Creating Remarkable Copy

One WordPress site at a timeToronto WordPress Meetup

Presented by Dawn Comber, Digital Dialogues

You have to answer a few questions before you can create memorable copy for your

site or blog...

Why are you publishing?

AND

Who are you trying to reach?

What about search engines?

Are you writing for them?

Yes!! You’re writing for two audiences:

Your readers and search engines

So today we’re going to talk about • Marketing copy• Search engine copy • Blog copy

What marketers do: CCDVTP

• Create • Communicate • Deliver Value • Target Market • Profit

Marketers create, communicate, deliver value to your target market at a profit

What marketing copy does: CVTMP

• Communicate • Your value• Target market • For profit

Marketing copy communicates your service or product’s value to your target market through remarkable copy

Communicate that value through remarkable copy

Here’s what you need to know BEFORE you begin to write your website copy:

• your website’s purpose • what success looks like for you

Communicate that value through remarkable copy

• who your target audience is • your ideal client/customer/reader• what problem your service or product solves• What makes you unique

Communicate that value through remarkable copy

• Your products’ and services’ features• BENEFITS of your products or services • What you want your audience to do when

they come to your site (CTA)• Your elevator pitch

Your to do list

• Write (a) profile (s) of your ideal client • Articulate the problems that you solve • Write down what makes you unique• Describe your products’ and services’ features

Your to do list

• Identify key BENEFITS of your products or services

• Write a call to action - what you want your audience to do when they come to your site

• Write your elevator pitch & boilerplate

Your elevator pitchElevator Pitch ________ offers _______________ to ___________________

(your offer) (customer/client)to help them___________________ and ________________________.(benefit) (benefit) I’m different from my competition

because_____________________________________

Your boilerplate

In 50 words or less: – who you are – what you do – how you do it

Consistently use your boilerplate online in social media profiles, articles, guest blogging

Copy for search engines

• Your goal: match your site’s keyword content to your target markets’ search WITHOUT compromising the readability of your text

Start with keywords

• Google keywords tool• https://adwords.google.com/ (tools & analysis)

– Try different search levels (Broad, phrase, exact)• Google Insights• Google Suggest

* Gold: Ask your customer/reader fan base – what terms did they search or would they search to find you

I’ve got the keywords – now what?

• Use them wherever they enhance your copy

– H1 (most important in the text) – All heading tags if possible (h2-h5)– Alt text– Hyperlinks– Images – In the copy

I’ve got the keywords – now what?

• Don’t forget about title and description metatags– Best practices titles = 70 characters max– Best practices description = 165*

* Testing done by Search Engine People demonstrated that search engines picked up to 265 characters of a description tag – make ‘em longer

Yoast WordPress Plugin

– I use the Yoast WordPress SEO for title and description tags

– All in One SEO is another option– Rank Reporter plugin – shows how you’re ranking

in search for your keywords

Yoast WordPress Plugin

Remarkable Blog Copy

Blog copy is different than marketing copy

No tears in the writer, no tears in the readerNo surprise in the writer, no surprise in the

reader

Robert Frost

Blog Copy

Headlines are critical to draw readers in8 basic types

1. Direct (Buy an iphone for 30% off)2. Indirect (Thoughts on Writing Naked)3. News (Google splits its stock)4. How-To (Upload an image in WordPress)

Blog Copy

5. Questions (Is your smartphone costing you more than it should?)

6. Commands (Clear your clutter with Feng Shui) 7. Reasons Why (6 Reasons you need WordPress)8. Testimonials (I can’t start a morning without a

Starbuck’s, admits Matt Mullenweg)

Blog copy

– Keep it Simple • Short sentences & paragraphs• Bullets (for scanning)• Segment your text using heading tags (h2-h5) for

scannability

– Be personal• Less formal in style (first person, contractions)• Tell stories: sometimes inspire, sometimes inform• Write directly to someone – develop personas

Blog Copy

Tips for better copy

1. Get rid of unnecessary extra words 2. Use the active form of verbs. Don’t say “The

focus of this presentation is copy. Say …3. Use the positive “She stayed.” - instead of, “She

did not go.”4. Short sentences!!

Blog Copy

Tips for better copy

5. Focus your sentence on one thought6. Short Paragraphs – break the grammar rules7. Find your most compelling paragraph. Make it

your first paragraph and re-organize your content

Thank you!

Want more tips for better copy? Visit Digital Dialogues

Looking for an affordable way to build your online presence? At GoWordPress workshops, you’ll create a professional WordPress site, write search engine optimized web marketing copy and learn to source, edit and add images.

Check Go WordPress out!