EDITOR - Contenteam - Multilingual Copywriting Service

Complete SEO Copywriting Guide for Guaranteed Top Google SERP Results

Ana Resnick — Thu, 04 Aug 2022 07:09:19 +0000

Every year Google makes more than 4,500 changes to its algorithm. Of course, the basics of SEO, for example, on-page text optimization and backlink building, haven’t changed that much in the last few years.

There are a few significant SEO changes to be aware of. These elements can have a negative influence on your site’s Google ranking. Let’s talk about 5 changes in SEO that will help keep your pages at the top of Google search results.

You know that search engine optimization (SEO) is a vital digital marketing tool. Today we will tell you about the reasons for the popularity of SEO, share some best working SEO copywriting tips, and talk about professional keyword research and how to work with optimization in 2022.

Why SEO Optimization Is Important

SEO makes your website more visible, which means more traffic and more opportunities to convert potential customers into buyers.

It’s also a valuable tool for increasing brand awareness, building relationships with potential customers and positioning yourself as a credible and trustworthy expert in your field. Statistics show that SEO generates 1,000%+ more traffic than content on social media.

Search Engine Optimization for Google

Organic search plays a huge role in most companies’ websites and has long been a crucial component of the sales funnel. As we are sure you know, Google owns a significant portion of the search market. Google Search, Google Images, and Google Maps account for 92.96% of global traffic.

That doesn’t mean that other search engines don’t contribute to brand visibility – of course, they do. It’s just that Google is the undisputed leader, which means it brings in the most traffic. Therefore, its recommendations are important to follow.

SEO Content Tips for Google High Ranking in 2022

Every year Google makes more than 4,500 changes to its algorithm. Of course, the basics of SEO, such as on-page text optimization and backlink building, haven’t changed that much in the last few years.

There are a few significant updates in SEO that are worth paying attention to. There are several factors that can affect your site’s Google ranking. Ignoring these points may lead to a poor position in Google.

Let’s talk about 5 changes in SEO that will help keep your pages at the top of Google with a featured snippet.

1. Expertise, Authority, and Credibility

This is Google’s way of determining how trustworthy a particular piece of content (or the entire site) is. Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness, or EAT, should be the cornerstone for all of your content.

Particular attention is given to the topic of health.

For example, if you’re anti-vaccination, a fan of pseudoscientific treatments, and reviews about you on other sites are not flattering, Google may exclude your site with category pages from searches.

Google’s quality evaluators often look at other sites to get information about a resource’s reputation. Supposedly, Google can do the same thing algorithmically. Thus, reputation research should be part of the SEO audit process: what other sites say about you, whether there are positive reviews or negative reviews.

You don’t have to be an expert or opinion leader on the topic you’re writing about. However, you should target such people if you want to create content with a high EAT score.

While interviews with an expert are your best bet, there are other ways to “borrow” their authority. For example, link to the interview and quote them in your content.

2. Core Web Vitals

Google has been using page load speed as part of its algorithm for years. But in 2021, Google expanded its capabilities by introducing Core Web Vitals. This is a set of three factors that Google considers important for UX: load speed, interaction, and content stability. It doesn’t look at the quality of your text or the number of backlinks. Instead, Core Web Vitals looks at how users behave on your site.

3. The Importance of Search Intent

Google can easily measure how users interact with your site (assuming they get to the page from a Google search). For example, a user clicks on the top Google result. However, they don’t find what they’re searching for. As a result, after two seconds, they click “Back.” Again, this is something Google can measure. And if enough users react similarly to the first result, Google can downgrade that site. This is why your page must be optimized for a specific keyword and search intent.

Search intent is what a person wants to get as a result of a search. Sometimes he or she may want information on a topic. Other times, the user may want to buy something. And the more your content matches the keyword search intent, the better you will rank.

4. The Use of a Favicon

More than 50% of search results are mobile, where the favicon is not optimized. This is a big disadvantage because a good favicon can attract attention. It can get you to zero position in a very busy SERP and do it because of just one small image.

A good favicon can increase conversion to clicks by one or two percent, which is great. How does this work? Among hundreds of search results, a user is likely to notice a line with a favicon. A good, bright, contrasting favicon is guaranteed to attract attention. Even if your site is just a regular corporate blog, create a favicon for it. Your expert and useful copywriting SEO texts will attract even more attention.

5. Optimization for CTR

Whether the click-through rate is an organic ranking signal is still debated. Some SEO specialists believe that Google uses it to understand whether a user is interested in clicking on a result. Others consider CTR an unnecessary signal that does not affect ranking.

It’s true that optimization in 2022 by CTR makes sense. The higher CTR = the more traffic, Even if your rankings don’t improve.

Fortunately, you don’t have to guess what drives people to click on a certain result. Pages with high CTR most often use the following attributes:

numbers in the title tags;
unique description;
emphasis on the novelty of the content;
use of attention-grabbing terms (but no clickbait).

How To Optimize SEO Texts for a Website in 2022

So, what should you do to ensure that your content not only benefits the reader but also generates additional traffic to your pages? First, let’s figure out how to win SEO copywriting in 2022.

1. Pay Attention to Long-Tail Keywords

Long tail keywords usually have less search volume than short keys, but they can be useful. After all, they show not only what users are searching for but also why. An example of a long tail keyword would be “how to rank on Google.” A short keyword with the same value would be “ranking on Google.” Long tail keywords tend to have less search volume and, as a result, less competition. Therefore, they are easier to rank.

How Do You Effectively Integrate Long-Tail Keywords Into Your SEO Writing?

Don’t just fill your existing content with lots of long-tail keywords in the hope that it will work. Instead, act like this:

Set clear goals for your content marketing.
Create customer personas to understand their intent.
Make wise keyword research and select appropriate long-tail keywords.
Write relevant content showing professional SEO copywriting.
The goal is to naturally and effectively match keyword intent with your blog post.

2. Use Alt Meta Tags for Images

We’ve already discussed the importance of tagging images in this article, but we’ll say it again. Alt text is a brief description of an image. Alt-text has three main purposes:

Accessibility: Alt text is read aloud with screen readers to visually impaired users.
Context: When an image cannot be loaded, alternative text appears to give users context.
Search Engine Optimization: Search engines use alt text to properly index the image.

As the Internet becomes more accessible, Google’s algorithm changes as well. This means that accessible sites are given preference over their inaccessible counterparts. After all, the more accessible a site is, the greater the potential for traffic.

3. Use Keywords in Headlines, Title Tag, and Meta Description

By placing keywords in headlines, you signal search engines and users of their particular importance. Just as the table of contents gives an impression of the material’s content, keywords placed in headlines, title tags, and meta descriptions inform search engine bots.

That doesn’t mean you should put keywords where they’re not appropriate. Instead, consider the user experience first and only add keywords where they look organic. And to avoid the clutter of the same words, use keyword variations.

4. Add Internal Links

As we said before, Google considers the time spent on the page when ranking your site. A similar metric is time spent on the site.

Internal links to your other resources can help retain users. The longer users stay on the site, the further down the sales funnel they are likely to move. It also signals to search engines that your content is high quality and relevant.

Two key steps to increasing your time on the site:

Write engaging, in-depth content.
Link to relevant internal blog posts.

By linking to internal content, you force users to dive deeper into the site’s web pages. This increases the likelihood that they will interact with it even more actively (e.g., leave a comment on a blog post or share it on social media), which is good for ranking in SERPs.

5. Focus on the Most Popular Targeted Keywords

The three main phases of the sales funnel are awareness, consideration, and decision making. Therefore, focus on the top of the funnel and, more specifically, the keyword phrases that grab the attention of potential customers.

Search terms are designed to build awareness of a topic, service, or product. They engage the reader without requiring them to take immediate action. Here are examples of such specific keywords:

By focusing your keyword research on these search terms, you do two things: reach a broad audience because more general keywords have a higher search volume and attract users earlier with the search intent.

SEO Analysis Services That Won’t Ruin Expert Text in English

Let’s closely examine the SEO services that every SEO copywriter should consider using in their work.

Headline Analyzer

This is a good tool for SEO analysis of online texts. It is suitable for checking the clickability and readability of headlines. In addition, headline Analyzer tells you how to tailor your headline style to different target audiences (more emotional, intellectual, or neutral).

This free tool will analyze your headline for emotional marketing value (EMV).

Why do you need it? It’s simple. A deep emotional impact on your customers is the key to successful copywriting. It plays a special role when composing headlines because these are the phrases used to attract the attention of potential customers in the search.

The algorithm will compare the number of EMV-words to the total number of words in the headline and will predict what percentage of materials in English will be opened.

Copywritely

Copywritely can check SEO parameters, analyze content, and find and correct errors. But we are interested in two functions: checking relevance and morphology.

Relevance is determined after entering a keyword and shows the relevance to search queries. In general, the function works well and can serve a good service, but there is a nuance. The service considers the text relevant to the request only if it is present in the exact or diluted form of the key.

Morphology points out problems such as excessive use of certain parts of speech, long words, introductory sentences, and abstract adjectives. The feature will be useful for improving the text.

Airstory

This text checker app makes it easy to write content with lots of sources, data, and quotations. Just what you need for expert material! The service allows you to save all the necessary sources under subject tags and insert links in one click.

By dividing the text into separate fragments and paragraphs, which can be easily moved around, Airstory helps logically structure the content and intelligently distribute the information, greatly saving time on writing expert material.

Grammarly

This service for checking English texts helps to improve their quality in every way. All you have to do is upload your text to the system, and it will automatically check it for grammatical, syntactical, and other errors.

On top of that, you’ll get hints that will help improve the readability of the text.

Grammarly also gives good edits on missed punctuation and typos. But otherwise, trust it dangerously – stylistically, Grammarly often fails.

Let’s take Grammarly as an example to see how it works. First, take a promotional text and see what the service offers to fix. Here is the original text:

And here are the corrections that are offered by Grammarly:

There are few suggestions since the original text is already of good enough quality. But the tips the service gives can make it even better.

eTXT Antiplagiarism (Desktop Version)

This is the most effective text uniqueness checking service available today. It produces clear, up-to-date results that can be used to improve uniqueness without rewriting the entire material from beginning to end.

With Antiplagiarism, you can find and mark non-unique text fragments, create detailed reports, and set various plagiarism search parameters (search engines, passages to check, certain words, etc.).

What SEO-Checking Services Should Be Avoided

Any free tools that promise:

Reduce Stop Words

The importance of a word can change depending on the context. It can also change depending on the goal you’re trying to achieve. There is no universal list of stop words because a word can be meaningless (or full of meaning) depending on the topic or problem you’re analyzing.

That’s why all the services that suggest deleting stop words are useless. You can’t delete phrases without thinking about their impact on the context and meaning of your text specifically.

Increase Readability

Of course, there are universal rules for writing an “easy” text. You need to avoid long sentences, try not to make large paragraphs, and not abuse terminology. But in most cases, blog post readability is a subjective concept; and any service that promises to increase the readability of your text – simplifies it and may lead to losses of meaning.

Detect “Nausea”

Nausea (or spamminess) of web content indicates how many repeated words or phrases are in an article. The principle here is the same as in readability – the indicator is too subjective. Some users will find three keys in a paragraph nauseating, while others will read a text full of keywords without noticing anything.

In addition, in expert texts, where there are a lot of terms, definitions, and clarifications, it’s impossible to write them without repetitions. And if you try to pick up synonyms to please the services, it is easy to turn an already complex text into a completely incomprehensible one.

By forcing the blog post author to check the text in programs for such SEO analysis, you kill the material’s presentation style, making it unreadable for real people. And you also hurt the feelings of the native-speaking editor, who will check the text after the author.

Don’t believe me? Watch this video by our U.S. editor-in-chief and unsubscribe from such services forever!

Content Proofreading: Checklist for Proofreading the Written Text by a Native Editor

So the next blog post is ready. It follows TOV and keyword intent. Now comes the check of the SEO parameters. At Contenteam, the completed text is first read by a niche expert: they check the facts, verify the data and audit the technical part of the material. Then the article is sent to a linguistic editor in the target country, where the blog enters the market with its keyword-optimized content.

What Does a Native-Speaking Editor Always Check?

The main goal is to check the presentation of the text in terms of user intent and perception by the target audience. Native editor checks that the text does not contain unnecessary jargon, expressions with controversies that are offensive to native speakers, notes the appropriateness of the use of phraseology, and much more. It should always be done by a native speaker, not an editor with knowledge of the language.

The stylistics of the material in accordance with the guides and approved editorial policy; integration of target keyword; how appropriate the SEO content writer used title tags and phrases, both in terms of style of the material and from the standpoint of the person on whose behalf the material is written are also checked by the native editor.

SEO services are a great tool for SEO analysis of text, but they will not replace a native-speaking editor.

After all, except for the native-speaking editor, no one feels so finely and accurately all the linguistic nuances of the target country and tells you which parameters are appropriate and which are not. If you want to promote yourself worldwide but do not know where to find a native editor for your texts, you can always contact us – we will be happy to help!

SEO-Optimization of Websites in English

SEO in English comes in handy if you work in digital e-commerce or services and want to expand your clientele worldwide.

SEO in English is complicated by many nuances related to the specifics of the English-speaking marketing world, terminology, and mentality of each particular country. Any English-speaking country, be it the U.S., the UK, Canada, Australia, or South Africa, has its own peculiarities. Content team editorial will tell you how to do competent SEO promotion in English and what to pay attention to.

Who Needs Search Engine Optimization in English and Why?

Search engine optimization of your website is the best and easiest way to increase traffic. Think of optimization as google ads for a business with a long-term effect, only cheaper (if not free!).

SEO in English comes in handy if you work in retail or services and want to expand your customer base worldwide.

In general, SEO in English is useful to everyone, except for small local businesses.

The total share of sites in English is 55.7%. Can you imagine how much you can raise the coverage by duplicating the site in English and setting up English-language promotion?

SEO Features for Projects in English

The mechanism of SEO optimization for any language will be the same – first the audit, then compiling a semantic core, content creation, and, finally, link building. But search engine optimization in English still has its own characteristics – both significant and insignificant. So let’s briefly review the three key points.

1. You Will Have To Work With People, Not Marketplaces

Working through a marketplace will not work with English-language SEO – Google has long ago banned all Western marketplaces for writers, and the quality of content is strictly monitored by both experts and the audience. Therefore, the only way to set up good external SEO in English is to cooperate with bloggers, journalists, and SEO experts or to create expert content yourself.

2. You Will Have To Spend More Money

Experts say a fair and good price for English SEO content ranks $2,000-2,500 monthly. This includes the whole technical side to make the site rank higher: audits, recommendations, copywriting skills, work related to increasing the link-building of the site, and the commission of systems.

3. Content Has To Be Adapted to the Local Mentality

The mentality is perhaps the most important thing to consider when working with an English-speaking market. From the contact information you put on your site to the tone of voice you’ll use in your articles; it’s all something you’ll have to keep an eye on.

Now that we have figured out who is suitable for promotion in English and what its features are, let’s move on to work on SEO copywriting success.

Stages of SEO in English

Website promotion should always be part of your SEO strategy – it’s a logical extension of all your hard to make the site accessible to more users. But in reality, many aspects of website promotion take place off-site – from analyzing your competitors to building links. Let’s look at each stage of search engine optimization in English.

1. Niche Audit and Analysis

An SEO audit analyzes how well your online presence is developed, the first step to creating a promotion plan. The audit aims to identify as many underlying issues as possible that affect organic search performance. During an SEO audit, attention is drawn to problems such as:

errors in the structure of the site;
potential problems outside of the site;
user experience deficiencies;
gaps and opportunities in our own content.

A competitive market analysis should also be conducted. Finally, an audit is a standard procedure, essentially checking the health of your site.

A good audit is always comprehensive. It should cover both structural and content components that affect your SEO visibility, giving an overall picture of what is currently happening on the site.

Along with the SEO audit, it is advisable to analyze the niche you want to enter. Understanding what users are searching for, how search demand has evolved, and most importantly, how it will change in your segment will give you a competitive edge.

2. Gathering Semantics

Search engines need context to properly understand a query and get relevant results for it. Contexts are built using words, phrases, and other meanings and references.

Using semantics in SEO is a marketing technique that increases web page traffic by providing meaningful metadata and relevant content that can unambiguously respond to specific “people search intent”. Simply put, if you sell fresh flowers, you want a user who wants to buy fresh flowers, not listen to the band “Flowers” or buy curtains with a flower pattern.

In a good way, the compilation of the semantic core should be done by professionals. But there are several ways to help you decide on the direction. For example, by studying your competitors’ sites, you can begin to collect their target keywords and phrases, which will be a useful addition to your semantic core. Look at what headlines are posted on their sites. Then, do some Google searches and see if their organic ranking is in the top list. You can also look at Google’s recommended competitive keywords.

3. Writing High-Quality Content

Filling your site with good, useful, and relevant content is almost the most important part of the SEO perspective. Content on a site gives visitors a reason to come back, a reason to share information with friends or colleagues increases traffic, and improves search engine rankings.

The type of content you add to your site is up to you. You can blog, run promotions, upload videos, mix it with social media marketing, and more. Most importantly, don’t forget to put keywords in your articles so search engines can index you (especially in headlines, meta tags, and first paragraphs). But don’t get carried away and do it organically. Otherwise, the effect will be the opposite – the English-speaking target audience does not forgive blunt keyword stuffing.

4. Link Building SEO Techniques

Search engines look at the number of links that lead to your site, and the authority of sites that link to you. This is what link building is for.

Like compiling a semantic core, this item should also be given to professionals. But here, too, there are things you can do yourself – for example, negotiate a mutually beneficial link exchange. Find other sites and social media platforms with similar themes and send a letter to the webmaster asking if they want to exchange links. Although search engines are more sympathetic to non-reciprocal links, an exchange is a great place to start!

English-Language SEO Trends of 2022

Search engine optimization techniques continue to evolve from year to year. And any business that doesn’t want to be on the wrong side of a new algorithm or major search engine change should keep an eye on the latest trends and transformations to understand their potential impact. So, we’ve gathered for you 5 actual English-speaking SEO trends in 2022.

Mobile SEO

The most important trend is mobile search. More and more people are spending time on tablets and smartphones. If you’re doing SEO for desktops and do not mind mobile UX, of course, the ranking of the landing pages may be higher, but the ranking of mobile SERP is negligible. Therefore, focusing on mobile experience is very important and will only get stronger in terms of SEO fundamentals.

Local SEO Web Page

Don’t underestimate local search intent. Local target keyword is critical due to the ever-increasing number of zero-position search queries, for which the answers are given directly in the SERPs. In addition, many of those queries are local, so it’s important to create a robust backlink profile and get a Google My Business account.

Customer-Focused Content

Make sure to write copy that is customer-focused, not just offering up unknowable content to unknowable people. Address the specific problems your customer wants to be solved or eliminated. Don’t try to outsmart the search term – focus on the user; your site will perform better and rank better.

Video Content

As YouTube’s influence continues to grow, it’s worth remembering that your SEO strategy should include video content – with keywords and optimized for search.

Show More and Tell Less

Today, SEO is influenced by context, not just long tail keywords, commercial intent, and category pages. We live in a world where it is very difficult to stand out from the crowd. Blog posts should not only attract attention, but also convert that attention, turning a person who is just interested into a customer, and then into a regular customer.

Surfer SEO To Write Content for More Organic Traffic

Surfer SEO is a great tool for modern marketers and businesses. It allows you to research your competition, find the right particular keyword for every part of the writing process, and track your progress. The software also provides valuable search results insights into your exact industry. Surfer is a modern, fast, and intuitive tool. It’s very easy to use and it provides a lot of valuable data. We’ve been using it for a while and we’re very happy with the results.

Why Contenteam Uses Surfer SEO

The reason why we use Surfer SEO is that it allows us to do things like keyword intent research, understand competition, and track our progress. The software also provides valuable insights into what people search in every industry we work with that we wouldn’t be able to get otherwise.

Get in Touch and Be Rewarded With Content That Ranks!

Our team of professional copywriters and editors would be happy to help you with your project. We have a wide range of experience and can offer you the best possible service.

If you're interested in using our services and finding your perfect SEO copywriter, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Ask your question here

FAQs

1. What is SEO copywriting?

SEO copywriting is the art and science of writing content (for ex. blog posts) that is both keyword-rich and optimized for search engines. It is an important part of any digital marketing strategy and can help you improve your organic traffic and visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs).

2. Why is copywriting important?

Copywriting is important because it can help you improve your organic traffic and visibility in search engine results pages. By writing content that is both keyword-rich and optimized for search engines, you can attract more visitors to your website and improve your chances of ranking higher in SERPs.

3. What are the benefits of SEO copywriting?

There are many benefits of SEO copywriting, including:- improved organic traffic and visibility in SERPs

– increased brand awareness and reach

– improved customer engagement and conversions

– higher chances of ranking for your target keywords

4. How can I improve my SEO copywriting skills?

There are a few things you can do to learn SEO copywriting:

– studying the best practices for writing SEO-friendly content

– reading helpful guides and tutorials on copywriting and SEO

– taking courses or attending workshops on copywriting and SEO

– working with a professional copywriter or editor who can help you improve your skills

5. What are some common mistakes to avoid when doing SEO copywriting?

Some common mistakes to avoid when doing SEO copywriting include:

– using too many keywords or keyword stuffing

– writing for search engines instead of humans

– failing to properly optimize your title tags and meta tags

– neglecting to add alt text to images

– not including social media sharing buttons

– not promoting your content after it is published

6. What are the best SEO copywriting tips?

One of the best SEO copywriting tips is to write for your audience first and foremost. It’s important to remember that you’re writing for people, not for keyword intent only. Your blog post should be engaging, informative, and relevant to your target audience.
Use keyword intent in meta-description and title tag.

Сообщение Complete SEO Copywriting Guide for Guaranteed Top Google SERP Results появились сначала на Contenteam - Multilingual Copywriting Service.

Everything You Should Know About a Copywriting Agency

Nazira Konysbayeva — Fri, 21 Jan 2022 13:25:31 +0000

Think about all of the different things that require a copy in the business world: blog posts, ads, landing pages, other web pages, mailouts, etc. Generic copies rarely make it to the top search results, not to mention the lack of substantial website traffic. But what about fully structured teams of skilled writers and editors ready to take on the job? That’s the joy of working with a copywriting agency.

In today’s article, we’ll talk about the ins and outs of SEO copywriting – various positions within the team, how they work together, advantages of cooperating with professionals, stumbling blocks, and everything in between. There is a lot to talk about, so no time to spare!

Importance of Copywriting in Digital Marketing

Let’s start with the reasons to jump on the copywriting bandwagon.

Boosts Your SEO

Top-ranking websites have original, in-depth, and long-form content. This is what an SEO copywriting company will help you produce. Copywriters work closely with SEO requirements, helping them write texts that don’t need further optimization to perform well on search engines.

Makes Your Brand Recognizable

Half-empty websites look not only lacking but also close to scammy. That’s because professional-looking website design is only part of the equation.

Website content helps you establish your tone of voice – fun, serious, credible, either of or all of the above. Readers will learn to recognize your style and become more loyal (familiar brand = trustworthy brand). And for those visitors who are purely looking for information, the content will be a gateway to learning what your company does.

Makes You Money and Saves Your Money

Having established your brand and found your clients, a big part of the marketing job is done. Of course, it’s a never-ending cycle. And this is when your ever-green content comes into play – traffic of potential customers will continue coming in long after the article is posted.

If a visitor is compelled to stay on the page thanks to good content, they’re more likely to act. This wide net you cast with quality content has exceptionally good ROI.

“Make it simple. Make it memorable. Make it inviting to look at. Make it fun to read.”

Leo Burnett

pioneer American advertising executive

The perfect balance of all four qualities – simplicity, memorability, noticeability, and entertainment – is hard to achieve. This is exactly why you can’t ask your average employee to write your copies. Yes, they are well-versed in the topic and understand your company’s business processes, but that doesn’t always translate well to text.

The Anatomy of a B2B Copywriting Agency

Despite the seemingly straightforward work process, a copywriting agency actually comprises multiple job titles. The idea is that having every workflow organized and interwoven with each other minimizes the time and overhead for a final product.

We’ve found that almost every project requires a team with the following structure.

Managers (Editors-in-Chief)

They are the primary contact between a client and an agency. Their job involves discussing the forthcoming project with the client and then communicating this information with the rest of the team. Chief editors give out assignments, oversee processes and deadlines, and overall, bridge the gap between the client writers+editors while keeping the spirits up of all parties.

If there are questions/edits/notes on either side, a manager is the one to convey it to the other side. Mind you, good studios might not even need it.

Writers

Are you worried that your company blog makes your readers snooze? Then here is how you avoid indifferent and dispassionate articles – professional niche copywriters. They specialize in just several topics or formats, allowing them to dive deeper and be more creative. These writers create sit-up-and-listen content and, most importantly, make it valuable for readers.

Editors

They work closely with writers to make sure they follow all specifications of the technical task, including the recommended structure, keywords, formatting, intent, overall message, etc. Editors act as a link between the writer and the editor-in-chief, sending edits to the first and final text to the latter.

Experts

Let’s say we have a technical copywriter who’s writing marketing materials like case studies, brochures, website copy, and product guides for technical/financial/other industries. While the text may be good enough, it can always be better. In our experience, the best result is ensured by a specialist with relevant, hands-on experience.

We have experts from different fields who help authors write strong copies that go beyond basic research. They can be an intermediary link at different stages – from initial project discussions to reviewing edit iterations.

Proofreaders

Proofreading is the big final check and polish before the text is sent to the client. Proofreaders look for typos, incorrect punctuation, other discrepancies in the grammar, and major inconsistencies. Generally, they do not change any of the content, especially after the text was reviewed by an expert.

All of these people play an indispensable part in creating content:

Without a smart and attentive writer, there would not be high-value text.
Without an editor, the client would have to meticulously check whether the writer followed the points of the technical task, included the keywords, and explored the topic to a meaningful extent all on their own.
Without an expert, it would be difficult to fact-check information that the editor-in-chief might not be sufficiently versed in.
Without a proofreader, there might be grammar and stylistic mistakes, especially the ones overlooked by grammar checker services.

The struggle of organizing and managing processes in a remote website copywriting agency is a whole other story, which you can learn all about in our Medium post.

From First Encounter to Finished Text: How a Copywriting Agency Works

It all starts with the client. They are the launch point of this complex mechanism of interactions, technical specifications, and the back-and-forth exchanges with the chief editor. Let’s pull the wraps off using an example.

A hypothetical client ABC wants to promote their company online. They need a competent article to publish on a large cryptocurrency portal. A semantic specialist collects keywords for ABC, an SEO specialist drafts requirements for plagiarism checks, text length, and other parameters.

Then ABC Reaches Out to a Digital Copywriting Agency

They share the technical assignment with the chief editor, who reviews the required volume of the text and estimates the approximate price bracket. Together with ABC, the manager discusses all the important details, for example, the target audience for the text – British, American, Australian, Canadian, or some other segment. This will affect the editor-in-chief’s choice of authors and editors. ABC makes the prepayment and goes on about their usual business while the agency works on the task.

Let’s Talk More About the Team Selection Process

We’ve already talked about our ground rule – to choose writers based on their specialization (even more, this point is often covered in our client case studies).

Now, for this example, the manager chooses writer(s) skilled in fintech and cryptocurrency topics. At the same time, they talk with an expert and let them know about the project and upcoming texts. Then, they select an editor and discuss optimal times to submit (if you read our Medium post, you already know about the intricacies of working in different time zones).

If needed, the manager also adds notes to the technical task for the writer. It may be something that the client talked about during a call or some personal insights).

Here Is What Happens When the Text Is Ready

The editor checks the text – whether it complies with the technical specification – and forwards it to the expert for fact-checking. There is no strict protocol for the expert, so the subsequent actions may vary. Sometimes, the expert adds a couple of examples from their own experience to liven up the text. Sometimes, they adjust or update factual statements.

Now, it’s the proofreader’s turn – they carefully check the text for errors to ensure correct grammar, clear syntax, and stylistic consistency. The chief editor looks over the final version, sends it to the client ABC, and after approval, the article can be published!

ABC then posts the article on the target page, let’s say the company’s blog, thus creating a new highway for incoming traffic and new leads.

“Every product has a unique personality and it is your job to find it.”

Joe Sugarman

sold 20 million BluBlocker sunglasses through both direct mail and infomercials

People that are personally involved in creating a product – those inside the company – can often forget how potential buyers view it. Copywriters bring in the outsider’s perspective that may have been lost during all iterations of product development. Copywriters are also very familiar with marketing concepts – like target audiences and buying personas – so they will match the tone of the text to what readers will positively respond to.

Challenges That People Don’t Talk About

The sequence of events leading up to a polished text holds a few considerations that often stay behind the scenes. Yet they are no less important than all the obvious steps. Edits, financial matters, and comments from the client are commonplace in the everyday life of an SEO copywriting agency.

Edits

This word brings up bad memories for some people. But edits don’t always sting. Usually, clients make comments that align with the pre-approved technical task, so no edits out of the left field. The editor-in-chief receives the comments, forwards them to the performers, and supervises revision.

Direct communication with the manager is easier for the client. They don’t need to think about who to address – an author, an expert, or a proofreader. The editor-in-chief will understand whose area of expertise the edits are meant for and make sure they get the note.

Estimated vs. Final Volumes

The technical task includes an approximate number of words for the future text. These numbers can be based on similar texts by competitors. This establishes the framework for the text.

Authors always follow the text requirements, but the finished text doesn’t always precisely correspond to them. The final volume, after edits, revisions, etc., can be higher or lower than expected. Therefore, after a client approves the text, the editor-in-chief will match the volume of the final article against the estimates.

This information is included in the reports (often in spreadsheets) so that all charges are transparent for the client. The total volume may be covered by the prepayment or not. And this must be taken into account from the client’s side: the prepayment amount is not the final cost of the task, so be prepared for adjustments.

Underpayments and Overpayments

Additional payments after the final approval are a regular thing, which isn’t a surprise to either party. Typically, they are not substantial: a miscalculation of 100 words is considered standard for smaller texts. It’s a different matter when the initial calculation of the volume turned out to be vastly incorrect. The editor-in-chief always discusses such situations with the client: if the text doesn’t fit the supposed budget, some parts may need to be removed from the text.

But! Good authors never resort to filler text. So, simply cutting up the text – removing several sentences from different paragraphs – will not work. In most cases, the client agrees that the extra volume adds value to the text and pays the difference.

The opposite can also be true. The prepayment may be higher than the final cost of the task. Then the editor-in-chief offers two options: set aside the amount for future tasks and avoid back-and-forth payments, or return it to the client. The first option is more common.

Is Hiring a Freelance Copywriter Worth It?

Let’s say you already agree that content creation – no matter if it’s for a blog, landing page, or third-arty publications – needs to be delegated. A business owner writing blog articles is, of course, commendable but also excessive. Now, the question is who to delegate it to.

Should you give the task to a freelancer or contact a copywriting studio? All clients have their preferences, but we tried to gather unbiased pros and cons of working with both. To start off, we’ll look at freelance copywriters and their contributions to business operations.

You can find copywriters on platforms like Upwork, social media like LinkedIn, personal connections. There are versatile authors, but we’re mostly interested in those with niche expertise. But in either case, the key elements of cooperation stay the same.

Pros

More affordable. At least, in most cases. You pay the person right away and pay for only one service – writing. No editing, proofreading, fact-checking. That said, an experienced copywriter can be expensive, with the starting rate of $75+ per 1000 words going into hundreds.

Fast results. You can often bypass the contract stage and simply agree on the terms of cooperation. The writer receives the advance payment and starts writing. Assuming that you find a competent author quick enough.

Flexible adaptation to your requirements. You will introduce a new member to your project so that they produce precisely the kind of content you need. Over time, you may be able to achieve efficiency and closeness. Many believe that this will minimize factual mistakes (whether you agree with this statement is up to you).

Cons

It’s hard to find a good writer. Yes, there are numerous services with thousands of copywriters. The one we mentioned, Upwork, features 55 thousand writers. A good writer who: a) understands your field, b) follows deadlines, c) is a good communicator, d) submits genuinely good articles, these workers are rare. There are few professionals, and since they know their worth, they charge a lot. That is, the main advantage of working with freelancers – the low rates – becomes a disadvantage.

Unreliable quality of articles without an editor. Even talented writers need an editor and proofreader. This becomes especially important as you scale up your content production. Bear in mind that the cooperation of authors and editors can extend your content budget.

Flexible adaptation to your requirements. You will introduce a new member to your project so that they produce precisely the kind of content you need. Over time, you may be able to achieve efficiency and closeness. Many believe that this will minimize factual mistakes (whether you agree with this statement is up to you).

A lot of effort. You need to spend your time looking for the right author and communicating with them. And, most likely, that time can be spent otherwise – improving your product/service, expanding business operations, etc.
Clients also note the following inconveniences: freelancers are notorious for disregarding technical tasks – they simply ignore some requirements. This increases the number of iterations and edits and the time it takes to create one text.

Are Agencies Better Than Freelancers and In-House Writers?

Let’s talk about a freelance copywriting agency, shall we? Not to be confused with individual freelancers covered in the previous section. There are also a few things to be said about agency vs. hiring a full-time writer. However, freelancers and writers on staff are similar, so we’ll mainly focus on agencies.

As we talk about a copywriting agency (company, studio, etc.), we are referring to a team of writers, editors, experts, and an editor-in-chief. Here is why many clients prefer when the chief editor from an agency forms a team specifically for the project in hand.

5 Factors Pushing Companies to Work With an Agency

Delegated selection process (among everything else). The editor-in-chief will do it for you – assemble the team (of Avengers, if needed) that perfectly matches your product offer, topic, format. As you can guess, subsequent content creation stages are also covered.
Consistent quality. Each text is created by a whole expert team. Before making its way to the client, it goes through several checks by an editor, proofreader, and expert. By the end, you have an excellent product in terms of content and SEO requirements.
Ease of communication. Clients and writers don’t speak the same language. Not always literally – they sometimes don’t understand each other. Clients may not know the specific terms to explain what they need, while writers may not be able to solve crises and respond to complaints. A manager can handle both sides.
No need to explain technical requirements. An agency is a well-oiled machine where members learn how to understand each other on the fly. All you need is to find your groove with the chief editor – that’s easier than training multiple people on staff.
There are guarantees. Studios always strive to develop long-term relationships with clients and value their reputation. Should any disputed situations arise, they will be resolved peacefully. Plus, there is a contract.

One additional note about edits: freelancers don’t view edits as a priority. They are much happier to work on another text (possibly, from a different client). It sometimes takes a lot to convince them to revise. With an agency, on the other hand, an editor-in-chief will ensure that you receive the text with all the corrections at the agreed time.

“Good writing is about telling the truth.”

Anne Lamott

progressive political activist, public speaker, and writing teacher

Competent writers don’t need to embellish or overstretch facts. They are skilled enough to look at a product or service and figure out exactly what features to highlight. They will be kind and gracious, but it won’t involve misleading readers into buying. Quite the contrary – it will involve presenting the truth in a way that will persuade you to buy your own product.

The Point of Congestion

Price. Yes, the best copywriting agencies usually have higher rates than individual copywriters. But there is a good reason for that – you’re paying for an entire up and running editorial team. Should we remind you that you get a well-written text by a competent author, checked by an editor for SEO requirements, fact-checked by an expert, and proofread for grammar?

The price you pay for streamlined processes is worth it, not only in theory but also according to our clients. See for yourself – just send us an email or a message to the chatbot, and our editorial team will quickly get the process started.

Hottest Copywriting Niches in 2022

Simply put, the ratio of demand to supply makes a niche hot and fresh. Though the same niche can have variability – depending on clients to clients and projects – some fields are notoriously competitive. That is, there are many companies fighting for consumers’ attention and not many qualified copywriters to make attention-worthy content.

Let’s talk about two prime examples – fintech and IT.

Financial Copywriting Agency

The fintech market can be segmented into API, AI, blockchain, distributed computing big data, process automation, etc. And in each category, there is a need for sharp, relevant content. This search calls for a dedicated remote crew, the one assembled based on the project’s requirements to write:

White papers
Case studies
Press releases
Interviews
Presentations for investors
Price predictions
News
Educational materials

If you operate in this business segment, rest assured knowing that we speak your language. But most importantly, we also speak the language of your audience, be it retail clients or large corporations.

IT Copywriting Agency

Experts have never been as optimistic about digital market prosperity as in 2022. Gartner analyzed the sales by thousands of vendors across the entire range of IT products and services and forecasted a 5.1% growth in spending this year. So, if you haven’t already invested in IT content, it’s not too late.

There are overlapping types of content between fintech and IT, so let’s only name the ones we haven’t already mentioned:

Product use cases
Landing pages
Expert blog articles
Ebooks
Pitch decks
Guest posts
Push notifications

Сopywriting Services for Small Businesses

It’s possible that these past two years have made a long-term dent – many are still dealing with supply chain disruptions and even closures by policy mandate, downward demand shifts, and health concerns. Small businesses can’t rely on the brand carrying them through these tough economic times. We found that making strategic efforts to grow online is always worth a try.

As you remember from our discussion on freelance and in-house writers, they can be more pain than gain. And even if you convince your employee to write something for you, it may not render the results you want.

The latest reports show that over the past 12 months, the number of internet users has grown by about 8%. So, whether you’re looking to attract local customers or anywhere else on the globe, your audience is online. This is where you should channel your message and expertise – online.

As a small business with a small team (at least, for now), you’re probably used to outsourcing talent. And since content production is not like a building contractor or network provider, you don’t need a ‘copywriting agency near me’ – we can work with you wherever on Earth you are.

“Copy is a direct conversation with the consumer.”

Shirley Polykoff

one of America’s best-known copywriters

Copywriting drives a lot of knowledge from customer service. World-class customer service is about treating humans like humans, and so is copywriting. For example, еhe goal of both is to answer the customer’s need and make them feel heard.

What Makes Great Copies: Top Copywriters in the World and Our Approach

Eugene Schwartz, who famously worked only three hours a day (a dream come true), once said: “I write with my ears.” He wasn’t talking about the rhythm or musicality of text. Schwartz was talking about listening. To a client – what makes the product unique, who it’s for, etc., and to customers – what they need. Then the copy writes itself. That has been Contenteam’s method from day one – closely working with clients (messages, calls, interviews) and being the reader’s friend.

Victor Schwab was one of the first copywriters to talk about calls to action. Without making it too intense, we sprinkle in CTAs as advice. After all, you shouldn’t expect readers to pick up barely noticeable suggestions – if you want them to click a link in an email to read your latest blog post – you have to put yourself out there.

Lastly, David Ogilvy has a blunt yet truthful quote: “The consumer isn’t a moron”. Users want respect. That means giving them the right information to make up their minds, ditching the condescending tone (even if you know more than them), and not resorting to trickery. Basically, the attitude you show to the audience is what you’ll receive in response.

Final Takeaway

Here is a brief overview of what you should know about a web copywriting agency:

Tasks coordination happens between a manager from an agency and a representative from your company. This is a much better way to communicate than with all contributors separately.
Once an agency sets up a team specifically for your project, they will get up to speed with your brand or business.
There are (usually) many skilled individuals on hand. Their minds are fresh and always moving, and their exposure to a wide variety of businesses and industries provides them with a unique perspective.
There is a negotiable price in place that depends on the task specifics.
Writers and experts are responsible for research and fact-checking, while editors and proofreaders are responsible for errors and SEO requirements.
Their minds are fresh and always moving, given that they are exposed to a wide variety of businesses and industries.
An agency handles (and pays) for its own tools and training, relieving the need for additional expenses from the client’s side.
By partnering long-term, relieving the need becomes an extension of your company. Down the line, knowing the nuances defining your field and business speeds up content creation.

Need high-quality content on a consistent basis? Then let us become that invaluable extension of your brand and show you that content is indeed king. All the benefits discussed in this article were pulled from our experience. So, it’s not just a baseless list – it’s something that Contenteam is happy to provide for your business.

FAQ

What are copywriting services?

It refers to a company that produces informational and/or persuasive marketing and promotional materials. A third-party copywriting agency allows businesses to delegate the task of content creation, including writing/editing blog articles, ad copies, landing and sales pages, newsletters, product descriptions, etc. Just like other types of outsourced work, these agencies draw on the niche skills of experts in certain fields, not necessarily present in the client’s core team.

How does a copywriting agency work?

From the client’s perspective, the process is straightforward. They approach a copywriting agency and start communicating with the project’s manager (editor-in-chief). They discuss the specifics of the task, deadlines, and rates, and the bulk of the work commences after the prepayment. Once the text is finished, they review it, discuss edits with the manager (if necessary), and approve the work.

Internally, there are many more processes going on. The chief editor assembles the team specifically for each project and not only communicates all important information from the client but also coordinates the work of everyone involved. This includes writers, editors, experts, and proofreaders).

How to get copywriting work?

Freelance copywriters can sign up on online platforms like Upwork and update their LinkedIn profiles. Alternatively, you can join our editorial team. Send us your CV and cover letter, and let’s talk!

How to pitch copywriting services?

Whether you’re the one doing the pitching or the one receiving the pitch, we can all agree that sending out mass email pitches will never work. Here is a recipe for copywriting success: take the time to do the research, convey the value you can contribute, show your differentiator, and don’t be entitled.

How much does it cost to hire a copywriter?

The cost can be anywhere from $25 to $25,000 per page. Of course, you don’t have to fall on either extreme. But if you consider hiring a freelance copywriter at the lower rate range, keep in mind that there won’t be editors/proofreaders/experts included in the price. All-in-one website copywriting services usually offer a better value for money.

What are technical copywriting services?

Technical copywriting services can create readable content on highly technical subjects, such as IT. These tasks require in-depth research and often – practical experience (which is what experts are for). And no matter how complex the topic is, a technical writer’s goal is to package it into approachable content – after all, most types of content are meant for casual readers and not industry experts.

Сообщение Everything You Should Know About a Copywriting Agency появились сначала на Contenteam - Multilingual Copywriting Service.

The Hidden Mystery Behind Expert Content Creation: Editorial Teams

Victoria Michael — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 13:55:47 +0000

It’s no secret that populating your website with high-quality, expertly-written content has huge SEO benefits. You’ll increase your website’s authority, bring in organic traffic with evergreen content, and create oh-so-shareable texts. But, what exactly constitutes expert content — and even more importantly, how can you start publishing these kinds of texts?

Interestingly enough, the actual process of writing isn’t that big of a factor when it comes to expert content creation. I mean, yes, it helps to have skilled fintech and IT copywriters, but the real importance lies in the legwork: doing keyword research, choosing a format, setting up an editorial workflow, bringing in subject matter experts, and so on.

You can have beautifully-written text created by a master of prose, but it won’t do anything for your website if it isn’t powered by an excellent strategy and an optimized team. I’ve already covered content strategies in detail in previous posts, so today, I’d like to focus on creating an editorial team.

Why You Should Form an Editorial Team

Before your business can start publishing expert content, you need to have people that can write, edit, proofread, and fact-check it. This is particularly important for specialized niches like fintech or industry. Here are 3 scenarios that could occur, depending on how you set up your content production flow:

Scenario A: You run a small business, and you don’t think you have the budget to set up an editorial team. So, you try to write all of your website’s content yourself, on top of your regular business responsibilities. There are two likely outcomes: you either publish lots of content, most of which is of poor quality, OR you infrequently publish content, but it’s of average-to-good quality.

Scenario B: You decide to work with freelance content experts for your various content needs. But this ends up being time-consuming and frustrating — a single piece of content might require multiple revisions, and you will either have to pay the copywriter more or keep the rate the same and risk them quitting. Having one person responsible for one piece of content is not really realistic, as there’s quite a lot that goes into expert content: not just writing but also keywords, style guide adherence, fact-checking, proofreading, and much more.

Scenario С: You set up an editorial team or hire an external one. You tell them what kind of content you need, and it moves through the team’s pipeline. You are able to get the content quickly, and revisions are minimal.

To Contenteam, Scenario С seems the best by far! To illustrate this, let’s look at our own editorial teams. There are several, but I work with two in particular: IT and fintech. These are two very specialized areas that can be difficult to write about — and the scope of what our clients need often falls outside of the realm of what an average copywriter can do. This is actually why a lot of clients choose to work with us: they tried and failed to find suitable copywriters, so working with a full-fledged editorial team actually saved them time and money.

So, each of our editorial teams looks like this:

1 project manager: They are the point-of-contact for our clients. They gather requirements for projects, assign copywriters and editors, make sure deadlines are adhered to, etc.
3+ specialized copywriters: Our team is full of copywriters with expert content knowledge in various niches. We add them to the relevant editorial teams, so it’s easy to select writers who are suitable for each content expert request.
1 fact-checker: After the copywriter has produced content, it goes straight to the fact-checker. Why? Well, if an editor and proofreader check it first, and then the fact-checker needs to make corrections, the text would then need to be re-edited and re-proofread. Our way cuts out those extra steps. We use fact-checkers who are experts in their fields; the background knowledge really helps with the checking process — and if they don’t know something off the top of their head, they know which industry resources will likely have the answer.
1+ editor: After the text has been fact-checked and any necessary changes have been made, the content goes to the editor. They are in charge of making sure the content aligns with the client’s vision. They handle structure, keyword placement, tone of voice, and anything that’s related to style.
1+ proofreader: Now that the editor has verified that the text aligns with the client’s requirements, the proofreader looks for (and fixes) any grammatical and spelling errors. They are putting the final polish on the content.

How To Create a Team: Going Beyond Expert Content Writers

Hopefully, I’ve sold you on why content teams are so important — so now, it’s time to address the logical follow-up question: how do you put a team together? Where are you finding the members?

The most common method, by far, is to slap up a posting on a freelance platform like Upwork. But here’s the man problem with that: the best expert content providers and editors are likely too booked to find you. If you put up job postings, you’re going to be contacted by people who are actively seeking work — meaning they are more likely to be amateurs.

One strategy is to reach out directly to expert content creators that you’d like to work with. However, this means that you’d better be prepared with a great offer; otherwise, it will take way too long to fill your editorial team with skilled members. But if you have the time and resources for this method of action, it can really pay off in the long run!

Another strategy is to partner with an external editorial team, like the ones that we offer at Contenteam. You don’t have to worry about doing any hiring: all you have to do is select an agency and share your requests. The agency is in charge of all training, assignments of work, quality checking, and so on. This is the best option if you want to get your content pipeline up-and-running as quickly as possible.

Structuring the Team

If you’ve chosen to go with an external editorial team, you don’t have to worry about this step. But if you’re hiring your own in-house staff, you’ll need to decide which structure to put in place. Contenteam’s editorial structure is just one example; there are plenty of alternate routes to follow.

For instance, Darina Lynkova of Reach Marketing LP prefers to have 10 people on her content teams: five writers, one senior editor, an SEO specialist, a proofreader, a junior developer, and a content manager.

If you’re only planning on producing a few pieces of content per month, having five writers on your team might be overkill. But if you start off by only hiring a couple of staff, scaling up can be time-consuming. That’s another reason why external editorial teams are getting so popular: you can scale up and down as needed without worrying about hiring on more people or laying anyone off.

If you’ve weighed the options and have determined that creating your own team is the best path, I recommend including these roles in your crew, at the very least:

Expert SEO Content Writer: They use SEO best practices to create high-ranking texts on topics relevant to your business.

Bigger budget? Hire an external content writer; they specialize in creating content for third-party websites, which greatly helps with your linkbuilding strategy.

Editor: They edit the texts so they match the brand, style, and SEO guidelines.

Bigger budget? Hire a proofreader. This ensures that no grammatical or spelling mistakes slip through the cracks.

Fact-Checker: You could skip this for some niches, but they are a crucial member of the fintech and IT editorial teams. With so much information being released daily, it’s important to stay on top of current products, statistics, and regulations.

Bigger budget? Hire a Public Relations expert. They can ensure that content will help position you as a leader in your industry.

Some other roles to consider, if your budget allows for it, are: Head of SEO, Designer, Editorial Director, and Content Marketing Manager.

Make a Style Guide

This is the best way to avoid micromanaging — whether you’re working with an in-house team or an external one, write down all of your stylistic rules. Doing so will align your brand’s look and tone across all channels and cut down the time needed to train new members. Whenever somebody has a question about something related to stylistics, you can just direct them to the document — and if there isn’t an entry on that particular topic, you can create one, and it will hold true for similar future inquiries.

These are the main elements to include in your editorial style guide:

Grammar: Should writers use the Oxford comma? Do you prefer semi-colons or em-dashes? Do you hate the passive voice with a passion? This is where to note all of these preferences.
Spelling: Spell-check can take care of most spelling mistakes. So, instead, this section is where you note your preference with words that can be spelled in two or more ways. Most commonly, this section specifies whether American English or British English spelling should be used (like center vs. centre).
Voice and Tone: The tone may vary depending on what channel content is published one, but the brand voice should be consistent. How do you want your brand to come across? Expressive and witty? Professional and formal?
Sentence and Paragraph Length: On academic websites, it’s typical for content to have longer sentences and paragraphs. But with casual blogs, shorter paragraphs and sentences are preferred. Here, you’ll note which lengths are appropriate for your niche and audience.
Links: Discuss how links should be formatted, as well as how many external and internal links to use in various forms of content.
Images: Specify image size requirements, dimensions, and placement within the content.

Develop an Editorial Workflow

Remember the Contenteam workflow I walked you through earlier? We’ve found that works best for us, but you might want to do something different for your team. The whole point of an editorial workflow is to simplify the content creation process while allowing members to focus on their own responsibilities: the end result should be a happy, productive team that produces high-quality content.

If you’re working with an external editorial team like Contenteam, you’ll also want to determine which steps you are responsible for and which steps the agency should handle. For instance, some of our clients do keyword research, while others request that we do it. Similarly, some clients publish materials on third-party websites on their own, while others delegate that task to us.

Step 1: Identify Tasks

To get started with workflow planning, you’ll need to list every single task that’s involved in producing content, no matter how small. It might help if you group them into categories, like so:

Strategy: editorial calendar planning, selecting a CTA, keyword research
Content Creation: Outlining, writing, design, editing, proofreading, fact-checking
Content Promotion: Optimization, publishing, distribution

Note: identify the tasks that your team is already doing — not every content-related task under the sun. You should aim to organize your existing process before scaling up.

Step 2: Divvy Out Responsibilities

Next, you’ll assign ownership for each step. A lot of it will be fairly straightforward; for example, it makes sense that a content strategist would finalize topics and conduct SEO keyword research. It also makes sense that the content writer creates the first draft and carries out revisions.

But who writes promotional copy for Facebook ads? The social media manager or the writer? Who uploads the content into your CMS? You, the writer or the strategist? Make sure to tackle all these grey-area scenarios.

Step 3: Create a Timeline

You’ve covered the “what” and the “who”; now it’s time to consider the “when.” Map out how long content creation takes — which, by the way, should vary depending on the actual form of content. Promotional copy for social media should not take as long as a fintech White Paper.

When mapping out the timeline, make sure to address these:

The length of each step
The order that tasks must be completed in
Dependencies (for example, should the designer start working on graphics right away or wait until they have a full draft of the content?)

You aren’t coming up with due dates in this step; that’s what an editorial calendar is for. Instead, you’re figuring out the approximate amount of time needed to create various forms of content from start to finish. You might determine that it takes a writer 3 days to produce a rough draft, 1 day for the fact-checker to look at it, and 2 more days for it to move through the revisions/editing/proofreading pipeline.

Summary

Creating an editorial team can take a lot of up-front work. Sourcing top talent, assigning responsibilities, producing a timeline, and much more — it can be labor- and time-intensive. But the SEO benefits that high-quality IT and fintech content bring are well worth it.

I hope that this guide has given you a launching point for creating an editorial team of your own! And if you don’t have the time or resources to create your own team from scratch, don’t sweat it. At Contenteam, our editorial teams can integrate seamlessly into your own in-house staff — or even replace an in-house crew entirely. Just send us a message, and one of our content expert consultants will discuss with you how we can fulfill your content needs.

FAQ

What is the definition of a content expert?

A content expert is also referred to as a subject matter expert. They are highly familiar with certain skills and niches, and they typically have a Bachelor’s degree in the industry, along with several years of experience. For example, when searching for a writer for a Machine Learning White Paper, you might select a copywriter that has 7 years of experience as a Machine Learning developer.

What are the content expert’s responsibilities?

A content expert is responsible for creating drafts and revisions of high-quality content in niche industries. They may also use SEO best practices to ensure higher-ranking content.

Where can you hire an expert for content?

You can place job postings on various freelance platforms, such as Upwork. Alternatively, you can work with a fully-fledged external editorial team; agencies like Contenteam have subject matter experts on hand.

Сообщение The Hidden Mystery Behind Expert Content Creation: Editorial Teams появились сначала на Contenteam - Multilingual Copywriting Service.

7 Ways To Create a More Appealing Marketing Strategy for an IT Company

Nazira Konysbayeva — Mon, 20 Dec 2021 15:20:53 +0000

“Becoming a developer” is the new “becoming a banker”. The profession is fairly new, in-demand, and well-paying. Businesses are lining up for talented developers, and as of 2021, the global talent shortage of qualified IT workers is 40 million.

The companies are ready to offer work flexibility and decent pay. It would seem that with such great terms, high demand, and respect around the profession, IT services don’t need further promotion. However, supply increases along with demand. The industry is known for tough competition, as well as numerous newcomers. Everyone hoping to fit in needs to stand out – especially if you are promoting a remote developing team or agency, you need to articulate the advantages clearly.

This guide will explain how to do it the right way, what channels to use, and what trends to focus on. Also, check out examples from strong players for inspiration!

Market Research: Development and IT

Before implementing any marketing activity, you need to research the market and competitors. This will help you understand what niche is more profitable and what advantages you should emphasize the most.

Start by analyzing your closest competitors: teams that work for your target audience, stand on about the same level of popularity as you, promote their services in the same area, and, of course, offer similar services.

Analyze each team based on the SWOT model:

Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats

Apply this model to your company as well. Thus, you will make an objective comparison between yourself and other businesses and create a unique selling proposition. Some of the important questions to answer are: “What makes us better than our competitors? Why would people choose us specifically? “

Itransition, for example, emphasizes its impressive track record in international projects.

Kandasoft focuses on digital business transformation.

Kodius promises seasoned veterans that will solve customer problems.

In terms of positioning, it’s also important to keep track of the industry as a whole:

There are almost 27 million software developers worldwide, and there will be 27.7 million by 2023 and 28.7 million by 2024.

61% of HR professionals say that their biggest challenge is finding qualified developers.
Global IT spending is projected to exceed $4.5 trillion in 2022, up 5.5% from 2021.
Over the next ten years, the number of developers is expected to increase by 75%.
Tech startups raised $100 billion in investment just in Q3 2021.
46% of companies charge less than $20,000 for a basic development project. For general utility tasks, 61% of firms ask $20,000-$40,000.
53% of developers consider adapting to changing client requirements their biggest challenge. 17% of respondents mentioned continuous performance and load testing management. And 13% mentioned finding and hiring the right developers.
As for the types of projects, developers work on enterprise applications (84%), solutions for business process automation (53%), e-commerce products (38%), Big Data tools (30%), CRM (15%), and training programs (7%).
The leading industry trends are artificial intelligence (69%), blockchain (56%), Internet of Things (47%), Big Data (31%), cloud solutions (28%), augmented and virtual reality (26%), and cybersecurity (24%).

Strategies for Promoting Remote Development Teams and Agencies

Generally speaking, online promotion is the only viable strategy for developers. Offline channels can only be somewhat effective if you’re focusing on local businesses. This includes advertising in print media, on TV, outdoors, industry events to get contacts of potential customers.

The main advantage of development services is that they are not tied to one location. The only limitation is the language of client communication, nothing else. And if the team can communicate in different languages, the scope of potential clients expands further. Although communicating in English is the default for both developers and businesses. Fortunately, now there are many services providing legal and accounting solutions for international cooperation. So, the coverage only depends on the company’s goals and an effective marketing strategy.

It’s safe to assume that any IT company would want to work with interesting projects, loyal clients, and profitable solutions. Let’s take a look at tried and tested strategies for promoting IT services and finding these clients and projects.

Contextual Advertising

It’s practically impossible to look at a business and determine that it needs software development services. A clear demand is easier to work with.

Contextualadvertising in search engines allows you to display ads for relevant queries. For example, “app development” or “developer for business”.

Pros	Cons
The link to the landing page is guaranteed to be at the top of SERPs	Ad placements can be expensive because of high competition
No need to work on search engine optimization	Requires professional help to set up campaigns
You can narrow down audience targeting to the relevant services	Risk of click fraud by malicious bots
You already have potential customers that might be interested in the offer, you just need to convince them to take action

Website Promotion

Building and promoting your website is a must. It’s where you drive advertising traffic and collect leads. A website ultimately helps to improve your position in the search results for the long term. Maintaining an expert blog will help you get there. Fill the website with valuable, high-quality content, optimize for keywords you are interested in, regularly add new content. If you need a pro team for content creation, get in touch – we will be happy to help

Good material will build organic traffic gradually. One tactic to speed up the process is smart link building, which we will talk about later.

Pros	Cons
Relatively inexpensive	Organic promotion takes time and requires continuous effort
High-quality content will establish trust with the audience and increase conversion	Only top-quality content has a chance at the top, and you need a lot of resources to produce it
Your website belongs to you, so you don’t have to worry about it being blocked or deleted

Social Media and Targeted Advertising

Social media brings you closer to potential customers. This is where you can establish strong relationships: talk about behind-the-scenes of the company, employees, challenges, and wins. Experiment with different formats and reach new audiences. Ads will strengthen your organic presence and help you build a substantial subscriber base faster.

Pros

Cons

Freedom of expression and creativity

You are dependent on algorithms and updates

Collects hot leads and warms up the audience

Slow organic growth

Builds loyalty

Requires constant effort and experimenting

You can rely on customer support for certain issues

Guest Posting

Useful content isn’t only limited to a blog format. Your options include guest posting, expert commentary for industry media, and in-depth material with restricted access to collect leads.

The strategy attracts potential customers, builds loyalty, and brings quality links. Links incidentally affect the position in the search results (in a positive way).

Pros	Cons
Builds trust and expert status	You need to negotiate with each site separately and adapt to their requirements
Covers a potentially interested audience	It often takes a long time to get approved – up to several months
Material posted on high-traffic sites is more likely to reach the top of search results	Media websites usually close external links from indexing or refuse to add them at all
	Content can be removed or altered without notice Many resources charge a publication fee, which sometimes is unreasonably high

Catalogs and Business Review Websites

Before purchasing or hiring, customers often turn to rating aggregators. This way, they can assess the quality of services without bias based on independent reviews and specialist recommendations. That is why it is beneficial to register your business in catalogs, take part in rankings, fill out cards on relevant resources and review aggregators (Clutch, GoodFirms, Provenexpert, Youteam, Upfirms). While doing so, remember to monitor user feedback. This strategy is also useful for link building.

Pros	Cons
Expands your online presence	Keeping track of reviews on dozens of sites can be difficult
Build customer trust	You often have to pay to get included in rankings
Can be a source of high-quality external links	You need to purchase extended packages from these aggregators to generate fair attention
You only fill out cards once, and they work for you indefinitely

Email Marketing

There are several approaches to this method. The first is to collect user emails, warm them up with useful content, and convert them into buyers. The second is to send offers to the base of cold contacts.

This tactic can only work if you have strong, well-written texts and embed emails into the sales funnel correctly.

Pros	Cons
The strategy has the highest return on investment	You may end up in spam
It is convenient for segmenting the audience and addressing each group with a personalized message	It’s difficult to catch the attention of recipients
Many services offer testing tools and automated statistics collection, making it easier to optimize your strategy	Email services become an additional expense
You only fill out cards once, and they work for you indefinitely	Email is becoming less popular with the rise of instant messengers

Crowd Marketing

This is the last strategy for promoting an IT company – it is meticulous but can bring surprising results. Crowd marketing involves mentioning and placing links on relevant online resources: forums, Q&A services, social media, groups and communities, blog comments, etc.

Pros	Cons
It is free in most cases	It is hard to find relevant, suitable discussions
Native advertising works well	Some websites don’t allow adding clickable links
High-quality link building	The author’s rating is often very important and takes time to build up
There is a wide variety of websites and formats to choose from

These strategies work great together. Experiment with them and choose the ones that suit your budget and align with your goals (specifically, how quickly you want to achieve it.

Marketing Trends for IT in 2022

The target audience for IT companies is businesses. Your potential customers don’t need complex terms and descriptions of advanced technologies. Their interests lie in solving specific problems: optimizing processes, increasing revenue, and scaling up. You should speak the same language as your clients and consider the context of communication. In 2022 will, it will be important to simplify, personalize, and experiment more.

We want to highlight the following trends:

The growing popularity of video content, especially short-form. TikTok continues to change the Internet culture, and by now, light-hearted, funny videos have taken over social media. Users are getting used to an informal presentation of information, and B2B is no exception. IT agencies and developers become more involved in experimenting with the format, not only expanding reach but also collecting leads.
Personalization. Research potential customers, divide them into categories based on their requests, behavior, interests, line of work, etc. Build a sales funnel for each group and create personalized content. Businesses will appreciate relevant offers much more.
Simplified communication. It can be a struggle for some developers – to move away from dull tech content full of niche terms. This format should be left for communicating with colleagues or employees. But when talking with potential clients, you need to demonstrate the value and the result, not the subtleties of the process. Simplification is the future.
Visualization. Users become less and less interested in reading because it takes longer to process text. Charts, tables, infographics, and videos will help you to hold the attention.
Building relationships. Faceless organizations are not fit for 2022. Human connection has become more valuable, which is why companies tend to show their specialists and clients, collaborate with bloggers. It is easier to build a relationship when there is a person on the other end.

Examples of Successful Development Teams: What They Did Right

Goji Labs is the highest-ranked development studio. Here is what helped the company achieve these impressive results: a simple and compelling website, a helpful blog, and high rankings on field-specific platforms.

Goji’s closest competitor, Miquido, also boasts a well-made website with social proof, such as reviews, past projects, partner logos, as well as interesting content – both on the website and in the media. The brand also has a blog on Medium.

Sidebench relies on guest posting in major business publications: Forbes, Entrepreneur, Inc., and others. They also update their own blog, where they share expert knowledge and talk about their team.

Jelvix runs a great YouTube channel – Tech In 5 Minutes. The channel talks about technologies, the development market, and their own experience. These guys also have a professional-looking website and a corporate blog.

Summary: Marketing Plan For an IT Company

The demand for IT services is growing faster than the supply. However, if you want to create a constant flow of customers, you need to present your services competently and do proper promotion.

Remote development teams and agencies can use the following strategies:

Contextual advertising in search engines
SEO website promotion
Social media posts and ads
Content marketing
Catalogs, business review websites, ratings
Email marketing
Crowd marketing

If you’re a remote software development team, then you can probably guess the advantages of a remote content agency. Just like your clients hire you for your expert solutions, our clients hire us for our expert content. Our writers have the experience to create the type of content your company needs - from blog articles and press releases to case studies and white papers. Based on original research and purposeful cooperation, we will communicate the value and importance of your products or services. Ready for the top search positions? Leave us a request, and we’ll start strategizing!

Contenteam

Сообщение 7 Ways To Create a More Appealing Marketing Strategy for an IT Company появились сначала на Contenteam - Multilingual Copywriting Service.

Cracking The STORYTELLING Code in Content

Victoria Michael — Wed, 01 Dec 2021 12:55:53 +0000

Сообщение Cracking The STORYTELLING Code in Content появились сначала на Contenteam - Multilingual Copywriting Service.

How to Craft Killer Website Copy and Win Customers: The 2023 Guide

Victoria Michael — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 13:46:33 +0000

If you’ve been keeping an eye on our blog, you might have read our guides to writing white papers, crypto content, case studies, and more. But today, I’m going to focus on something even more important: quality copywriting for the web.

Well, perhaps “more important” isn’t quite right. But it is certainly more high-stakes. Think of it this way: if your writers churn out 3 blog posts per week & you have dozens for readers to browse through, one dud isn’t that big of a deal. But the copy on your site pages remains constant: a crappy “About Us” page or a poorly formatted “Services” page is going to turn off prospective clients.

If you only work with professional copywriters for one type of content, it should be your website pages; this is NOT an area to skimp on! (This is where I plug our website copywriting agency — just hear me out before moving on to the good stuff )

While Contenteam is known for creating industry-leading IT white papers and case studies, we also have specialists solely focused on copywriting website content. We know how to create content that gets results while simultaneously incorporating SEO in a natural way. So, your website will appeal to potential customers and search engines alike.

If you’re interested in revamping your website’s copy, go ahead and shoot me a quick message! Don’t worry; this article will be here when you get back…

All right, are you ready for a crash course in killer website copywriting? Let’s get started!

First Things First: What Is Website Copy?

You have to crawl before you can walk — so before explaining my top tips for website copywriting, let’s look at what web copy is and what qualities it needs to have.

Some people define web copy writing as any form of copy that shows up on a website, whether it’s page content, a blog post, a case study, and so on. But I don’t think you want to read a 20,000-word guide, so I’m focusing on the text included on the actual webpages — product pages, service pages, the About Us page, the Contact Us page, and so on.

These pages aim to keep your visitors engaged and move them through the sales process. But to do so, the writing needs to have several qualities:

It needs to catch their attention. Cookie-cutter web copywriting isn’t going to cut it (pun intended). We’re living in a digital era, so let’s face it: no matter how specialized your niche is, you’re up against a ton of competition. Your page copy needs to be interesting and unique to give you the best chance of standing out.
It needs to have a strong emotional appeal. Storytelling is your best friend here! Choose the right words, pull in the right examples, and you’ll reel in clients, hook, line, and sinker.
It needs to be “you-focused.” Copywriters are writing for the masses, but if they’re skilled, their writing will seem like it’s talking directly to the reader. Use words like “you” and “your” liberally. And then add even more. Go ahead and count how many times I’ve addressed you in this article (hint: it’s a lot)!
It should sincerely describe the benefits of your service and apply them to pain points. Visitors don’t want to hear, “our service is the best because it’s received 5-star feedback and is used by millions of people worldwide.” Don’t get me wrong; that is great for establishing your authority, but you first need to make a connection between the product’s benefits and the reader’s needs. What are their pain points? How do you remedy that?
It should provide your unique selling proposition. You’re the best in your niche, right? Now’s the time to prove it. Statistics and testimonials are your best friend. Your USP should position yourself as an industry leader and an authority in your field.
It should close the deal and guide the reader to their next action. Craft a direct CTA and include an incentive for why the reader should become a customer. Is there a bonus gift? Do you typically have a waitlist, but you’re taking clients? Mention it here! And don’t forget to tell the reader how to take the next step! Do they need to fill out a form? Call you? Send an email? Tell them what they need to do.

Which Copywriters Do You Need for Website Writing?

As evidenced above, writing copy for websites isn’t for the faint of heart, and you can’t hire just any run-of-the-mill writer. Just like you won’t hire a roofer to fix your pipes, you wouldn’t hire a technical writer to craft your landing page content.

A lot of copywriters advertise themselves as jacks-of-all-trades, but we all have our own strengths and weaknesses. Working with a content agency like Contenteam makes it simpler because we work with dozens of writers with their own specializations. But if you’re planning on hiring an in-house copywriter, you need to verify that they have the chops to create converting webpages. So, here’s a checklist you can work through:

They are a native speaker of whichever language your target audience speaks.
They understand the difference between a product’s features and benefits.
They understand the fundamentals of SEO and can naturally incorporate keywords.
They are specialized in your business segment — more on this soon.
They are familiar with the style guide you prefer (AP, Chicago, etc.), so stylistics are consistent.

When searching for a copywriter, you’ll want to look for somebody who markets themselves as a “landing page copywriter” or a “marketing copywriter,” as their skillset will be relevant to creating webpages.

Writing for Your Business Segment

In the previous section’s checklist, I mentioned that your website content copywriter should be specialized in your business segment. But what does this entail? How does B2B writing differ from B2C? Let’s quickly clear that up:

A B2B website copywriter creates business-to-business writing, while a B2C one focuses on business-to-consumer copy. You probably already knew that, but did you know that the copywriting style for each segment can be wildly different? These are the key areas that differ:

Depth of Content

B2B	B2C
The purchasing decision can take a long time for a B2B audience, so the content needs to be really detailed and info-heavy.	A lighter tone works best here, and shorter content is best. A B2C audience makes decisions pretty quickly, so you don’t want to bombard them with huge pages. You’re marketing directly to humans, so address their needs, goals, and values as an individual.

Number of Buyers

B2B	B2C
Most likely, there will be several people in the decision-making chain, so make sure to emphasize how your service benefits the organization as a whole.	There might be hundreds or thousands of people reading your product page, but you’re marketing to each one on an individual level, so get personal with it.

Emotion vs. Logic

B2B	B2C
While emotion and storytelling should be used in most forms of copy, your copywriters should use plenty of logic and straightforward evidence on the webpages.	This audience loves emotional appeal! The copywriter should strive to engage the audience through entertaining content.

So, you might wonder — if Contenteam is a B2B website, why the heck do I have such an informal writing style? Well, this is an example of how writers in a content agency have their own strengths. Our web pages are written by somebody else, and they are very straightforward, logical, and address a business audience.

But when I write blog posts, I’m trying to demonstrate how we craft B2C copy! If I tried to create our website’s landing pages, it wouldn’t be as effective because that isn’t my writing specialization.

This goes to show why working with just one or two website copywriters can get really tricky; it’s best to work with an editorial team with diverse expertise.

How to Streamline Website Copy Creation

It’s best to follow a set process for website copy creation; this way, your pages will be consistent, and it will be easier to train new copywriters. By creating a website copy template with relevant information, all of your freelance web copywriters will be able to create high-quality pages that align with your business goals and integrate well with the rest of your site. So, here’s what you should do on your end:

Step 1: Choose your commercial pages. These pages are connected to revenue — for instance, your Homepage, Features page, Pricing page, and Plan Comparison page.
Step 2: Determine the elements that need to be on each page — headlines, sub-headlines, CTAs, benefits, features, title tags, meta descriptions, etc.
Step 3: Ensure that the copywriter thoroughly understands the service you provide and what your business goals are. It will help to provide information about your target audience, your style guide, tone preferences, and so on.
Step 4: Collect any materials that the copywriter will need. For instance, you could include your company’s mission statement and links to competitors.
Step 5: Work with the website copywriter to create a basic outline or approve their outline.
Step 6: Review the copywriter’s first draft of the webpage content and provide any revision requests.
Step 7: Check the final draft; ensure that it is free of grammar and spelling errors and that it is SEO-optimized.

Copywriting Considerations for 2022: How to Write Website Copy During a Pandemic

We’re still in the throes of a global pandemic, as vaccination rates are lower than desired. Covid-19 has impacted virtually every industry, including, you guessed it, copywriting! During events that affect a significant amount of the population, it’s important to alter your writing’s tone. When writing copy for a website, it should show that your company is relevant and active, even during a worldwide shift of such magnitude. So, how should your website copywriters adjust accordingly?

Reconsider bold statements. Up till now, it’s been really popular to write things like “This is the best time to,” “It’s the perfect opportunity to,” and so on. But during this pandemic, such overly aggressive and positive statements can come across as insensitive. Instead, consider showing vulnerability when writing web copy— explain how your niche has been impacted by the pandemic (like I’m doing here), and empathize with the reader.
Rethink sales pressure. Similarly, urgent action words have been a mainstay of advertising, but they are no longer appropriate — during a pandemic, we don’t recommend titling something “URGENT: 24 HOUR SALE.” And during a time of widespread forest fires, perhaps don’t say, “These discounts are on fire.”
Stay consistent. If you’re toning down the statements on your webpages, it’ll look weird if you’re still using that style of writing in email marketing, social media posts, and so on. Make sure your adjusted tone remains consistent across all channels.
Be current. If your company has switched from physical locations to a mostly digital presence because of Covid, ensure that your advertising reflects the change. If there’s a change to your store’s physical location, updating your website accordingly needs to be done immediately! It would be great to include a section on your site that lists all recent changes.

A Quick Guide to SEO Web Copywriting

I’ve mentioned a couple of times in this article why SEO is important for webpage copy — so it would be remiss of me not to give more details! Here are my top tips for SEO website copywriting that’ll get you ranked higher on search engines:

Tip 1: Always start with keyword research. Rather than starting with writing, you need to let popular keywords determine what you’re writing about. To research keywords, you’ll need to make a mission statement, determine the search terms you want your website to be found for, and look at search intent. The four kinds of search intent are: informational, navigational, commercial, and transactional — and your webpages might have one or a combination of these intentions. The copywriter’s job is to create awesome pages for the keywords you want to be found for and to have them match searchers’ intentions.

Tip 2: Prepare the text. Before the web copy writer starts writing, they should ask themselves several questions, namely, what is the purpose of the article? What key question is being answered? Who is the audience, and what are they looking for? How will the article be structured?

Tip 3: Optimize the Meta Title, Meta Description, and Header. The meta title should be 60 characters at max, and it should contain your target keyword. The description should be 160 characters max, include a CTA and target keywords, and accurately describe your webpage. The Header (H1 tag) should fit within a 600-pixel width and include actionable words.

Tip 4: Include external and internal links. By doing the former, you’ll build trust; linking to authoritative sources will support your points. And by doing the latter, you can guide site visitors through their customer journey and direct them towards converting pages.

Copy Alone Isn’t Enough!

Your website’s copywriting could be incredible, but it won’t convert non-existent visitors! That’s why it’s important to have a great web design with copywriting, well-written PPC ads, expert SEO, and a solid social media presence.

That’s where Contenteam comes in! Yes, we have a dedicated team of writers, but we also have PPC specialists, marketing and SEO experts, content managers, illustrators, and content designers. We’ll go beyond providing web copywriting services — we’ll help boost traffic, so you actually get eyes on the writing.

You simply can’t beat the benefits that come from getting professional website copywriting services from a full-fledged agency. From working with native-speaking writers from all over the world to getting proofreading and editing services and even receiving social media and email marketing posts, you’ll enjoy first-class support.

Ready to get the ball rolling and get end-to-end copywriting services online? Just shoot us a message, and we’ll walk you through our editorial process!

FAQs

What is website copywriting?

Website copywriting is all copywriting that shows up on your website. In this guide, however, I focused on webpage copywriting: the content on your About Us page, Homepage, Service page, and so on.

How important is copywriting for website sales?

Good web content copywriting is non-negotiable; it influences the customer’s perception of your brand, persuades them to buy your product, and encourages loyalty. What’s more, it cements your position as a niche expert and draws in lots of new traffic.

How much does website copywriting cost?

It depends on whether you’re working with an outsourced agency or an in-house copywriter for your website. If you hire an in-house copywriter, you need to consider the costs of recruitment and training; plus, you’ll need to work with an editor, fact-checker, and so on. Costs can rise quickly. By working with an agency like Contenteam, you’ll benefit from working with a full team that already knows how to create website copy, including Homepage copywriting and Contact pages. You can expect to pay approximately $80 – $100 per 1,000 words with our web copywriting agency.

What is SEO web copy?

This kind of writing uses search engine optimization strategies to boost your website’s ranking on Google and other search engines. It factors in keyword density, reader intent, meta-information, and much more.

Сообщение How to Craft Killer Website Copy and Win Customers: The 2023 Guide появились сначала на Contenteam - Multilingual Copywriting Service.

White Papers 101: How To Write Professional Materials and Establish Your Expertise

Victoria Michael — Tue, 02 Nov 2021 11:41:48 +0000

White papers are a phenomenal way to generate leads — in fact, 80% of users are willing to leave their email in exchange for a white paper. I wouldn’t blame you for wanting to get in on the action. But if you’re new to writing white papers, it can be difficult to figure out where to start.

To help you out, we’ve compiled a crash course on white papers: read on to learn about data collection, formatting, white paper writing tips, promotion, and much more! At Contenteam, we’ve been creating effective white papers in English, Spanish, German, and other languages for over seven years, so we have a lot of strategies in our arsenal.

What Is White Paper Writing, and Why Is It Needed?

Before we dive into the logistics of creating a white paper, let’s examine what it is and how it can benefit your business. Who writes white papers? Well, the term “white paper” was actually derived from when government papers were color-coded; white-colored papers indicated that the text was for public access.

Nowadays, though, white papers are detailed reports that inform readers on complex challenges and present solutions. Companies create white papers as part of their content strategies. This format of content allows them to showcase their expertise in a topic, build user trust, generate leads, and expand reach.

White papers are used at different stages of the sales funnel, but more often before making a deal. The document helps a wide audience understand a topic and develop trust in the sponsor. By presenting factual evidence in an educational context, the company can position itself as an authority in its industry.

There are three main formats of white papers:

These white papers detail the benefits of a product, service, or approach.
“The problem is the solution.” This kind of document provides readers with a solution to a common problem.
Such a white paper collects useful statistics and data on the state of the industry.

And, of course, a great white paper can also contain elements of all three formats. Whichever format you choose, when writing a white paper, you should stick to these principles:

The document should be based on facts and figures rather than the author’s personal opinion.
The text should be highly detailed; it could range from 5 to 100+ pages.
The material should be written in a formal business style.

What's the Difference Between a White Paper and an E-book?

A corporate white paper isn’t the same as an e-book or a longread, even if they end up being similar in length. Check out the table below to see the differences at a glance.

White paper	e-Book	Longread
The text is usually long and continuous, with few breakdowns	The text is divided into easy-to-read blocks	The text is split into small blocks that are easy to scan
Is based on data, research, and facts	Ideas and trends are based on principles	Is based on one narrow theme
Text dominates	Text is diluted with visuals and graphics	Text is diluted with visuals, examples, and videos
Formal business style and expert tone	Informative style, dialogue with the reader	Informative or even conversational style, dialogue with the reader

A white paper is the most official, expert format out of the three. Objective data and analytics come first, and there is much less adaptation for the reader.

Killer White Paper Examples

Let’s take a look at the most prominent whipe paper exmples from the market leaders.

Google Cloud Platform

Google content is a classic example of a white paper review: an online format with a PDF download, section navigation, and solid text. They have plenty of software engineering white paper examples for your perusal.

Hyperledger

The blockchain company Hyperledger has prepared useful material on industry terms and metrics in PDF format. Diagrams and tables have been added here, which makes it easier to understand.

Cisco

Cisco proves that a white paper essay doesn’t have to be boring. Smart design, infographics, and callouts make reading this text comfortable.

Zendesk

Here’s a great example of a white paper in a report format with an engaging performance. It uses animation, graphic elements, intuitive navigation, and interactive elements.

How to Prepare a TOR for a White Paper

When preparing terms of reference for a white paper, make sure to consider the following elements:

The first question you need to answer is why your business needs a white paper. What goals will it help you achieve? Do you want to generate leads? Increase your sales? Position yourself as an expert?
Determine in which areas you’re an expert and in which areas you have enough data to write about. Then, from the resulting list, choose the topic that is most interesting to your target audience. Analyze the most frequent search queries and check out reactions to similar white paper content. Try to focus on topics that haven’t been extensively covered by competitors.
Reader persona. Determine at which stage of the funnel you will offer the white paper to users. Will they be familiar with the topic already? Do they understand the terms? What problems do they want to solve?
Determine which subtopics should be considered by the author, and choose an order (we’ll cover this in detail later).
Compile expert information, internal data, and links to sources.
Choose which graphic elements you’d like to see in the white paper. If you want a professional design, it’s better to create a separate TOR for a specialist.
Promotion channels. If the white paper will be published as an advertisement or on a landing page, you’ll need to link the paper’s introduction with the campaign’s promises. If the emphasis is on organic promotion, make sure to prescribe SEO tasks in the white paper proposal.

«When you estimate how many resources will be spent on White Paper, the most important thing is to be realistic. This means setting aside enough money and time to get the job done well and having reasonable expectations about what you can achieve with White Paper alone.»

Gordon Graham

Recognized author of over 300 white papers

How to Collect Data

White papers are data-focused; you can’t just throw statements out willy-nilly without backing them up. You’ll need to conduct significant research in order to put together an authoritative white paper – and the quality of your sources matters.

If you want to create a valuable document, you need to gather your research materials from reliable sources – and, no, blog posts that compile statistics don’t count. I can’t tell you how many times I clicked through a link to a study and found out that the blogger totally misrepresented the context.

With so much fluff on the Internet, where do you find the good stuff? Well, you have two options:

1. Your Own Research

If you have the resources for it, you can conduct your own research: this includes interviewing site visitors and customers, working with focus groups, and conducting experiments. Then, you can incorporate instructions, test results, and diagrams into your academic white paper.

This option is very successful, as it offers readers unique data. It strengthens your status as an expert and paves the way for industry networking opportunities. What’s more, the process of researching gives you incredible insights into your audience and industry.

Yet, you might not have the ability to conduct research on every topic you’d like to write about. So, in that case, you’d move on to the next option.

2. Authoritative Sources

Just about every industry contains a research firm that publishes industry trends, statistics, and valuable information — all things that add up to a spectacular white paper. For instance, Gartner is one of the most well-known and reputable research firms. If you reference them in your work, nobody’s going to give the claim side-eye.

Here’s an easy way to tell if a source is trustworthy: domain authority. Moz offers a free online site authority checker; all you have to do is enter the domain and get the result. The higher the domain authority and the lower the spam score, the safer it is to use the resource.

Some authoritative sources we work with include:

Tips for Data Collection

- Check out the white papers published by your competitors, as well as those published by trade associations and governments. By reviewing these materials, you can determine which topics have already been covered many times. You’ll want to bring something new to the table — or at least a topic that hasn’t been discussed to death.
- We recommend getting familiar with your industry’s trade associations. They publish newsletters, reports, and other publications that present facts, news, and trends in a straightforward manner. What’s more, they also host webinars, conferences, and other events, which are great ways for you to access original research carried out by association members. Want a pro tip? Sometimes these trade associations post PowerPoint presentations and workshop handouts on their websites. So, you can get insights without flying out to a conference!
- When collecting data, you’ll need a place to organize your findings. Microsoft Word is the obvious solution, but I also really like working with Evernote. Break your research up into chunks (or themes), and give each chunk a heading. You aren’t creating a white paper outline at this point; it’s just an easy way for you to keep your statistics straight. As you find facts and research that are applicable to your white paper, just paste them under the relevant heading.
- Decide in advance how you will format your citations. Typically, a list of sources is placed at the end of the white paper. We recommend using this free Citation Generator; you can choose the style (APA, MLA, etc.), and the tool will do the rest of the work. You’ll just need to copy and paste the result into your white paper.

How to Write a White Paper

Let’s dive into step-by-step White Paper creating process.

Creating an Outline

First things first, you’ll need to make an outline. Attempting to write a white paper without a plan is a big no-no; winging it will lead to a messy document, inconsistencies, and just plain inefficient writing.

There are tons of ways to create an outline, but here’s one of my favorites. First, open up a blank Word document, and write your white paper’s key message at the top. What I mean by this: pinpoint what you want your reader to understand, believe, or do after reading the document. For instance: “I want the white paper to educate readers in ABC and position our company as an authority in the XYZ industry.”

This key message prevents you from drifting — everything you write should align with your key message.

Next, list all the major points you want to address in the white paper; don’t worry about organizing them just yet. I like asking myself the five W’s and H – Who am I writing to? When is the data from? Where is this information applicable? Why is this information important to the reader? What is the problem? How is it being addressed?

As you ask yourself questions, new questions will inevitably pop up. Let yourself go down the rabbit hole — just make sure that what you write down aligns with your key message.

After brainstorming your heart out, arrange your thoughts in the order that you want to write them. Review the whole thing, and repeat the process as many times as necessary — until the outline reflects what you want to write about and the order in which you want to write it.

How the pros do it: At Contenteam, we interview the company on a call and create an extended outline based on product research. We get the client's full approval on the outline before passing it on to the white paper writer; this makes the process much more efficient and ensures that the end product aligns with the client's key message.

Choosing a Title

Just as every book has a title, a white paper must have one too. A great title tells your target audience who the paper is for, what it’s about, and why they should read it. So, if you actually want people to download your white paper, you can’t rush this step.

White papers are often long documents that are a slog to get through — so if your white paper is on the brief side compared to your competitors, spin that to your advantage. Use the title to hint that the paper is a quick, condensed read: “Six Things You Need to Know About ABC.”

Another idea is to address the audience type; for instance, “The Sales Manager’s Guide to Upcoming CRM Trends.”

Now, a completely different (yet still effective) approach would be to put your keyword at the front of the title, and add a catchier subtitle after it. Case in point — bWhen you’ve thought of a few options, run the titles through a headline tool like Sharethrough. It’ll give you a good sense of how engaging your title is.

Crafting an Introduction

The first page in any document is the most important: it might not contain the most valuable information, per se, but it needs to grab the reader’s attention, introduce the problem/question/challenge, and explain what your white paper brings to the table. Let’s take a brief look at each element.

So, first, you want to captivate your target audience and compel them to keep reading. To do this, keep your first sentence pretty short. Give a startling statistic, give a piece of advice, make an odd observation — it’s up to you. Just please, please, PLEASE, do not mention the name of your company or the title of the white paper in the first introductory sentence.

After you’ve grabbed your reader’s attention with a cool statement, it’s time to name the challenge that led to them reading the white paper. Perhaps they want to understand a technology, solve a problem, or make a decision … this is where your key message comes in handy! What is happening in the market today that involves the reader? What are companies struggling with?

State the problem clearly — and then conclude the introduction by saying how the paper will answer their questions. It can be great to include a bullet list here (don’t shy away from using lists in an introduction; anything that makes papers easier for consumers to digest is perfectly fine).

Providing an Overview

Before you dive into the meat of the whitepaper content, you need to give the reader some context. Unless every reader is working with a common set of facts and assumptions, the paper will be hard to understand. So, to give them all the context they need, you’ll provide an overview. It doesn’t have to be too long — half a page will work.

In the overview, you’ll define the key terms that will be considered in the material and set the variables. I also recommend taking a paragraph to describe the industry’s current state of affairs and present a brief history of the issue. At the end of the overview, use a couple of sentences to indicate what the reader will learn about next.

Tackling the Body

Work section by section to fill out your white paper. This is where your outline comes in handy! You’ve already broken your white paper up into different sections, and your research was organized into chunks as well. All you have to do is connect the dots! Here are some tips to keep in mind when writing the body of the text:

The best white papers provide unbiased, educational information. Don’t try to sell something to your readers or push your brand — leave that for the CTA at the end (which we will address in a moment).
Even though a white paper is data-heavy and technical, it doesn’t have to be dry. Use active language and incorporate real-life examples when possible.
Keep going back to your key message! Make sure that every paragraph points back to your key purpose: if something is irrelevant, delete it.
If you think readers need additional context that doesn’t fit within your white paper, provide a list of external resources — books, courses, videos, etc.

Give a Conclusion

Consider the key findings from different sections of the white paper. This is where you’ll add a CTA and push your service/company — after all, in most cases, the purpose of a white paper is to generate leads. Yes, you want your text to position your company as an expert in the field, but if it doesn’t generate any leads, what’s the point?

But, since white papers need to be unbiased, it can be hard to strike a balance between text that is impartial yet lead-generating. It really comes down to your CTA: you have a page or so to explain your solution, show how it solves the reader’s problem, and give some information about your business.

So, how do you present the conclusion? Open up by summarizing the white paper, and then restate the problem statement & solution. Provide a summary of your recommendations, and then transition into a description of your company and its services. Make sure to tie your services into the problem statement: very clearly spell out how you can help address the challenge.

Lastly, you need to tell the reader what the next step is and how they can take it. Do they need to fill out a form? Sign up for a free demo? Call you for a consultation? Give them any necessary information.

List the References

Provide a list of the resources you used in the material. Make sure all citations are done in the same style and that you include the DOI for online journal articles.

Errors to Avoid

Some common errors to avoid when writing a whitepaper include:

Focusing on sales. A white paper is primarily intended to reinforce your status as an expert. If it’s full of sales tactics, readers won’t glean much value — and it’ll leave a bad taste in their mouths.
Little data. All conclusions in a white paper should be based on data. If you’re writing content based on opinions and general recommendations, it’s better to format it as an e-book.
Abstract information. In order for your material to be read and shared, you need to tie facts to the specific problems they solve.
Dry writing. A white paper is professional content with strict boundaries — however, you should still follow the general principles of storytelling. Organize your material in such a way as to guide the reader from simple to complex and offer the promised reward at the end. Without this, it will be difficult to retain the reader’s attention.

Formatting and Design Tips

Now that the text is ready, it’s time to style it. You can use a regular text editor or an online builder — the latter comes with all sorts of cool templates, but you might need to pay a monthly subscription to access the service. If you want a truly professional design, though, we recommend working with an in-house specialist or freelance designer.

When formatting the white paper, keep these points in mind:

Break up your text with interesting visuals, such as charts and graphs. Highlighting blocks and building a hierarchy of elements and visuals will make the white paper easier to scan and read.
Elements should have a consistent design. Determine what the different elements will look like beforehand: headings, subheadings, lists, quotes, captions, etc.
How does the white paper look on mobile devices? More than 50% of Internet traffic today comes from mobile devices. If you don’t want to lose half of your audience, adapt the white paper for small screens.
The white paper’s design should reflect your brand’s corporate style — for instance, the same fonts, color palette, and recognizable elements should be used throughout the text.
Don’t ignore trends! While fashion might not be as important as the other elements on this list, paying attention to design trends is worth it.

For inspiration on white paper design, I recommend checking out Paperflite.

How to Promote a White Paper

Your white paper is ready! It’s well-written and organized, and the formatting is beautiful. You’ve checked and double-checked citations, and the proofreader has cleaned up any grammatical errors. But … now what? How do you get this beautiful craftmanship in front of your target audience? There are a few powerful approaches I’d like to suggest:

Collecting Leads

More often than not, companies create detailed, expert content to collect the contact information of potential customers.

«Good White Papers increase the conversion of both visits to leads and leads to customers.»

Neil Patel

Marketer and Influencer

To promote a white paper for this purpose, you’ll need to prepare separate landing pages with download forms. In order to get the material, the user needs to provide contact details and information about their company. Here’s an example from Oracle:

For this approach to work, it’s important to add the following elements to your landing page:

Describe the user’s goal. What will they get by downloading the book? For example, will they learn how to snag their ideal clients?
Provide a problem statement. What challenges are your future readers facing? For instance, perhaps CMOs want to keep their ROI while innovating but are having difficulty doing so.
Propose a solution. How does the white paper help them solve the challenge? Perhaps it provides a data-driven approach that can help pool marketing resources and personalize customer experiences.
Give a call to action. It can be pretty simple, like “Download Now.”

Pro Tip: To increase conversion, provide a material preview or add automatic import of data from social networks.

Website Ad Blocks

Do you already have a loyal audience that visits your site for industry insights? Invite them to read your white paper! To do this, you can:

Add ad units to pages and blog posts.
Set up a pop-up window for when they are on the site for a long time or if they try to leave the page.
Include a call-to-action in push notifications or via chatbot.
Mention the white paper in other publications.

External Promotion

When drawing attention to a white paper, you shouldn’t limit yourself to your own website. There are many other ways to draw in high-quality traffic:

Social networks. Here, you can capture your audience’s attention with a couple of shocking facts. Then, tell them they can download the white paper to find out more.
Send out an email notification about the material to your own base.
Shoot a video with a brief overview of the white paper, and add a download link in the description.
Share information about your work in groups and communities on similar topics.
Add a link to well-crafted guest posts.
Opinion leaders. Ask experts to tweet about your white paper or mention it in their own publications.

Summed Up

A white paper is an effective tool for generating leads and strengthening your status as an expert in the industry. To get the most business value out of this content, follow these guidelines:

Study the needs of your target audience, and use them to drive your topic and content.
Collect data — the more, the better. Do your own research or use trusted sources.
Write the text or order it from professionals (more on that later). Don’t forget to add a title, introduction, overview, subheadings, conclusion, and list of sources.
Prepare the white paper for promotion. Create a landing page for collecting leads, advertise materials on your platform, and spread the word on external sites.

Trust Your White Paper to the Experts!

At Contenteam, we live and breathe high-quality content. Our team is well-versed in producing white papers that boost clients’ authority, are filled with data from high-quality sources, and are supplemented with beautiful graphics and useful charts.

We can handle white papers on any topic, including highly technical ones. And no matter what length you need, our white paper writers are on the job: from smaller papers with 6-8 pages, all the way to 70+ page beasts, we’ve done it all!

Save yourself hours upon hours of writing, and leave the job to the experts. Here’s how we carry out white paper writing services:

First, we’ll have a call. Together, we’ll determine an outline, and you can provide us with any original research. If you want us to do all the research ourselves, that won’t be a problem. We have access to the best research databases.
Next, the white paper will be assigned to a white paper copywriter who has subject knowledge of your industry (for example, if it’s a text on cloud technology, an IT writer will handle the text; PR experts will write public relations white papers, etc.).
After the paper writer has finished, the text will move on to a fact-checker. After all, white papers are data-driven, so every statistic needs to be correct.
Next, an editor will make sure that the white paper meets your specifications in full: from style and tone to contents.
Lastly, a proofreader will scour the white paper carefully for any spelling or grammar mistakes.

Once the white paper has passed this multi-step approval process and is perfect, we’ll send it to you. And that’s it — with little work on your end, you’ll receive expertly written content that cements your position in the industry.

We offer the best white paper solutions for numerous niches, including:

IT white papers
Crypto white papers
Retail white papers
Healthcare white papers
Fintech white papers
White papers for corporate investors

If you want to learn more about ordering our white paper service, fill out our contact form. I’d be happy to have a white paper consulting session with you!

White Paper Writers Wanted

Are you a technical writer looking for work? Contenteam is expanding, and we're adding specialist writers to our team. If you think you have the chops for white paper copywriting, fill out the contact form!

FAQ

Why are interviews important when writing a white paper?

Interviews can provide readers with new information that isn’t widely known. An interview contains the perspective of one person rather than general industry insights. Thus, interviews can bring all sorts of fresh ideas to the table.

What does a white paper look like?

A white paper usually opens up with a title page, which contains the company’s logo, a headline, the date of publication, and a 1-sentence summary. The second page has a table of contents, and the following pages have the actual text. The final page will contain references and, sometimes, a blurb about the company.

How to write a technical white paper?

Here is a pretty basic summary of what a technical white paper does: you’ll address the problem that readers are facing. Then, you’ll introduce the technical product that solves that problem. First, explain how the product works in general. Then, move on to how the product fixes the challenge and why it’s the best solution. If you don’t want to write the technical white paper yourself, consider using white paper services from Contenteam. Order a technical white paper, and you’ll receive well-organized, on-brand content that’s backed up by the latest data.

How long should a white paper be?

It really depends on how much useful information you have. Don’t be tempted to pad out a whitepaper with filler content; if it can fit in 6-8 pages, that’s great. After all, your target audience might not have lots of time to examine huge documents. However, if you are contributing original research, the white paper can be as long as necessary; I’ve read some that are 50+ pages!

Сообщение White Papers 101: How To Write Professional Materials and Establish Your Expertise появились сначала на Contenteam - Multilingual Copywriting Service.

3 Red Flags That Your Copywriter Isn’t a Native English Speaker

Victoria Michael — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 11:36:40 +0000

DISCLAIMER

The use of the terms “native English speaker” and “non-native English speaker” is very broad and does not imply the superiority of any of these groups. We chose to highlight the difference between them to help our readers find writers for “localized” marketing campaigns, i.e., those who can ensure the material is clear and authentic to its target audience. Our intention is not to outright exclude writers based on their origin or native language - we encourage anyone to pursue professional opportunities and improve their skills.

contenteam

Choosing the perfect copywriter for your blog’s team is not an easy task! There are many factors to take into account, but one of the most important is the writer’s command of the target language. Let’s say that all of your blog posts are written in English. You can choose to hire a dirt-cheap copywriter who doesn’t speak English natively. That’s totally fine!

Everybody has their own #1 priority, whether it be quality, efficiency, cost, etc. If cost is the major determining factor of your hiring process, then, by all means, hire somebody who speaks English as a 2nd or 3rd language. Keep in mind, though – the time you spend editing their texts might outweigh any potential savings. A text could be completely free of spelling errors and punctuation mistakes but still feel… wrong.

So, let’s say that you make room in your budget for a slightly more expensive copywriter who claims that English is their native language. If you hire a writer from a trustworthy copywriting organization, such as Contenteam, then you don’t have to worry about verifying that your writer has an excellent command of English.

However, if you are hiring somebody off of, let’s say, Upwork, then you should make sure to scrutinize their work. Make sure you are getting your money’s worth and not just giving your hard-earned cash to somebody who lied through their teeth to get the position. Here are 3 red flags that the copywriter you hired doesn’t really have a great command of English.

Red Flag #1: Poor Stylistics

One issue is that many copywriters use stylistics that just feel off. A non-native speaker could study English for years, yet never really gain a feel for the language.

Take the following sentence, for example:

I used my green little knife to spread a pat of butter across the toast.

Looks good, right? Well, that sentence would make any native English speaker cringe, even though they wouldn’t quite be able to put their finger on what’s wrong. You see, we subconsciously adhere to an order of adjectives. “Green little knife” makes us feel like somebody’s scratching their nails across a chalkboard. “Little green knife,” on the other hand, just feels right. Ask a native speaker who is not trained in stylistics, though, and they wouldn’t be able to tell you why it’s better. They can just feel it in their bones.

Another issue that many non-native copywriters have is being overly formal in their choice of words and sentence structure. Wordiness, too, is quite a problem.

Due to the fact that the class has been canceled, I am thinking that the professor should choose to postpone our homework assignment.

Okay, so that sentence doesn’t have any grammatical mistakes. Commas are good, spelling is good, etc. But this just isn’t how native speakers talk (or write)! Instead, we might write something like this:

Because class is canceled, I think the professor should postpone our homework assignment.

Or, if we’re speaking, we’d probably say:

I think the professor should postpone the homework since class is cancelled.

Those sentences are simpler, easier to read, and they don’t feel awkward. Remember, more formal ≠ better!

Another issue you might run into is that your copywriter fills their articles with all kinds of fluff. That can be quite annoying; once your editor cuts it all out, the post may be way under your desired word count. For instance, let’s look at the following paragraph:

XYZ Company sells purses made from high-quality vegan leather. When you wear this purse, your dreams will come true! You will feel like the belle of the ball. As you walk down the street, everybody will stop and stare at you because your purse is so marvelous. Our materials are ethically sourced and eco-friendly.

If your copywriter turns in something like this, please, please, PLEASE have a talk with them. This kind of copy will not make anybody want to buy your product. The first and the last sentences in the paragraph are great – they are informative, grammatically correct, and can be backed up. The middle of the paragraph, however, is just low-quality rhetoric that any shopper with two brain cells could see right through.

Now, you could employ a really amazing, English speaking editor who can totally fix the stylistics of an article. However, this would be a time-consuming process, and you would probably be better off just hiring somebody who uses great stylistics in the first place.

Red Flag #2: Mixing Up UK and US Language

Even though UK English is understandable to US readers, and vice versa, there are still some key differences – primarily in spelling. Flavor vs. flavour, behavior vs. behaviour, and so on. Depending on your target audience, you want a copywriter who knows the ins and outs of the language’s intricacies. And, above all, you do NOT want to hire a copywriter who flip-flops between UK and US English in the same article! This is a huge indicator that your copywriter is not actually a native English speaker.

So, how can you be sure that your writers aren’t switching back and forth between UK and US spelling? It’s super simple – you can go through your spell checker’s settings and configure it to suit your preferences. For instance, I’m currently writing this post in Word, and I have my spell checker set to US English. Just go to File, Options, and then the Proofing tab.

If you are using Grammarly, which is a super popular grammar checking service, you can choose between American, Canadian, British, and Australian English.

Once you have optimized your settings, give the article a quick run-through to make sure that your copywriter isn’t switching back and forth between styles.

Red Flag #3: Poor Choice of Words

Sometimes it seems like a copywriter has swallowed a thesaurus and vomited up a big, stinky pile of gibberish. Perhaps this is because they are trying their hardest to make the article unique from similar posts, so they are looking up alternatives to as many words as possible. Here’s the problem – you can’t just swap out synonyms and expect the article to flow as nicely. English is a nuanced language, and non-native copywriters may have a difficult time understanding why one word is acceptable, but a similar word is not. It’s all about context!

For instance, “budget surplus” is a specific term that refers to when a business’ income is greater than its expenses. If a copywriter looks up synonyms for surplus, they will find words such as plethora, superfluity, profusion, and more. Yet, if you write “budget superfluity,” it makes no sense. Copywriters need to be able to determine what an acceptable word substitution is, rather than relying on a thesaurus.

So, you could give your editor the task of swapping out every single improperly used word. Or, you can save time and effort by making sure to hire native-speaking copywriters.

How To Find a Great, Native-Speaking Copywriter

Perhaps English isn’t your native language, and the thought of checking for these red flags is daunting. Maybe you are worried that you wouldn’t be able to catch these subtle mistakes. Well, if that’s the case, you probably don’t want to hire a writer off of Fiverr, Upwork, or other services. Those companies have no way of verifying or guaranteeing that the writer you hire has a great command of English. All you have to go off of are reviews and samples of work, and even those can be faked.

Your best bet is to look for a copywriting organization that hires copywriters whose first language is English. These organizations usually have a vetting process where they give potential writers test tasks and will only hire those who can write excellently. On top of this, these organizations can afford to have native English-speaking editors who make sure that nothing slips through the cracks.

Take, for instance, Contenteam. It is a copywriting company with dozens of employees, years of experience, and stellar reviews. Not only does the company have several native English-speaking writers and editors, but it also provides unlimited edits to guarantee its clients are satisfied. I am the company’s editor-in-chief, and I have implemented a rigorous testing and examination procedure that every copywriter must go through. I can vouch that every single writer is thoroughly tested, and their articles are carefully examined. We do not rest until our clients have received top-notch articles. Don’t fret over having to comb over every single piece of copy; work with Contenteam, and we’ll bring you convenience and beautiful texts.

If you already have a copywriter, but doubt that they are fully proficient in English, you can contact me personally by email. I will take a look at their texts and give you my opinion. From one colleague to another, I want your business to succeed!

Сообщение 3 Red Flags That Your Copywriter Isn’t a Native English Speaker появились сначала на Contenteam - Multilingual Copywriting Service.

4 Secrets of Writing IT Texts for an American Audience

Victoria Michael — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 15:32:00 +0000

Сообщение 4 Secrets of Writing IT Texts for an American Audience появились сначала на Contenteam - Multilingual Copywriting Service.

How to Create Expert IT Content for Lead Generation – Editorial Insights

Victoria Michael — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 13:45:53 +0000

Leads are prospective customers that have shown interest in your business, and everybody wants them. After all, more leads = more sales = more revenue = company growth. But how do we get those oh-so-elusive leads?

Well, there are many approaches to lead generation: social media marketing, TV advertisements, sponsorships, email marketing… the list goes on and on. But one of the best ways to generate leads in the IT industry is through expertly crafted web content. Blog posts, long-form articles, white papers, and the like.

At Contenteam, the premier IT copywriting agency, we know the ins and outs of creating high-quality technical content! Read on to learn how to write IT texts that attract readers and convert them to loyal customers.

Determining User Intent

Why are people coming across your content? What questions do they need to be answered? Consider the user intent behind search engine queries – in other words, what was going through their mind when they opened up Google?

The main kinds of intent include:

Informational. These searchers want answers to a question and typically prefer top-of-funnel content (this is educational content rather than texts that promote your services).
Transactional. Searchers are looking for product reviews and comparing options. They’re ready to buy and moving closer to a transaction.
Navigational. They already know you exist because they’re looking up your specific business details. These are your current customers, and you want to convert them into return buyers.

To include search intent in your IT content strategy, examine search queries. It will be pretty easy to categorize searches into one of the 3 categories above – for instance, “software development ebook prices ABC company vs. XYZ company” is transactional. On the other hand, “how to make an ebook app” is informational. And “XYZ Company phone number” is navigational!

After getting a better idea of what your leads are looking for, you can plan content accordingly. For web pages that will probably show up for searchers with navigational intent, target the content towards your existing customers. For instance, bring attention to complementary products, promotions, up-and-coming releases, and so on.

For transactional intent, you can publish commercial copywriting that’s focused on soft selling one of your products. If you find that you’re showing up in a lot of comparisons, write comparison texts of your own!

Informational intent is where things get a little tricky. When somebody is searching for information, they don’t want to slog through a page stuffed with keywords, promotional phrases, and a strong selling intent. Instead, they want helpful, understandable, and high-quality content.

And the problem is, a lot of business copywriting for technological companies is just the opposite. Informative technical texts tend to be dry and exclusionary – but even worse are articles that are uninformative and simply there for SEO. Readers aren’t stupid. If you aren’t putting their experience at the forefront, they’ll be able to tell.

Back to Basics: What Makes Good Technical Content?

IT texts are primarily written for users with informational intent – they are asking questions that could be broad or narrowly focused. Either way, your goal should be to provide them with answers without distractions of obvious keywords or overt sales tactics.

For each project, you need to consider your audience’s goal (Are they completing a task? Researching a topic?), background (Are they new to your site? A return visitor?), and mood (Are they rushed? Is it a frustrating topic?). Another consideration – will your texts be read by consumers, businesses, or a government organization? Each one will require adjustments to your tone of voice, vocabulary, and CTAs.

No matter which audience you are creating technical content for, some guidelines will remain the same:

Stay on-topic. When a user clicks on an article, they expect to learn about whatever the title says. Don’t veer too far away from that topic. If you have related content, insert links that they can click through at their discretion.
Keep paragraphs short. They should be a maximum of four lines for the easiest scannability.
Use descriptive headings. Headings should show readers, at a glance, what the section will cover. If you can use cool, unique headings, that’s great, but be sure to always prioritize the reader’s convenience.
Provide context through multimedia, if necessary. Maybe this won’t be the case for every single piece of IT content, but it can be very helpful when providing tutorials on technical concepts. Make sure to crop screenshots tightly to focus attention on the relevant area.

5. Break things down into lists. This makes IT texts much more readable – if a reader sees a huge wall of text, they’re likely to click away.

Types of Lead Generating Content for Enterprise Blogging

A big part of successful IT copywriting and editing is experimenting with different kinds of content. Play around with your balance of content within your enterprise blog and see what works!

Ebooks. This is a fantastic way of gaining credibility, educating prospective customers, and generating leads. However, because they take quite a bit of time to create and publish, choose the topic carefully. You’ll want to select a topic that guides the reader from downloading the book to giving your company a call.
Cheat Sheets. A cheat sheet is a short, concise summary of information, which the user might bookmark for future reference. It can be a visual guide to symbols, terms, commands, etc. This kind of content should be formatted for quick reference – the more visual, the better. Don’t be afraid to use colors and graphics!
Guides. These come in all shapes and sizes – from “bite-sized” guides, which are short and concise, to “ultimate guides,” which are comprehensive and accompanied by screenshots and step-by-step instructions.
White Papers. While an ebook is an informal, design-heavy piece of in-depth content, White Papers are more like academic reports. They present a problem, provide research, and then give solutions. These definitely need to be written by copywriters with deep IT knowledge.
Press Releases. Are you announcing a new product? Has your organization received an industry award? What better way to publicize this awesome information than with a press release? These are short summaries of news related to your company and are one the easiest ways to get

The Importance of Having SEO Copywriters With an IT Specialization

Writing a tutorial on database migration takes much more specialized knowledge than an article on, say, Top 10 Vacation Spots of 2021. A content writer with no knowledge of IT will not be very efficient – and, even worse, their content might be plagued with inaccuracies.

At Contenteam, we’ve found the perfect IT editorial workflow:

First, we assign an IT-related task to a tech copywriter with relevant knowledge. We have a pool of writers that we use for such specialized topics.
After the writer has finished the text, we pass it on to an IT expert, who checks the text for any inaccuracies or outdated information.
The text goes to the editor, who makes sure that the text matches the client’s desired tone of voice, SEO specifications, structure, etc.
Lastly, the proofreader does a final check for any typos, grammatical errors, or formatting inconsistencies.

This tried-and-true method results in engaging, lead-generating IT texts that are high-quality and free of mistakes. That’s why Contenteam is truly one of the best copywriting for IT service providers – and I don’t say that lightly.

Are you interested in getting technical copywriting services from our team? We provide a wide range of services – from content for B2B companies, press releases, White Papers, tutorials, blog posts, social media posts, and much more! We also create content within other industries – we are well-known as a financial services copywriting agency.

So, whether you need us to create an informative article on data science or blockchain, we’ve got you covered! Send us a note, and we’d love to discuss our services with you.

Сообщение How to Create Expert IT Content for Lead Generation – Editorial Insights появились сначала на Contenteam - Multilingual Copywriting Service.

EDITOR - Contenteam - Multilingual Copywriting Service

Complete SEO Copywriting Guide for Guaranteed Top Google SERP Results

Table of Contents

Why SEO Optimization Is Important

Search Engine Optimization for Google

SEO Content Tips for Google High Ranking in 2022

1. Expertise, Authority, and Credibility

2. Core Web Vitals

3. The Importance of Search Intent

4. The Use of a Favicon

5. Optimization for CTR

How To Optimize SEO Texts for a Website in 2022

1. Pay Attention to Long-Tail Keywords

How Do You Effectively Integrate Long-Tail Keywords Into Your SEO Writing?

2. Use Alt Meta Tags for Images

3. Use Keywords in Headlines, Title Tag, and Meta Description

4. Add Internal Links

5. Focus on the Most Popular Targeted Keywords

SEO Analysis Services That Won’t Ruin Expert Text in English

Headline Analyzer

Copywritely

Airstory

Grammarly

eTXT Antiplagiarism (Desktop Version)

What SEO-Checking Services Should Be Avoided

Content Proofreading: Checklist for Proofreading the Written Text by a Native Editor

What Does a Native-Speaking Editor Always Check?

SEO-Optimization of Websites in English

Who Needs Search Engine Optimization in English and Why?

SEO Features for Projects in English

1. You Will Have To Work With People, Not Marketplaces

2. You Will Have To Spend More Money

3. Content Has To Be Adapted to the Local Mentality

Stages of SEO in English

1. Niche Audit and Analysis

2. Gathering Semantics

3. Writing High-Quality Content

4. Link Building SEO Techniques

English-Language SEO Trends of 2022

Mobile SEO

Local SEO Web Page

Customer-Focused Content

Video Content

Show More and Tell Less

Surfer SEO To Write Content for More Organic Traffic

Why Contenteam Uses Surfer SEO

Get in Touch and Be Rewarded With Content That Ranks!

If you're interested in using our services and finding your perfect SEO copywriter, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Ask your question here

FAQs

Everything You Should Know About a Copywriting Agency

Table of Contents

Importance of Copywriting in Digital Marketing

Boosts Your SEO

Makes Your Brand Recognizable

Makes You Money and Saves Your Money

The Anatomy of a B2B Copywriting Agency

Managers (Editors-in-Chief)

Writers

Editors

Experts

Proofreaders

From First Encounter to Finished Text: How a Copywriting Agency Works

Then ABC Reaches Out to a Digital Copywriting Agency

Let’s Talk More About the Team Selection Process

Here Is What Happens When the Text Is Ready

Challenges That People Don’t Talk About

Edits

Estimated vs. Final Volumes

Underpayments and Overpayments

Is Hiring a Freelance Copywriter Worth It?

Pros

Cons

Are Agencies Better Than Freelancers and In-House Writers?

5 Factors Pushing Companies to Work With an Agency

The Point of Congestion

Hottest Copywriting Niches in 2022

Financial Copywriting Agency

IT Copywriting Agency

Сopywriting Services for Small Businesses