“The man who stops advertising to save money is like the man who stops the clock to save time.”
– Thomas Jefferson
If you want your website listed on page one Google results… then your copy best be optimized.
To do so initially boils down to incorporating your key words into the text displayed on the pages of your website. In the old days, when I worked at a dot-com in Berkeley and SEO was all about meta-data, websites didn’t have to worry to much about incorporating key words from the meta data into the front end copy. However, that was a long time ago.
As marketing people will occasionally complain about , Google has continuously refined their algorithms to better qualify the results they display. Web crawlers, or “spiders” – which are programs that analyze website content – look at the meta tags and the front facing text on the page to determine whether or not the tags are relevant to the content.
The basic idea is that Google wants to be sure that the results they serve up to users are really what the user is looking for in the search query. Therefore, key words likely to actually reflect how customers might search for your subject on the internet need to be present in moth the meta tags and front facing copy. If they’re not then you’re not optimized.
But, please keep in mind that you want to emphasize the most likely key words and not every key work you can think of. You do not want to end up with rambling strings of key words – you do want to end up with engaging content that incorporates your most valuable key words.
Remember if only robots will read it, then nobody will read it and you still won’t rank.
“Advertising is Salesmanship in Print.”
– John E. Kennedy
“On the average, five times as many people read the headlines as read the body copy.”
– David Ogilvy
“Copy is a direct conversation with the consumer.”
– Shirley Polykoff
“Poor copy cannot overcome faults or gaps in dealer distribution; it cannot even cash in on the finest dealer setups. But good copy can, and does, surmount many dealer difficulties, making them secondary, and selling in spite of them.”
– Victor Schwab
The following is probably more than you actually want to know, but it’s here for your information anyway:
Copywriters are responsible for the text on brochures, billboards, websites, emails, advertisements, catalogs, etc.
Copy refers to the actual text. It’s written material, as opposed to photographs, illustrations, or other layout elements of layout in published materials such as magazines, advertising, and books. You’re reading some right now.
Unlike news or editorial writing, copywriting is designed the reader to take action. That action might be to purchase, opt-in, or engage with a product, service, or company – which is why a copywriter is often referred to as “a salesman in print.” In the case of this page, we’re hoping that with a greater understanding of what Copywriting is, and the value it brings to your promotional efforts, you’ll engage our services in producing some for you.
Copywriting should not be confused with “copyright.” A Copyright gives an individual or company the exclusive legal right to reproduce, publish, sell, or distribute someone’s work (such as books, music, artistic items). The purpose of a copyright is to protect that material and prevent illegal use of it by unauthorized agents. The owner designates the material is copyrighted with the © symbol. If that’s the kind of service you’re actually looking for, the we can point you to an intellectual property attorney, but that’s pretty much it.
Effective copy is derived directly from our research. Inspiration may come from a given graphic, a unique selling point or feature of the product, or from the “lifestyle” associated with that product.
Copy and Graphics work with Color and Layout to send a message that is intended to generate a reaction in the target audience. Very often that reaction will be based on an emotional response to the ad. Often, that emotional response is triggered by 2 things.
Tone
Determines how your message will approach the audience.
Do you want to be friendly, funny, serious, warning, angry, etc?
Elements that determine tone include Syntax, Typography, Color and Composition.
Voice
Gives the message a personality (radio voice over)
In print, voice works as function of overall tone. Elements that determine Voice include Syntax & Typography
“Voice is the brand’s image as expressed in language.”
– George Felton Advertising Concept and Copy pg 110
Items that help to establish the overall tone and voice of an advertisement, as well as deliver the actual message, include
Imagery / Graphics
Copy can’t always do alone. Even in a typographical advert, style choices such as Iconography and color scheme can be crucial in setting the tone expressed in an ad.
Typography
Decisions regarding which font to use at what size in relation to the other elements in the ad can give a distinctive voice to your message. Choosing the correct voice can mean the difference between the audience keying in on the message or rejecting it out of hand.
Headlines are attention getters & should reflect the main idea of the ad.
According to The Copywriter’s Handbook by Robert Bly, the headline has four functions.
Get Attention
Appeal to self-interest or give some news
Select the audience
For example, an ad for a sports car may have the following headline:
If you have to ask how many miles per gallon, you can’t afford it.
Deliver a complete message
“4 of 5 readers will not read your body copy “(David Ogilvy as quoted by Robert Bly)
Draw the reader into the body copy
Arouse their curiosity
Some types of headlines that work:
Direct
“1/2 off!!” or “Now Showing”
Indirect
“10 million to 1, we can mix it”
(Headline for an industrial mixer)
It sounds like a bet, but speaks to the machine’s ability.
News
“The first transportable computer worth taking anywhere.”
(Apple IIc)
How To
“How To Quit Smoking In 10 Days”
Question
“Do you Yahoo?”
(Yahoo!)
Command
“Put a Tiger in your tank”
(Exxon)
Body copy contains any information that reinforces the point made by the headline and/or graphic. In “clever” ads, the visual joke is often explained in the body copy. Technical data is sometimes contained here as well.
Boilerplate is “given” copy, such as disclaimers from the Legal Department, nutritional information, etc.
Depending on the objective, these elements will typically be combined by the creative team to do 3 things
Inform, Persuade, Remind
In achieving these objectives, the creative team may utilize several kinds of copy.
Content Copy
In publishing, art, and communication, content is the information and experience(s) directed toward an end-user or audience. Content is ‘something that is to be expressed through some medium, as speech, writing, or any of the various arts.’
Essentially, content writing is long-form and typically “editorial” whereas copywriting is more “messaging.”
Yet, many people see the terms as almost interchangeable.
Really, the difference is copy sells and content educates.
Although, it is possible to sell by educating the prospect…
We’ll just stop there.
While technical copywriting is an extension of copywriting, there are clear distinctions that make it a far more difficult and advanced form of copywriting.
Web optimized copy is a sub-sub category of copywriting that focuses on the inclusion of searchable keywords in the content.
If you have further questions, please feel free to contact us!