A recent survey of British pensioners found that surfing the web is now their favourite pastime, ahead of gardening and DIY. Popular uses included email, banking, reading the news and searching for information. This is indicative of the general population as a whole. The internet is becoming a dominant platform for entertainment, organising your lifestyle and buying goods and services. As a result, more and more businesses are starting to realise that static brochure style websites are inadequate for capturing the attention of info hungry surfers.
Blogs have been heralded as excellent marketing tools: enabling your website to be able to develop trust and confidence through the provision of information of value. Blogs can help push people further down the sales funnel, position your business as a knowledge leader and organically optimise your website for search, from where 80% of your traffic is expected to come from. Now web savvy freelance copywriters are harnessing the ethos of blogging in preparation for the growing market for online writers.
Usage of the internet for searching for product and service information is booming; creating the demand for relevant,original and useful content. This means plenty of work for online copywriters to provide fresh articles that sell through education.
Businesses could opt for republishing free content, or regurgitated $10 copy, as a cheap solution but this isn’t going to impress consumers looking for a knowledge leader, or promote the unique values of your enterprise.
If you search Google news for the term ‘copywriting’ you will find a number of press releases from freelance copywriters, myself included, advertising their new ongoing, content package for news and articles. Gone are the days when copywriters were only need for writing the home, services and about pages. Websites are now organic portals for news and information. They need to be continually evolved to encourage return visitors, and develop the sales process.
It seemed inevitable that the proven, positive aspects of blogging would start to influence how websites evolve, and increase the demand for online writers. So if you are a freelance copywriter, and want to take advantage of your increasing value to businesses, put a press release together and notify all your clients of the need to turn their websites into portals of news and information.
Just make sure that for all your articles they switch comments on, although this might still be a bridge too far for many.
A relative latecomer to the game, I want to tell you how much I appreciate your insights as I further my studies in this brave new world of internet marketing and publishing.
The most delightful revelation for me is I can write words – to sell stuff – and not feel any shame!
And in the course of reaching out to others from time-to-time I have learned the capitalist world is not so tawdry a place after all.
As a matter of fact, surfing the blogosphere is rapidly becoming just as estimable an activity as feeding myself organic food – when I’m able to break free from some of my nastier habits, that is!
Thanks for allowing me to introduce myself, Matt.
Do keep up the good work!
Hi Lark,
I’m glad you find the Crucible of interest and thanks for introducing yourself and leaving a comment. Reader input is always welcome around here.
Matt.