With the latest Google algorithm updates resulting in dramatically less AI generated being returned by them, Raspberry Flamingo have decided to officially offer an editing service.
Google announced in March 24 that it wanted to reduce unoriginal content (that means AI generated content in Google speak) by 40% immediately. And that figure will only increase.
What this means in real terms is that websites which have done well in terms of ranking, organic traffic, and enquiries are seeing a significant drop off.
The issues with AI generated content
I have always said AI should only be used to generate short form content – social media posts and maybe emails.
I have no problem with it being used to research subjects, get ideas for content, make suggestions for content structure…
However, AI generated content cannot meet Google’s requirements for long form text – website copy, blogs, articles, etc.
What we are now finding is that clients are coming to us with their AI generated content so that it can go through our editing service or be completely re-written.
In some instances, the AI generated content has been wholly inaccurate and in others the content has been on two very different subjects within one piece of content!
It’s really not good.
What Google are after with long form text
Google have some quite specific requirements for both website copy (pages) and content (blogs and articles).
They want specific primary keywords for each page/blog/article.
Each web page needs a different keyword to the next.
The primary keyword must be used in certain places on each page/blog/article and in a particular density (keyword stuffing is a thing of the past!)
Content must not be duplicated from one page to another.
The copy and content must address the reader.
So, the old fashioned ‘we’re an award winning service with excellent, highly trained staff’ kind of copy no longer works as that’s about you and not the reader.
You must demonstrate E-E-A-T on every page/blog/article.
That stands for experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness. (You can find more on this in another blog on here.)
They also like links – both internal and external.
That’s quite a lot for a non-SEO copy or content writer to take into consideration, and that’s why we have launched our editing service – or, of course, we can write everything from scratch for you.
I have always said, and I will continue to say, if you are writing (or worse still paying for someone else to write for you) copy or content to publish digitally that does not contain the correct on-page SEO, you are wasting your time and money.
And now nothing more could be true due to the new algorithm.
Raspberry Flamingo’s Editing Service
If you are generally happy that the copy and content on your website is accurate and covers everything it needs to, then our editing service is for you.
We’ve always provided the service, but we’ve never advertised it – until now.
It’s a quick, easy, and cost-effective way to get your website updated, on-page SEO inserted, and all the other elements Google are looking for ticked off.
Some clients are asking us for our editing service for their whole website, others for their blogs and articles… whatever element you need us to look at, we can.
We are happy to audit your website for you and let you know what needs to be done.
And our editing service can be implemented in a phased approach, if you wish.
Some clients ask us to update their last 10 blogs. Others their pages. Some ask us to do a certain number per month until the project is complete.
If you would like a chat about our editing service, then please contact Claire through the contact form at the bottom of the page or by sending her a Whatsapp message (QR code below).
The author
Claire Taylor Foster is the founder of Raspberry Flamingo Copywriting and Content Marketing.
She started her copywriting and marketing after leaving school way too long ago to mention! Direct Response Copy is her passion. Read more on Claire here.
As far as Claire’s concerned, if copy and content doesn’t contain ‘on-page’ SEO, then it’s pointless publishing it! (Unless of course, paid advertising is going to drive the traffic.)
Before I explain how to create a lead magnet, I think I should take a moment to explain what one is.
What is a lead magnet?
A lead magnet is simply something which a prospective customer would find of value and be willing to exchange their contact details for.
Examples could be:
A ‘how to’ guide
A checklist
An ebook
A workbook
A cheat sheet
A video
A webinar
A quiz
… really any format goes.
The important thing is that its contents are something your prospect is interested in and will find valuable.
What topic should it be on
I believe this is why most people don’t create a lead magnet.
They get stuck on the topic.
Many experts will tell you to dive on in to thinking subject area immediately.
However, I would ask you to think strategically about where your lead magnet is going to be promoted and found.
Your website
I’ve said it before, and I’m sure I’ll continue to say it… your website is your biggest marketing tool.
So, your website should be the place you promote your lead magnet.
Now I’m not for one second saying don’t promote it on social media or in your email marketing, etc.
But when you do promote it in those places, you should be driving traffic back to your website.
Placement on your website
When you create a lead magnet, it needs to be prominent.
You want people to give you their email address in exchange for it.
This means they fall into your pipeline.
Otherwise, how do you know who has visited your site?!
In an ideal world, if you have a number of different services, you would create a lead magnet for each service and have them on those pages.
But if you only have one, then why not promote it on every page?!
Or have a pop up window when someone lands on your site.
Collecting their details
To make this process effective you need to use email marketing software that integrates into your website.
More often than not, the data collection form which appears on your site is generated in your email marketing software – you simply add a code to your website and the form appears.
When someone enters their details, they go straight into the contact list in the email software.
If you have created different lead magnets, you can add a tag for each (when you create the sign up form) and have different contact lists created.
This means you can personalise your communications to each person, according to which service they are interested in.
(If you’re not sure what email marketing software to choose, I recommend ActiveCampaign. Take a look here.)
Back to how to create a lead magnet
Subject
Think of what your prospective customers want to know before they buy or think about what they would need to know if they were to do it themselves.
(It’s a complete myth that you will lose a customer if you tell them how to do what you do. If they take your information and go do it themselves, they were never going to pay you to do it in the first place!)
You might go back to the questions you get asked most frequently.
It might be good to explain how something works.
The options are endless.
I will add here though, sometimes it’s good to tell someone ‘what’ and ‘why’ but leave out the ‘how’.
This means they understand the benefits of your service, but don’t know how to do it themselves.
Let me give you a couple of examples of lead magnets we’ve created for clients.
A Will Writer
We created a guide which explained why you need a Will, giving real life scenarios of what happens if you don’t have one in different circumstances.
We also then went on to list the areas that someone may wish to consider when thinking about the detail of their Will.
For example, who would look after pets? Are there any specific items of jewellery which you want a particular person to inherit?
The lead magnet provided a space for people to jot down their thoughts in preparation for the solicitor to visit them and draft the Will.
It ended with the link for them to book in their appointment.
A Window Blinds Company
Different types of window blinds are suitable for different types and shapes of windows and doors.
We, therefore, created a guide which detailed the different types of blinds and their uses.
Then in a second section we listed the different types and shapes of windows and doors, and detailed which blinds were suitable for each.
Whether a potential customer knew what sort of blind they wanted, or they had an unusually shaped window and needed to know that they could choose from – the guide covered it.
Other ideas
Other examples could be
a checklist for organising a wedding reception for a wedding planner
a guide on how to carry out a Portable Appliance Test for an electrician or dedicated PAT tester
a cheat sheet structure for writing an assignment for a training provider
Your lead magnet needs to give value.
When you create a lead magnet, it needs to be something someone feels will help them.
And, as I said, you don’t always have to give away the ‘how’.
Sometimes the ‘what’ and ‘why’ are enough!
Layout, Format, and Style
Think about what layout will be most useful to your prospective customer.
If it’s a checklist, make sure they can tick items off.
If it’s a quiz, make sure there is a mechanism for them to find out their results.
If it a guide, would them being able to jot down notes as they go through be useful?
Once you have your idea for layout style, consider the delivery format.
It could be
a web page – once they’ve entered their details they are redirect to that page
a link – delivered by email
a pdf – downloadable immediately from your website once they’ve entered their details
a questionnaire which generates an email report once completed
The options are practically endless.
Getting the words down
When you create a lead magnet there are options as to how you write it.
Option 1: You could write it in-house. (If you’re not 100% confident in your English skills, ask a copywriter or proof-reader to check it for you.)
Option 2: Contract it out to a good copywriter or content writer who understands your business.
Option 3: Use an AI writing tool. (My word of warning here would be to check it thoroughly for both content and style – many AI generated documents are very easy to spot as they are personality-less… and your business has a personality!)
Making it look pretty and on-brand
If you don’t have an in-house graphic designer, then I would always recommend contracting the design out if you have the budget.
Tools such as Canva are great if you have a design eye, but if you’re like me and you’re not great at that stuff, then find someone who is.
Make sure whatever design is created is in your brand colour suite and using your brand fonts.
The worst thing you can do is allow someone to land on your website and then download a document from you which looks like it’s from a different company altogether.
Visual brand consistency matters!
Create a lead magnet with Raspberry Flamingo
We create all types of lead magnets for our clients.
We can come up with ideas for the subject/topic.
We consider the layout, format, and style when we plan it.
We write it.
And, if you need us to, we will get it designed for you by one of our associate branding experts.
If you’d like to know more about lead magnets, then you can visit our page here
Raspberry Flamingo would love to create a lead magnet specifically for you.
The author
Claire Taylor Foster is the founder of Raspberry Flamingo Copywriting and Content Marketing.
She started her copywriting and marketing after leaving school way too long ago to mention! Direct Response Copy is her passion. Read more on Claire here.
As far as Claire’s concerned, if copy and content doesn’t contain ‘on-page’ SEO, then it’s pointless publishing it! (Unless of course, paid advertising is going to drive the traffic.)
When it comes to launching a website for your business the most crucial element is high quality content. Before diving into the aspects and plugins it’s important to remember that even the advanced tools can’t compensate for lacklustre content.
However, once you have a compelling foundation of content there are WordPress plugins that can enhance, optimise and protect your site. In this article we will explore ten plugins that’re ideal for kickstarting a business website.
1. Rank Math vs. Yoast SEO Both of these plugins are well known in the world of SEO. Are designed to improve your sites search engine ranking.
Key Differences: Rank Math provides a user interface with a set of SEO tools that make advanced optimisation accessible. On the hand Yoast has built its reputation by offering content analysis to guide you in optimising your content effectively.
2. Easy Table of Contents This plugin simplifies the presentation of organised content.It automatically generates a table of contents based on your headings, which greatly improves navigation and accessibility for articles.
3. Link Whisper This plugin streamlines the process of linking.By utilising AI technology, it suggests internal links that enhance SEO and facilitate seamless connectivity between different pieces of content.
4. Smush This plugin is dedicated to optimising images, on your website.It optimises image files while maintaining their quality resulting in loading times and improved performance, for websites.
5. Sucuri vs. WordFence These are security plugins specifically designed to protect your website.Sucuri specialises in safeguarding web applications through its web application firewalls and DDoS protection features.
On the hand WordFence offers a firewall solution and malware scanner that is tailored solely for WordPress sites.
6. WP Fastest Cache This plugin primarily focuses on enhancing website speed.By generating HTML files from your WordPress website, it ensures that visitors can access faster versions of your pages.
7. Google Analytics
A tool for obtaining insights about your audience.Apart from tracking visitors Google Analytics provides information about user behaviour time spent on pages, bounce rate and more. This data helps businesses customise their strategies accordingly.
8. Google Search Console Monitor and manage how your site appears in Google search results using Google Search Console. From checking the indexing status of your site to understanding which search queries lead users to it this tool is highly beneficial for improving visibility and understanding the performance of your site in search results.
9. Tawk Live Chat Communicate with visitors on your website, in real-time.Whether itis providing customer support or addressing sales inquiries promptly through chat options can greatly enhance user experience and boost conversion rates.
10. Akismet Protecting you from spam.It automatically. Filters out comments that appear to be spam ensuring interactions, on your blog or contact forms.
My Final Thoughts: While these plugins offer features it’s important to emphasise that the core of a small business website lies in its content.
These WordPress tools serve as supplements enhancing and safeguarding the content. As your business grows, you’ll find a balance. Always prioritise high quality content as your foundation. With content, as the basis these plugins can truly enhance your websites visibility.
I suspect you’d expect me to say that grammar is important with me being a copywriter.
And you’d not be wrong!
It makes all the difference to anything written.
Let me give you an example quickly right here at the beginning of the blog…
I love my friends, Freddy Mercury and Sheila Handcock.
Or
I love my friends, Freddy Mercury, and Sheila Handcock.
The first sentence says that my friends’ names are Freddy Mercury and Sheila Handcock.
The second says, I love my friends and Freddy Mercury and Sheila Handcock.
School education
If you were like me, you may not have picked up on why grammar is important at school.
English was just another subject to sit through. Just another exam to take.
No one told us (I hope they did you) that English was the one subject that you would genuinely need for the rest of your life… unlike algebra and chemical formulas…
And, yes, I know… some careers do need algebra and chemical formulas… but I don’t believe the majority of us need them on a regular basis.
Realising grammar is important
It was really when I started work at The University of Sheffield in my early 20’s that I realised how important gramma was going to be.
How could I write emails, memos, and other documents to academics who held the English language in such high regard if I couldn’t use grammar properly?
So, I booked myself onto a course… looking back it was THE best thing I have done for myself in my career.
I became much more confident in my writing abilities and have never really looked back.
What I believe to be important in grammar
Now you have to understand that different people have very different standards for the use of grammar.
The Head of Language and Linguistics once said to me “Claire, a sentence can be an incomplete utterance”.
Now, I’m sorry, but school never taught us that!!!!
As a copywriter you can play with grammar in ways you couldn’t as a business writer or an academic.
I now also teach Functional English Skills to apprentices, and so I have to ensure I’m keeping myself in check to the standard!
The basics
Your sentence must have a capital letter at the beginning and a full stop at the end.
Names of things (eg, a person, a job role, a place) should use capital letters at the start of each word.
For example, Mark Smith is the Company Accountant and is based in Timbucktoo.
If you use commas in a complex sentence, the middle section must be able to be removed and the sentence still make sense when read.
For example: When I visited the Yorkshire Wildlife Park, last Tuesday, it rained all day but didn’t spoil our enjoyment.
(If you remove ‘last Tuesday’ the sentence will still make sense.)
Be particularly careful when using ‘and’ or ‘but’ in a sentence. Many people make the mistake of putting the comma before the ‘and’ or ‘but, when in fact it should come after. If you remove the middle part of the sentence, it will no long read correctly without the joining word.
Lists
If you are writing a list, make sure you use commas correctly. (This is one of my biggest soap box issues!)
As you come to the end of the list, you’ll more than likely use the word ‘and’ between the last two items.
If you don’t use a comma after the item before ‘and’, the ‘and’ joins the last two items together.
For example:
I went to the shop and bought bread, milk, salt, potatoes and cheese. (Wrong – to the best of my knowledge there is no such single item as potatoes and cheese!)
Or
I went to the shop and bought bread, milk, salt, potatoes, and cheese. (Correct)
This rule also applies if you are using ‘etc’ at the end of a list. It needs a comma before it.
Bullet Points
If you are using bullet points, the correct way is to use a ‘:’ prior to them and not use a full stop at the end of each point.
For me, the use of the ‘:’ is essential… but then either use a full stop at the end of each point or don’t use any.
As long as it’s consistent I tend not to worry.
Length of paragraphs
This is where judgment comes into it.
Think about the audience when thinking about the length of paragraphs.
For something which is going to be published online – a blog, a social media post, etc – one sentence is long enough to make up a paragraph.
It’s all about making it easy to read.
However, if you were writing a letter to someone, or a business document, or an essay, then you use a new paragraph when the subject changes.
So, using the text directly above this line – if it were a letter then I would have written it more like this:
This is where judgment comes into it. Think about the audience when thinking about the length of paragraphs.
For something which is going to be published online – a blog, a social media post, etc – one sentence is long enough to make up a paragraph. It’s all about making it easy to read.
However, if you were writing a letter to someone, or a business document, or an essay, then you use a new paragraph when the subject changes.
Five paragraphs have become three.
Words you can’t use at the start of a sentence
At school we are taught that you can’t use words like ‘and’ and ‘so’ at the beginning of a sentence.
Absolute rubbish.
Use whatever you want to.
Apostrophes
Ok, this is a big one for many people.
You use an apostrophe (‘) if you join two words together and remove a letter.
For example:
It is becomes it’s
Do not becomes don’t
You are becomes you’re
You also use an apostrophe if something belongs to someone.
For example:
Claire’s coat (it is the coat belonging to Claire)
The dog’s ball (the ball belongs to the dog)
It does get more complex than this, but I’ll leave apostrophes here for now.
The use of ‘therefore’ and ‘however’
If you use ‘therefore’ or ‘however in a sentence, a comma should be used before and after.
For example:
It was a hot day, therefore, I put my hat on to protect my hair.
The weather forecast said it might rain, however, I took a chance and went for a walk without an umbrella.
If used at the start of a sentence, as the first word, a comma must be used immediately after.
When to use ‘…’
The use of three dots indicates there is more to come.
I’ve used them a number of times in this blog already.
An Interrobang
My favourite word when it comes to grammar is interrobang!
‘What is one?’ I hear you ask…
It is a combination of question marks and exclamation marks…
!!?!!
Hyphens
Now this is another of my pet peeves.
I have no idea where this trend has come from, but I keep seeing hyphens attached to the end of a word… being used instead of a comma!!!
Why???!!!???
Let’s use the sentence I used earlier:
When I visited the Yorkshire Wildlife Park, last Tuesday, it rained all day but didn’t spoil our enjoyment.
How is it right to be written it like this…
When I visited the Yorkshire Wildlife Park- last Tuesday, it rained all day but didn’t spoil our enjoyment.
I ask you!!!
It’s just wrong.
Obviously, hyphens are also correctly used to join two words together, with no gap at either side of them.
For me grammar is important
We all make mistakes when we’re in a rush or just putting our thoughts out there.
I have to go back through my own work and correct my grammar.
And it’s probably still not perfect.
But grammar is important if you want to appear professional.
For me, I can’t send work to a client with incorrect grammar…
Grammar is also important if you want someone to be able to read your words and take the correct meaning from them – as the example right at the top of this blog demonstrated.
There are AI tools out there which will help if you’re not sure about your grammar skills. The only problem with these is that sometimes they don’t understand what you’re trying to say and so change the meaning from what you intended.
Anyway, grammar lesson over.
I know some people will disagree with some of the things I’ve stated above, and that’s perfectly ok.
For me grammar is important and so I set my standards for me and my business.
The author
Claire Taylor Foster is the founder of Raspberry Flamingo Copywriting and Content Marketing.
She started her copywriting and marketing after leaving school way too long ago to mention! Direct Response Copy is her passion. Read more on Claire here.
As far as Claire’s concerned, if copy and content doesn’t contain ‘on-page’ SEO, then it’s pointless publishing it! (Unless of course, paid advertising is going to drive the traffic.)
I love writing SEO website copy. It’s the service I built Raspberry Flamingo on in the early days. There’s a real art to writing great website copy.
Long gone are the days when a website should be all about the company it represents.
It’s not there to tell people all about you (even though you might think it is).
It’s there to explain the benefits of buying from you.
How you change your customer’s life.
Why they should invest in you.
Website copy has changed
Even up to a couple of years ago, the trend was to write the content of a website as though it were a printed brochure, which explained about the company and your services and products.
But that’s all changed.
When I see a website still written in that way it makes me cringe a little … but then I know better as a specialist, whilst many companies do not.
And I guess that’s why I’m writing this blog, to provide website copywriting tips.
Person-focused copy and content
At the end of 2022 Google released its new SEO guidelines.
These said that copy and content must be person-focused – ie reader-focused.
Now me and my team had been working to the guidelines for about 18 months by that point, but to many people this was all new.
When someone lands on your website, you have a couple of seconds to catch their interest.
To engage with them.
If the first bit of copy they see is about you, they’re gone!
Lost forever.
It needs to be about them.
So Website Copy Tip 1 – ask a question, or questions, at the top of every page which the reader can answer.
For example, for a cake company’s website:
“Do you need a cake for a special occasion?”
“One which will WOW everyone attending?”
“One which tastes just as good as it looks?”
You can see how that would get someone’s attention.
Short, digestible sections
No one wants to land on a web page which is copy heavy.
It takes them right back to school days and being forced to read texts they weren’t interested in!
However, that being said, you really want to be aiming for a minimum of 500 words on a web page – which if written in essay form would be approx. a whole A4 page of dense text!
Website Copy Tip 2 – break down your copy into short sections.
I’d say have a minimum of five sections per page.
Make sure there are some images interspersed too to break it up further.
And, Website Copy Tip 3 – keep your sentences and paragraphs short.
Website Copy Tip 4 – use lots of subheadings (H2’s) and use your main keyword in at least one of them.
Build on their pain
Always write compelling website content based on your customer’s pain. The pain that your product or service solves.
Think like them. You have to put yourself in their head.
They have a problem – pain. You have the solution.
The first step is to make them think about what would happen if they didn’t solve their problem.
Make it too painful for them to even consider doing nothing.
Then, next… consider… if you had their problem, what would you want to know?
What would make you want to enquire or buy?
Would you need evidence – social proof?
Would you expect to see certain facts or figures?
What would make you trust a company like yours?
Website Copy Tip 5 – think like your prospective customer and tell them what they want to hear… which may be very different to what, as a business owner, you want to tell them.
Writing engaging website copy
Website Copy Tip 6 – show personality in your copy.
The vast majority of businesses have many competitors out there.
You have to stand out.
Yes, your branding and the design of your website can help massively in that, but people are reading your words too.
Its why AI generated copy doesn’t work for long-form text such as web copy and blogs. You can tell its AI generated as it has no personality.
Incorporate phrases you use when you talk into your copy. Make jokes… Be sarcastic… Ask questions… Make it come alive….
It needs to represent the personality and values of both you and your business.
Great website copy is not a business report!
Links
It’s really helpful to your SEO if you have links within your copy.
I always try to ensure they are placed in the last third of the page and that they open up in a new window.
Google know if someone only gets part way down your page and then leaves, and it could damage your SEO if it happens often.
If you do let someone click a link and that action replaces your page on the screen with external content, many people will not hit the back button and return to your website.
In your website copy, I would recommend linking blogs you have published which explain more on the subject and links to other pages.
Website Copy Tip 7 – use links, placing them towards the end of the page and always opening in a new window.
One service, one page
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is having a ‘Services’ page and listing everything on there.
Your page title is your main keyword for that page.
Have you ever known anyone go to a search bar and type in ‘services’?
Of course not. Why would they!
Website Copy Tip 8 – Split your services down so they each have their own page.
That way Google will be able to understand the subject matter, understand that you are an expert in your field and know your stuff, and return the page on your website in organic searches.
What's next?
At the bottom of every page you must tell the reader what you want them to do next.
What is your call to action?
Do you want them to ring you?
Can they book online?
Do you provide instant online quotations?
Can they buy now?
Remember different people will be at different stages of their buying journey.
Some may have done all the research they need to and be ready to become a customer right away.
Others may need more information.
Website Copy Tip 9 – always have at least one call to action per page but, if you can, provide options.
The difference between a web page and a landing page (or sales page)
Website pages include your home page, about page, and pages for the different products or services that you offer.
If you want to encourage people to buy or book now and pay there and then, you need a sales page.
It is worth noting here that copywriters call them sales pages, where as your website developer and marketing agencies will call them landing pages.
Creating effective landing pages as part of an automated sales funnel can literally change the landscape for a business.
They’re almost like a whole website on one page.
I’m sure you’ve clicked through from an ad on social media and been taken to a hugely long page, which gives you multiple opportunities to ‘buy now’ and, if you do end up right at the bottom, probably offers you bonus products or services if you take the plunge immediately.
That’s a landing page with direct response ‘sales page’ copy on it.
Having landing pages which link to an automated sales funnel can provide huge jumps in income for a company.
The sales copy is structured in psychology and allows both the right and left brain to function and feel satisfied that they can invest in this product or service now.
Website Copy Tip 10 – if you are going to use landing pages, get your funnel built by an expert.
How to write great website copy in summary
So, there you have them. My top 10 tips on how to write great website copy.
Website Copy Tip 1 – ask a question, or questions, at the top of every page which the reader can answer.
Website Copy Tip 2 – break down your copy into short sections.
Website Copy Tip 3 – keep your sentences and paragraphs short.
Website Copy Tip 4 – use lots of subheadings (H2’s) and use your main keyword in at least one of them.
Website Copy Tip 5 – think like your prospective customer and tell them what they want to hear… which may be very different to what, as a business owner, you want to tell them.
Website Copy Tip 6 – show personality in your copy.
Website Copy Tip 7 – use links, placing them towards the end of the page and always opening in a new window.
Website Copy Tip 8 – Split your services down so they each have their own page.
Website Copy Tip 9 – always have at least one call to action per page but, if you can, provide options.
Website Copy Tip 10 – if you are going to use landing pages, get your funnel built by an expert.
But, if you don’t want to write your own, me and my team here at Raspberry Flamingo would be only too happy to help. Find more information here.
The author
Claire Taylor Foster is the founder of Raspberry Flamingo Copywriting and Content Marketing.
She started her copywriting and marketing after leaving school way too long ago to mention! Direct Response Copy is her passion. Read more on Claire here.
As far as Claire’s concerned, if copy and content doesn’t contain ‘on-page’ SEO, then it’s pointless publishing it! (Unless of course, paid advertising is going to drive the traffic.)
Being an award-winning business is great for both your marketing and heightening customer confidence.
But many business owners shy away from entering business awards.
Why not enter?
Imposter syndrome sets in…
Are you and your business good enough to win an award?
Where do you find business award entries to enter?
And when you do find the hundreds on offer, how do you select the right ones?
Then, of course, what do you actually include in the award entry?
Is your business interesting enough?
Has it achieved enough?
Is it special enough?
Do you do anything that your competitors for the award don’t?
What are the judges looking for?
Or if it’s an open vote, do you know enough people to vote for you?
Most business owners think all of the above. And that’s exactly why most business owners don’t enter.
You’d be surprised, particularly for small business awards, just how few entries there are.
How to find business awards to enter
If you are a member of an organisation such as a local Chamber of Commerce, you can bet they hold annual business awards. Some local councils and regions also run awards.
Industry specific organisations will also hold awards.
There are awards run by national organisations – some of which have regional categories.
There are companies who compile lists of awards on their websites (with the hope you’ll engage them to create your award entry for you).
Then, of course, there’s good old Google (other search engines are available!)
Whichever way you decide to look for awards, be prepared to spend some time sifting through.
It’s not a quick exercise unless an organisation lets you directly know about them.
In many cases, you can register for information and join the mailing list. This will help to save time after your initial search.
How do you choose which business awards to enter
Once you’ve found awards which look like they might be suitable, dig deeper.
How is judging going to work? If it’s a panel of judges, who are they and what do they do (LinkedIn stalking is always good here!)?
What does the actual award description say it’s looking for?
It’s no good thinking you satisfy some of the criteria specified.
You need to satisfy it all. Otherwise, quite frankly, you’re wasting your time and money entering.
If you can answer each part of the award entry and provide evidence, then don’t get scared off at this point.
It’s very, very, easy to talk yourself out of entering at this stage – that imposter syndrome sets in again!
If you ‘more or less’ meet the criteria but another year would make all the difference to the strength of your entry, then consider whether it would be better to wait until the next round.
What to include in an awards entry
It’s really useful here to have an outsider gather the information to include.
I know you will be saying here, “well you would say that Claire, you write business award entries”…
But hear me out.
You are very close to your business.
What you do each day is routine to you.
But it may be incredibly innovative in your industry and you just don’t realise.
Let me give you an example…
I was asked by an accountancy practice to prepare an award entry for them. I went in and was asking questions of the MD.
We got on to innovative practice.
They talked about all the things you’d expect an accountant to talk about…
Cloud software, training clients on the cloud software, monthly review calls with clients…
Then, I’m not sure what I asked, but they started explaining all about how if a member of the team was busy working and didn’t want disturbing, they’d put their earphones in as a sign to the others that they wanted to be left alone.
Now that to me was a real innovative way of working together.
From that, the conversation developed into even more unique ways they worked.
Let’s just leave it by saying they won that award, and many, many more following.
You don’t have to have someone like me to prepare the business award entry for you, but it is useful to get an impartial pair of eyes to look at the award criteria and ask you lots of questions – you’ll be amazed at what you find yourself discussing.
Evidence
Often you can include evidence in your award entry.
This could be customer testimonials, extracts from your business plan, details of increased turnover or staff numbers, to name just a few.
If you can fit customer testimonials in within the wordcount, then always do. Judges love them.
The closing date is too close
Never assume the awards will close on the published date.
Always ask the question.
I know several companies who’ve won awards after enquiring if they could submit a late entry!
Reusing award entries you’ve prepared before
My advice on this would always be to repurpose not reuse!
No two business awards are exactly the same. In requirements or format of entry.
Look at each award fresh, make notes, and then look at your previous drafted entries and see if anything is appropriate.
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, but make sure it’s the right size and fit for the new vehicle.
Business award entries
Using a third party to prepare your business award entries
The first thing to note is that having business award entries prepared will involve a cost.
Obvious… I hear you say…
Well, yes, it is. But some companies who prepare awards, charge (in my humble opinion) extortionate rates.
I’ll tell you how I work.
I quote per award.
The reason for this is that every application form is different, and each will require a different amount of time writing the entry.
Some application forms have one question and a wordcount of say 500-1000 words.
Others have multiple questions with wordcounts for each of between 150-500 words.
Some forms require evidence within the answers, others require it attaching as appendices.
Interview
Even with clients I know well, I still set up a meeting for me to interview them about the award.
It would be too easy for either party to miss something that could tip the balance if included otherwise.
I ask lots and lots (and lots) of questions.
I gather much more information than I need to include, but it all helps me prepare.
Draft form
I then draft the entry for the client to review.
Sometimes this sparks even further information they’d not thought about including before.
There can be multiple revisions until we’re satisfied it’s the best possible entry we could compile.
Time
The process of preparing a business award entry needs time built in.
The initial interview meeting has to be scheduled into busy diaries. Then after the first draft there needs to be reflection time.
If at all possible, a month is required – although I have managed to turn award winning entries around in just two weeks for existing clients.
Cost
So, what does it cost, I hear you ask.
I can only provide rough guidance here for my service. A fairly straight forward award will cost approx. £250 to prepare for you. These things should never be rushed!
More information on my service can be found on my business award entry preparation page. Or just get in touch by Whatsapp message by scanning the QR code below.
The author
Claire Taylor Foster is the founder of Raspberry Flamingo Copywriting and Content Marketing.
She started her copywriting and marketing after leaving school way too long ago to mention! Direct Response Copy is her passion. Read more on Claire here.
As far as Claire’s concerned, if copy and content doesn’t contain ‘on-page’ SEO, then it’s pointless publishing it! (Unless of course, paid advertising is going to drive the traffic.)
A broadcast message should be part of your email marketing strategy.
Broadcast emails go to everyone on a list within your email software. That can be absolutely every contact you have an email address for or, if you have specific lists for different types of contact, you can select which list(s) to send to. You can even take it further and choose a segment of a list by using the tags you’ve assigned to contacts.
Email Marketing ~vs~ Social Media
Email marketing should feature within every company’s marketing strategy. Many smaller or new businesses rely on social media profiles to create their list of contacts and keep in touch with them.
Now there is absolutely nothing wrong with using social media to market your business… it too should be part of your overall marketing strategy.
However, all too often you hear that a social media platform has had a ‘blip’ and a profile or page has been removed… or that members of a group have been thrown out (it genuinely does happen, it’s happened to me).
With email marketing, you own your list of contacts. The platform won’t remove them or delete them. They are yours to contact when and how you wish.
GDPR in the UK
In the UK we have the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) which prevent us from simply adding emails to an email campaign without permission from the email address owner.
We also have to provide anyone who has ‘signed up’ with the option to unsubscribe at any time.
This shouldn’t put any one off building their email list though.
Quite the opposite in fact.
A successful email campaign should build relationships with your target audience and so if you send emails to people who don’t know you or want to hear from you, you really are just wasting your time. It could even damage your reputation. If you are marketing effectively then your prospective customers will want to sign up and read what you have to say.
The difference between broadcast emails and an email automation
Email automation
If you have a ‘lead magnet’ on your website, for example a free pdf, or you ask people to sign up to your newsletter or email blast, their email will be added to your email marketing software. If set up correctly, this will issue an automated email to them confirming their action – these are often called autoresponder emails… I’m sure you’ve received them.
Usually that will then trigger them to be added to an email automation (in some software this is sometimes called a ‘campaign’ – but, just to confuse things, in other software a broadcast email is called a campaign!)
For the purposes of this article, if a number of emails are triggered to be sent automatically to a contact, then we will call it an automation.
So, for example, someone may sign up to receive a lead magnet you have available on your website. Once they have entered their name and email, they receive a pre-programmed number of emails from you – the first of which will deliver the promised document – at a set period (eg one a week). This is an email automation.
It doesn’t matter whether someone signs up today or in a year’s time, they receive the same emails in the same order, with the same time gaps in-between each.
Now, let’s just say you have three different lead magnets, each with their own automation. If you create each sign up forms correctly this will add the contact to the list associated with the particular lead magnet they are interested in and tag their record too.
Broadcast Emails
Broadcast emails can be sent at any time and in addition to any automations which that contact is in.
You could send your broadcast email to a selected list or lists, or to all your contacts. It is issued once; on the date and time you schedule it to be sent.
Why use broadcast emails?
If you have a slick email strategy, the people on your contact list will be in an automation most of the time.
As mentioned above, these emails are written and added to the sequence once and issued when each individual contact enters that list.
But what happens if you have some news that is time critical? Or want to tell your email subscribers about a flash sale?
This is where broadcast messaging really comes into its own.
Your broadcast email can be prepared and sent to the segments of your list that you want to receive it. Once it’s been issued and delivered its valuable content, its task is over.
Most email marketing software will provide you with a report to show you how many people opened your broadcast email, in what time frame, and the click through rates.
Broadcast emails can be incredibly useful to keep your subscribers up to date with company news, notified of sales promotions, to let them know about an online event you are running, or to notify them of product releases and product launches.
If you need to let people know quickly, and the information is only relevant ‘now’, broadcast emails are the way to go.
Not sure you want to automate but still want to email
Many people who use email marketing in their business do not exclusively use automated sequences.
I personally email my subscribers through broadcast messages in the main.
Each week I email a number of my lists.
I may be emailing about some industry news or changes, it may be a personal musing on something that’s happened… my emails really could be on any subject at all that I believe the people on my list will find either valuable, educational, or amusing.
I still do have some automations running. To deliver lead magnets. To welcome new clients onboard.
But in the main, I use one time only broadcast messages.
Is all broadcast messaging through email?
The short answer to this question is no.
I talk about email automations and email broadcasts because writing these is a service Raspberry Flamingo offers to its clients.
However, broadcast messages can by achieved through SMS messaging, Whatsapp messaging, and even social media platforms such as LinkedIn allow users to send broadcast messages to all their contacts (if you are signed up on the correct plan).
Claire Taylor Foster is the founder of Raspberry Flamingo Copywriting and Content Marketing.
She started her copywriting and marketing after leaving school way too long ago to mention! Direct Response Copy is her passion. Read more on Claire here.
As far as Claire’s concerned, if copy and content doesn’t contain ‘on-page’ SEO, then it’s pointless publishing it! (Unless of course, paid advertising is going to drive the traffic.)
Do you ever look at your old blog posts and wonder how you could improve them? Maybe they’re not ranking as well as you’d like, or maybe they are a little out of date due to changes in your industry.
In this post, we’ll go over a simple SEO content audit process on your old blog posts. This will help you to improve them so that they rank better, read better and bring in new customers too!
So let’s get started.
Let’s start with the basics!
What is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation and refers to the process of improving your sites visibility on the search engine results pages (SERPS for short), like Google.
Having good SEO will increase your sites performance and attract more organic search traffic. Organic traffic refers to all traffic that is unpaid and is a result of SEO efforts.
What is an SEO Content Audit?
An SEO content Audit is the process of looking at all of the existing content on your website and determining what needs to be improved.
Content audits allow you to go through the individual pages and posts on your site to see what is working and what is not. It also gives you the opportunity to locate any technical issues and identify content that is not valid anymore.
Why is a Content Audit Important?
Conducting a content audit is an important part of improving your content marketing strategy and increasing your SEO performance.
There are a few reasons why you might want to do a content audit on your existing content. Maybe you’ve noticed that your traffic has been declining and you want to figure out why.
Or maybe you want to make sure that your new blog post is off to a good start. Either way, a content audit can help you identify pages that need your attention!
By evaluating your content regularly, you can avoid creating new, unnecessary content and identify opportunities to improve your existing blog posts. This can save you a lot of time in the long run!
When should you do a Content Audit?
It is also important to carry out a content audit on a regular basis due to Google’s Algorithm, say every 6 months or so. Google sets a set of rules that determine what content appears in the search results.
As this is constantly changing and updating, this means that content needs to be updated regularly in order to be effective. The algorithm takes into account a variety of factors, including the quality of the content.
Google’s Helpful Content was rolled out in August and is designed to encourage people to create content that is more helpful and relevant.
So remember: Google is constantly updating its rules so always aim to constantly improve your content marketing strategy in line with new guidelines and adjust your content strategy based on your content audit!
How do I Conduct a Content Audit?
The best way to gather data from your website is to do a content audit. There are a couple of different ways you can do a content audit. You can either hire someone to do it for you or you can do it yourself. If you decide to do a content audit yourself there are few steps that you need to follow.
Let’s take a look at the content audit process!
Step 1 – Content Audit Spreadsheet
Gathering data on a Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets is an easy way to record your site content.
So, what should you be including on your content audit spreadsheet?
Page Title
Page titles help your blog post rank on the Search Engine Results Page. Page titles are written into the HTML code and are located on the search engine results page accompanied by a meta description – this is referred to as a ‘snippet’.
When a user visits the website the page title is seen in the title bar of the browser. Search Engines use the information in the page title to understand what information your website contains to enable the search engine to match your website with the users search query.
Page Title – Best Practices
Page titles must be original to avoid duplicate titles which can have a negative effect on the ranking of your website.
The page title should be approximately 50-60 characters long to avoid the page title being ‘cut off’ on the search engine results page.
Page titles must include the target keywords or phrases the searcher enters into the search engine.
Think about the what the user types in the search engine. – for example, “how to bake a chocolate cake?” The word ‘how’ in this sentence indicates the searchers question will be answered on this page.
URL
URL stands for Uniform Resource Locater.
HEADINGS
Header tags are HTML tags that represent the headings of a web page. They are ranked from <H1> to <H6>.
<H1> being the largest and <H6> being the smallest.
The <H1> is the most important tag and is essential for search engines to identify what the content of a web page is about.
Heading tags 2 to 6 are subheadings to add structure and organisation to a web page. The structure of the content on your webpage is important for SEO and can determine how well your website ranks on the results page.
It is important to record on your content audit spreadsheet how many H2 titles are in your blog post!
Remember: There must only be one <H1> per page!
Headings – Best Practices
Use headings to provide structure
Make sure you break up your content format by using subheadings
Include target keyword in your H1 (Page Title)
Use keywords and phrases in your headings
Headings should match search intent
Word Count
It is important to take note of the word count of your published blog posts. Having a higher word count makes it easier for search engines to determine what your content is about as you will be going into more detail.
You have a much better chance of appearing on the search engine results pages when your blog post word count is 1000 words or more.
Important note: Just remember not to just ad waffle, use only the word count required to get your point over in detail the reader needs.
Word Count – Best Practices
Aim for 1000 words or more
Write high quality content for your website visitors
Use headings appropriately
Images
Images help readers to better understand you’re content, you will see by the images we have used you can more easily understand what we are saying.
Internal Links
Internal links are hyper-links that connect users to other pages of your website.
Internal links allow website visitors to navigate your website and they also help search engines to understand your sites organisation and structure which is beneficial when search engine index the pages on your website.
Internal linking provides search engines with context about a webpage and its relationship to other pages and how important the page is compared to others on your website.
Take Notes
It is a good idea as part of your content audit to include a notes section on your spreadsheet to document any issues with your blog post.
There are a number of things you should be on the look out for:
Is there any duplicate content? Use Copyscape to check.
Are the facts up to date and is it current?
Check your page speed. Does your blog post have slow page load times?
Make note of any images not showing up or videos not working
Check for any broken links (Links that dont go anywhere or show errors)
Focus Keyword
Focus keywords are words or phrases that users search for in search engines. Your content must be based around your target keyword to enable search engines to determine what your website/ web page is about.
You should also use your focus keywords throughout your content, including your title and in the body and make sure that each post is optimised for a target keyword.
Make sure that you make note of your focus keyword in your content audit!
Remember: Always be mindful about search intent and the objective of your page!
Make sure you focus keyword is at the beginning of your H1/ Page Title or as close as possible.
Ensure that you have a focus keyword per blog post but dont use the same keyword on other posts or pages
Step 2 – Assess
Once you have gathered all this information you will need to take a look at your content audit spreadsheet and determine which blog posts need your attention.
Does your Page title explain what your content is about?
Does Your Page title have a Focus keyword?
Do you have enough headings and subheadings?
Are your blog posts 1000 words or more?
Is the information in your blog posts relevant and up to date?
Does your blog posts have any images?
Website Content Audit Checklist
Page Title
URL
Headings
Word Count
Images
Internal Links
Focus Keyword
Notes
Tips on High Quality Page Content
·Your content must be based around your keyword research to enable search engines to determine what your website/ web page is about to appropriately index and rank your website.
The content of the web page should be clear, structured, and easy to read (use short paragraphs)
Always be mindful about search intent and the objective of your page
Regularly review and update your content so information is up to date to demonstrate to users that your site is active and relevant.
All content must be original
Avoid cluttered content. It is best practice to organise your content in a structured and organised way to create good user experience and enable search engines to index your webpage.
Analytic Tools
If you would like to go more in depth with monitoring your blog posts SEO performance you can check out the following free analytic tools.
Google Analytics – you can track how many users visit and interact with your site.
Is There a WordPress Plugin to Help With Content?
After you have done your website content audit and realised that your blog posts need some attention it could be time to install a WordPress SEO plugin.
WordPress SEO plugins help to monitor your blog posts SEO. Allowing you to see if your post is optimised properly. Such as, letting you know if your page title is too long, making sure you have enough images, ensuring you have enough internal links and much more.
Both SEO Plugins will alert you if your blog post is not SEO friendly and provide you with different ways you can improve.
If you haven’t had content written by Raspberry Flamingo already, SEO CoPilot highly recommend their SEO copywriting services. If Claire and her team have already written posts for you but they need updating due to the helpful content update then please give her a call and once she has seen your content audit spreadsheet (or Notes) then she will be happy to quote on rewriting them for you.
Our customers are not just a statistic to us, we truly take pride in seeing businesses flourish, and do everything possible to encourage increased sales and profit for the businesses we work for.
By taking the time to get to know each business individually, including spending time with you and in your business to find out how it runs, we can tailor the services we offer to your needs and unleash your unique selling points. We take note of what you are looking to achieve when you work with us, and we use our extensive knowledge to advise the best options for you.
This is all part of the personalised service we aim to achieve for every client each and every time.
A good few years ago, blogging was a lifestyle business. Something people into fashion, or food, or travel did. So, if you’re a business owner not in those sectors, why write blogs?
The answer is simple and detailed all in one. I’m going to break it down into straightforward reasons why you SHOULD, absolutely, be writing blogs.
Website SEO
Once you have a sparkly new website published, you can’t just leave it alone to gather digital dust.
Google want you to publish fresh content every month – approximately 2000 words of fresh content.
You see it keeps their ‘bots’ interested as they’re crawling your website.
A static website will be crawled less and less frequently, and that’s really not good for your SEO.
So that’s the first, very good, answer to the question why write blogs?
Your Prospective Customer
According to Google’s stats, a whopping 97% of first time visitors to a website leave without making contact with the company.
In many cases this is because they want to do further research before committing to anything.
So, why write blogs? To answer your prospects questions, educate them, and show your expertise.
Using internal links in your blogs, to other blogs you’ve published on connected subjects, or to a page on your website, will also keep them on your site longer, reduce your bounce-off rate (when someone only visits one page and leaves), and give them a much better overall experience.
Your website copy and all content being person-focussed and giving a great valuable experience is what Google wants.
Blogs Get Returned in Searches
If you do some fairly basic keyword research for your blog and use your primary keyword in the right places and right density within the blog, Google will return it when someone looks up that phrase.
Some of our clients’ report being as high as the third company returned within only a few days of publishing their blog. And one client has told us he still gets more calls per week from a blog we wrote for him 18 months ago than any other part of his website.
If you’re not sure about your keywords, think about the phrase your prospective customer would type into a search bar. That’s your primary keyword (a keyword is a phrase, not a singular word).
(How to do keyword research is a whole other blog, so watch out for it being published or use the category ‘SEO’ to find it.)
Why write blogs? To educate and entertain
Blogs should be valuable content aimed at your target audience. They should provide knowledge and educate.
Not all blogs have to be written in this sort of style. You could write them in the form of a diary, a case study, as a fictitious character watching your daily routine… as long as they are a quick, simple, and easy read, the style is less important. Quirky will often help get traffic to the blog and so to your website. Just ensure it fits your target customer.
On top of giving the reader a great experience and imparting knowledge, writing blogs will establish you as an expert in your field. This is a two-fold win. It’s one of Googles requirements for content, and it means when the prospect, or someone they know, is ready to buy your services or product, you will be the name they think of.
What are people going to be interested in?
One of the major stumbling blocks I hear people talk about when it comes to content creation, and in particular blogs, is the subject matter.
What do you write about? What are people going to want to read about?
If you have done any thinking about your marketing in the past, you are likely to know the ‘pain-points’ (problems) that your product or service solves for your target customers.
Your website pages shouldn’t concentrate on how you solve them – that copy should focus on the benefits once they’re solved – but your blogs can go into the ‘features’ much more.
Think of all the questions you’ve ever been asked by customers, prospective or active. They make great subject for blogs.
And if you get stuck, look at your competitors and see what content they’re putting out and use ‘Answer the Public’ and receive a free report on what questions people are asking when they’re searching for your product or service.
Why Write Blogs? To Repurpose, Repurpose, Repurpose
I get it. Writing blogs is a pain. It takes time. If you don’t enjoy writing it becomes a task you really don’t look forward to or give priority to.
But a blog is not just a blog!
There are lots and lots of ways blogs can be used over and above publishing them on your website – which should always be number one priority.
You can take snippets from the blog and create social media posts to drive traffic back to the blog and your website. Big SEO tick!
You can use part of the blog content to create an email to your list – again driving traffic back to the full blog and your website. Big tick 2!
You could use the blog as a script and record a video.
You could take a number of blog articles, put them together and create a lead magnet for people to download from your website (in exchange for their email, of course, so you can build a relationship with them moving forwards).
You could use a blog for the subject of a webinar or podcast episode.
You could even create a book from a collection of blog articles and become a published author.
Why write blogs? Because you get so much traction out of them, why would you not! Find out more about Raspberry Flamingo’s SEO blog writing service here.
Claire Taylor Foster is the founder of Raspberry Flamingo Copywriting and Content Marketing.
She started her copywriting and marketing after leaving school way too long ago to mention! Direct Response Copy is her passion. Read more on Claire here.
As far as Claire’s concerned, if copy and content doesn’t contain ‘on-page’ SEO, then it’s pointless publishing it! (Unless of course, paid advertising is going to drive the traffic.)
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