Putting on some music can boost creativity

Any copywriter needs to be able to flit between different styles when needed. Sometimes a client will ask for a personal, light hearted blog while others might want a serious, professional piece. Being able to switch between these styles is an important skill and also lends a bit of extra variety to the job but I am sure that, like me, most writers would always choose a certain style over the other if given the chance.

When I first started freelance writing I had a kind of stiff writing style which always seemed to end up in “5 Ways to…” and “10 Great Things about…” type articles. I guess that this is probably a common problem, as most of us instinctively shy away from relaxing and writing in a more personal way when we are faced with a blank screen.

My breakthrough moment came when a client simply asked me to write about personal experiences. I found that when I type “I” instead of “You” I feel a lot freer. I can add in some jokes, talk about my family and my childhood and generally create something a bit more interesting without worrying about it so much. Writing like this also inspires me far more, meaning that I work faster and take more care over getting everything as well written as I can.

Get the Music On and Get Creative

Setting the right atmosphere by putting on some music and leaning back in my chair seem to help me relax too but I guess every writer has their own routine for getting into a laid back mood. If you don’t then I would suggest you try and find one. It could be a pair of slippers, a glass of something sparkling or just a certain time of day but I think that there is something any of us can use to give us an extra spark.

This casual style I prefer obviously isn’t right for every job, and a couple of clients have asked me to stop making so many jokes or to stop talking about my dog, but I genuinely believe that this relaxed form of writing hits a chord with readers and makes them want to read on. After all, if you open a blog and read one article it is more often than not the personality of the writer and their writing style which makes you want to read on and see what else they and their dog (he’s called Bruno by the way) have got up to.

When it comes to more serious matters such as medical subjects, financial news or football it is time to put away the light hearted approach and get serious. I guess that is what I am trying to get at here in a fairly long winded kind of way. One of the keys to being a good copywriter is in knowing what kind of style is right at any given time. Often one look at a site is enough to tell you this but at other times you might need to make a tentative approach with your first articles to see how well they go down with your audience and the people who are paying you before putting the music on and kicking off the slippers.

Image: Giovanni Sades

by Jocelyn Anne

With the wealth of content on the web these days (beyond human comprehension or imagination, I think), it becomes imperative to know the secrets and tricks to capturing a reader and making them your newest, biggest fan for life. If your title is boring, your paragraphs long and wordy, your sentence structure awkward, and your tone dry and dull, it doesn’t matter how ground-breaking, helpful or informative the content is. People aren’t going to bother reading it, or if they manage to start, they are highly unlikely to push through and take the effort to finish. If you’ve got something to say, you might as well take the extra time and make it written well! Follow these 4 easy steps to take your content from just “good” to “captivating.”

Content Gives You the Right to Write

You can no longer be “good” in terms of content, you have to be the highest superlative of that. Better than good, better than great. But what does that mean? You’ve gotta be unique. You’ve got to pull things from angles that people haven’t considered. New information. New ideas. You’ve got to help your reader. Whether that help is equivalent to entertaining or teaching, it doesn’t matter, but it does have to be useful. And if you don’t’ have good content, you don’t have the right to write. Bottom line, you can put all you want out there, but no one is going to read it. Why would they, when they can find better, newer, more helpful somewhere else with a click of the mouse?

The Title Buys You a Reader

If you want to share a recipe for a salad you just created, the title, “Try this New Green Salad” isn’t going to get you the number of readers you want. In fact, it may not give you any readers. You wanna know why? There are about 3 million (just checked that number, it’s true) other sites on Google alone that will take a reader to another boring content page about green salad. And really, you think I want to spend my precious time reading about another “green salad”? Not likely. I don’t care if it is green or new to you, it sounds boring and it sounds generic. If, on the other hand, you posted something titled “Wacky Green Veggie Salad with Candied Dates to Blow Your Mind,” I would probably click that just because it sounds entertaining, even if I wasn’t looking for a new salad recipe.

Your Conciseness Gets Your Reader to the End

If you want to get your reader to read your article from start to finish, you have to be concise and you have to be succinct. This is the age of instant gratification. We are willing to expend very little effort, and less willing to spend extra time to get something. You may have a lot to say, but break it up. Cut two entries into one. Shorten your paragraphs. Shorten your sentences. And, unless you’re writing a story, cut the flowery, descriptive language and just get the info out clearly.

Your Voice Brings the Reader Back

If you’ve got the content down, a winning title and solid, concise copy, then all you’ve left to master is your voice. Even in informational realms of content, people still appreciate a good voice. It doesn’t always have to be witty or sassy, a good voice can also mean authoritative and strong. A voice, though, is what will keep someone coming back for more. One good piece of content that proved useful but without a voice to create that intangible “pull” is just that: one good read that your reader will probably forget sooner or later. Lure ‘em back, hook and sinker. You just might find yourself a loyal reader for life.

Freelance writer Jocelyn Anne writes whenever and wherever she can. She primarily focuses on green and eco-friendly content and is currently working alongside Air-n-Water writing about eco-friendly uses for a portable air conditioner. (Image Credit: State Library and Archives of Florida)

It’s taken years, but the world has come round to the type of writing I like to do. When I was in high school and university, my teachers were unimpressed by the brevity of my essays. As a language student (English, French, Spanish) I had to write lots of essays, but invariably I’d be marked down because they were too short.

Academic Writing

Then, as now, I was an excellent researcher, so no-one could find fault with the content. What they didn’t like was that I didn’t expand on it enough. It was considered de rigueur for Arts and Humanities students to write impressive and lengthy papers on any aspect of language or literature.

I never saw the point. The way I figured it was, if I knew the material and had shown that that I knew the material, what did it matter how many words it took me to prove that? In the end, we had to agree to disagree on that one – and since I still managed to graduate with honors, the story had a happy ending.

Journalistic Writing

Once I started working as a journalist, things began to improve. Although my first editor didn’t set strict limits on word count, it was better to write something relatively short so as not to cause problems when doing layout. (At my first paper they were doing paste-up, which probably reveals more than it should about my age!) To go with my well-honed academic writing skills, I learned the 6 Ws and the inverted pyramid and my inclination towards concise writing came into its own.

Writing Web Content

Fast forward to the present, and I’m in a writing world that my teachers did not foresee. Now I mostly write web content. That means I have to keep articles and blog posts short and to the point. Finally, being able to explain something in 300-700 words has become a gift rather than a burden. I’m doing the dance of joy!

(Photo: cathepsut)

Update: Check out the related poll on my Facebook page: what type of writer are you?

by Christian Arno

Writing content that is both reader and search engine friendly can be a bit of a juggling act. These two aspects of web writing are certainly not mutually exclusive, but getting the balance right can be tricky.

With the vast amount of content on the web clamouring for people’s attention, it’s important that people can actually find your site to begin with, and effective use of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) techniques can be instrumental in driving traffic your way. It’s no use having the most wonderful, engaging prose if no one ever sees it, but once people are at your site you have to be able to both grab and keep their attention.

What is SEO?

SEO or search engine optimisation is simply the process of improving the visibility of your website in the rankings of the major search engines. If you run a specialist music blog or a website for a company that restores antique furniture, you’ll want your website to appear as close to the top of the search results as possible whenever someone searches for a relevant term.

Factors such as back-linking (establishing links with other websites relevant to your content) are important in SEO, but the effective use of keywords is probably the single most important aspect, and is certainly the most relevant when it comes to writing copy.

Keyword research and placement

Keywords are the words or phrases that people actually put into the search engine when looking for relevant sites. A difference can be drawn between ‘short tail’ and ‘long tail’ keywords. A short tail keyword is typically short and simple, commonly used and generalised. More people will use the term but there will also be more competition from other websites. An example of a short tail keyword could be ‘furniture restorers’.

A long tail keyword is more involved and specific. An example could be ‘antique pine restoration in Sheffield’. This will yield fewer searches overall but there is less competition on long tail keywords and they generally have better conversion rates, meaning people who visit the site actually follow up on the services or products offered. Ideally, you should use a combination of short tail and long tail keywords.

Keywords should be placed in titles, subheadings and within the body of the text, but don’t over-use or ‘spam’ keywords. Early search engines simply counted the number of times search terms occurred on a page, but the algorithms used by Google and other search engines today are more sophisticated, and spamming keywords can be counter-productive, as well as affecting the quality of the copy.

Keyword tips

• Hold a brainstorming session to find the most relevant terms. Don’t forget colloquialisms, abbreviations and regional variations.
• Run your terms through Google’s keyword tool to check their effectiveness and levels of competition.
• Revise your keywords regularly. The search terms that people commonly use are not static and can in fact change with surprising speed.

Writing for the web

Writing for the web differs from writing for print and other media. A screen is harder on the eyes than the printed page and users tend to scan more, looking for important information that proves the page is relevant before reading in-depth.

Web writing tips

• Break the text into small, easily digestible chunks.
• Put the most important information close to the top and preferably in the first couple of lines.
• Use subheadings to break the copy into sections.

Writing for your audience

While the above guidelines hold true in most situations, the nature of your website and its audience will also dictate the style of your copy to a large extent. Are you writing for an academic or highly knowledgeable audience looking for in-depth analysis? Hardcore technophiles who appreciate technical specifications and understand jargon? Casual surfers who might need walking through the services you offer or the topic you’re writing about? Keeping the audience in mind will inform both your use of language and the format in which it’s presented.

In general, a more knowledgeable audience will be more inclined to read through involved, complex prose, but unless you want your site to have an air of exclusivity (and fewer consequent visitors) you should also cater for less knowledgeable visitors. An easily accessible introduction or overview of your topic, products or services can easily be linked to more in-depth copy. Also remember that even academically-orientated copy is easier to read online when broken into sections and presented in an orderly and attractive manner.

It’s not always easy to balance content that is both SEO and reader friendly. Even experienced writers coming from another field can struggle with the format at first, but it’s an important balance to strike for anyone wanting their web content to be both visible and effective.

About the author
Christian Arno is the founder and Managing Director of professional translation company Lingo24, experts in the foreign language internet. Launched in 2001, Lingo24 now has over 150 employees spanning three continents and clients in over sixty countries. In the past twelve months, they have translated over sixty million words for businesses in every industry sector. Follow Lingo24 on Twitter: @Lingo24.

(Photo: avrdreamer)

I’ve just started an occasional series on my client facing blog aimed at answering some of the questions clients have about working with freelance writers. In today’s post (The Writing Process – Open Letter to Clients), I outline some of the steps needed to write a piece of web content that perfectly meets the client’s needs. Have a read, and be sure to tell me what you think, either here or there.

You’ve probably seen all the publicity about the new Yahoo! Style Guide – a guide that, according to the publishers, is ‘the first of its kind to address questions about online writing’. I got the chance to look at a review copy and it certainly covers a lot of ground in six sections and about 500 pages:

• Write for an online audience (4 chapters)
• Speak to your entire audience (2 chapters)
• Write UI text, email and mobile friendly content (3 chapters)
• Manage the mechanics (3 chapters)
• Clean up your copy (3 chapters)
• Resources (4 chapters)

I got the chance to do a short  interview with Senior Editorial Director, Chris Barr, about the Yahoo! Style Guide:

Chris, why have you decided to bring this book out now?

Because there was a glaring need for this book. While excellent style guides exist for print publications, none addresses writing for the Internet exclusively, or even in depth. Two popular sellers are The Chicago Manual of Style, and The Associated Press Stylebook, each with millions in print. Neither offers much guidance for writing and publishing for the Web.

This guide started out as an internal reference on how to write “Yahoo!” and was used by Yahoo! Web content developers to attract and build audiences. Little by little the guide grew as Yahoo! ventured into new areas, and was asked for by writers, marketers, editors, programmers, community managers, and product managers. Today it provides guidance for all writers in the company network, whether they’re bloggers, video producers, reporters, newsletter copywriters, or documentation specialists.

We’re happy to share these best practices with the world because everybody benefits when content is concise and easy to read.

This book seems to cover areas that go beyond style – what’s the rationale for that?

We felt it was important to address topics like how to write for an online audience, how to develop your voice, how to write online headlines, how to incorporate SEO into Web copy, and on and on, because nobody else had. The Yahoo! Style Guide also provides lots of Internet-specific information like why you should avoid italics. Other guides tend to be a bit behind the curve when it comes to styling Internet words. For example, we’ve been using ‘website” for years, and AP just closed up “Web site” in April 2010. And they still use “e-mail” while we use “email.” Also, our usage examples are far more entertaining!

Yahoo! Style Guide will not only address overall principles of good writing and editing, but also Web-specific subjects such as:

• How to write for online reading
• How to choose the right words to bring more people to your site with search engine optimization
• Best practices for corporate and personal blogging
• How to write effective email and newsletters
• Internet law: trademarks, copyright, and defamation
• Headlines for online content
• Writing and editing English for an international audience

And the Yahoo! Style Guide has exercises where people can test their Web-writing skills.

What’s your vision for this guide?

We feel this guide is essential for anyone writing for English-speaking audiences, including businesses that are creating or improving their websites. While it may appear that businesses have embraced the Internet, Jupiter Research found that just 36 percent of all businesses with fewer than 100 employees had a Web presence (New York Times, Feb, 14, 2008,) Even businesses that already have websites need help optimizing their content for the Web and learning how to create more compelling copy, clearer email, and attention-grabbing, community-engaging blogs.

Journalists, personal and corporate bloggers, writers, technical writer, editors: Anyone who creates or edits content for websites needs to understand the unique requirements of Internet content. From paragraph length, formats, and headlines, Web content is different from what most people have been taught. All writers need to be aware of the burgeoning legal issues of online copyright, including fair use and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, to the issues surrounding user-generated content, third-party content, as well as libel and slander.

Schools, colleges, universities, journalism schools: Students world-wide can learn the best practices for Web content, which is different from traditional writing styles.

Marketing organizations, advertising and PR agencies: Every outfit that writes marketing copy, email solicitations, Web advertisements, business communications, newsletters, customer or employee communications documents require education for using this new media.

Newspapers: Especially those that are augmenting paper distribution with digital distribution.  Reporters in newsrooms are being asked to do more to attract online readers. This story from the Washington Post explains the dilemma:

“Now they must also operate in an online environment where ‘search-engine optimization’ is a key goal. That requires new skills and time-consuming additional duties. Separate online headlines must be written in a way that attracts attention on the Web. Links must be found, vetted and inserted into online stories, and so-called “keywords” must be highlighted. All of this is designed to make it easier to find Post content on the Internet and more likely for the Post to win the intense media competition to show up at the top of results lists when readers use search engines such as Google and Yahoo.”

Global English speakers: The Guide will appeal to universal English speakers, including non-native English speakers by stressing clarity and simplicity. It will point out differences between, say, American English and that used in England.

Creators of content for mobile devices: The mobile Web is one of the fastest growing areas of the Internet, especially internationally, yet there are no usage guides available. The Guide will address best practices for developing mobile content.

Web developers, designers, information architects: Many of the pages within a website contain valuable information written to help users. FAQs, help pages, error messages, and user-interface text must be written clearly can concisely. Moreover, user-generated content, and community aspects such as comments will be addressed.

Thanks, Chris. My initial look suggests that this is a useful reference book, and the exercises will help readers to really get to grips with the material it contains. I plan to hang on to my copy and check it out in more detail. There’s also a great site where you can get quick help on many common issues. If you want to buy the book, here’s the link for the Yahoo Style Guide.

Oh joy! Another book from James Chartrand — I could hardly wait to open my review copy. Write For the Web is an 86 page e-book which answers new freelance writers’ questions about writing web content and launching successful freelancing careers. It’s written in James’s no-nonsense style and is divided into five sections covering the writer, the market, the business, the writing and finding work. There’s also a bonus section on writing opportunities.

About The Writer

The first section, entitled all about you, gets rid of those nagging doubts and fears that hold writers back. For James, being a web content writer is staggeringly simple:

If you can:

• use correct spelling and grammar
• talk persuasively about a subject
• motivate yourself to write regularly

Then you can write for the web.

Now, that doesn’t sound so difficult does it?

This first section takes you through the skills you need to launch a successful web content writing career. It also helps writers to assess how the experience they already have can help them in this area, as well as how to make up for any areas where they are less experienced.

The Writing Business

Section 2 is about business aspects: the basics that you need, managing time, sales and marketing, negotiation, rates, accounting, copyright, contracts and payment. Section 3 helps you think about marketing your services. James talks you through the various types of businesses that you might be writing for and gives advice on how to be the kind of writer that clients want. Again, the advice is simple. My favourite line is where James says: “don’t be a jerk” (a one-line client relations manual).

Writing – The Basics

Section 4 is a short section which is all about the basics of different types of writing. Armed with the information in this section you can get started on a number of different writing projects. James does not talk you through every step here but put each type of writing into context so that you will know exactly what you’re getting into when you agree to write, for example, a press release or a blog post.

Bidding For Writing Work

The proposal is the subject of section 5. This is one of the most important sections as writing the right proposal is what gets you the job. There are six pages on this subject — read every word, then follow up by working your way through the lists of places where you can find online leads. It’s also worth paying attention to the list of scams which often trap the unwary new web content writer.

Woot Woot!

One great feature running through the entire book is the Woot section where James shares some great resources which are all worth checking out.

If you are an established writer then the best thing about this book is the list of additional markets outside the web world. But the book is mainly aimed at new writers and reading this e-book is an easy way to get comfortable with web content writing very fast. So, to paraphrase James: go buy it already.

I was first asked to review Content Rich: Writing Your Way To Wealth On The Web by Jon Wuebben some time ago and for one reason and another I have only just got around to it. I got quite a surprise when I opened the file because while I was expecting a short ebook, this is a full-fledged book with 294 pages of useful information about writing for the web.

The Content

Now you might wonder whether you really need 18 chapters to explain SEO web copywriting. As an experienced writer I found that there was a lot of information I already knew, especially in the first five chapters which cover the basics. However, new writers would probably find this section very useful.

The second section, which has six chapters, gives a guide to different types of capital SEO copywriting. These include writing general site copy, article marketing, press releases, blogs and wiki’s, pay per click, landing page and banner ad writing and writing e-mails and newsletters. Section 3 gives examples of writing for different organisations, provides case studies and deals with outsourcing.

Navigating Through The Book

To tell the truth, I found the book a bit of a lengthy read but that’s not to say that it’s not useful. My preferred way of navigating through the content was to go to the takeaway points at the end of each chapter and see whether I needed to revisit the chapter for more information. I will be keeping the book for future reference, because it covers a couple of markets that I haven’t yet tackled and I think it will provide a useful starting point for entering those new areas.

To Buy Or Not To Buy?

Should you buy this book? I think it has a lot to offer new writers and has decent information on alternative markets for existing writers. However it’s not as easy to read as other writing books I have reviewed. That said, at either $10 or $19.99 (depending on whether you pay the sale price or the full price) it’s a small investment in your writing career and is good value for money, because you are sure to get a handful of tips that you can use to improve your writing career.

Get it here:

Content Rich: Writing Your Way to Wealth on the Web – Amazon.com

Content Rich: Writing Your Way to Wealth on the Web – Amazon.co.uk

I love it when my writing clients are happy. Usually I know because they send me effusive emails saying that I have captured exactly what they needed. I get a lot of those. (Lest you think I’m big headed, I also have several clients who simply pay up without comment.) This week was a first, though. I got a tip.

Most clients stick to the budget and seed a few well chosen words of praise when they are happy with the work I have done. This client put her money where her mouth was and added a bonus to the agreed fee for the article on social media. I felt good, and I tried to analyse what I had done to deserve this largesse. Here’s what I think it boils down to:

• I asked questions at the start to clarify the brief.
• I followed the brief to the letter.
• I offered to add a resource list to make it more useful for the client’s readers.
• I provided sources for my quotes so that the client could let them know they were being mentioned.
• I quickly made the minor amendments requested – a case of clarifying some terminology used.
• I delivered the article six days early.

It’s not always possible to deliver a job early. I’m usually happy to deliver on time. But the other aspects are what make me a professional freelance web content writer.

I’ve just completed a travel piece about a place I’ve never visited. It may seem a strange thing to do, but this was the commission that my writing client gave me. Usually a travel piece is full of local color, but how do you add that if you’ve never set eyes on the place?

Researching The Venue

Thanks to internet research, anything is possible. Wikipedia may be much maligned, but it’s a good starting point for an overview of many cities and countries. Don’t get me wrong, this does not replace researching your topic on other sites, but it does give a guide to the other information that might be out there. It often has good information on the weather, climate and geology, too.

City Information

Many cities and towns have websites, especially in the US. These sites are great places to find out about history, attractions and major events. There are usually links to offsite pages for the attractions, where you can get more information, and if you’re looking for a comprehensive listing of festivals and exhibitions, then you can’t do much better than Eventguide.com. To round it out, check out TripAdvisor or the Lonely Planet site for guides to most places.

Nightlife Reviews

That takes care of most of the daytime entertainment, but if you’re profiling an area, then you’ll need to know about places to eat and nightlife. Again, TripAdvisor can help you, but Yahoo, AOL and others also provide listings of restaurants with type of cuisine and brief reviews. If you are lucky, you’ll also find a user review that tells you what it’s like to be there. There are also similar sites which list bars and clubs. You can find out if there’s a DJ or live music, which night ladies are free and much more.

Putting It Together

Let me give you an example of how you can put this all together to create a decent travel piece. I recently had to write a piece on Jacksonville, Florida. Although I have been to many other parts of Florida, I have never been there. However, I used my knowledge of the climate to set the scene, evoking hot summer days and balmy tropical nights.

Using Your Experience

I checked into the history of the town, including the earliest settlers, and found out a bit about its evolution over the years. After a bit of info on the climate, I was ready to move on to the attractions. You can actually use your own experience to write realistically about places you have never seen.

For example, if you have ever been to a zoo with lots of exotic animals, or gone down a water slide, or ridden a big roller coaster, you can talk about the feelings people will experience while doing those things in another city.

Similarly, if you like searching for antiques, or attending events with live stage shows, it only takes a little imagination to evoke those for your readers. When it comes to rating meals and nights out, I blend my own experience of similar venues with the reviews I find on TripAdvisor and similar sites.

So that’s how you can write a decent travel piece about a place that you’ve never seen. It’s true that it won’t have quite the same feel as if you had been there, but if you’re a competent writer, you can still make the article come to life. Have you ever had to write about somewhere you’ve never seen? What techniques helped you?

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