Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Imagine visiting a website only to find you can’t navigate the menu, read the text, or understand the content. It’s frustrating. Not just for the user but also for the business owner who has spent money on a site that isn’t connecting with their audience. 

You might not even realise you’ve neglected accessibility…

Website accessibility creates a more seamless experience for everyone, regardless of their ability. It’s about a people-first approach, which is integral to creating helpful content and providing a great user experience.  

There are more than 5 million people in Australia with disabilities. So if your website doesn’t accommodate, you’re missing out on reaching a wider group of people. 

Living with a disability already comes with enough challenges. I know because I have an ultra-rare connective tissue disorder called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Severe Scoliosis and Epilepsy. With many different types of disabilities and limitations, creating a website that caters to your audience is essential. 

You must provide helpful and engaging web copy to reach a broader market and keep the Google Gods happy. And what’s more valuable than content everyone can access and read?

Understanding Website Accessibility 

Website accessibility allows everyone to understand, navigate, and engage with your content, features, products and services. 

The Disability Discrimination Act mandates that websites be designed and developed for people with disabilities.

Making your site accessible is also an intelligent business strategy. 

It enhances user-friendliness across different devices, improves the reading experience, and simplifies navigation. This leads to better results from web forms and call-to-action buttons, boosts SEO, and shows social responsibility.

Where Do Most Websites Go Wrong?

The most common accessibility failures are:

• Missing image alt-tags
• Empty or non-descriptive links and buttons
• Low colour contrast 
• Missing form input labels

Learn how to implement web accessibility with these tips. 

1. Inclusive Web Design and Content

Every website needs an accessible design and readable content. Ensure your site is fully responsive with mobile and tablet optimisation, touch-friendly navigation, and a logical content structure. 

When your web design and content are robust, they’re developed to be compatible with different browsers, devices, screen sizes, and assistive technologies such as screen readers.

Quick Wins:

• Clear HTML code for efficient interpretation.
• Simple site navigation
• Easy-to-understand content with heading tags.
• Logical layout
• Clearly marked buttons and links
• Implement responsive design
• Add labels to form fields
• Use breadcrumbs to make your site keyboard-friendly
• Avoid seizure-triggering animations
• Use high-quality images, videos, and icons
• Add a linkable table of contents to blog content
• Balance aesthetics and accessibility

2. Ditch the Fluff

Digestible content is essential for all website visitors. Replace technical jargon with clear, concise language. Use simple sentences and proper headings to break up large blocks of text. 

Meet your audience’s search intent to keep your copy on track. Writing for search intent avoids unnecessary content and filling web copy with fluff. 

3. Accessible Shopping Solutions

Website accessibility standards outline the importance of accessibility in e-commerce. Make sure you comply by providing an approachable shopping experience. 

Quick Wins:

• Create descriptive, accessible product descriptions
• Provide an easy-to-use checkout process with clear instructions and error messages 
• Use accessible payment getaways that support keyboard navigation and screen readers
• Leverage AI-powered personal shoppers

4. Include Descriptive Alt Text and Links

One of the easiest ways to apply web accessibility is through descriptive text. Alt-txt (alternative text) appears when someone uses a screen reader and cannot view the image. It helps the visually impaired, search engines understand what the image is about, and users when images aren’t loading. 

Alt-text and text for links and anchors are important for conveying meaning. Use words that describe what the image or content is about when you click a link or button. All images, links, buttons and pages must have descriptive titles. 

For example; instead of ‘Read Now’ for the text on a call-to-action button, use ‘Explore Copywriting Services’. This is more meaningful and gives an accurate overview of what the user will find in the linked content. 

5. Enable Hands-Free Navigation with Smart Voice Technology 

Spoken commands provide a natural way to navigate and access information. Voice recognition lets users interact with devices and websites via voice search, screen readers, and other tools. 

It’s a convenient tool for busy multitaskers and people with mobility disabilities.

Quick Wins:

• Use long-tail, location-specific keywords and a conversational tone. This will optimise your website for voice search
• Apply schema and structured data markup
• Add a well-organised FAQ page to your site (or update your existing page)
• Use bullet points for short, concise answers to optimise for featured snippets

6. Caption Videos

Transcripts and captions for video and audio are an easy way to apply website accessibility. Assistive technology relies on AI to read transcriptions out loud, which is helpful for anyone with hearing impairments or people wanting to review insights following a live meeting.

AI-powered captioning is a good accessibility feature to use. As AI tools become more accurate, you can have real-time transcriptions for video, audio, live streams and webinars, which increases engagement with everyone in your audience. 

7. How to Implement Web Accessibility

Your business doesn’t need to be compatible with every tool, technology or web accessibility trend. But prioritising website accessibility for the disabled and your audience is a must. 

In a world overloaded with digital consumption, why make it any harder to access valuable content?

Make sure you:

• Test for web accessibility and usability 
• Commit to continuous improvement 
• Follow website accessibility standards and best practices 

Improving website accessibility is everyone’s responsibility. This includes the business owner, web designer, developer, SEO specialist and creative copywriter. 

The post Smart Website Accessibility Tips for 2025: How to Make Your Content More Helpful appeared first on the little typewriter.

Estimated reading time: 9.7 minutes

ChatGPT has taken the digital world by storm and more businesses are using AI for automating tasks and shrinking creative exhaustion. For good reason too. With burnout causing a not-so-silent crisis, work and life demands have become too demanding for most.  

As a small business owner and SEO content writer, I get it.  

Which is why, like any smart copywriter, I’ve explored and experimented with ChatGPT content. 

Here’s what I learnt. 

Despite the hype around ChatGPT articles, it isn’t the holy grail to your content woes. Sure, it can be a companion, but AI-generated content cannot replace SEO articles – and nothing beats that human touch for creating authentic connections with your audience. While ChatGPT is helpful as a foundation, no one should rely solely on AI tools to create content. Especially if you want to provide real value. 

Still, there’s a place for ChatGPT if you know how to use it intelligently. 

More importantly, those who embrace the ever-changing digital landscape must understand what good content writing is and how it works for such tools to be successful. 

This article can teach you creative ways to combine ChatGPT with human skill. It’s for educating business owners on the best strategies and what to be aware of. 

Understanding ChatGPT

But first, what is this ChatGPT that’s dominating headlines?

Open AI’s ChatGPT is a powerful deep-learning tool that provides answers in seconds. It uses a Language Learning Model (LLM) to understand the intricate relationships between words and information and sources responses from an extensive dataset of websites, online books and journals.

You can ask the computer bot questions and converse with it like a person. Then it regurgitates content and answers into new prose. Similar to responses from a Google search, but much faster and without citing sources. 

Of course, taboo subjects are off limits, such as trying to overthrow the government and illegal activities. There are also questions ChatGPT won’t answer. 

Let’s dig into how I’m harnessing ChatGPT for SEO articles. 

1. Eliminate Procrastination 

One way I’ve been using the AI tool is to amplify productivity. For most creatives, this means eliminating procrastination areas. 

Those deep rabbit holes we sometimes get stuck in. 

Procrastination is something most writers and business owners face. Quotes from avid creatives remind us that writing is 90% procrastination, and pie graphs poke fun at the writing process. A chunk of time gets spent staring blankly at the wall, binge-snacking and random Internet surfing – a tidal wave away from productive research. 

I know because I can be guilty of it too. 

With ChatGPT, you have a procrastination killer. It can be a handy helper for drafting article structure and sub-headings, and gives you a blueprint to work from.  

For example: I asked ChatGPT to suggest subheadings for this piece. Although I had already mapped the points, it’s a good way to find new angles or ideas you might not have thought about. 

Fire up Your Creative Synapses

ChatGPT is a catalyst for fast idea generation. It can be the perfect tool for when inspiration isn’t striking. 

While I prefer picking up a book and disconnecting for 20 minutes to fire up my creative synapses (as Stephen King does), client deadlines often take priority. For those times – or to get your juices flowing – use ChatGPT to brainstorm ideas. 

The best way to do this is by starting a conversation.  

Just as you would brief a copywriter, ChatGPT needs detail and precise objectives to generate worthy ideas, topics and research. 

With the right person behind it, ChatGPT can revolutionise your research game. Use it as a researcher for:

• Brainstorming blog topic ideas
• Recommending headlines
• Industry research 
• Exploring the initial points for SEO articles
• Finding potential pain points linked to your target customer

There needs to be a partnership between a qualified writer and ChatGPT to make this relationship work for quality SEO content. A copywriter can refine and expand the data for your brand voice, goals and audience. Then uses their expertise to bring it to life and add vital SEO copywriting elements. 

Additionally, you want an industry expert who knows your niche and understands the importance of value-added content that connects and converts.

Because that’s something ChatGPT articles can’t do. 

You can use the AI tool as a launchpad for creating more engaging ideas. But it’s only a dirty draft with serious limitations. These include:

• Privacy and plagiarism: Generated content is paraphrased from existing content without proper attribution
• Superficial and soulless: Robotic content, limited creative thinking and zero personal experience and emotional intelligence
• Stifles creativity: Over-dependence on AI technology can lead to less collaboration and creativity, steering content away from that vital human touch
• Poor quality: Google rewards high-quality, people-first content which AI content can’t always produce. If it’s not helpful and reliable, your content will be devalued
• Lack of experience and personalisation: Content must show Experience, Expertise, Authority and Trustworthiness to build trust and credibility with your audience 
• Lack of search engine optimisation: ChatGPT lacks the understanding and insights a human SEO copywriter or specialist has. What’s more, it can’t provide essential data on website traffic, rankings and conversions
• Lack of research and comprehension: Yes, it’s a research tool but you still need to understand your audience and the different ways of communicating with them first. Research for your messaging is a step you can’t skip
• Lacks real-time data: Its knowledge cut-off date is September 2021 making ChatGPT ineffective for recent research and statistics

I’ve also been using the AI tool to make space for fresh ideas by eliminating clichéd and obvious concepts. I stole this great idea from Tom Roach, an expert in marketing and branding. 

2. Discover Seed Keywords and Phrases

ChatGPT can assist with keyword research by suggesting relevant search terms to expand your list. Tell it your topic, brief it on your business and target audience, and ask for associated keywords and phrases. 

It’ll spit out ideas in seconds – but I wouldn’t be using it solely for keyword research. 

Think of ChatGPT as an alternative to Google’s Keyword Planner. You still need other platforms like Semrush or UberSuggest for reviewing the raw data, and it doesn’t replace the skills of an SEO copywriter for finding the most appropriate search terms and using them in your content.  

The thing about keyword tools such as ChatGPT, Yoast, Ubersuggest and Semrush is they’re simply tools. They make our jobs easier but you need human expertise for the final decision. More importantly, you need a creative copywriter who knows how to find ranking keywords and turn them into relatable content that’s unique and better than what’s ranking in the first spots. 

While this trick doesn’t replace the skills of an SEO pro, it can give you a starting point. But it won’t provide information on search volume, intent, SERP features or keyword difficulty, which are vital for keyword research.

ChatGPT SEO example:

Ideally, ChatGPT could’ve recommended location-specific search terms since Perth and Australia are in the brief.

The below example provides a better response. I like how it recognised you need additional tools for in-depth data and mentioned niche-related keywords, however, this was only after I regenerated the response. 

Hot Tip: Google any keyword ideas you get from ChatGPT to see what content is ranking, identify gaps, and better understand the search intent. You should never rely on ChatGPT for your SEO strategy either.

3. Gather Helpful Information

People want helpful content that’s written by humans for humans. If your content doesn’t prove experience and meet the E-E-A-T standards, then it won’t be deemed helpful by your audience and Google. Consequently, it’ll be devalued and dropped in the search rankings. 

Creating helpful content starts with gathering essential information. While you shouldn’t use AI tools to write your web copy and blogs, ChatGPT can streamline how you collect data. This makes your day more productive and provides a platform for fleshing out content and adding copywriting expertise. 

For example: Recently I was writing an article for my local winery client. They wanted a piece on annual organic audits to show their customers why certified standards and inspections are important. 

I knew I needed more information from my client to begin. 

Usually I’d spend 15-20 minutes researching potential topics and angles and mapping points to include. Instead this time, I called on ChatGPT. 

I had an idea of the points to highlight and used this to prompt ChatGPT. This is what it said:

I wasn’t going to get AI tools to write the content – ChatGPT isn’t an article writer. But it enabled me to send the right questions to my client and uncover the information I needed for mapping and writing the piece. By doing so, I saved 20 minutes in research. 

The result was a unique blog tailored to their winery and vineyard, and why these audits matter to their products and customers. 

Expert Tips for Effective ChatGPT Content

Writing SEO content that provides value demands a certain level of skill, experience and creativity – something AI tools aren’t yet equipped with. Yet there are ways to embrace the tool. 

Make sure you:

• Add ‘experience’ elements – the first E in E-E-A-T – professional experience and human experience
• Master the art of writing good ChatGPT prompts
• Double-check suggested article titles and topics haven’t been used before
• Provide specific instructions and always refine
• Use words like ‘expand’ to delve deeper into a point or topic
• Fact-check information for accuracy and plagiarism 
• Review ChatGPT SEO articles for sensual experience – sights, touches, tastes and smells breathe more humanity into content
• Enhance the content ie: visuals, quotes, statistics and internal linking to related articles 
• Download the ChatGPT Chrome extension 
• Create content machines can’t replicate

The Takeaway

AI is already starting to fill the Internet with noise, ultimately making quality human-created content more valuable.  

Still, the question remains. Will AI tools like ChatGPT replace creative copywriters? 

It depends on your standards. 

Canva didn’t replace graphic designers and neither will AI for copywriters and SEO specialists. 

But there’s no use denying the technology – it’s already here. Rather than treating AI as a replacement for human expertise though, use it as a tool. Supplement your productivity and accelerate how you work. 

ChatGPT isn’t an SEO article writer. It’s an assistant – and a limited one at that. And it doesn’t excuse you from working on the real foundation of great content writing: listening, empathy and connection.

The post 3 Creative Ways to Use ChatGPT for Your SEO Articles appeared first on the little typewriter.

With AI tools like ChatGPT and Bard sweeping the globe, business owners are considering their options for writing more efficient content. Of course, it makes sense. Copywriting is hard work. It takes investment and creative energy, and planning content on a regular basis is time-consuming and costly.

That’s also fueling the frenzy around AI writing.  

Everyone wants more for less. But does that mean you should cut corners?

Definitely not. 

Shortcutting the process won’t achieve high-quality work. 

If you want content that connects and converts, you need the appropriate drivers behind it: human emotion, creativity and strategic thinking.

The technology of AI is spectacular and intelligent, but as with any digital tool, there are limitations. AI-generated content cannot replace SEO copy and the creative content it generates remains superficial and soulless. What’s more, AI tools cannot replace authentic human emotion (yet).

Before we dive deeper, let’s consider the Three Laws of Robotics.

These rules were developed in 1942 by sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov to protect humans from androids by restricting robot behaviour and keeping AI ethical. 

1. A robot may not injure a human or, through inaction, allow a human to come to harm
2. A robot must obey the orders given by humans except where such orders would conflict with the First Law
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws

Asimov envisioned the problem we face today, as sci-fi often does, and created a principle for safe, compliant and robust robots. 

More than 80 years later, the fundamentals have not changed, just evolved. Here’s how to stop bots from harming you or your business when considering AI tools.

Key Points:

• Users want helpful content that’s written by humans, for humans
• AI should be used as a foundation, not the final (or only) solution
• 100% AI-written content is ‘rubbish’ for SEO and will be flagged by Google
• AI maximises productivity and streamlines repetitive tasks, but AI content lacks the key drivers for creating emotional connections

Where Creative Copywriters Trump AI

You don’t need me to tell you that human emotions and connections are integral to content marketing. I know I bang on about the importance of creating connections, but you need them if you want your content to perform. 

So if you’re not getting the results you want from your web copy (or copywriter), you’ll look for alternatives. Cue robots and AI for business. 

Great SEO copy performs and actively engages an audience. It provides value and creates an emotional connection, one that’s often built through the power of stories.

While AI is a smart tool to aid the process, no matter how good it is at churning out copy, those words aren’t the best words for your audience. 

Why?

Users demand audience-specific content tailored to their needs, wants and search intent —content that’s written by humans, for humans. 

The best website copy is not superficial. You don’t simply choose keyphrases and write optimised copy around them either. Good SEO copywriting, like any form of marketing, sprouts from strategic thinking, originality and the ability to creatively connect dots in ways we haven’t seen from AI tools like ChatGPT. 

That doesn’t mean AI shouldn’t be a valuable part of your toolkit though. There are benefits, especially if you want to maximise productivity and streamline repetitive and mundane tasks. 

When used logically, AI tools can help create better content. But they should be used as an assistant, not an outsourcing solution. 

Is Your Content Experienced?

ChatGPT opposes everything Google asks for in user-friendly content; web copy that demonstrates Experience, Expertise, Authority and Trustworthiness. Without meeting these signals, you leave your audience unsatisfied and run the risk of Google devaluing your content. 

Since AI-written copy lacks E-E-A-T credentials, quality raters (and users) will struggle to trust content that doesn’t showcase the expertise of the writer and their years of experience. 

Imagine what that lack of trust and credibility could do to your brand.

Google’s Helpful Content algorithm is also something to factor in, which rewards content that gives readers a satisfying experience. The most recent update highlights that content must be written by people, for people to be deemed helpful. After all, it’s content from humans that provides a more cohesive and satisfying approach to creative copywriting and SEO. 

Without the experience or interpersonal understanding of your business, how can AI articulate why customers should choose you, or most importantly, why they should trust your brand? You need more than just a bot to handle your strategy.

Copywriters and business owners cannot rely solely on AI tools for web copy, doing so is irresponsible and detrimental to your brand. 

If you want to spice up your content and make your readers and Google hungry for more, focus on creating authentic human experiences. 

For websites, this demands three essentials.

1. Uniquely written, reliable and people-first content 
2. SEO elements according to best practices 
3. Functional and visually appealing web design

AI for SEO

Bots like ChatGPT can be incredibly useful for marketing materials such as emails, sales letters, social media and speeches. But 100% AI-written content is ‘rubbish’ for SEO. Your web copy might be new, but it won’t be original or have that competitive edge. Quality content with backlinks is what ranks. 

The SEO value of content depends on how informative, useful, credible and engaging it is. High-performing copy must also be optimised for your target keyphrases.

AI tools can find and categorise keyword opportunities and generate content that ranks – much quicker than any SEO specialist or copywriter could. But using AI to automate the process puts your content and SEO strategy at risk. 

Because anything less than reliable damages your brand and hurts your online presence.

A New Era of Search

We’re almost living in The Jetsons era. But instead of flying cars, we’re seeing robots make mind-blowing breakthroughs in medicine, healthcare and agriculture. 

The online world is no different, and there’s no denying web search is changing. 

Just recently, Microsoft and Google have jumped on board with AI-assisted search similar to the conversational bot ChatGPT. But Google is no stranger to AI search technology. Its machine-powered algorithms have been helping to process search results for years, for example, RankBrain and BERT among others. 

These algorithms use Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Natural Language Understanding (NLU) to scrape answers from websites, process search queries and determine what results appear and how.

SEO still remains relevant, no matter how sophisticated AI gets. AI search simply creates new opportunities the same way Google’s Knowledge Graph, Alexa and Siri did when they first came out. 

Penalties for AI-Generated User-Content

With AI, you have an indispensable tool for automating the time-consuming parts of copywriting like research, outline development and generating ideas. 

But everyone who uses AI tools such as ChatGPT and Jasper is using the same language model. This can generate similar content for related topics and causes copy to be flagged if it’s too similar to published materials. The secret behind this is advanced pattern recognition. 

When you use AI tools to generate content, it’s very similar to article spinner tools that shuffle words and use synonyms to spit out copy. This doesn’t provide value to your audience and steps wildly on plagiarism’s toes. 

Google says AI falls under auto-generated content which is against guidelines and can lead to a manual penalty, harming your website and business. On the other hand, the company also has a policy of rewarding high-quality content and will continue to prioritise people-first copy, whether humans or machines produce it. 

It would be unlikely for Google to completely ban the use of AI content anyway, when they use AI so heavily themselves. 

Robots or not, there’s no way to beat search algorithms outside of creating reliable, human-first content. And Google is smart at detecting (and penalising) AI-generated words. 

How to Avoid Ending up in Digital Landfill 

If you’re using 100% AI-generated copy for web pages, blog articles, product descriptions or any other form of digital content, it’ll be flagged as rubbish by Google. And your site will be dumped into the digital landfill – a place where profits crumble and customer engagement dissolves. 

The best way to avoid compromising your SEO and hurting your brand is to use AI as a foundation – not the final (or only) solution. 

There are three options to consider as a business owner who needs web copy:

1. Hire an experienced SEO copywriter who has the expertise to write for your business – whether we use our own unique creative brilliance or embrace AI transparently in one or more processes
2. Learn to work with AI automation but don’t use it to spin hundreds of articles or manipulate the algorithm – and make sure you’re upfront about where and why you’re using AI
3. Write all of the content yourself, which isn’t ideal for time-poor business owners or someone without SEO copywriting experience 

Tips to Maximise the Benefits of AI

I’ll let you in on a little secret. 

Digital marketing isn’t all conscious planning and creative brilliance. There are many tedious tasks we can speed up, automate and improve with AI if it’s used ethically and responsibly. AI tools might not be able to replace the skills and real-world experience of copywriters, but it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be used in digital marketing and the SEO industry. 

Here are a few processes that can be streamlined with AI:

Spark content ideas

While creativity can’t be forced, AI tools can be useful for stimulating ideas. It’s still important to work with a copywriter who can flesh them out with human skill and find a unique angle to further research into, plan and write. And you should never publish topics or ideas as they come. 

Research

Extensive research is an enormous part of marketing, especially SEO and copywriting. AI chatbots can help simplify the process, summarise PDFs and create content outlines, providing a solid starting point to dive deeper into.

From an SEO perspective, most conventional keyword research tools already use an AI input, helping to crawl and analyse large amounts of data in far less time. But it’s the experience of an SEO copywriter that solidifies the right information into creative web copy that converts.

Editing drafts

Every piece of content you publish must be grammatically checked. No one is perfect after all, and typos can fall through the cracks when double-checking information, even by the smartest of people. 

Grammar-checking programs such as Hemingway Editor and Grammarly are powered by AI-enabled algorithms. I’ve been using both to tweak and polish my copy for years. In this case, it could make sense to test an AI tool for streamlining the editing process. A skilled human proofreader will have to refine the final output. 

Automate helpful content

Not all use of automation and AI-generated content is spam. There are types of helpful content, such as transcripts and weather forecasts that many publishers automate with AI to save time. AI tools can also be useful for Google Ads and social media captions. Human editing and fact-checking are still required. 

With or without AI, you should never publish any content without asking yourself is it helpful or spam? Was it written with purpose or does it add to the noise?

More importantly, does it offer a solution to your audience’s problems? 

My Creative Copywriter Bias

There is a lot of concern surrounding AI technology stealing jobs. In many industries it already has, so it’s normal to have some anxieties around it. But I don’t believe robots for writing or online search is something to be anxious about. 

AI isn’t here to take over, it’s designed to help. And believing robots might replace copywriters is like thinking computers will replace writers. Can a tool replace the person who uses it? Maybe for menial tasks. But writing content that creates connections is far from menial.

As predicted, AI has evolved into imaginative and highly-intelligent machines. But that emotional human component is still integral for content marketing and those important parts of people’s searching and buying journeys only a human can relate to. 

Key Takeaway

While AI-generated content may seem efficient and affordable, it lacks these key drivers of creative thinking and personal perspective that are needed for creating content that converts. 

AI technology is always learning and will only get more sophisticated. Instead of trying to beat it, why not find ways to ethically embrace it? 

As an SEO copywriter, it’s my job to provide value through helpful content that creates connections. I’ve been doing that for many happy businesses for more than 10 years – and I’ll always strive to give more value than a bot can. 

Robots may not be able to harm you (yet), but don’t let them harm your words, your website or your brand either. 

Disclaimer: 

There are elements of AI I use in my work regularly:

• AI-powered online searches each time I perform research for articles, websites and client research
• Keyword research tools that use AI inputs, which help me find suitable keyphrases to target and content gaps to fill
• Hemingway Editor and Grammarly for minor edits that refine final blogs
• CoSchedule’s Headline Studio – a tool that uses AI to analyse headlines against key parameters and provide a headline and SEO score

The post Should You Use AI for Creating Brilliant, More Efficient Content? appeared first on the little typewriter.

Estimated reading time: 7.5 minutes

From the moment we’re born, we rely on communication to connect with people. Body language, facial expressions, hand signs, emotions, and words—whatever means you use—are all important for establishing connections and being understood. 

After years of living with severe kyphoscoliosis, a condition involving multiple curvatures of the spine, I’ve learnt the essence of communication and connections from a young age.

It’s one of the reasons why I became a writer – that love for linguistics and storytelling. 

But scoliosis comes with its own set of challenges. These challenges also propelled me to follow my dream of becoming a small business owner. 

Living with kyphoscoliosis has taught me lessons anyone can use. They are fundamental pieces of the puzzle to forge long-lasting connections. 

The Valuable Influence of Communication 

You can apply the value of communication to many different circumstances. 

Businesses rely on good communication to connect with their audiences. Creatives articulate through music and art, plants talk to each other using the Internet of fungi, and the human body has two types of communication systems essential to its function. 

It’s the glue that holds any relationship together; defining connections and our ability to relate. 

But what happens when there’s a disruption in the interchange of information?

Scoliosis is a prime example of a communication breakdown inside the human body.   

Often labelled the ‘invisible disability’ (that’s not so invisible for some), it is a miscommunication between the brain and the body’s muscles and organs. 

While I believe in educating about the condition all year round, June is Scoliosis Awareness Month. So what better time to raise awareness of scoliosis and the importance of communication and connections? 

Understanding Scoliosis 

For a long time scoliosis has been viewed as a curvature of the spine, but it’s much more extensive. 

The curvature is the most obvious and primary symptom, but it is not the whole condition. Scoliosis also includes nervous system abnormalities and abnormal bone and muscle growth that affect the brain and central nervous system. 

At the age 5, I was diagnosed with Severe Idiopathic Kyphoscoliosis, meaning the condition has no identifiable cause. Even after having spinal implants (Harrington rods), my three curves are over 45°.

While my life has been filled with countless orthopaedic and neurologist appointments, and major surgeries including brain surgery, a spinal fusion and learning how to walk again, there’s no cure for scoliosis. It’s a balance of managing, maintaining, understanding and adapting, as best as one can. 

Severe scoliosis impacts: 

• Lung and heart function
• Bone development
• Chronic pain
• Ability to absorb essential nutrients
• Neurological symptoms such as muscle weakness and nerve damage/impinged nerves
• Neurotransmitter deficiencies and imbalances
• Posture, balance and body alignment 
• The recirculation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to your brain
• Digestive, metabolism system and weight
• Hormones and the female reproductive system
• Mental health
• Sleep and sleep breathing
• Painful muscular imbalances
• Skeletal deformities

Here’s what you can learn about communication and connections from scoliosis.

1. It Takes Two to Tango 

Communication and connections are interconnected.

When there’s a functional alignment between the two, communication is strong. 

It’s much like the human body where the spinal cord works in tandem with the brain. Picture your spine as an old-school phone operator that facilitates communication with various parts of your body. The spine relays messages from your brain and connects with nerves, arranged like wires in a phone cable. 

The same way your body relies on these connections to communicate is how you depend on an Internet connection to send and receive messages. 

Sometimes there are faults. 

Comparable to the famous tango, two must be in sync to work efficiently. This alliance is essential. Like a dance involving two people, marriage, a business partnership or the Chinese philosophy of Yin and Yang. 

Believe it or not, spinal alignment isn’t voluntarily controlled. It’s an automatic neurological orientation to gravity we often take for granted. Behind the scenes, the brain is busy storing neurotransmitter patterns to develop this postural memory. 

Well, unless your brain is creating faulty variant patterns like mine.  

There’s a common misconception that scoliosis contributes to weak muscles. However, these muscles are far from fragile. They’re just not getting the right messages.

2. Connection Multiples Communication 

Once a connection is established, communication becomes almost effortless. 

People are bombarded by all kinds of communication. Every day, the average person consumes around 34 gigabytes of information, which is an incredible amount for the brain to process.

It’s no wonder it acts as a filter to tune out excess noise. Your brain is busy focusing on what matters – the information you connect with. 

Whatever message you or someone else is trying to relay can’t penetrate through without a viable connection. 

Remember, your heart doesn’t beat unless your brain tells it to. Through nerve connections in your spinal cord, neurons tell the rest of your body what to do. If the spine is significantly distorted, from scoliosis or a similar condition, it impairs the flow of information and disrupts the nervous system activity in problematic ways. 

When these connections aren’t aligned, communication fails. 

You can expect to face obstacles if you apply disconnection to the human body or everyday information and networks. Important messages are lost in translation. 

3. They Must be Nurtured to Keep the Spark 

Connections need to be nurtured to become and stay successful. 

Engaged nerve connections send the right messages to your body the same way engaged customers drive business. 

But without regular maintenance, connections can fall apart. 

The sooner you identify and fix communication breakdowns, the sooner you create sustainable connections with your audience and those around you. 

Scoliosis Awareness Month

Scoliosis Awareness Month educates about the importance of early detection. It’s designed to encourage people to learn the initial warning signs and check children as soon as possible.

Although scoliosis is an incurable and progressive disability, leaving it untreated only makes things worse. Treatment depends on the severity of the Cobb angle, physical maturity and many other factors. 

As difficult as my journey is with severe scoliosis (as well as the comorbidities that come with it), I wouldn’t change it for the world. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without the lessons, setbacks and silver linings. 

Living with any chronic illness or disability is always going to be painful and challenging. But thanks to a close support team, you realise just how valuable the right connections are to someone navigating a scoliosis diagnosis. 

Three things you can do this month to spread awareness of scoliosis:

1. Wear green, the colour for Scoliosis Awareness Month
2. Check children early and encourage family members to do the same 
3. Share this article with your networks and spread the word
4. Share your scoliosis story to raise awareness

Additional resources:

1. Follow my scoliosis awareness page
2. Educate yourself – Treating Scoliosis
3. Learn about Scoliosis diagnosis and treatment

Need help connecting with your audience?

The post 3 Important Things You Can Learn About Communication from Scoliosis appeared first on the little typewriter.

Why do people love stories about heroes?

Because they’re the protagonists who make a story relatable, relevant and real.

A good hero bridges the gap between the ‘story world’ to familiar territory. A commonplace that helps the reader (or watcher) gain greater and deeper insight. Somewhere they can be engaged, educated, encouraged and inspired. 

Hero content uses this same structure.

Content designed to reach a wider audience, like the heroes from your favourite book or movie. 

This type of content is the Peter Pan, Simba, Ariel and Aladdin of Walt Disney stories. It’s the Danny Torrance of Stephen King’s The Shining, the Losers Club from It or John Coffey from The Green Mile.

Hero content creates connections. 

Once perfected, you have pieces of bite-sized content, crafted from long-form content, to use across multiple platforms. Valuable hero content that puts your audience in your story, but shouts your brand to the world. 

This saves you time and effort, without needing to produce more content. 

How to Find Your Hero Content

Hero content fits into the H-H-H model; Hero-Hub-Hygiene (or helping) content, a framework created by Google in 2016. Although originally for video, it’s a useful blueprint every business owner should apply to their content today. 

Content types that can become your hero are:

• ‘How to’ guides
• Long-form blog articles
• Free downloadable e-books 
• FAQ articles 
• Industry resources
• Video content

For example; an 800+ word FAQ article turns into:  

• Detailed FAQ article itself
• A short snippet (1-2 Q+A) to feature as a Google My Business post, link to the full article to bring more organic traffic to your site (5+)
• Promotional post across all channels 
• Q+As to use as Instagram and Pinterest tiles (question first, swipe for answer)
• Social media posts focusing on one Q+A (10+ posts)
• One-liners from article to twitter (20+ tweets)
• A short video outlining 1-3 top FAQs (5+ posts)
• Downloadable checklist 

Here’s how to master the art of hero content. 

1. Place Your Audience at the Centre of the Story

The secret to successful storytelling is understanding your audience and making them the centre of your story. 

To write good content, you must create something that’ll attract, engage and solve their problem. You need to know what makes them tick if you want to capture the attention of your readers. 

For example, if you sell homes – think of the pet peeves your customers have when shopping for a new house. Then deliver content that educates them about their issue and how your services may help them.

“The customer is the hero of our story, not us. When we position our customer as the hero and ourselves as their guide, we will be recognised as a sought-after character to help them.”

“In other words, your audience is Luke Skywalker. You get to be Yoda,” – Donald Miller (Building a Brand Story).

Your hero content shouldn’t be about how great you are. This brings disconnections. It’s about what you can do to help your audience. Your product or service is only there to support them on their journey. 

2. Write the Right Language 

Hero content keeps your audience coming back to your site. 

But if you’re not speaking their language, your story (and message) get lost. Your audience tunes out and feels secluded, no one wins.  

How do you nail the right language and tone? By digging deep into who your audience is, their needs and personality. 

Follow these tips: 

• Know what they care about and what they want to read, use Google Analytics to help profile your ideal customer and Search Console to review search intent before you create any content 
• Swap industry jargon with consumer-friendly language 
• If you do use complex terms, define them simply 
• Use phrases and acronyms that make sense to them

3. Make a Clear Point

Tell your audience what your content is about straight away. 

Use stories to help clarify a point, write short and pointed copy and kill your darlings. Content without a purpose is useless. If there’s no structure or context, readers will lose interest. 

4. Don’t Forget the Cliffhanger

Everyone loves a good cliffhanger in a movie. 

Hero content is exactly the same. Except, the cliffhanger is your strategic call to action. 

A great CTA triggers a response and turns your readers into leads. It must direct them to the right move, but it’s no easy feat. 

CTAs are the tipping point between “bounces” and “conversions”. It’s the cliffhangers that evoke excitement and curiosity. They direct the audience to take action, like turning the page or watching the next episode. 

Hollywood does a good job of this. When they segment a movie into a series of films, you can’t help but watch the rest to find out how the story ends. 

Dr. Seuss says it best when describing the art of writing:

Memorable brands like Disney, Coca-Cola and Apple have long realised the power of brand stories to build a connection with their audience.   

Hero content is rooted in storytelling and human experience. If you want to engage your audience and attract more people to your site, make sure you invest time to make a hero out of your content.

Like what you read? Subscribe for tips straight to your inbox, and become a better writer and business owner.

The post 4 Effective Techniques to Master Hero Content appeared first on the little typewriter.

There’s a fine art to writing web copy. 

A website’s content is key to increasing your organic traffic and converting the average reader into a great client. Yet if it’s dull, confusing and doesn’t solve your audience’s problem, what’s the point?

The same way your brain switches off listening to a monotone voice, your audience needs to be kept engaged when they read. Otherwise, their brains won’t process or remember anything. 

Avoid losing them to mundane copy by adding layers to your text to create interest and stimulate the somatosensory cortex – the part of your brain responsible for processing information and sensing visual and auditory stimuli. 

Textures in art spark visual curiosity. Likewise, adding layers of texture when writing web copy energises the human brain.

If you want to tackle the pages of your website, hire a copywriter or use these expert tips to write creative copy that engages and informs readers. 

This article covers 10 ways to add texture to your content:

1.Vary Sentence Lengths

Embrace short sentences. 

By varying sentence lengths, you add diversity to the content’s structure which charges the reader’s attention span and makes your copy more interesting to read. 

Shorter sentences are powerful suckers. Ernest Hemingway was a master of minimalism when it came to writing. So is Judy Blume. In fact, Blume broke the rules to write children’s books with realistic dialogue and relatable stories.

When writing web copy, make sure you:

• Break up long sentences, particularly complex ones
• Pay attention to sentence structure when you write and edit
• Follow complex, compound sentences with simple sentences

2. Reorder Paragraphs for a Smoother Flow

Logical paragraph flow is essential for reader engagement.

If you’re not careful, paragraphs will end up as cluttered content. Rearrange by connecting ideas and varying first words. Keep a list of these words you frequently write to catch them in edits and alter as you need. Have a second set of eyes read over web content to gauge its flow before you publish too. 

Need a professional edit? Read about my copy editing services. 

3. Use Active Voice

Where possible, write with an active voice.  This creates a clear and direct line of communication with your audience. 

Active sentences use the SVO sentence structure: Subject, Verb, Object. For example:

• Passive sentences bore people 
• The copywriter writes the client’s web copy

If you write them in the passive voice, they’d follow the OVS sentence structure: Object, Verb, Subject. 

• People are bored by passive sentences
• The client’s web copy was written by the copywriter 

Remember these rules:

1. Always put the subject first
2. Avoid the passive verb to be (words like am, is, are, was, were, be, been)
3. Minimise adverbs 

Yoast and Hemingway app help cut out passive voice and improve readability. 

4. Include Transition Words

Transition words show your reader the connection between ideas, phrases and sentences. For instance, because, and, but, another, also, likewise, despite, instead, yet, still, otherwise. 

These words help thread your writing together and better engage audiences. Add them to link paragraphs or end paragraphs with an emotional punch. 

5. Use Visuals to Add Authenticity to Your Copy

Brains process images much faster than text. 

In fact, human attention spans are shorter than a goldfish. Research shows technology changes our brains to deteriorating memories and shorter attention spans. Your content needs to reach a digitalised, fast-paced lifestyle. It must cut through the noise.

Information overload has turned copywriters into the speed daters of storytelling. 

Pictures, photography and infographics break up text for readability and draw visual interest. Images will:

• Add authenticity to your copy
• Improve your SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) with alt tags and description text 
• Encourage social shares and engagement 
• Achieve an emotional connection with readers
• Explain your main point (for example; screenshots or graphs)

6. Apply the F-Pattern

Readers often read left to right, skimming the first few lines of text before jumping down the page to the next subheading. This style of reading is referred to as the F-pattern. 

To write this way:

• Use simple and concise subheadings
• Add bulleted lists
• Make the first two words of paragraphs count

7. Structure Copy to Keep Scanners in Mind

People rarely read every word on a web page. They scan and pick out words and sentences. 

For readable copy, format content to help readers digest the important information first. Use blocks and micro-content. Incorporate whitespace to give readers room to breathe. 

8 Write Comforting Words

Avoid boring or confusing readers with difficult language and jargon. Redundant adverbs, complex nouns and excessive words switch off brains. 

Instead, use comforting words to create connections. Keep your copy clear and concise. 

For example:

1. ‘help’ over ‘facilitate’ 
2. ‘show’ over ‘demonstrate 
3. ‘change’ over ‘amendment’ 

9. Appeal to all Sensors

Effective writing balances simplicity with description.

Sensory writing, in moderation, sparks the reader’s five senses. Good description draws them in and transports them to another time, context and place. But if you overdo it, it’ll clutter and kill your message or story. 

Stephen King has a great tip for finding a balance. Show, don’t tell. 

“Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.”

Stephen King: On Writing

King recommends:

• Using a few well-chosen details, not bombarding them with too much background information
• Describing things in a way that causes your reader to prickle with recognition 
• Writing in simple English – the key to a good description is clarity 

10. Build Consistent Sections

Create patterns in your content to make reading easy. 

Consistent structures encourage flow and cover three main points. 

1. Problem
2. Solution
3. Tips

Again, it’s about balance. You want to create consistency, without losing the content’s natural rhythm. Neil Patel warns if all sentences and paragraphs read the same, it’ll lack rhythm; the punctuation and stress patterns of words in a sentence.

Writing good web copy is more than strategically placed words on a page. It’s about delivering knowledge, telling stories, and conveying information. 

It’s communication. 

How well are you communicating to your audience? 

The post 10 Expert Tips for Writing Creative Web Copy appeared first on the little typewriter.

The Coronavirus has pushed the world into a new digital era. The number of remote workers has exploded, and more time is being spent online by consumers and business owners. It makes sense many businesses are now transitioning digitally and adapting their products and services to stay afloat. 

While everyone still remains in the grip of COVID-19, there are options to ensure your business stays workable today and on the other side of the crisis. 

One of the best ways to drive online success is through a small business blog. Regular content on your website brings more readers and potential customers to you. But not just any blog will do. To encourage people to find your content, you must create SEO-friendly articles. After all, if it can’t be found, what’s the point in writing it? 

If you want to hit the ‘publish’ button on the next stage of your business, it’s important to keep a regular blog. Businesses with active blogs produce 67% more leads and get 55% more website visitors than those without.

Learn how to get the most from your blog with these tips and grab your free checklist below.

This article will cover:

1. Strategy and Keyword Research

Before you create, you need to plan. 

Part of a successful content strategy is keyword research, which is the process of finding what keyword phrases your audience is searching for, so Google can measure relevance for each search query and you can target content to what readers want. 

Before writing any website content, invest time into SEO keyword research and topic research. 

Your chosen keyword phrases should consider:

1. Relevancy (how relevant the keyword phrases are to your products or services)
2. Frequency (number of searches)
3. Competition (how many websites are trying to rank for them, the higher the competition, the more time and effort you’ll need to put in)
4. Search intent (what web content people expect to see, for example; if someone searches ‘Thai food’ they may want anything to do with Thai food, but, if they search ‘takeaway Thai food near me’ or ‘Thai food recipes’ it’s very clear what they’re after

Keyword phrases are crucial indicators of how people search. Once chosen, they should be strategically placed (not stuffed) in your article title, content body, Meta descriptions and image ALT text. 

For a small business blog to bring results, there also needs to be a consistent flow of articles. Plan content in advance with a schedule you can stick to. A three-month plan is a good starting point and allows for seasonal blog content, industry news and articles around the search terms your audience are using. 

2. SEO-Friendly Formatting 

A coherent blog structure is an integral part of SEO to improve readability and climb organic rankings. 

Without a set text structure, your content will appear disorganised and unreadable. This puts readers and Google off, as Google prioritises user-friendly web content. 

To create an SEO-friendly blog format include these key elements:

• Use correct headings and subheadings (h1 for your main title followed by h2, h3 or h4)
• Make your content skimmable with small blocks of text, bullet points and whitespace
• Break text up with images and blockquotes
• Use transition words and clear paragraphs 
• Include an introduction, content body and conclusion 
• Have a distinct focus (1 niche or topic per blog post)

Format your content using the readability analysis in the Yoast SEO WordPress plugin. Both the free and paid versions offer insights into how user-friendly your blog post is. Don’t forget to check how your article looks on desktop, tablet and mobile before publishing. 

Bonus Tip: Run your title heading (h1) through CoSchedule, a free tool that teaches you to write better headlines by balancing the essential factors needed for an attention-grabbing title. The Hemmingway app will also help refine your text and give a readability score. I like to keep mine above 70.

3. Data and Detail

Readers love data. Use facts and statistics from trustworthy sources to build trust with your audience and back up what you’re saying. 

Quality content also has enough detail to satisfy readers and is optimised for an appropriate blog length. Web content should be at least 400 words to perform. Generally, longer blog posts rank better. But not if it’s full of fluff. The aim is to meet the searcher’s needs with comprehensive content that offers value. A mix of short and long-form content will help your business blog perform. 

4. Internal and External Links

Relevant internal and external links within your blog content are good for SEO. 

Why?

1. They establish hierarchy, giving the most important articles or pages more link value than others
2. Encourages good linking structure on your site
3. Creates relationships between content, which helps users and Google follow links and find other pages/posts that cover similar subject matter
4. Points your readers to other relevant content where they can find more information 
5. Spreads your ‘link juice’
6. Increases time spent on your website and pages per visit 

Use internal links to connect posts or pages on your own website and external links to connect your content to other websites. The Yoast SEO plugin will recommend popular or relevant posts and pages you could link to in the right-hand sidebar in WordPress too.

Bonus tip: Make sure external links open in a new window and internal links open in the same window. 

5. Proofreading

Avoid badly written content by proofreading posts before you publish. 

Even the best writers need to edit. After I write a blog article, I find it better to let it breathe for a few hours before editing. Then I sleep on it. Writing is more concise when it’s left to simmer. The fresh perspective of moving away and coming back allows you to see your content differently and find things you would otherwise miss. Edit multiple times and read it aloud. Better yet – have another set of eyes look over it for you. 

6. Metadata  

The snippets of text that show up in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) tell people what your content is about. In particular, Google looks at the title tags to determine where to show your site in the results. 

How to optimise Meta titles

• Accurately reflect what your post is about in 50-60 characters 
• Include the keyword phrase you’re trying to rank for (preferably at the beginning) 
• Add your business name at the end

How to optimise Meta descriptions 

Meta descriptions are keyword searchable. While they aren’t a ranking factor, they do entice readers to click through and visit your site. Be creative and transparent. 

• Accurately reflect the content on the page in 50-160 characters 
• Include the target keyword phrase
• Add a unique call to action
• Use an actionable, active voice

Bonus Tip: Write unique Metadata for every web page and post. I use SEOMofo which previews how the title, description and URL will look.

7. Image ALT Text

Use at least two images in your blog article to break up text, illustrate points and ensure your content is visually appealing. Ideally, your copy, graphics and branding colours will work together to encourage your audience to stick around. Eye-catching images also help when promoting the post. See point 9. 

Adding ALT text to images allows the visually impaired to understand your graphics using a screen reader. They’re also necessary for Google to crawl and display them under Google’s image search.  

Make sure you:

• Use the ALT text to clearly describe what each image is about (under 125 characters + separated with hyphens)
• Add ALT text to every image
• Include your targeted keyword phrase in at least one relevant image
• Name the image file before uploading 
• Aim for small file sizes, without losing image quality (under 100KB is ideal)

Bonus Tip: Optimise images to avoid slowing down your website. Free tools like Optimizilla and Website Planet will help.

8. Clear Call to Action

A powerful call to action tells your readers what you’d like them to do after they finish reading. 

It’s not used to sell – the purpose of a small business blog is to direct readers to valuable information and connect further with your brand, not bombard them with sales talk. Instead, use your call to action to tempt people to read more of your blog articles or see how your services may help them. You could also ask for their email address in exchange for exclusive content or a free downloadable document. 

Bonus Tip: Stick to one call to action as multiple choices confuse and lose readers. 

9. Promotion Plan

After you hit the publish button, tell your audience you have new content with a promotion strategy. To help blog articles rank higher, Google wants to be sure readers will love it – and this requires traffic and clicks. 

• Share on social media
• Add the new article to your email signature
• Include social sharing buttons (I use Social Warfare)
• Create Pinterest-worthy images 
• Add to your newsletter
• Encourage other websites to link to your content by reaching out to anyone you think may be interested – the more relevant links back to your article, the more popular it is in Google’s eyes 

10. Ongoing Optimisation 

Now your article is live and shared, it doesn’t mean the work stops there. SEO is an ongoing task to monitor and improve your content for the best results. Use tools such as Google Analytics and Google Search Console to analyse, optimise and tweak blog content monthly. 

Business blogs are an effective tool to attract a wider audience, establish trust, gain credibility and increase engagement.

If you want to tap into the daily 3.5 billion Google searches, a well-written article isn’t enough – you need to optimise it for user search and publish consistently. 

Need help managing your business blog? I’m a Perth copywriter and creative storyteller who specialises in digital content. Contact me today to find out how my experience supports you.

Grab your free copy of my SEO-friendly checklist.

The post How to Get the Most From Your Business’s Blog appeared first on the little typewriter.

A good copywriter’s job is to create connections through the careful disposition of words. It’s a skill that requires good writing, storytelling and understanding of human behaviour. 

Many business and website owners don’t know they need these traits of a copywriter. But the production of great content needs good writing – and good writing isn’t easy or a quick fix solution.  

To help get your brand’s message across, there’s value in finding the right copywriter to be part of your creative team. 

Unsure if you need a copywriter for a one-off or long-term project? Here are 8 reasons why you might need a professional copywriter’s expertise. 

1. You’re Short on Time

One of the main reasons business owners hire a copywriter is a time shortage. 

There’s a lot involved in writing content that engages the masses. Research. Creative juices. Brainpower. Optimising for your audience and Google. Editing. When you engage with a copywriter, you’ll have more time to focus on running a business.

2. You Have a Website or Need Blog Management 

A website without scroll-worthy content is like designing a house without a blueprint. 

In today’s fast-paced, digitally focused world, successful businesses need a website with killer content to get noticed. People don’t visit a site for design. Aesthetics matter. But audiences are hungry for web copy that solves their problems.

Writing good content is one thing. Finding the time to consistently publish web copy is another. Fortunately, blog management is a long-term resource to keep your audience coming back and hook new readers in. 

Websites benefit from regular content (1-2 articles per month) and a plan in place. A content strategy outlining keyword phrases (so your content is found), search intent (to check you know how and what your audience are searching for) and article topics (with headings run through CoSchedule for maximum impact). 

3. You’re Hiring 

Nothing is worse for your brand’s first online impression than an incomprehensible job post. 

Effective writing enhances your business’s image. It shouts quality because anything less is a waste of time. A professional copywriter will have work completed promptly and make sure the copy is free from common mistakes missed by the untrained eye. 

4. Being a Good Writer isn’t the Same as Being a Good Copywriter  

We can all write, right?

Many people consider themselves as articulate, coherent communicators who have built a business through skill, knowledge and the ability to string a sentence or two together.  

You’re a business owner highly experienced in what you do. 

But if you’re not a professional copywriter, then it’s time to find the right freelance copywriter in Perth for your content needs. 

Contact me to see if we’re a good fit. 

5. To Deliver on a Claim

Copywriters write everything from web copy and articles to ad copy, social media posts and e-newsletters. 

If you promise your customers exclusive tips and updates via your e-news – you must deliver. A copywriter can help you produce on such claims, so your readers have access to relevant and educational copy-bites. 

6. There’s a Logo, but no Conversation

A brand is more than a well-designed logo. It’s a conversation, a story with real-life characters and personality. To thrive, it needs authentic words drenched in your brand’s style and character. 

Brand language is most powerful when there’s consistency. This is what develops trust, loyalty and a sense of familiarity with your customers. By working with a professional copywriter, you keep the voice of your business integrated, tenacious and fresh. Read Neil Patel’s tips on how to use SEO to build your brand.

7. You Only Promote Your Business Rather Than Your Solutions

People who search on the net are seeking information. 

Your content must speak to the reader’s needs and answer their questions. To reach them, promote what problems your business solves before how good your business is.

Value, solutions and benefits sell. 

It’s a balance beam of storytelling and linguistics, and copywriters are the Olympic pros when it comes to the perfect landing page. 

8. You Have Competitors 

A little competition is healthy and every business has competitors in their field. A good copywriter won’t make them disappear. What we will do is, make your business more appealing with web copy that highlights your distinctive qualities.  

Need a copywriter? Professional copywriters will ask a lot of (and somewhat annoying) questions, but they’ll listen to your business vision, goals and unique angles to capture the essence of your story. These words are researched and crafted for web copy, blog management and outreach articles to access a wider audience, build your website’s organic traffic and position your business as a thought-leader in the industry. 

View my portfolio or learn more about Jayde Walker – the Perth-based Copywriter behind the little typewriter.

The post How to Tell if You Need a Copywriter – 8 Signs appeared first on the little typewriter.

To keep busy business owners on track in the festive craziness, here are a few tips to balance festivity with focus as you bring in the New Year. 

1. Unplug from Technology 

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is to stop and take a break. Find time to unplug from technology, relax and be present with your humans. 

If you suffer from workaholic withdrawal turn off notifications and email settings. Pause apps that send you push notifications about work tasks, such as organisational tools, calendar and social media to avoid being tempted. Whether it’s for a few hours, a day or a week it’ll make a difference to your time off and productivity when you’re back at work. Authentic and unfiltered conversations are missed when you’re too busy staring down at your screen. 

A wise man once said that elite performance without deep recovery leads to depletion. Robin Sharma’s words remind us that people with drained batteries are highly unproductive. Blocking time out to regenerate isn’t a luxury – it’s a necessity. 

If you’re committed to usefulness and creativity then you must rest. And what better time to do so than at the end of the year to start 2020 with a bang, feeling refreshed. 

2. Create Lasting Memories

Whether you have cultural norms at this time of year or not, creating lasting memories is important. 

I’m talking on a personal and professional level – with your favourite humans, family, friends and with your business. 

Have tiny humans? Good times, laughing and loving experiences are more memorable than toys. 

From a business perspective, focus on creating lasting (positive) memories with clients. Powerful experiences are the best way to forge memorable bonds. So, adopt storytelling methods to capture your audience’s attention and make your clients the hero of your story. 

Human brains are hardwired to be pulled into stories. In fact, digestible narratives light up your brain by increasing the neural activity. When you hear or read a story, empathy is created at a chemical level which strengthens the relationship with your audience and helps to build on those lasting memories. Good stories also bring people together and isn’t that what Christmas is about? 

Read my story here. 

3. Update Your Hours

Have a Google My Business listing? 

If you haven’t already, update your holiday hours to reflect changes over the Christmas season. Include seasonal times on your website, post them on your social media channels and send out an email blast to clients and suppliers to notify them. 

Tip: You can also use your GMB listing to let your audience know about holiday promotions or to show off seasonal decor and Christmas-related products with photos and videos. 

4. Embrace Conscious Shopping

One of my favourite words is substantive. It means one of two things:

1. Having substance involving matters of major or practical importance to all concerned. 
2. Belong to the substance of a thing; essential. 

Why do I love this word?

Because it acts as an important reminder in a world of materialistic things to be someone with substance. 

Similar to the concept of Mark Manson’s book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, which has a tonne of substance, it reminds us to focus on only what is true, immediate and important. Things of substance over superficial satisfaction. 

If you apply the word to the way you shop this Christmas it allows you to embrace conscious gift ideas. It doesn’t mean you can’t give your kids toys or buy something for friends and family. It simply means to shop differently. Instead of breaking the bank with lavish presents, buy a small but meaningful gift for the special humans in your life. Or buy a gift that keeps giving, like the adopt a koala idea in the midst of Australia’s devastating bushfires.

5. Show off Your Holiday Spirit 

Whether you’re a service-based business who closes down over the holidays or an eCommerce business who booms, find a way to show off your holiday spirit. 

Seize the festivity with Christmas or New Years-related posts, share season-only offers and start holiday-related conversations with your audience. Make your posts fun and festive whilst staying aligned with your business brand.

Have any tips you’d like to share? Feel free to add them into the comments below. 

The post 5 Tips to be Festive and Focused this Christmas appeared first on the little typewriter.

When people ask what I do, I almost see their thought bubble; Google Docs on-screen and frantically punching the keyboard, lurking in shadows of computers and books. Well, there’s an element of truth there. 

Then they’ll ask “what does a copywriter do?”

The short answer?

That person who writes everything:

• SEO copywriting
• Web copy
• Regular blog content
• Enticing headlines
• Product/service descriptions 
• Ad copy
• Case studies
• Client and customer stories 
• Newsletters
• White papers
• Brochures
• Award submissions 
• Press releases 
• Bios 
• Social media posts

But the job of a creative content writer in Perth is much more than crafting clever sentences for digital or print mediums. 

Skip ahead to the contents below or keep reading for some background on why I’m qualified to answer your question.

As I write this, I’m in my tenth year as a professional copywriter in Perth. Add 17 years of music journalism to the mix, putting pen to paper has been engraved in my soul for a long time. View my portfolio. 

After I resigned from my office job as the Senior Content Writer for a digital marketing agency, that dreaded 4:00 am alarm no longer exists. Creativity, for me, strikes later. I’m mostly a night owl. And one of the best parts about starting the little typewriter is dictating flexible hours to suit what works.

Although many will disagree (productivity tends to be a ‘morning thing’), I prefer to start my day later as this is where I achieve more for my clients. 9-5, or my old 5:00 am – 2:30 pm, isn’t a schedule that’s sustainable long-term for many creative minds. 

Now, my day starts with a bearable wake-up alarm, a smoothie or caffeine fix and whatever is on the menu for breakfast before I drop my husband to work.  

What Does a Copywriter in Perth Do?

Contrary to what people often assume copywriters don’t write physical content all day.  

In short, skilled copywriters are creatives who motivate readers to take action by writing copy and content for audience (customer) engagement. The Internet is heavily content-based. Copywriters are the superheroes who keep the net’s engine running.  

While content writing days are always varied, here’s a snapshot of the tasks I perform on a regular basis as a creative copywriter in Perth. 

1. To-Do Lists

Most copywriters start the day with general admin tasks. Content plans, proposals, calculating quotes, scheduling social media posts, recording expenses etc. 

If I haven’t done so the night before, I write my to-do lists I’ll check content schedules for upcoming deadlines to ensure client projects are on track. Mentally, I’m preparing for my day.

Copywriting involves juggling many tasks, managing time efficiently and meeting deadlines. Without to-do lists and content schedules, it’s impossible to prioritise and stay afloat.

I like to start the day with quick, easier tasks and work my way up to more pressing jobs. The writing part of the job may not start until after 12:00 pm and when I’m in the flow, emails or messages are on hold until the next “break”. 

2. Client Communication 

Responding to emails can take up a huge chunk of the day. Email etiquette and timely responses are important, so I dedicate time to this first. 

I keep my clients up-to-date with their content projects as good communication is key to all relationships. For any regular blogs I’m managing, I’ll use this time to check Google Analytics for top-performing content and the backend of the CMS (Content Management Systems) and notify you of any immediate changes that need attention.

Part of this step includes responding to messages or job opportunities on professional platforms such as LinkedIn and drawing up proposals.

3. Edit and Finish Content Jobs 

Where possible, I prefer to leave copy editing until the next day. Although I’ll always edit after I finish the piece, final edits and completing jobs are best left for after time to disconnect. I check grammatical errors, writing flow and tone of voice to ensure it’s on-brand.

Web copy must be written for humans and optimised for Google. I’ll tick off all the essentials before a second editor reads them over ready to send to the client. 

4. Plan and Strategise

Before I start the next content project, I plan, strategise and outline. The client creative brief is essential here. It helps me unearth hidden gems in your brand and digs deeper into your project and content goals, target audience and the nitty-gritty of who you are and what you do.

You should never write a piece of content without keyword research and a strategy in place.

A big part of being an SEO copywriter involves understanding how people search online, what keyword phrases they’re using and whether certain topics are trending up or down. There are multiple tools to find data needed to create the right blog articles for your audience, but it requires the expertise of an SEO copywriter or specialist to find and map the right ones for you.

• Keyword Planner (free)
• Keywords Everywhere (free plugin)
• Moz Keyword Explorer (registration needed)
• SEMRush Keyword Magic Tool (registration needed)
• Ubersuggest by Neil Patel (free)
• Google Trends (free)
• Google Analytics (free)

Brainstorming new blog topics for either a client’s website or my own is one of my favourite tasks because of the creativity involved. But copywriters are full-brained individuals – we also use the analytical side of our brains to execute content deliverables. 

5. Research, Research, Research 

This brings us to research. A lot of research. 

Strategic, data-driven research is the blueprint for successful content. I allocate an hour or two for research. Technical topics may need more.

No matter the type of content, research is priority. Some clients will provide a lot of information as a starting point but independent research is still essential to understand subject material, client and their industry, products/services. 

Part of the research stages includes headlines. Writing multiple iterations of the same headline is important for creative processes and to grab the reader’s attention. I then run it through CoSchedule to review its emotional impact, power and overall score. 

6. Content Creation 

The part where I crack my knuckles, fuel up and dive into what I do best – writing. 

The average blog post takes 3 hours and 57 minutes to write, up a whopping 65% since 2014. For an onsite article I’ll allow 5 hours; 1 hour of research, 3 – 3.5 hours of writing and 30 minutes to an hour of editing. An offsite (outreach) article needs more. See point 7.

Quality content, onsite and offsite, are crucial parts of a good SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) strategy. The process involves more than writing an article or web page. Metadata needs to be written (the snippet of text that appears in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages), images optimised with alt tags and content plans developed. 

Content plans are locked in on a 3, 6 or 12-month basis. All content is optimised for readers first, Google second and is either placed onsite or outreached to an external online publication.  

7. Outreach and Link Building

Web copywriting is only part of the content marketing puzzle. Placing content and building relationships with relevant local publishers is key to building a healthy backlink profile. 

Content outreach is time-consuming but necessary. It’s about building real relationships with real people. Copywriters use a pyramid of skills to gain exposure for each piece of content. Think of it as online Public Relations. 

7 hours are reserved to write and place outreach (offsite) articles. However, there are no guarantees for how long the process can take or when your article goes live. It can be a round-the-clock job and there’s a specific art to reaching out to the right platforms. 

8. Onsite Optimisation 

Once an article or web page is live the work doesn’t stop there. 

Onsite optimisation is a constant work in progress to tweak, test and implement. It’s a job that evolves as your website grows. Small changes can create a big impact on rankings. It may be something as simple as updating metadata, URL and images, or optimising and updating existing copy to make it more relevant for your audience. 

I don’t provide technical SEO as an individual service. But because content and SEO go hand-in-hand, all web copy needs to be crawled, indexed and understood by Google for it to perform. I make sure to tick those boxes and readers can use and find the content they’re looking for. View my copywriting services.

9. Tracking and Reporting 

There’s a minefield of data to interpret to understand how a website and its content are performing. I use a mix of free and paid tools to track traffic and conversion rates. 

To make the right content decisions for my client’s website, this data needs to be read and analysed. For some clients, they’ll track the content I write for them themselves. However, regular blog management is tracked and reported month-by-month. 

10. Google and Copywriting Updates

To stay up-to-date with copywriting and Google’s SEO best practices, you can’t afford to miss a beat. The search algorithms are constantly changing and I keep my finger on the pulse with all of them to serve up content that satisfies and solves your audience’s needs.

Ready to Hire a Copywriter in Perth?

Web copy is the bones of a good website. But it’s a different ball game writing for web. Great writers aren’t necessarily great SEO copywriters. Thankfully I’ve written for both digital and print mediums over the years. 

My core industry is digital (despite starting off in music journalism), although I’ll always have a soft spot for print media. Read my article on why print still matters and how business owners can benefit from both platforms. 

Web copywriting helps you to target your customers and solve their specific problems with well-crafted content. Need a creative content writer in Perth to scribe the right message for your brand? Let’s talk.

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