Services
Making words work
There are so many opportunities to communicate nowadays. Websites, newsletters and blogs all offer easy ways to reach customers and staff, memberships of societies, students and parents. But it’s essential to choose the right words to get your message across.
I specialise in making words work for the medium that the client chooses, whether it's a marketing email, a website, a magazine article or a brochure. The copy will be tailored for your sector and audience and written to a professional standard.
Words on the Web
Words have to work harder on the web as attention span is shorter online and people often come to the Internet with a question they want answered. As well as writing succinct and snappy prose, I optimise copy for search engines. That means I write in a way that is friendly to search engines as well as people and this ensures that the information is found on the web.
Words in print
As well as providing professional, polished words that are appropriate for your audience, I can provide design advice.
Word partners
I work alongside PR agents and web designers to provide copywriting for their clients and products.
My rates
I charge in line with the NUJ recommended daily rates for commercial copywriting. Please call or email for a quote and to discuss your particular needs.
More detailed information about my services...
search engine optimisation (SEO)
Search engines rate and ‘find’ material on the web according to how well it matches popular search criteria. So a website with relevant content, featuring words and phrases that are commonly sought by people, will score highly and more likely be served up by Google. Copywriting for the web is bit of a black art and the knack is getting the balance right between people and search engines. Good web copy satisfies the search ‘spiders’ that crawl the Internet and is easy for the human reader to scan and digest, too.
web copy
Usability research shows that people do not read a web page as they would read a magazine or book. Online readers move quickly between pages - and sites - and prefer to scan pages, picking out key words in titles, sub heads and blocks of text. Research even documents that attention is prone to drop off halfway along a sentence making words on the left hand side more important than the right! A professional copywriter keeps abreast of usability trends and will craft the best copy for your website.
e-newsletters
Email newsletters are a fantastic way to keep your customers up-to-date with your news and products. With today’s templates and monitoring tools, they’re a deft way of staying in contact and doing deeper, survey-based research or market testing. If you don't want to miss out on such a precious opportunity to interact, get a professional copywriter on board.
blogs
Blogs are great promotional material but they have to be produced regularly and consistently in order to be effective. That calls for a big commitment and a chunk of writing time every week. It may make sense to outsource your business or industry blog to a professional copywriter who can produce the right words quickly and effectively.
digital ads
Rectangular ads, positioned across the top of a webpage, are called banner ads and their tall cousins, ranged vertically against a webpage, are skyscrapers. Every word needs to pack a punch, whatever the shape of ad, and work with the design and images. A digital copywriter will work on the concept and words to ensure that an ad has maximum impact and overcomes any ‘banner blindness’ in the online visitor.
advertorials
These are articles that are written by a supplier and placed in a relevant B2B magazine or national newspaper. Although supplier-sponsored, this kind of article appears as editorial and therefore must offer value to the reader and not blatantly promote the supplier interest. Such articles are often disguised as general industry pieces and any message-building has to be done subtly. Best left to the professional journalist or copywriter.
articles
There are a host of articles relevant to your sector or business, just begging to be written. Whether these go into your own customer magazine or are offered to a relevant business-to-business publication is your choice. So is the style of the article: order it with panache, rectitude - and a side of humour if you like - according to your taste and marketing need.
ghosted article
If you’re a senior executive who likes to be out and about in the media but doesn’t have the time to for writing, a ‘ghosted’ article is the answer. A professional writer can conduct a short phone interview and then produce an article along a theme of your choice and in keeping with your style and personality. It’s as if you’ve written it yourself – only better!
brochures
Do you need some clever words to advertise a product or service or to rebrand your company? A brochure or leaflet is a good way to reach a local audience or visitors at a show but you need to create the right impression with the right copy. I can also assist with the design and layout of hard copy advertising creative.
sponsored supplements
Sponsored supplements are a powerful way for suppliers to demonstrate intellectual capital and strength in a market sector. Are you looking for an editor to put together a sponsored supplement on education, careers services or IT? I’ve worked as a journalist across all sectors and am highly experienced in editing magazines, commissioning articles and managing contributors.
