phrases that are actually being used and shouldn’t optimize my content for the keywords that I think people must be using. In fact researching your keywords should be the first step you should take before starting to generate optimized content for your website or blog.

How to write persuasively

Oct 12, 2008 No Comments »

To be frank, you’ll find hundreds of articles and blogs on how to write persuasively and in fact, I too have previously written on the subject of persuasive writing. So why this blog post on such a repetitive title? There are two reasons:

• The importance of the topic of how to right persuasively remains unmitigated no matter how many people have written about it.

• I am simply feeling like writing about it.

Let us first throw some light on what is persuasive writing. Is it some kind of deceitful textual legerdemain that you implement to make people buy from you or do your bidding? Well, this can be achieved by persuasive writing. But it doesn’t have to be deceitful. What you want to achieve through persuasive writing is convey your message to your readers in such a manner that they not only find your message convincing and believable they are also driven towards doing business with you.

One thing is clearly established that people don’t spend their hard earned money (stolen money, or even inherited many) easily; they really need to be coaxed into shelling out the green paper (or plastic money) and pay you for your product or service. They would rather get it for free and this is why it is a lot easier to promote free products and services. You have to "persuade" people into taking a decision and the executing it. How do you do that? There is no magic trick, you just need to be straightforward, to the point, engaging, and convincing, in a strategically ordered manner. In order to write persuasively try to do the following:

Grab attention immediately

This is the first most thing your persuasive writing must achieve. There is lots of noise on the Internet and an average surfer can find scores of web sites in a matter of a few minutes, So he or she is always in a great hurry to check out other links. There is this problem of plenty; since so much is available we cannot easily decide what to read and what to ignore and in this confusion we end up reducing our attention span. Whatever you have written it must grab the attention of your readers immediately so that your reader doesn’t go to another link and gives you enough time to make your point. You can accomplish this by creating a captivating heading; offer something to the reader he or she is desperately looking for. Focus on the need not the product. Offer to make a difference. Offer something that is not easily available. Talk with conviction and use clear words without scope of confusion or abstractedness.

Don’t hold back

Have got something very important to say? Say it in the beginning. The most annoying thing a reader encounters is verbal beating-around-the-bush sort of narrative. If you come to the main point in the first paragraph itself your reader can quickly make a decision whether to read the rest of the copy or not.

Organize your main ideas under headings, subheadings and bullets

This is not a technical rhetoric (because you may find this suggestion all over the Internet), this actually works. As mentioned above people these days have very little patience; they quickly want to arrive at a decision or else go somewhere else. So they want to go through your text as quickly as possible and when you organize your text under headings, subheadings and bullets it makes it easier for your readers to make sense of what you are trying to convey. If they are genuinely interested then they will also read your fine text. Organizing your content under headings, subheadings and bullets is also good for your search engine rankings because the search engine crawlers too look for important words and phrases under these tags.

Use action words

Whenever you persuade people you prompt them to do something. This can be done by using action words, not needless action words but action words that can really drive people and encourage them to take an action. For instance if you want people to subscribe to your newsletter then you specifically have to tell them to subscribe to it. If you want them to buy your eBook, you not only highlight the great benefits of your eBook, you also ask people to buy it – use the expression "buy this eBook". Don’t assume that since you have laid down all the great benefits and advantages of reading your eBook and you have the sleekest possible website people will buy. They’ll happily read whatever you’ve written, and then absentmindedly leave your website. Tell them to buy and tell them to buy now.

Close it with an impression

Make a closing that leaves a lasting impression upon your readers’ mind. They may leave your website after reading your copy, but your last few sentences should make them remember your website, possibly bookmark it to come back to it later on.

Persuasive writing is all about making an impact by stating the truth. It doesn’t have to be drab, but it shouldn’t also be so esoteric that your reader forgets why he or she is there in the first place. You have to empathize with your reader. What does he or she really want? What troubles him or her? Know that and you have covered 60% distance of writing persuasively; the rest is just your creativity and skill of writing.