Anchor text isn’t going to make-or-break a website, but it’s worth understanding how it works – especially for writers looking to observe SEO best practices. But first, a little roleplay. Imagine you’re a web-crawling spider bot. You’re crawling your way down yet another blog about avocados.* You’re two paragraphs down and you hit an external …
What is an SEO copywriter? A copywriter persuades. A copywriter speaks the language of your audience – keeping it simple but using sophisticated psychological principles like social proof and scarcity to influence and convince. Part salesperson, part shrink, part storyteller. An SEO copywriter takes things a step further. Like an evil robot wordsmith, an SEO …
It’s time I was honest with you. I’ve got a confession to make. I’m not just here to sell stuff. When I scroll through my LinkedIn feed, I hear two kinds of voices. The first kind sounds fun, welcoming, entertaining at times. These are the voices of marketers, talking about six figures, pain points, customer …
Photo courtesy of Mike Licht, licensed under CC by 2.0 Here’s the perfect joke. It’s a Jackie Gleason joke. “My grandfather always said that I shouldn’t watch my money. That I should watch my health. So while I was watching my health, someone stole my money. It was my grandfather.” Did you say it out …
When I realised the importance of creating an effective, methodical self-editing process, I reached out to the best writers I knew. I wasn’t just looking for tips. I wanted to get stomped into the ground. I wanted smart people to insert fishhooks into my weaknesses, attach rope to the hooks, and haul me into the …
Great copy doesn’t have to be fancy. Any copywriter will tell you that. You’ll be sternly warned off from trying to impress with self-indulgent wordplay and linguistic pyrotechnics. This is good advice, if you like getting paid. No-one ever bought dog biscuits or life insurance from James Joyce. That doesn’t mean that good writing is …
Three Great Non-Fiction Writers Every Copywriter Should Read Read More »
What is psychographics? “the study and classification of people according to their attitudes, aspirations, and other psychological criteria, especially in market research.” Psychographics is the study of an audience’s interests, activities and opinions. It provides an understanding of the kind of person who is interested in your services/product/website. It’s also a really cool word to …
How To Build Better User Personas with Google Analytics Psychographics Read More »
Phat Planet, a.k.a. ‘the song from that Guinness advert with the horses’ The advert makers can sometimes find ways to communicate a piece of music more effectively than the musicians themselves. Heresy! But it’s true. The musicians (and the people they employ to make their videos) are trying to sell themselves, a lot of the …
WARNING: Contains spoilers! First broadcast in 2014, Mackenzie Crook’s gentle comedy ran for three seasons. It won two BAFTAs and inspired a loyal cult following Why is Detectorists so good? The Detectorists was so subtle, I missed the point at first. My dad’s TV recommendations don’t always thrill me. Lupin? Bang on. Spiral? Sorry, Dad, …
Why ‘Detectorists’ Is The Englishness We Could All Do With a Bit More Of Read More »