Creating Remarkable Web Copy for your WordPress Website

Creating Remarkable Copy One WordPress site at a time Toronto WordPress MeetupPresented 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? ANDWho 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 profitMarketing copy communicates your service orproduct’s value to your target market throughremarkable copy

Communicate that value through remarkable copyHere’s what you need to know BEFORE youbegin 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 competitionbecause_____________________________________

Your boilerplateIn 50 words or less: – who you are – what you do – how you do itConsistently use your boilerplate online in socialmedia 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 CopyBlog copy is different than marketing copy No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader Robert Frost

Blog CopyHeadlines are critical to draw readers in 8 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 Copy5. 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 copy1. Get rid of unnecessary extra words2. 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 copy5. 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 DialoguesLooking for an affordable way to build your online presence?At GoWordPress workshops, you’ll create a professionalWordPress site, write search engine optimized web marketingcopy and learn to source, edit and add images. Check Go WordPress out!

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Creating Remarkable Web Copy for your WordPress Website

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