October 6, 2016August 8, 2019 by Copley Sutton

7 Copywriting tricks for SEO-focused landing pages – by Olivia Colville

A well-crafted landing page can drive more traffic to your website. But visitors have to find your landing page before you can direct them to your website. SEO copywriting is the art of writing copy that helps your content to rank well in searches. This is how copywriters in South Africa get your company in front of potential customers.

Attention-grabbing headlines

Without a headline that ticks all the boxes, your visitors won’t click on the link to read the rest of your content. Studies have shown that headlines with a number in the title tend to attract more attention.

If you want your whole headline to show up in search results, keep it down to 65 characters or less. Include at least one of your keywords in your headline for best results.

Crisp and clear copy

Your visitors are busy people, so keep your content short and sweet. Remove adverbs and use the active voice to hold their attention. Delete unnecessary details and don’t explain the obvious.

Answer every question

Don’t be afraid of including as much information as you need to answer all your prospects questions. While your copy shouldn’t be bloated, there’s no limit to the length of your landing page. It may depend on your product or audience, but always take the opportunity to provide visitors with all the information they need to make a decision.

Speak to your customer

Don’t be tempted to rattle on about your company or your product. The focus should be on the prospect and what benefits they’ll get from using your products and service. Use the words ‘you’ and ‘your’ before ‘we’, ‘us’ and ‘our’. This is a tip that can be applied to any form of copywriting.

Include long-tail keywords

Did you know that 40% of searches consist of phrases made up of four words? Copywriters know that while long-tail keywords may only be searched for every 2 – 3 months, it’s still important to include them. Your landing page should draw qualified leads to your website. If a visitor has used a long-tail keyword to find your landing page, chances are they’re interested in what you have to offer.

Quick tip: Managing the data of short-tail and long-tail keywords can be challenging at scale. Use a tool like Linkio to keep your various keywords organized.

Use the language your customers use

Blog comments, social media sites and product reviews are all places where you can get a feel for the language your customers use. Learn how to speak to them in a language they understand and your landing page will resonate better with new visitors.

Make your content original

Search engines don’t appreciate duplicate content. Make sure the copy you use on your landing pages is original and unique. While you can copy style and content, don’t be tempted to copy and paste words directly from another page on your website.

If you’re battling to write your own landing pages, consider hiring a South African copywriter with the skill of writing landing pages that deliver. It takes time to produce a well-crafted landing page, but it’s worth the effort. A landing page that’s SEO-focused will drive qualified leads to your website and increase your profits.

October 29, 2015 by Copley Sutton

Why hiring a copywriter can help grow your business – by Olivia Colville

Whether you own a small, medium or large business you’re probably always thinking of ways to grow it. You might have considered hiring more staff, developing a new product or expanding into a new market. All of these ideas usually involve a significant amount of time and money. And unfortunately, there’s no guarantee of success.

But something as simple as hiring a qualified copywriter can take your business to the next level without costing the earth. This is especially true for new businesses. Laying the groundwork for building a trusted brand starts with the way you present yourself to customers.

A good copywriter has skills that go beyond filling up the pages on your website. These are five ways a copywriter can improve your business:

They know what you’re really selling

While you’re familiar with every inch of your product or service, customers are more interested in the benefits. Does it make their lives easier? Give them confidence? Make them happier? A good copywriter looks beyond the obvious to connect with your customers on an emotional level.

They know how to speak to your audience

Perhaps you’ve already created a detailed profile of your target market. You know how old they are, where they live and how they spend their money. But copywriters know what motivates them, how they use language and how to tailor a message they’ll respond to.

They know what your story is

Every business has a story to tell—even law firms and plumbers. Copywriters are skilled at creating a narrative around your business and communicating it with your audience. Telling customers your story helps them connect to you on a personal level. It’s the first step in changing a business into a brand.

They know how to keep it simple

If you’ve ever tried writing your own copy, you’ll know how easy it is to get lost in the details. A copywriter knows how to keep the reader’s attention and avoid the clutter. They understand the power of a succinct and structured message

They know how to make people take action

The best way to grow your business is to increase sales. Investing in advertising may get your name out there, but the real challenge is getting potential customers to take the next step. Copywriters can get them to pick up the phone, click on that link or add that product to their basket.

Copywriters can add real value to a business in ways that you may not have imagined. They can help you reach more people, increase your sales and grow your business. Hiring a copywriter may be the best business decision you make.

September 8, 2014May 26, 2015 by Copley Sutton

8 tips on how to create interesting Facebook content for your business

Running out of ideas for your Facebook content? Here are some ways to give your social media interaction a shot in the arm!

Write for people, not for your company

You need to add value to the information you’re posting for clients. This means that simply forcing ads in front of their eyes is not going to help you achieve your goal.

If you fail to post something interesting to read, your fans are simply going to scroll past your content. Make sure your content is interesting and engaging by using catchy headings and trendy topics!

Add a poll

If you have over 1000 LIKES on your page, consider yourself eligible to hold a private little survey for your Facebook fans. People love giving their opinion, so get them interacting with you to build trust and brand loyalty.

Make sure your question is interesting—ask around for some suggestions and make it relevant to your industry wherever possible. Also try not to overdo polls: Once a month is more than enough.

Diversify your content

If you keep posting the same type of content every week, your fans will quickly lose interest in your posts. Mix it up a little by diversifying between videos, pictures, news events, notifications of specials, blogs, and even a few jokes.

Do a service check

Though you may think that getting a public complaint on Facebook is bad for business, it actually helps you in more ways you can imagine. Consider posting a public message asking clients about the service they have received. Benefits to this are:

You are likely to get great testimonials which you can add to your website
Complaints will come to you instead of being spread secretly by word-of-mouth
You can publically handle the complaint to the satisfaction of the client for all to see
Other customers will feel at ease dealing with you because they can see that you care about giving satisfactory service

Highlight a blog section

If there’s a particular paragraph in your most recent blog that you feel is very relevant, highlight that subheading to your fans when posting. This will serve to entice them even more to read your blog because you’ve sparked their curiosity.

Quizzes

A quiz is simply irresistible to Facebook browsers. Ask a question, and offer to provide the question by getting your fans to take a short quiz. This will win you both clicks as well as lots of interaction from participants.

Keep up with what’s trending

Base your content on news that’s very popular. Recent examples of this is the Ice Bucket Challenge. To get an idea of what’s trending, spend some time on news sites or even YouTube.

Don’t neglect your weekend fans

Did you know that you can schedule posts? If your company is closed on the weekend, it doesn’t mean you can’t still reach out to your loyal fans.

Use Facebook to set up a future post and schedule it to go off on a Saturday morning or a Sunday afternoon. Think how good it’ll look to everyone that you’re always open to communicate!

About the author: Copley Sutton is a South African copywriter working out of Johannesburg, Gauteng. He specializes in optimized blogs for companies as well as SEO strategies for South African businesses.