Part two – the copywriter’s ‘how to’

CONTENTS

How to write sales copy 2

White papers – a big earning opportunity 7

Write ‘expert copy’ - without being an expert 10

Mind mapping for copywriters 14

How to write a case study 15

How to write a press release 18

How to write for websites – the fastest growing market 21

1
How to write Sales Copy

As a copywriter, you will be asked to supply two types of copy – descriptive copy and sales copy. In fact,
most of what you produce, unless you specialize in technical writing, will have an element of sales to it.
Please don’t fall into the trap of believing that selling is about shouting louder than the next man or
beating the reader into submission. The aim of sales copy is to persuade. To persuade the reader to buy
your client’s products; to buy their services; to buy into a relationship with your client.

Think like a customer

There are three perspectives, three ways to describe any product or service. First, the way your client sees
it (and that’s how he will brief you). Secondly a dispassionate, factual way to see it. Thirdly, the end
customer’s perspective (the way you need to write it).

Let’s take an extreme example. I once worked with a company that used sheep fat, caustic soda and
chemical dyes to produce part of their product range. There’s no way you would incorporate that
perspective into any marketing literature. They made lipstick and a dispassionate perspective might come
up with a description that includes ’a metallic tube, a perfumed red waxy content that’s first smeared
over a woman’s lips, then over her lover’s
lips and collar’. Not much mileage there.
The only successful sales perspective is
that of the customer.

Women don’t buy sheep fat dyed red, in

tubes. They don’t even buy lipstick. They
buy sex appeal. We don’t buy a drill bit
because we lust after drill bits – we buy
them because we want to make a hole.
People don’t buy products – they buy
what the product does for them. They
buy benefits.
Women don’t buy lipstick – they buy sex appeal

2
The nuts and bolts – sorting features from the benefits

Experienced sales people invest a lot of time sorting out the benefits from the features associated with
whatever they are selling. We need to do the same. More importantly, like them, we need to really
understand the difference between features and benefits.

It sounds obvious, but it’s not. Let’s take an example. Your client asks you to write them a company
description. They have told you that:

 They have offices in every continent

 They have been in business for more than twenty years
 Their key staff are all qualified specialists in their field

Are they benefits? No way. They are features. Features are the things that describe the product or
service. Benefits are what the product delivers. ‘Offices in every continent’ is a feature. A benefit
associated with that feature might be ‘local support, working in your own time zone, understanding local
trading conditions’. A cooker that has ‘fan assisted heating’ (feature) means ‘faster, more even cooking’ –
the benefits.

Whether writing about your client, their products or services, you can recognize features because they
usually begin with phrases like ‘It does…’, ‘It is….’’ It has….’. Features are factual and relatively easy to list;
benefits are much more difficult. Just keep reminding yourself they are what the product/service means
to the customer/consumer.

Tip: The ‘quick test’ is to use is the phrase ‘which means…’. “it comes in twelve different colors
(feature), which means it will look great whatever your décor (benefit).” “It has optional four wheel drive
(feature), which means goodbye to winter blues (benefit).”

3
The psychology of needs vs Wants

If you have ever been on sales training courses, or are boning up on sales skills, you’ll know that a lot of
time is devoted to… satisfying customer needs. Sales people have become obsessed with needs. The only
problem is, if the customer needs something, but doesn’t particularly want it, they will certainly buy – but
at the lowest cost to satisfy that need. Fine if your client is the lowest cost provider, but hopeless if they
can be undercut.

Conversely, if people really, really want something, cost becomes a secondary issue. Desire increases from
‘I need it but don’t lust after it’, through ‘I want it but don’t really need it’, right up to ‘I need it and I want
it.’ I need to tell the time but I want a Rolex.

Which brings us back to thinking like a customer. Thinking like the people who would normally buy that
product or service, and adopting the tone of voice they would use, talking they way they talk. What will
the product say about them?

 Rolex, Hermes - I am a high achiever

 BMW, Armani – I am on my way to the top
 Apple, Swatch – I am an individual
 Co-Op Bank, Body Shop – I care for the environment

How to use emotion in your sales copy

An awful lot of the copywriting and marketing work I do is for businesses selling products and services to
other businesses - often large corporations. The briefs are usually very focused. You know the sort of
thing "Must have a corporate look-and-feel. Must have a corporate tone-of-voice."

The problem is, so many people, including marketing professionals, believe that 'corporate' people are in
some way different from Joe Public. Marketing professionals can forget that even top flight business
people are just plain ordinary folk in a different role. "But I sell to businesses, not people". No you don't -
you sell to people who happen to work within a business. They have a sense of humor and they do react
emotionally. And your copy should reflect that fact. This is particularly relevant when writing sales copy.
Buying motives are fuelled by emotions.

4
Rational motives include things like:

 Improving profit
 Reducing costs
 Better efficiency
 Dependability
 Easier, more cost effective maintenance
 Utility
 Security
 Health and Safety

Emotional motives include:

 Pride
 Fear
 Comfort
 Not wishing to look foolish
 Envy
 Laziness
 Approval
 Being like others

In making business decisions, prospects will be strongly influenced by emotional factors. Then they
rationalize the decision. That’s why we need to address both types of motivator.

Even when I write heavyweight White Papers for clients (how about "Profit Optimization for Shipping
Companies", "Investor Relations Communications", "Patient Reported Outcomes in Clinical Trials" for
heavy?), the readers are still hoping to fulfill very basic, human needs. They suffer FEAR of not being up to
date, or making a wrong business decision. They want to SCORE OFF COLLEAGUES by being that one step
ahead. They want to SAVE THE HASSLE of doing research for themselves.

So, the message is clear. Ignore the emotions at your peril.

5
The so-what test

Once you have sorted your benefits from your features, you have identified your audience, addressed
their wants, and you have written your masterpiece, there’s just one task left. Ask yourself – so what? If it
doesn’t pass that test, time for a re-write.

Structure - time to meet AIDA

Aida is an acronym that stands for

Attention
Interest
Desire
Action.

It used to be a structure used by salespeople face-to-face. It really doesn’t

work today in that environment – but it DOES work when writing sales
copy.

You have only a few seconds to grab attention, before people move on, so
your opening headline has to stop people in their tracks.

Once they’ve read that opener, you again have just a few seconds to develop initial attention into real
interest – “Hum – I must see what this is all about.”

This buys you the time need to arouse a DESIRE for whatever you are offering – enough to encourage
ACTION - asking for it!

Shortly, in one of our ‘fireside chats’, you will have an opportunity to see AIDA in action.

6
An introduction to White Papers

For the jobbing copywriter, White Papers are wonderful ‘meaty’ projects that can yield good returns – for
most, I charge around £2,000 and for one, an annual paper, I charge as much as £6,000. If you are lucky
enough to bring with you from your previous work an expertise (accountancy, financial services,
information technology, pharmaceuticals, logistics, engineering etc.) then you should be able to move into
the White Paper arena fairly quickly. If you don’t have such expertise, still read on as this is something you
could eventually grow into. In the next chapter I will explain how to write esoteric copy even without any
previous knowledge of the subject!

What are White Papers?

Essentially, they are valuable, authoritative, management briefing documents on topical business issues.
Your clients will be in the B2B arena (selling their products or services to other businesses). For a
freelance copywriter, B2B clients can be much more profitable and less hassle than B2C clients
(companies selling to consumers). White papers first took off commercially in the IT sector, but are now
popular right across the B2B sectors.

Why do clients like them?

A recent Forbes magazine survey of top decision makers revealed that:

 63% use white papers or case studies to evaluate products and services
 78% pass white papers and case studies to colleagues.

7
  93% felt that high quality vendor white papers positively influence a company's image.

White papers are also an excellent means of lead generation for your client. The problem with traditional
direct mail is that, even when a recipient likes what they read, inertia sets in - I'll deal with that later. The
true reason for not responding is the knowledge they will have to speak to a salesman.

Using an offer of a White Paper / Management Discussion Paper / Management Briefing / Survival Guide
(same thing) has the following benefits as a lead generation technique:

 It is not pushing a product or service - it is offering something of value. Information. Free of

charge
 Offers of a Business Document stand a much higher chance of getting past the gatekeeper than a
product/service sales mailing
 It is non-threatening. Instead of having to speak to a nasty salesman, the prospect is simply going
to receive a valuable report (clients make it easy to respond, without human contact. Given the
option, no-one uses the phone to request the paper – almost always email)
 It meets emotional as well as rational needs - eg Fear (of making a wrong decision), Kudos
(displaying their new-found knowledge to colleagues), Laziness (not having to research
information for themselves)
 Once written, it is incredibly low cost and can be used in campaigns over and over again (one
client has been using what is essentially the same White Paper - a Survival Guide - for more than
10 years).

Remember, in the B2B environment, the objective is simply to get prospects to identify themselves, not
overtly to sell products/services. Once identified, then your client can call in the sales team.

Clients also offer downloads of White Papers from their websites - but prospects have to register first!

What do White Papers look like?

There is no formal structure, no set length. I have written papers that are just four pages long, others that
are forty pages long. Sometimes they begin with an ‘abstract’ – a paragraph summarizing what the paper
will cover. Whether you title it ‘abstract’ or ‘management summary’, this is a good principle.

8
You will often face a dilemma with clients who are publishing their first paper. They will want you to focus
on their product, their solution, their company. This is a mistake – the paper then becomes little more
than an extended sales brochure. A white paper should be a more subtle ‘sell’. It should simply describe
the issues or problems the product will overcome, together with a strategy for solving those issues – not
mentioning the product itself. By appearing to be unbiased, white papers become much more effective
than any sales brochure. They add value. Readers of white papers want to be educated, not sold to.

When clients are really determined to feature their own product, I recommend that they do so as an
appendix, keeping the main body of the document sales-free. It is your role to try to steer the client in the
right direction

Non Disclosure Agreements (NDAs)

Because white papers go much deeper than sales literature, clients will often have to reveal commercially
sensitive information. To protect themselves, they may ask you to sign a Non Disclosure Agreement – a
legally binding document in which you agree not to disclose any anything you learn, except within the
paper itself. This is fairly standard practice.

TIP: Michael Steizner runs a blog on White Paper. Try visiting:

http://www.writingwhitepapers.com/blog/category/writing-white-papers/

9
How to write ‘expert copy’ without being an expert

If, as freelance copywriters, we were to stick only to the things we know about, our opportunities would
be sorely restricted – and over time the challenge and the fun would be lost. Working from home, you will
need the adrenaline of new challenges. Don’t worry. Once you have mastered the art of writing within
your comfort zone, it really is possible to extend into new areas – often highly complex – in which you
have no previous expertise. After all, your expertise is in writing. Your clients provide the content.

Getting VIPs to be interviewed

For journalists in the national press, or editors in

the trade press, it's not too difficult to get
through to VIPs, opinion makers, big names,
celebrities, authorities. But what about the new,
unknown writer?
A million years ago, when I was on a course at
London Business School, one of the young
students pulled off an amazing coup. She
managed to engineer an interview with a very
high profile cabinet minister who was playing a
prominent role on the world stage at that time.
When fellow students begged the secret of how she had pulled off such a feat, the answer was... "I just
phoned him up and asked." Lesson number one - if you don't ask, you don't get. I apply the principle and
have even managed to interview Bill Gates.

Lowering the barrier

Whether it is a high profile interview, or a customer case study, remember your subject is busy and could
do without the hassle. They also do not want to risk being exposed in print. So, step straight in with the
two reassurances they need:
"It will only take 15 minutes of your time - a simple phone call"
"Nothing will be published without your formal approval"

10
Record your interview

When interviewing face-to-face, experts often ramble and find it difficult getting to the point. Meanwhile,
you have problems keeping up, taking notes. You are so busy writing that you could lose control of the
conversation. That’s why, earlier I recommended telephone interviews and gave you a link to a low cost
device, plus a link to free transcription software.

Over the phone, people are less likely to digress. And because you are recording rather than note taking,
you don’t have to hold up their flow while you get things down. You also have more time (and a clearer
mind) to be preparing your next question. Taping an interview makes it so much easier to listen. And if
you really have a problem with a particular point, it’s so easy to say “Sorry, this is a bad line – could you
possibly expand on that a little more slowly?”

Once you have transcribed your interview, any jargon can be looked up on the web! What’s more, by
listening to a recording, it’s possible to pick up those areas where the expert is getting excited – the real
meat – which is impossible when reviewing handwritten notes.

Have they presented it before?

When interviewing industry experts, it can be useful to ask if the subject has a PowerPoint presentation
on the topic (usually they do). Once emailed to me, the subject is able to talk me through the topic, over
the phone, while we both view on-screen.

How to control an interview

The secret of telephone interviews is knowing how to ask questions, how to use questioning
techniques. There are two types of question - Open and Closed questions.

Open Questions are questions that cannot be answered with a simple Yes or No. They are the most
powerful tool in your kitbox.

11
  They invite a descriptive, a much more detailed response. For example, using a closed question:
"Did you have good weather on holidays?" might get you get you a simple "Yes." That could
mean anything from snow to sun to wind, depending on their choice of holiday. The Open
Question ''What sort of weather did you have on holiday?'' might have elicited the response
''Fantastic! We had the best snow ever for skiing.'' Now you have really learned something.
 They will reveal opinions and feelings.
 They get people to evaluate their views/feelings/opinions
 They encourage conversation (helping us achieve a good listen/talk ratio). Listen to professional
TV interviewers and they will make considerable use of Open Questions early on in the interview.
 They gain time - time to think.

Closed Questions are those that prompt a Yes or No answer. Not much detail there, but they do have
their place. They put people on the spot.

 For testing understanding or seeking agreement (asking yes/no questions) "So, you are happy to
be quoted on that?"
 For getting them into a positive frame of mind (asking successive questions with an obvious Yes
answer).

Follow up

As a matter of courtesy, always conclude with a very real

expression of thanks - and follow up with a 'thank you'
email, together with confirmation that nothing will be
published without sign-off. Give an indication of when
the first draft will be available.

I usually raise the possibility of a photograph of the

subject for use with the interview - and almost always
gain agreement.

12
Tip: The danger for beginners is working to an over-structured list of questions, resulting in a sort of
verbal 'tunnel vision'. A neat way of breaking out is to lead with some very global questions, such as "If
you were given a magic wand, what would be the things you would like most to see changed?", "What is
the biggest single strength you see in XYZ? And the biggest single weakness?"

TIP: How, under the pressure of an interview, can you automatically ask Open Questions? Easy - they
usually begin with Why? When, and How? "Why did you change your supplier?", "How did your Widget
change your life?"

13
Mind Mapping for copywriters

I have now given up interviewing

experts face-to-face. I love the
phone and it gives me the whole
world as a marketplace. Some
copywriters, however, enjoy
getting out and meeting people.
They thrive on social interaction.
Given that in interviews, most
people find a tape recorder
intrusive, surely there must be a
better way of taking notes?

Very early in my career as a copywriter, I discovered the power of Mind Mapping. I would use the
techniques when I needed to take notes during an interview and I used it to develop the structure of
complex articles, White Papers, scripts and presentations.

Mind Mapping is way of transferring ideas from the brain onto paper very quickly and easily, using simple
linkage diagrams. It began life as an improved way of taking notes during lectures. Rather than the
traditional approach of capturing sentences in the sequence they were spoken, Mind Maps simply
capture key words (sometimes pencil sketched images) with lines drawn to show the logical connections
between key points. The technique was developed by Tony Buzan in 1970 as "a system for capturing
ideas and insights horizontally on a sheet of paper. It can be used in nearly every activity where thought,
planning, recall or creativity are involved” (Buzan, 1989).

Mind mapping lets you brainstorm, generate and connect ideas. More importantly, you can see new
connections between ideas and start to make new connections.

There is a fantastic free introduction to Mind Mapping and tutorial on the web at
http://www.teamwork.demon.co.uk/mind_maps/mind_intro.html

And, last time I visited, you could get a free trial sampler of Mind Mapping software at
http://www.murge.com/

14
How to write a Case Study

Wikepedia defines a case study as “an intensive analysis of an individual unit (e.g., a person, group, or
event) stressing developmental factors in relation to context. The case study is common in social sciences
and life sciences”

Enough! For us copywriters, a case study means a short piece of writing that describes how a company’s
product or service has helped one of their clients. They are simply success stories written as mini articles.
And there is a huge demand for them. After all, they add third party credibility, they gain empathy and
they address specific audiences. They work so well because they tell a story!

The structure: problem – solution - benefit

With slight variation, the structure is simple:

 A strong headline, usually stating a benefit achieved, such as “Company X drives down costs and
captures market share with Zizzo”.
 A brief couple of lines summarizing the whole case study
 A description of the challenges Company X had been experiencing before they adopted Zizzo.
The business reasons they had for change and their criteria for selecting the right product/service
to solve their problems.
 The benefits they now enjoy. Possibly a description of the excellent relationship they have with
the people at Zizzo.
 Wherever possible throughout the case study, use direct quotes from senior people within
Company X

15
The tone of voice should be ‘editorial’. Make it sound like an independent journalist writing a story.

Now for the ‘how to’….

First, make sure your client has gained approval to spotlight their customer and has explained that you
will be conducting a preliminary telephone interview. Make your client aware that they will increase their
chances of approval significantly if they stress two things. First, the case study will take up very little of
their customer’ time – just 15 minutes on the phone with you, that’s all. Secondly, nothing will be
published without their customer’s formal sign-off. Hassle and potential exposure are the two greatest
concerns the end customer may have.
Wherever possible, don’t let your client write a rough draft first. It will take them forever and it will simply
end up inhibiting you. Instead, interview your client by phone (recorded, for later transcription) along
these lines:

 Give me a brief description of the customer (in fact, you will already have researched this using
the internet).
 Are there any underlying issues in the client’s business environment that make this case study
topical?
 How did the client cope before Zizzo?
 What were their business reasons for deciding to look for a new product/service?
 What were their decision criteria?
 Did they look at more than one potential supplier? Did they speak to other users of Zizzo? What
clinched the decision in Zizzo’s favor?
 What benefits did they expect to achieve from a Zizzo-like product?

16
  Since adopting Zizzo, how have they achieved their objectives (cutting costs, eliminating hassle,
improving quality etc). Can we get the customer to put hard metrics to the benefits (eg fifteen
per cent reduction in work in progress, $5,000 reduction in raw material wastage, employee
satisfaction improvement of eight per cent).
 Are there any specific messages you would like to come out of this case study? Are there any
particular words you would like me to put into your customer’s mouth?

Once you have developed the brief, interviewing the end customer follows exactly the same sort of
questioning format. Do, however, listen. Often in interviews, the customer has benefits/comments that
had never been anticipated by your client – allow yourself to follow these new lines of enquiry.

Take every opportunity to lead the customer into making strong statements that can be used as direct
quotes.
Always ask the customer if they will provide a photograph. Ask in such a way that it is clear that’s what
everyone does – it’s no big deal.

Tip: When embarking on a case study, use the web to look up existing case studies published by your
client.

Tip: Trade magazines often publish ‘advertorial’, a paid-for article written in editorial style with the
intention of promoting the sponsor company. You will never be contacted directly by a trade magazine,
but clients will often use a freelancer to write their advertorial. Suggest a case study to your client as it
can be a very powerful sales aid that, after publication, they can load to their website and re-print for use
at exhibitions and so on.

17
How to write a press release

Horses for courses

Earlier, I explained that most large corporations already

have strong relationships with professional PR companies
who write and, importantly, distribute press releases.
They will have relationships with national newspapers and
journals and their editorial team. That type of journal is
simply not interested in trade case studies. They will
never publish “XYZ company implements new system
from Zizzo”. It’s not news, it’s not a story, it’s not
interesting. They will also expect the release to follow a
fairly standard format which will probably be no more
than 500 words long.

Smaller clients though may do their own press release

distribution to, say, a well known group of highly specialised trade journals or local press. Imagine an IT
company, for example, that specializes exclusively in software solutions for builders merchants. The
number of trade magazines addressing the builders merchant sector can be counted on the fingers of one
hand. Such clients can be a good source of repeat income for freelancers.

Press releases for most of your clients will simply be press ads delivered as editorial. In fact, many trade
mags accept what is known as ‘advertorial’ – articles paid for, and written by, the advertiser
masquerading as something written by the journal’s own staff. You will often be called on to write
advertorial – by your client, not by the journal direct.

Unlike national newspapers and consumer magazines:

 Trade journals have very few staff. Much of the copy is written by the editor – they have few
journalists. For them, filling empty pages every week/month can be a real challenge, so they
often welcome the opportunity of simply copying/pasting material sent to them. Their readers

18
 are interested in case studies. And their readers do want to know what their competitors and
others in their sector are doing.
 They tend to be technical because their audience consists of trade practitioners. They don’t shy
away from jargon because their readers are comfortable with it. Remember, you don’t need to
be an expert – your client gives you all the insight you need.

Use Word. Don’t send a pdf. Magazines, particularly hard pressed trade magazines, welcome the
opportunity to ‘copy and paste’. PDFs slow down the editing process.

Do what the editor will do. Ask yourself ‘Why would anyone care about this?’ Is it news? Is there a story?

Report in the “third person”. Even though the release will be distributed to journals by Zizzo company,
the copy must be written as by someone independent. A journalist. So, “Zizzo’s new range of kitchen units
is designed especially with singletons in mind.” Rather than “Our new range of….” Exactly the opposite of
what I have been suggesting for most copy.

Length. Most people will tell you that press releases are most effective when they are under 500 words.
That’s true for national press and mainstream mags. When preparing releases for pure trade press, it’s
worth checking back copies for the amount of space the journal typically assigns to similar ‘news’ items.

Headline. Be creative and keep it to one sentence. Do not use capital letters (except in America, where
it’s OK to capitalize the first letter of all words in a headline). Do not use exclamation marks!!! No editor
would read any further than an exclamation mark.

Tone of voice. Read back copies of the trade journals you are addressing and write in keeping with their
own editorial style. Never suggest partiality on the part of the magazine.

Structure of a press release

Press releases have a very similar structure. They are headed up with ‘Press release’ and a date for release
(often simply ‘for immediate release’)

19
Start with a strong headline that captures the attention of readers. Next, an opening paragraph that
reinforces the headline. It should summarize the release such that, if nothing else is read, it tells your entire
message.

In the main body of the release, which will be more than one paragraph, include any supporting statistics plus
speech quotes from key staff, customers or experts.

The final paragraph should restate and summarize the key points of your release.

At the end of the release, end with the three characters ###

After the close, give contact details and a link to any further information, including photographs,
downloadable from your client’s website. Always identify everyone in photographs by position.

This is often followed by a heading ‘’Information for editors’, with a paragraph describing your client’s
company.

How to get press coverage (as opposed to simply writing a release)

The secret is to think like an editor. He/she wants news. They want a story. Or they want informed
comment. The last thing they want is sales puff. That's why many never even bother to read trade press
releases - too many are thinly disguised sales copy. All you have to do is be different. Always ask yourself
"If I were the editor, would I be thrilled to put this in my publication?"

Look hard enough and you can always find (or manufacture) a story. Then do all the groundwork, making
life easier for busy editors.

A couple of years ago, a very small company wanted to tell the world they had moved offices. Not the
most promising start but, when we dug deeper we manufactured a story. They specialized in security and
it was a new building (possibly the most secure in the city?). They were able to demonstrate a security
device that within seconds could fill a room with 'smoke' - disabling an intruder (a potential visual
element). A quick phone call to the West Midlands Police provided all the statistics we needed on
increased break-ins (saving the editor or journalist having to do the research). Now we had a story. It
gained huge features in the press and a four minute slot on Central TV (plus all the inevitable spill-over
into cable TV).

20
Writing for the web – the fastest growing market

Apart from scripts for corporate videos or audio, a copywriter’s work used always go to print. The internet
changed all that, creating fantastic opportunities for online copy. But beware; digital content is not the
same as print copy. People read from the screen very differently. They are impatient. They don’t read
word-by-word, they scan.

Short paragraphs

Because people scan, it’s important to forget traditional printed paragraphs. For the web, cut your copy
into much smaller chunks. This will also help on-screen readability - it takes people 25% longer to read off-
screen than from print.

Go easy on bold and italics and don’t underline

Again, for readability, restrain yourself when it comes to bold or italicized text within a sentence. Never
underline. That’s a cardinal rule even with printed copy (when did you last see underlining in a
newspaper?). It’s particularly important with digital copy because underlining usually denotes a hyperlink.
NEVER USE CAPITALS IN COPY – IT’S LIKE SHOUTING.

Sub headings

Use sub heads to improve scanability. Don’t be cute; your subheads aren’t there to entertain. They should
act as very clear pointers to content

Forget what I said earlier about numerals

When writing for print, received wisdom suggests (and many clients insist) that numbers up to ten should
be spelled out rather than using numerals. The web is different. Because readers scan, you should show
numbers as numerals. Digits represent facts, which web users love. If numbers in your copy don’t
represent facts, then you can spell them out.

21
Searchability

Your clients will expect your copy to help them with Google’s search rankings. They will probably provide
you with their chosen search terms, which they will expect you to weave into their copy. Basic rules:

Don’t over-use search terms in your copy. Although one of your objectives is to influence Google, never
lose sight of the fact that you are also writing for humans. Search terms need to occur naturally within the
text.

Do try, wherever possible to incorporate the search term in your headline (Google likes headlines) and in
your sub-heads. Aim for at least 200 words per web page

Clients have a touching faith in the power of search terms within their copy. In fact, there are two other
more valuable things they can do to promote each page. When website developers create a web page,
they are supposed to give it a title and a description. They don’t appear anywhere within the on-screen
page; they are hidden away in the HTML code that developers use. Unfortunately, most web developers
are lazy and simply copy/paste the same description and the same title into all pages, doing their client a
great disservice.

You can add further value for your client by recommending page titles and page descriptions. I always do.

22