Becoming a copywriter may look easy at first; however, the truth is that copywriting is more than just stringing some words together to make sentences, string sentences into paragraphs, and so on. No, no. SEO copywriting is about finding the right words that work for you.
Still interested? Here are six mistakes to avoid at all times when you copywrite.
- Not Researching
“The first thing to do, before you put pen to paper, is to do as much research as possible,” says Sam Haenke, a marketer at Australianhelp and Bigassignments. “Now, you don’t have to have an industry expert to micromanage your work, or be one yourself. The goal of your copywriting is to make it to where you understand yourself, or else everyone else isn’t going to understand it either.”
As you research, keep in mind the following:
- Don’t just rely on a single source. Have multiple sources.
- Base your research on finding good keywords.
- Don’t ever stop researching until you know what you’re writing about, who your audience is, and every fact you’re using for your work.
- Heavily Relying On Spellcheck
Just because you use spellcheck on your work… doesn’t mean the spelling is right! Whenever spellcheck is utilized in most word processing programs (with their tinkering algorithms and such), most of the time they get it all wrong.
Therefore, don’t ever assume that your spellchecker will catch every spelling and grammar mistake in your piece, or that it’s always right. Always check your work, and proofread more than one time. If necessary, have someone look over your work, so that you have more than one pair of eyes looking at it.
- Not Thinking About The Reader
When you have an audience, you have to write to them. The worst thing you can do here is to write solely from your own view, and not take the reader into account. The truth is, everyone is different: mental, personally, emotionally, etc. And, it’s easy to get lost in your own writing, and make that mistake. If you think about yourself, then you’ll risk losing your reader, and they won’t care about what you have to say.
People read content out of curiosity – they want to know why your product stands out above your competitors, and why they should care. In other words, they’re asking: “How can you solve my problem?”
In short, don’t neglect the reader in your SEO copy; and make it about the reader, not yourself. Cut out “I” and “we.”
- Writing Your Opinion As Fact
Whether you’re an expert in a subject or not, now is not the time to write your opinion as fact. If you can back up your claims with verifiable facts, then that’s good; however, some people with have the same facts and still believe something else. Plus, readers will do research of their own, just to make sure that your “facts” aren’t misleading. So, if your “facts” turn out to be wrong, then you’ll lose credibility.
First, know the difference between fact and opinion; and make sure that you have verifiable facts to back up your opinions. It’ll also help to have a list of sources where you got those verifiable facts from.
- Writing Confusing Content
“The one thing you don’t want to do when SEO copywriting is writing content that’s hard to understand,” says Ella Harcus, a copywriter at Boomessays and Stateofwriting. “If your content sounds confusing, then you’ll risk losing your audience. However, if your content is understandable and readable, your audience will stay, and most likely want more.”
Also, when copywriting, avoid writing long sentences and difficult words/phrases. Again, you want your content to be clear to your readers.
- Using Keywords Like Punctuation
While using keywords is essential for your SEO copy, make sure that you’re not trying to manipulate your search rankings by stuffing it full of unnecessary keywords. Also, if you’re copywriting for the sole purpose of trying to end up on the first page of Google, then realize that that’s not how copywriting should and will be like.
So, instead of loading gibberish into your SEO copy, try looking into giving your site better quality. Take the time to research the topic that your site is about. And, be sure that your keywords flow naturally with the rest of your piece by focusing on your chosen topic. You’ll get better search engine optimization by using effective keywords and creating quality content.
Conclusion
As you copywrite for a week or two, you’ll realize that there’s more to it than putting words and sentences together. And, it’s easy to get caught up in any of these mistakes listed, if you don’t know what to do.
But don’t worry! If you have the knowledge and heart to make copywriting into a full-time career, then be sure to keep these tips in mind on your next project. More importantly, don’t stop writing, and don’t ever hesitate to ask for feedback on your writing.
Molly Crockett writes for PhD Writers and Academized. She shares her lifestyle and nutrition tips, and even new recipes and healthy ingredient guides, with her audience at sites, such as Essayroo.