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keys to writing an faq blog post

6 Keys To Writing An FAQ Blog Post

Content Marketing / By / September 1, 2023

If you’re tired of answering the same questions regarding your business, these 6 keys to writing an FAQ blog post might take care of that for good!

Imagine this…

Instead of using your time to respond to emails, phone calls, and contact form messages answering the same questions over again, you can create a blog post that does it for you. Your customers have one place to look for all their pressing questions. Plus, you won’t need to keep copying and pasting the same response repeatedly.

Plus, with this one blog, you can also increase web engagement, gain quality leads, and garner more interest in your business and services. We’re here to show you how with the following 6 keys to writing an FAQ blog post you can use right now.

Need a copywriter to take care of your blogs for you? Schedule a discovery call to get started.

Try These 6 Keys To Writing An FAQ Blog Post & Save Yourself From The Repetition

Here’s your cue to take voice notes or be ready to type out your thoughts. Because, as soon as you finish reading this blog about the keys to writing an FAQ blog post, all of the content you need will be right there in front of you.

1. Ask The Questions, Type Out The Answers

The first part of creating your FAQ blog is simple. Ask yourself…

What are the top 10 to 20 questions I’m asked most about my business that I can easily answer right away?

Type or jot these questions down and be sure your answers are succinct and clear for your audience. Before you know it, these questions and answers can assist you in creating bold headlines that are easy to understand for even the fastest blog skimmer around.

2. Do Your (Quick) SEO Research

Search engine optimization does more than autofill your search for you when you’re online. SEO includes trackable data that changes based on what everyone around you is searching for. This is immensely important for businesses that want to know more about their target audiences’ wants, needs, and wishes.

Even if you offer an extremely specific service, your audience may not know the same technical jargon that you do. As an example, if you own a floral shop, you might want to answer questions that also include popular search terms (in bold) like…

  • How does Valentine’s Day flower delivery work?
  • Can I pick up my flower delivery order instead?
  • Can your business do flowers for a wedding or big event in my city?
  • Can I buy red roses by the dozen?

You may know that you sell baccarat roses, Ever Reds, and Freedom roses but the average customer will not. This is why pairing your FAQs with commonly used SEO keywords or phrases assists in making your business, its FAQs, and your services more visible on popular search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo.  

There are also many free web analytics tools available online like Clarity from Microsoft and Google Keyword Planner, so you don’t need to spend a dime to get started.

You can also use a team of professional copywriters to help you get the job done. Schedule your discovery call with us right now.

3. Discover More FAQs

Speaking of using SEO tools for your FAQ blog post, you can also use various online forums to find more FAQs to answer while you’re at it. A few platforms you should think about exploring include…

In fact, about 40% of young people use TikTok alone as a search engine. This may not sound incredibly important right now, but your prospects will soon include a younger generation of buyers than you may be used to today. So, it is worth keeping in mind.

4. Define Technical Words & Phrases

Another one of our keys to writing an FAQ blog post is ensuring you understand that it’s okay to simplify your answers for your average customer. If you’re a business owner with a typically well-informed customer base, you may not need to worry about this as much.

However, if you often find that your answers go over most people’s heads, it’s time to take a step back and clarify those answers. Speak to your audience in a way they will understand. If it helps, offer a mini glossary or answer individual questions defining commonly used terms or phrases in your industry.

Take FocusCopy for example. You may see us answer what we view to be “simple” questions like…

What does SEO mean?

What is backlinking and what does it mean?

Is a copywriter and copyright the same thing?

We would define keywords and phrases with each of these questions while breaking down their definitions so they’re easier to digest.

5. Support Your Answers With Statistics

You cannot get rid of all of the misinformation online regarding your business or expertise. What you can do is fortify your answers with reliable statistics to back them up. This is yet another one of our keys to writing an FAQ blog post that works in favor of your business and your customers.

Remember, you’re the industry expert! 

That said, think of 2 to 5 industry-related resources that you trust. A few examples might include:

  • Established associations
  • Government-led groups or studies
  • Industry organizations or clubs
  • Individual industry leaders
  • Top-performing companies

If you follow these people or organizations online and subscribe to their newsletters, you can keep up with them consistently as new information is shared. Don’t forget to cite your sources within your blog by adding a link or footnote leading your audience to the source.

6. Share It

Have someone other than yourself read through your FAQ blog post to make suggestions and offer other forms of advice. Perform a spelling and grammar check (and don’t worry too much about perfection) before publishing your brand-new blog.

Once that’s done, you can share your blog on social media, by email, or by asking others to help spread the word for you.  

Bonus Tip!

So, you have one well-written blog post answering the most commonly asked questions about your business. Did you know you can split this 1 complete blog into several separate blogs, social media posts, and (possibly) a podcast script?

Think about each point you’ve made so far. Chances are you can talk about one or several of them more in-depth – so do it! Here are a few ideas to get you started:

  • Think of lessons learned
  • Reflect on former customer stories
  • Answer more questions related to each FAQ

For social media posts, pull headlines and the most important part of your answer to create quick posts you can share that add value to your social platforms.

We Write Blog Posts For Businesses

Does writing an FAQ blog post take time? Yes. We would be lying if we said it didn’t take at least some time to strategize, write, and approve a blog post.

If you don’t have that kind of time, that’s okay! We do. Schedule a discovery call with us today!

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

Let’s Grab A Virtual Coffee With Us To Discover How To Boost Your Words
Schedule Discovery Call
blogging for your business

Answering Your Top Questions About Blogging For Your Business

Content Marketing / By / March 13, 2023

What’s the big deal with blogs?

Don’t worry! You’re not the first to ask.

However, you’re the next to learn about the power behind writing blogs for your business! 

Not all blogs are the same. And not all are created with sales in mind. Some people simply utilize blogging platforms to share their thoughts and practice their own writing skills.

But blogging for your business, if done right, just may be the key to growing your brand awareness and increasing revenue. I’m not a betting woman, but I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that right about now you’re thinking that sounds like a pretty good plan for your business.

If you’ve read this far, you’re at least a little interested in what all the blog is about. So I’m going to break down the top FAQs for writing blogs for your business.

The Top 6 FAQs For Writing Blogs For Your Business

We’ve put together the most common questions we receive about blogging for your business into a neat little package – this blog. 

If you’re ready to see real results from your marketing efforts, we should chat.

Schedule a time to talk so we can take your marketing impact to new heights!

1. How Does One Start Blogging? Is There A Secret Club & Initiation?

There’s no secret society of bloggers. I mean, there might be…But I wasn’t invited to it. Did it stop me from blogging? Nope!

The truth is, the trick to writing a blog, like so many other things in life, is to simply start. Pick up the pen, sit at the computer, and get rid of that blank page before you. Seriously, open up that dirty window. Then, let the sun illuminate the words that you cannot find. Okay…Sorry about The Hills reference. 

Back to blogs…Whether or not you need a nostalgic song to kick-start your blog productivity to help grow your business, we’ve got you covered. The key is to truly get rid of the blinking white page on the screen. Simply start writing. Get your thoughts out. Go back and look at it with fresh eyes the next morning. Have a trusted confidant proofread and be receptive to their feedback. 

Even the best of us suffer from writer’s block. But we’ve found that just getting started is the quickest way to make the hesitations and second-guessing disappear.  

2. I’ve Read So Many Blogs With Different Formatting, Isn’t There A How-To Guide To Do It Right?

It’s great that so many people utilize blogging platforms to share their life. Does that mean all of them are doing it right? 

Nope!

But we’re not judging anyone who’s doing their own thing. Everyone’s gotta start somewhere. However, if you want your blogs to make an impact on your business, it’s better to follow proven formatting methods.

For instance, Google (you know, the holy grail) uses an algorithm to rank websites on the search engine results page (SERP). The ranking is a direct result of search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. While yes, the algorithm constantly changes, professional writers like my team at FocusCopy keep up with the trends to help our clients achieve success. 

However, there are some tried and true methods to the madness that will likely be sticking around. If you take a closer look at this blog you’re reading right now, you may notice our use of headers. 

We usually start with a header 2 to re-emphasize the topic and keyword(s). Then the body of the blog is done in sections marked with header 3s. Any further differentiation in sections would happen in the next header down, and so on. It may seem silly, but Google cares about the difference in header sizes.  

Moreover, the word count is also a biggie. So don’t go wild with a 4-thousand word blog. In fact, Google would prefer you keep it under 2-thousand words. The sweet spot is somewhere between 1200-1800 words. This excludes pillar posts.

Equally important is to keep the content between each header under 300 words. Yep, another surprising but factual point that can make a difference in your Google ranking. 

Psst…We’re big fans of Yoast SEO to help keep our formatting, word count, and word usage in check. 

3. Does The Number Of Blogs I Write & How Often I Post Them Matter?

Yup. But here’s the cool part…You don’t have to write more frequently than you want. It’s actually better that you remain consistent than spend your energy trying to reach unattainable goals. In the long run, setting unrealistic blog goals may even hurt your SEO efforts and, as a result, knock you down in the Google ranks.

Instead, you should focus on publishing blogs consistently. One a quarter, month, week – whatever works for you. Here’s another cool thing, you don’t have to wait until 3 days before your self-assigned publish date to start writing your blog for your business. 

As professional copywriters, we prewrite many blogs for ourselves and our clients to have on hand to publish according to the schedule that works best for the respective company. 

To get started, take a list of topics that:

Then, schedule some time to sit down and write as much about each topic that you can. But don’t do your best and stash it away for 6 months. Schedule more time in the near future (like within the same week) to review your writing with fresh eyes. And finish it up! We recommend sending it to a friend, colleague, or family member to proofread. Trust me, you’d much rather your nearest and dearest point out your mistakes than hundreds of critics in the Reddit gallery. 

Want a professional writer and editor to take a gander at your blog before you hit the big, shiny publish button? Well, you’re in luck because FocusCopy offers copyediting services for our entrepreneurs who enjoy writing for themselves. Schedule a discovery call with me today to learn how we can support your business’ marketing efforts. 

4. With So Many Bloggers Out There, How Can I Make Mine Standout & Get Noticed?

SEO is the key to ranking high and getting noticed on the world wide web. With an estimated 7.5 million blogs posted every day, it may feel impossible to ever see your company at the very top of the SERP. 

Don’t sell yourself short before you give it a try. We’ve proudly seen so many of our own clients rise through the ranks to the top spots with our blogging service. 

The trick is to research, study, implement, and practice SEO. This means including keywords that your target audience is searching for online. And of course, sticking to the right formatting and word count. But it also goes so much further. 

Google is smart enough to recognize AI-generated and poorly written content. Don’t expect to see those at the top. Instead, use power words and write like a human. Yes, the same writing style to engage your audience and convert them into paying customers also pays off in the SEO world. But with good SEO, that target market is more likely to actually see your brand messaging.  

5. After Spending So Much Time Writing A Blog, Can I Make Further Use Of The Content?

Repurposing content is truly one of the tricks of the trade. We’ve also taught so many of our clients how to do this, too!

Say you have a blog. Does it focus on or mention any specific seasons or years? Are you referring to something that’s in the news right now? If so, that is a timely piece. Go ahead and publish it. Take out snippets to create social media posts to promote your blog. Then, re-work the same blog into an email newsletter to keep your best fan base in the know.

But if you’re not including time specific aspects…Congratulations – you have written an evergreen blog! This is a great asset to your marketing toolkit. You’ll be able to reshare, repurpose, and refer to this blog for years to come. Literally, evergreen content is such a blessing. 

6. What If I Absolutely Despise Writing & The Thought Of Doing It Makes Me Cringe?

Then don’t ????????‍♀️ Work with a copywriter with a proven ability to enhance your business’ marketing for real growth. 

At FocusCopy, we’ve created original content for over 100 businesses (let’s see where this number gets when we repurpose this blog in 7 years). This includes everything such as blogs, newsletters, grant proposals, social media posts, social media ads, LinkedIn articles, podcast scripts, promotional brochures, and so much more. 

And we don’t blame you for hating writing. Because we love it. I mean, I created an entire business around it. Then, I hired copywriters who also love writing. Together we make up a team that supports our clients by taking on the task they either don’t want to do or don’t have time to do. 

Leave Blogging To The Pros & Get Back To What Matters Most

If after reading this, you’re still not sold on writing your own blogs – that’s okay. But hopefully you’ve learned a few things about SERP, SEO, Google ranking, and are making plans to bolster your marketing plan.

We’re here to support you as a business partner by writing converting copy in your brand voice. Seriously, not even your sister will know someone else wrote it. 

Schedule a discovery call with me and let’s get going on your blogging journey!

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

Let’s Grab A Virtual Coffee With Us To Discover How To Boost Your Words
Schedule Discovery Call
why blogging is important for business

7 Reasons Why Blogging Is Important For Business

Content Marketing / By / March 13, 2023

Are you a business owner with a blog you haven’t updated in a while? 

Perhaps you’ve thought about launching a blog but aren’t completely sure why blogging is important for businesses.

As copywriters, one of the questions we receive most often includes whether businesses really need a blog or not. But, it’s a loaded question with a (somewhat) complicated answer.

You should first know that about 77% of people read blogs online regularly. That alone might not be enough to convince you to get going on your blogging journey, but you should also know that 61% of online users make a purchase after reading a blog. 

See? You have much more of an influence than you might think.

Try to think of your business’s blog this way…

You don’t need to have an extra voice within your industry to be seen, heard, and understood. But wouldn’t it help if you did?

Interested in starting a blog for your business? Let’s talk about how a blog can help your profitability, brand awareness, and so much more.

1. Build Brand Awareness

Building brand awareness through your business’s blog makes customer interactions feel more like a friendly conversation instead of an outright sales pitch. If used the right way, your blog can be seen as a tool for your audience.  

In fact, more than 40,000 Google searches occur every single second. Of these searches, many people turn directly to How To, DIY, and other blogs that teach them how to do something. 

Whether it’s exactly what they were looking for or not, they increase engagement and web traffic for that business with every click. It’s like being able to walk down the street and pop into stores they’re interested in without feeling the immense pressure to purchase something.

If your audience likes what they see, they’re more likely to share it with friends, family, co-workers, and beyond. The more your message is spread, the more opportunities you have to make an impact with your business at the forefront.

2. Include Long-Tail Search Keywords

Long-tail keywords are essential for blog writing. This is because when most people perform an internet search for something, they usually type in a thought, phrase, or string of keywords that will give them the results they need.

For example, let’s say you’re a local bakery looking to drum up more business. Your audience could just search “sugar cookie” and end up with a few million results. But they’re much more likely to find exactly what they’re looking for by typing in more specific, long-tail keywords like “best classic sugar cookie recipe with butter” or something similar.

As your bakery’s blog creator, using the entire long-tail keyword within your heading, subheadings, and overall unique content pushes your blog to the top of a user’s search results. This means you’re more likely to be seen by your target audience. 

Meanwhile, your target audience is more likely to click on your blog to find what they need and potentially explore other offerings like your products and services. They might even feel inclined to sign up for something – which leads us right into our next big benefit.

3. Construct A Larger Following

Use your blogs to attach powerful call-to-actions (CTAs) like:

  • Subscribe to our newsletter
  • Follow us on social media
  • Join our course
  • Download your free guide

And these are just to name a few!

Your CTA options are unlimited and serve as a great way to keep your audience engaged with your brand long after they’ve hit the little x button. Use your blog and a solid CTA to gain more followers interested in your brand.

4. Increase Crosslinking Opportunities

One of the best ways to create an authentic experience through your blogs is by crosslinking within them. Crosslinks in blogging are one of the best SEO tools you can use to improve your online presence. It boosts your SEO and gives you a chance to optimize the use of your owned domains to the best of your ability.

What Is Crosslinking?

Adding crosslinks to your blogs allows you to guide readers to other pages on your website that you want them to see. They also provide an opportunity to attach shared categories or tags to them. This way, you continue showing up higher in search results.

Crosslinking allows businesses like yours to increase exposure with minimal effort. So, even if you’re a marketing business discussing blogging for businesses, you can also pique the interest of your readers who might simultaneously be searching for copywriting for businesses (see what we did there?).  

5. Widen Content Splintering Opportunities

Alright – you have long-tail search keywords to help you with blog topics, a few ideas for CTAs, and an understanding of how crosslinking can help.

It sounds exhausting! But you don’t need to create everything only to use it once. 

Take the information you’ve given in your blog and splinter it into other marketing avenues for your business. Doing so means that you can avoid: 

  • Retyping your thoughts
  • Spending more time on content creation
  • Skipping out on posting to your socials

Break everything down section by section, point by point, or however else you see fit.

Want to create a wealth of content starting with a blog for your business? Let’s get going!

6. Become An Authority Leader With Each Topic

This is a good one.

Blogging establishes your voice within your industry and community. By offering valuable information that readers can truly rely on, you become much more trustworthy and memorable moving forward.

And you know what we love to say about people who do business with others? 

People do business with businesses they know and trust.

Offering your voice as an authority leader within your industry allows current and potential customers to feel as though they know you, can trust you, and can look to you for future insight – which brings us to our final reason for having a blog for your business.

7. Offer Valuable Answers & Advice

You are able to offer answers to many frequently asked questions that your customers continuously have. Answering them in a blog (or several blogs) gives your audience direct access to you and your expertise without wasting time on the phone or in your inbox going back and forth about the answer.

The truth is that there are certain things you know about your business that others might not know. This makes blogging about it the perfect way to bust any popular myths while providing tangible solutions through your products or services.

We Know Why Blogging Is Important For Businesses Of All Types

Our team knows how important it is for businesses to have a blog. We also know that entrepreneurs are usually strapped for time with no idea where to start (it’s part of our why).

FocusCopy is here to help.Need help launching your business’s blog? Chat with us to get started.

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

Let’s Grab A Virtual Coffee With Us To Discover How To Boost Your Words
Schedule Discovery Call
generate blog topics

4 Questions To Ask To Generate 20 Blog Topics In <15 Minutes

Content Marketing / By / April 27, 2023

Inspiration is a funny thing. It’s everywhere and can leave you dreaming of possibilities for hours, especially if you’re a business owner. 

Your entire business model might come from a streak of inspiration you decided was worth pursuing. However, the not-so-great thing about inspiration is that it doesn’t occur on command…at least not for most people.

When you’re thinking about blog topics for your business, you may feel stuck about what to write. 

You think…Do I simply talk about my business and what I know? Do I need to be creative and go outside of my comfort zone? Is it okay to discuss other things related to my business?

These are good to think about when you sit down to write, but they aren’t particular enough to help with content creation. Strong blog topic ideas should be specific enough to answer a question your audience might have. At the same time, you should make sure the topic is relevant to your brand and can tie into your business offerings. Creating blog topics based on this notion alone can quickly become confusing. So, it’s an even better idea to ask yourself these 4 specific questions, which helps you generate 20 blog topics in less than 15 minutes.

Need to pick up your blogging pace? We can help! Contact FocusCopy to get your blogs written, approved, and published.

Create 20 Blog Topics In 15 Minutes Or Less By Asking 4 Simple Questions

If it sounds too good to be true, all I have to say is give it a try! Even if you spend the next 5 minutes reading AND brainstorming, you’ll get something valuable out of it – you simply have to trust me. Let’s generate blog topics!

1. What Questions Does My Audience Have Right Now?

This should be an easy one! Take a second to think about potential sales calls, meetings, and client feedback you’ve heard. What are the questions you repeat the answers to most?

For example, as copywriters, we often hear…

  • What is SEO and how does it work?
  • What type of content needs to be on my website?
  • How can hiring a copywriter save me time?
  • What’s the problem with me doing my own copywriting?
  • How long does it take for a copywriter to write a website, blog, etc.?

We have answers for all of these commonly asked questions. We also have a knack for turning these questions into conversation pieces, which gives the answers enough oomph to become a relevant blog for our brand.

So, do you have any questions at top of mind? Write them down! You can easily come up with 5 (or more) questions that you can turn into blog topics.

If your audience doesn’t have too many questions up front, here’s another one you should ask.

2. What Problems Does My Audience Encounter?

To answer this question, we’re first going to get into what you do, why you do it, and why your audience cares.

Our own example is…We’re a cost-effective digital copywriting firm supporting small to medium-sized businesses because it saves business owners time, money, and the extra stress of having to write their copy themselves.

Did you see that?

Right there in our own answer are a few problems we can pick out right away, which includes:

  • Small to medium-sized businesses don’t typically have a huge budget for their digital marketing efforts
  • Supporting small businesses is critical to our collective success
  • Business owners don’t have the time to write for themselves
  • Writing stresses most people and business owners out
  • Business owners don’t have time for marketing when they have more important responsibilities to attend to

And just like that, we have 5 new topics of discussion for our blog. We’ll even take it one step further to show you how you can create headlines for these points, turning them into digestible nuggets of information.

  • 10 Beneficial Effects Copywriting Has On Your Small Business
  • Why Digital Marketing Is Important For Small & Medium-Sized Businesses
  • How Hiring A Copywriter Can Save Your Business Time & Money
  • 5 Tips From A Copywriter To Help Relieve Your DIY Writing Stress
  • Why Quality Content Rules Over Quick Copy That Doesn’t Deliver

By now, you should be able to see how fast and easy it is to come up with new blog topics by answering questions about your business – which brings us to our next question to ask to generate blog topics without breaking a sweat.

Still struggling to come up with topics for your business? Hire the experts to hash out the details and come up with an effective copywriting strategy.

3. What Advice Does My Audience Need To Hear? 

This question may seem too general to answer, but try looking at it a different way. When customers or clients call your business after…

  • Attempting to do what you do themselves
  • Hiring someone less qualified
  • Hiring someone whose services are cheaper
  • Letting their problem exist for too long

What happens?

If you focus on what your audience has complained about in the past, you’ll find your advice neatly folded into your answers. We’ll switch it up and use a hypothetical client as an example here.

Texas Plumbing Company (a fictitious company) hears from customers all day, every day. And if they could tell their audience crucial information that could save them time and money, here’s what that could look like…

  • 7 Major Hazards Of DIY Plumbing
  • Why Hiring A Certified Plumbing Professional Matters
  • 5 Reasons Why Expert Routine Pipe Maintenance Matters For Your Home Or Business
  • Top 10 Common Mistakes Homeowners Make With Their Plumbing System
  • Here’s What Can Happen If You Ignore A Leak For Too Long

If you’re a plumbing pro, each of these blogs is full of information you already know about and could probably recite in your sleep. But your audience doesn’t know anything about plumbing, so it helps to offer your expert advice.

4. What Lessons Have I Learned That Would Be Helpful For My Audience To Know?

Have you ever watched Gilmore Girls? Stay with me here because I promise there’s a point.

So, there’s a scene where small town diner owner, Luke, is being yelled at by his ungrateful and reckless teenage nephew, Jess (skip to 1:05). Jess attacks his uncle by throwing Luke’s job and business in his face in an attempt to make Luke feel small and unimportant. 

Sure, Luke only has one other employee. And there isn’t a special parking spot in his name or a mahogany desk for him to sit at. But he doesn’t let Jess get to him for a second and defends himself by saying, “Hey! I own this business. I built it, kid. This is mine!”

The only reason I’m diving into this is to point something out. Entrepreneurs like you have something special that other people will never be able to relate to. You have moxie, my friend! And in case no one has told you lately, you don’t need to downplay your accomplishments or your business. Chances are, you didn’t get to where you are without learning a few hard lessons along the way.

Ask yourself…What have I learned?

The best part about this exercise is that you only need to think of about 5 things you’ve learned. Maybe you learned more about how to value yourself and your services. Perhaps you reached a breaking point when it came to dealing with certain clients. Or maybe you have a story about investing in something that didn’t work out. All of these can be great blog topics for your audience, which should bring your total number of topics to 20.

Find A True Writing Partner With FocusCopy

Don’t have enough time to write for your business (or even generate blog topics)? That’s okay! Many business owners don’t. But that doesn’t mean you should let it affect your digital marketing or brand awareness.

Reach your marketing goals with the team at FocusCopy.

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

Let’s Grab A Virtual Coffee With Us To Discover How To Boost Your Words
Schedule Discovery Call
content categories

What Are Content Categories?

Content Marketing / By / September 6, 2022

Want to publish a diverse amount of valuable content?

Or do you want to make sure that relevant content is published at the right time?

As a business owner, it can feel overwhelming to come up with a content plan. But it doesn’t have to!

In fact, successful marketers create content categories, also known as content buckets, to organize and schedule the right content at the right time.

Everything You Need To Know About Content Categories

Creating a backlog of content is a great way to ensure you always have something to publish, send, or post. This helps to keep your audience engaged. 

Moreover, consistently publishing blogs is a great way to boost your SEO ranking. And here’s the sometimes surprising part…It doesn’t necessarily matter how often you publish, as long as it’s consistent. 

Choose what schedule you can sustainably do, whether that be weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or quarterly. Whatever you choose, simply stick to it. 

However, creating blogs, email newsletters, and social media posts ahead of time can result in a hodge-podge of mixed content. That’s why grouping your content into categories is so helpful. 

For instance, the FocusCopy blog page has a list of tags that describe the various blogs we’ve published. This makes it much easier for our readers to find valuable information quickly rather than sifting through a dozen pages full of blogs.

But this organization starts way before we hit publish. If you’ve been following along, you know we use and love ClickUp. As a versatile task manager, I’m able to create content labels for each of our FocusCopy blogs as I assign them. 

This process allows my copywriters to look through assigned blogs on our editorial calendar and know exactly what category each task falls under. Some of our content categories include:

  • Business
  • Content Marketing
  • Marketing
  • Processes & Procedures
  • Copywriting
  • Lead Generation

With these category labels in place, I’m able to publish blogs easily without reading through the dozens that have been written. Furthermore, this helps to publish blogs in theme with any specific campaigns we’re promoting at the time. 

Want to learn how FocusCopy can build your business’s brand awareness through compelling copy? Find some time to chat here.

How to Create Content Categories For Your Business’s Marketing

When creating tasks in ClickUp, we include the “Category” column. I have the different categories we write about for FocusCopy pre-filled on a drop down menu. This makes it easy to simply select the appropriate category. 

However, being such a versatile task manager, there are several ways to go about this in ClickUp. You can instead opt for tags that appear next to the title of each task. Plus, several other options to view your content categories at a high level. 

Since FocusCopy’s blogs are (mostly) all about copywriting in marketing, our categories branch from our main topic. 

Content Categories Streamline Your Production Calendar

As mentioned above, publishing content consistently is important to keep your audience engaged and to rank higher in Google searches. However, it’s important to remember planning is key to keeping your production calendar on track. 

Need a refresher on creating a system to manage content creation and publication? Check out my previous blog, How To Build An Editorial Calendar With ClickUp That You Can Actually Stick To.

An effective editorial calendar will be your best friend when it comes to publishing your business’s content. However, for it to be successful, make sure to incorporate content categories from the very beginning.

Already have an editorial calendar but missed the content category memo upon construction? That’s okay! Just pencil in some time on your calendar to create your content categories and adjust accordingly. Moving forward, you’ll be able to assign tasks into content categories as they’re created. 

Going through these steps will help streamline your production calendar, save time, and prevent unnecessary stress.

Ready to publish copy that really converts? Get in touch with me here and let’s get to work!

Identify Your Business’s Ideal Content Categories

Now it’s time to make content categories work for you!

First, think about your brand messaging and what it represents. Next, search Google, Reddit, your social media platforms, and other channels to see what exactly your ideal audience is searching for. There are also other helpful websites like DemandJump that will help you choose the best terms and keywords. 

Knowing what terms your audience searches is important as you define your content categories. Because, in case you haven’t heard me say it before, what you publish needs to be about your audience – not you.

For example, an IT expert may also refer to themselves as a Managed Service Provider (MSP). While the term fits their offerings, a successful marketing campaign would take into account that not all potential customers know the term MSP. 

Keep this in mind when defining your content categories and overall strategy. Because, while many people love an opportunity to learn, even more people will simply move to the next article in their search results if they’re unfamiliar with the terms being used. 

How FocusCopy Utilizes Content Categories

You may not know this about me, but my former mentor and boss unexpectedly passed away several years ago. Because of the aftermath, I make sure my company documents everything. You see, while I have the utmost respect for this person, the order of operations lived in his brain and his brain alone.

Needless to say, content categories are one of FocusCopy’s many standard operating procedures (SOPs). These SOPs are great for several reasons. One being that my team can access specific how-tos in regard to any and every process. The second reason is that if I get hit by a bus (or win the next big lottery and take off to my very own private island), my business can continue without missing a beat.

We utilize content categories to streamline our to-do lists efficiently. For instance, if I want to make sure to publish 3 different types of blogs in one month, I just have to filter through the categories of unpublished blogs. 

By prioritizing planning in our editorial calendar management, I have created a system that saves time and allows me to publish quality copy consistently.

Develop Content Categories & More With The Copywriting Experts

FocusCopy works with small and medium-sized, women-owned businesses to produce concise, focused, and converting copy. Our proven processes allow for timely production schedules so our clients can always count on us to produce quality copy on time. 

Whether you need help with blogging, email campaigns, engaging your audience on social media, building a credible and converting website, or anything else – we’re here and ready to help. We’d love nothing more than to grab a coffee and discuss your business’s copywriting needs. Schedule a time to meet here.

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

Let’s Grab A Virtual Coffee With Us To Discover How To Boost Your Words
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Editorial Calendar With ClickUp

How To Build An Editorial Calendar With ClickUp That You Can Actually Stick To

Content Marketing, Processes & Procedures / By / August 31, 2022

Do you ever wonder how content creators find the time?

Especially businesses with heavy workloads, they somehow still have quality blogs, social media posts, newsletters, and updated web pages that get lots of traction. 

Want to know the secret behind the folks who always have something to post?

It’s all about the editorial calendar. 

But effectively planning out your editorial calendar can make the difference between publishing quality content and letting your greatest ideas fall through the cracks. 

What Is An Editorial Calendar? 

Essentially, an editorial calendar is a multi-functional calendar creators use to manage content creation and publication.

With the right software, you can schedule campaigns with the themes and tasks included. Plus, you can look at your content to-do list at a high level. But you can also take it to a granular level to input inspiration, references, and data for each small task. 

Have you ever thought about your 5 or 10-year plan, and then worked backward to list the work and milestones required to meet your goals? 

That’s pretty much the gist of an editorial calendar but with your short and long-term marketing goals in mind. 

Need someone to take over the reins of your editorial calendar? Contact us today and start sharing quality, high-converting copy.

Why Create An Editorial Calendar On ClickUp?

Personally, ClickUp is the software that we use. It also helps that it’s very effective at storing ideas, planning content, and getting it published efficiently. 

Plus, ClickUp allows users to view tasks in lists, boards, and in a calendar setting. This means that while planning, I can look at our to-do’s at a high level. Meanwhile, my employees can filter through tasks assigned to them with access to the notes and objectives for each piece.

Process To Build An Editorial Blogging Calendar With ClickUp

One of the best things about ClickUp is its versatility. You can customize it to fit your exact needs. However, this also means that coming at it as a blank slate can be overwhelming. There is an abundance of free tutorials available. But if you want to get straight to creating your editorial calendar, I’ve made it easy with a step-by-step guide. 

1. Do The Prep Work

One thing I’ve learned is you can’t count on inspiration to always hit at the right time. With so many different ongoing projects for my own business and my clients, the prep work is non-negotiable. 

Identify Content Pillars

After research comes the strategic part of the prep work: the content pillars. This is where we identify several topics that will tie into each other. For example, we’ve written several FocusCopy blogs about copywriting – because that’s what we do.  Within these blogs, we include backlinks to our other blogs relating to copywriting. 

If you check out our blog page, you’ll find blogs with topics centered around writing copy, including:

While that’s just a teaser because we have loads more blogs about copywriting, the goal is to answer as many readers’ questions as possible. But how do we know what readers are asking? Research.

Not only does grouping similar topics into content pillars provide value in the form of educating readers, this method also helps to increase our Google ranking. 

For example, FocusCopy’s content pillars are Copywriting, Content Writing, and General Marketing, Systems, and Entrepreneurship. If there is something we are considering, we always run it through our pillars. If it doesn’t fit, it’s thrown out or we rework it to give it a different angle. 

Pro Tip: Do not select more than 3-5 content pillars. The key is to focus. 

Identify Calls To Action

This is where the objective comes into play. Ask yourself, what do you want readers to do? It could be…

  • Subscribe to your newsletter
  • Download a lead magnet
  • Follow your business on social media
  • Schedule a time to grab a coffee and discuss your business goals

You may think that a reader will automatically know to contact you if they are interested in your product or service. However, you are giving readers too much credit. Not because they are lazy or unable to find your contact info on your website, but because we all have fish brains when it comes to searching the web. It’s too easy to close out and go on to the next blog or website if we’re not finding immediate answers to our questions. That’s why we need calls to action to tell readers exactly what steps to take next.

We live in a digital world with more data than we can even begin to comprehend and it’s literally all at our fingertips. According to Portent, “Website conversion rates drop by an average of 4.42% with each additional second of load time.”

If the goal of your marketing efforts is to convert readers into paying customers, time is of the essence. You need a quick-loading website and linked calls to action to tell your readers exactly what to do. 

Now that you have your calls to action listed (and understand their importance), it’s on to the next step!

Not sure what calls to action you need to include? FocusCopy can help! Get in touch with us here.

2. Create The List In Your ClickUp

Managing your editorial calendar is simple when it’s all in one place. Create a list and name it “Editorial Calendar”. You’ll be able to track and organize your upcoming blogs at high and granular levels with ease.

Editorial Calendar With ClickUp

It should look something like this when you’ve created it. 

Editorial Calendar With ClickUp

3. Create Fields

Let’s get into the details! This step is all about getting the nitty gritty specific subtasks, data, and labels down. 

Rather than going through this process for each blog topic, create one blog task with all the fields below. You’ll be able to use this as a template to easily duplicate.

We suggest creating the following fields in this order: 

  • Content Pillar using the Dropdown field
  • Call To Action using the Dropdown field
  • Type of Blog using the Dropdown field
  • In Progress using the Website field
  • Published Link using the Website field

If you want to go all out, you can include the following fields: 

  • Author
  • Target Keywords
  • SOP

This is what it looks like inside a given task. 

Editorial Calendar With ClickUp

4. Brain Dump All Your Topics As Tasks

Input all of your topics as separate blog tasks. Over time, you will learn what parts to tweak. But for now, this will be a functional home for your editorial calendar to-do list.

Now that you have your template blog task with the appropriate fields, right-click and select “duplicate”. ClickUp will prompt you to adjust the name and what elements to copy over. If you’re using an open blog template (not a completed task), then I suggest simply changing the name and including all fields. 

You can also create a template inside of ClickUp so there’s no need for duplicating. 

5. Fill Out As Much Information In The Fields

After you input blog topics as tasks, it’s time to fill out those fields. This is much easier with the dropdown fields mentioned above.

The great thing about ClickUp is you don’t have to cover all the details. So if there’s something you’re unsure about – like the due date or which employee to assign to said task, just leave it blank for now. 

However, it’s best to fill out as much information as possible at this point. Go through the bullet points above under “Create Fields” and watch your editorial calendar come to life!

But remember, if you’re unsure about something, don’t let it create a bottleneck in your workflow. Simply move on and fill out what you can. Make sure to schedule time in your calendar to go back to complete these fields. Sometimes making appointments with yourself is necessary to make sure everything gets done!

6. Schedule Your Blogs

While it would be great to complete all tasks as they are created, that may be edging on wishful thinking. To ensure that nothing falls through the cracks, it’s time to schedule the blogs with due dates.

But it’s not just the final due date. Instead, schedule dates to start and complete each subtask. For instance, say you want to publish a Halloween-themed blog on October 31st. To ensure that you or your employees have enough time to make the deadline, schedule the outlining portion of the blog for 3 weeks ahead of time. Then, schedule the drafting to take place over a couple of days, 2 weeks ahead of time. Next, you’ll want to make sure to schedule the process of checking SEO, editing, addressing edits, finalizing, and finally…publishing!

With enough lead time, and a little cushion (can’t forget about clients!), you’ll be able to post your spooky Halloween post with timely relevance to the holiday season. 

Bonus Tips

As I said before, ClickUp has a ton of features! So many, in fact, I can’t imagine one business needing to utilize every single one. But that also makes ClickUp a versatile tool that can be used throughout many industries. Here are some additional tips to help expand your ClickUp experience.

Use “Whiteboard” To Generate Content Ideas

More of a visual brainstormer? Me, too!

What’s cool here is you can create tasks directly out of Whiteboard. This means that you can arrange your pillar content and branch off into more niche topics from a high level. Being able to create tasks this way takes collaboration and creating your editorial calendar to a whole new level!

Editorial Calendar With ClickUp

Look Via “Schedule” To View It On Calendar View

Need to get a view of your overall calendar?

Again, ClickUp’s versatility comes in clutch. Select the calendar view to see how all your tasks appear over the course of a week, month, or year. You can filter down the dates for your exact needs.

Want To Skip The How-To & Publish Quality Blogs For Your Business?

You can always skip the tutorials and go straight to the experts. At FocusCopy, we work with small female-owned businesses to produce high-converting copy.

And the best part? While we do what we do best (writing copy), you can focus on running your business. You can confidently get through your to-do list knowing that quality copy is on its way to boost your brand’s reputation, SEO, and overall growth.

Want to learn more about how FocusCopy can position your business for success? Reach out and let’s start the conversation.

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

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is blogging once a month enough

Is Blogging Once A Month Enough?

Content Marketing / By / February 20, 2023

Businesses of all sizes and marketers want to know how many blogs are enough blogs?

But, the better question is… What can you consistently do? 

Sure, you can say that blogging three times a week is ideal for your small business. 

But can you actually uphold that type of schedule (and not burnout)?

Unfortunately, there is no right answer, and it truly depends on your goals. You also need to have a few things available to you to keep up with a consistent blogging schedule that will produce relevant content for your business.

Looking for a hot cup of blogging content? Contact FocusCopy today.

How To Determine The Number Of Blogs You Should Publish Per Week

You know those days when you wake up with a laundry list of items on your to-do list, and you feel like crushing it? Maybe you grab your favorite cup of coffee, snack on some strawberries, and feel completely ready to tackle the day. But then you go into a last-minute meeting, add a few more items on your list, and address a few concerns. Before you know it, it’s 4pm, and your list is still looking a bit… heavy. 

It’s okay and it happens to all of us! 

But having an inconsistent schedule can greatly impact your blogging experience if you have unrealistic expectations. Because, unlike other tasks, blogging truly takes time for you to brainstorm, write, and review before hitting the publish button.

So, take a look at the following and create a reasonable blogging schedule that will actually work for you.

Identify Your Goals

What’s the timeline you’re looking to accomplish your traffic generation or blogging strategy? 

If you’re looking to scale and see meaningful results in 6 months, consider publishing more blogs on a monthly basis. But if you want to scale your business sustainably, then find a cadence that works for you. 

Identify each of your content goals – including your target audience, the purpose of your blog, and what action you want your readers to take. Know exactly who you’re speaking to, and write in a way that will resonate with them. For example, if you work in a niche field where most people understand industry terms and famous sayings or phrases, it’s okay to use them. But if you’re speaking to an audience who may not be as familiar with the subject matter, make it simple.

If your idea is to be educational, stick to that and don’t complicate your message. Maybe you want to tell a story. Keep it concise, clear, and to the point. Too much back and forth or personal references may confuse your audience.

Always have a call to action (CTA). Whether you want your readers to call you directly, fill out a form, or look at something else, sprinkle CTAs throughout your blog.

Unfamiliar with blogging or how to get started? Unload your writing duties to the team at FocusCopy.

Delegate The Writing Task

No one knows your business better than you do. But if you don’t have the time, hate writing, or are hyper-focused on perfection, then delegate blogging to someone else. And don’t just choose anyone on your team – even if you feel like they have the time. Choose someone who knows:

  • You and your business
  • How to write with your voice
  • How to maintain their time

Hit all of these marks, and you’ll be able to delegate your blogging to someone who knows how to write in your voice and who you can trust to get the job done on time.

Additionally, no one likes to be micromanaged for responsibilities they are more than capable of doing. You might want to review their work for a few weeks before publishing, which is perfectly fine. You want to ensure they’re hitting the right message, speaking in your voice, and so on. But it’s important to give constructive feedback for a short time and then allow them to take the reins moving forward. And instead of checking in daily or every other day, check back monthly to be certain that your blogging is where you like it.

Schedule The Tasks

In a meeting, it’s one thing to mention that you would like to see actions taken right away. But if you and your team are busy, those items tend to get pushed off more than others when not assigned. Clarify your intentions by assigning blogging tasks, and ask your team to make it part of their regularly scheduled assignments. In fact, a great way to think about blogging for your company is to think of yourself as your own client!

Another important aspect of DIY blogging is allowing yourself or your writer enough buffer time towards the end of each month. Blogging is usually the first to be pushed back in the event of an emergency. The expectation is that you still need those blogs done, but there is some wiggle room in case other items take precedence.

We’ve found that the best way to assign these tasks is by following the order of:

  1. Outline topic and key elements
  2. Write the blog
  3. Edit with the business owner, co-worker, or peer
  4. Revise edits
  5. Perform a (search engine optimization) SEO check
  6. Hand over for a final review
  7. Publish and share the blog post

Have questions about SEO and blogging? Check out our blog How Does Professional Copywriting Help Your Business Grow?

Hold Yourself Accountable

Suppose you have room to write blogs yourself. Schedule that time in your calendar and make it non-negotiable. Mute online notifications, send calls to voicemail, and treat this time as though you’re in a meeting with a client – but the client is YOU!

Don’t stress over looking at a blank page. Your first step is outlining your blog, remember? So think about what you want to say and dump all of it on a notes page. Then organize your thoughts so they flow and make sense. Plug in those three CTAs, and you’re all set! 

Holding yourself accountable also means being real with yourself. If you find that you cannot be consistent with three blogs per week, try one blog per week. Once you build that habit, test yourself and try over time to increase your blog posts per week.  

Our Answer: Publish 2 Blogs Per Month

If you are just starting out or want a good starting point for consistent blogging, start at two blogs per month. This is an easy metric to move up or down. Block out the time for those two blogs and get them done!

Outsource Your Blogs

If you’ve already tried blogging or know you don’t have time for two blogs a month, we can help. We’ve worked with over 80 different companies on their blogging goals by producing high-converting copy to help scale their businesses. Our process is worthy of a chef’s kiss for copy, and we couldn’t be more excited to get started on blogging for your business.

Have questions? Talk to FocusCopy to get started on blogging to grow your business.

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managing your content calendar

A Step-By-Step Guide To Managing Your Content Calendar

Content Marketing / By / July 22, 2022

You wake up on Monday, ready to start managing your content calendar. You take a sip of your favorite coffee (or tea) and breathe. Then, you decide today’s the day you’re going to get it all together. You open your calendar, and it hits you. 

It looks like a mess! Where do you even start?

Right when you start to organize, you remember a client meeting you have in 10 minutes. At this point, it’s easy to let the idea of planning go and move on. But then you’re back at square one every following morning. It becomes a pattern that you don’t know how to stop.

Don’t give up yet! There are steps you can take to reach peak efficiency and productivity. You can find a way to crack down on managing your content calendar – no matter how many meetings you have. 

Even if you don’t have the time, we do! Hire a copywriter to help create your business’s content.

10 Steps To Managing Your Content Calendar

Take each of these steps at your own pace. It’s essential not to feel overwhelmed while you make changes to your content management process. Loading up on too much can leave you feeling burnout and unmotivated to follow through.

1. Applications To Use For Improved Prep & Planning

Today, there’s an app for everyone! Regardless of what industry you’re in, everyone from social media managers to engineers can use these tools.

ClickUp

This project management app has everything you need in one place. Delegate tasks, track progress and even insert documents, pictures, and so much more. ClickUp is popular with marketing and advertising pros, IT teams, and project managers.

Monday.com

A nod towards the beginning of the workweek, monday.com is an app with plenty of templates for every industry, business, and team. People like it because it’s ultra customizable and has in-app automation. This app is good for growing businesses, enterprises, and small businesses.

Hive

Program managers and even attorneys like Hive. Why? Because it’s a visual project and time management tool that keeps things organized. Users note that it even saves time on billing.

2. Utilize App Features For Your Benefit

Don’t be afraid to dive into whatever project management tool you use. Explore all of the features that your app has to offer. You don’t need to use every feature, but experiment to find what works best for you. Hate the way your dashboard looks? No problem! Most applications are easy to alter without changing the settings for everyone.

You can find a video on YouTube to walk you through using the app and find what you like. Features like color codes can highlight the client you’re working on, which stage in the process you’re at, or pinpoint your task among many. And don’t forget to use your calendar to ensure you don’t miss a thing.

3. Organize The Old School Way

Physically writing your notes helps you remember and understand better than typing them up on a laptop. This doesn’t mean you need to write everything down, but there are some classic tools you just can’t beat, like a notebook.

Additionally, use sticky notes for ideas or notes you need to jot down quickly. If you allow too many of them to pile up, you’re more likely to take a look at them to clear them out.

Also, it’s important that you don’t leave out a handy desk calendar. Yes, you can still have all of your meetings recorded online. But let’s face it, computer and mobile alarms fail! So, it’s helpful to write it down and increase your chances of remembering it later.

4. Map Out Your Content Ahead Of Time

Plan ahead and make your life easier by having the following information ready to go.

  • Your Industry
  • Products or services
  • Strengths and goals
  • Social platforms you plan to post on

That way, the content can flow out of you, and you’re already on top of your publishing schedule.

5. Prioritize To Avoid Feeling Overwhelmed

Prioritizing goals is a must for any industry – delegate responsibilities wherever they need to go. If you’re a perfectionist or even a people-pleaser, assigning duties is tough. Talk to your people and ask if a task fits in with their workload. Set reasonable and defined goals for yourself and others to avoid feeling like you have to do it all.

6. Treat SEO As A Separate Task

Don’t lump your search engine optimization (SEO) tasks into your writing tasks. Not only is there a chance you’ll skip it, but SEO should be its own assignment. You don’t want to rush the process of searching for keywords. Additionally, you should allow yourself time to compare, do a little research, and give your content a better chance to rank higher than other pages. 

7. Ensure Your Team Is In The Loop With Open Communication

Errors and mistakes happen, but you don’t want them to become part of your regular routine – especially if a lack of communication causes these mistakes. Diminish the chances of making a copy fail by keeping the conversation open with your teammates. If you have questions, ask! Check-in with your colleagues, so you’re all on the same page.

Doing so keeps everyone involved in your process as you go.

If you need a content writing team in your corner, we’re here to help!

8. Keep An Eye On The Workflow

Don’t lose track of where you are on a project. Think about adjusting certain calendar settings that can help you keep up. Using features like weekly views and time slots will help you remain aware of which phase a project is in. However, avoid going overboard and onto the extreme micromanagement side. Finally, stick to deadlines, so you and your team don’t fall behind.

9. Leave Room In Your Schedule When You Need It

We’ve all overbooked our planners on the self-made promise of… I can absolutely get all of this done today.

But how’s that going for you so far?

Spread out your workload, remain within client deadlines, and keep your clients happy. But more importantly, leave room to breathe and make yourself happy, too.

10. Have Extra Content Ready To Go Just In Case

Missing information, unreachable clients, and emergencies happen. So work every month and get ahead of the game! Create evergreen content (for your business and your clients) like blogs, newsletters, and social media posts. That way, they’ll never age out, and you can use them to fill in the gaps when you’re behind on regular content.

Talk To The Team At FocusCopy For Your Next Project

We know managing your content calendar is important. Clients appreciate the extra effort, and that effort allows the work you produce to truly shine. We know because we’re always working on multiple projects at once. Without processes for content management, we’d be lost!

Looking to partner with a group of content writers for your next task at hand? Give us a shout!

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

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Copywriting Help Your Business

How Does Professional Copywriting Help Your Business Grow?

Business, Copywriting / By / February 28, 2023

You have your product, a clear idea of what it does, how it helps people, and the price of sale.

And you have all the numbers, figures, facts, and marketing strategies all brainstormed and laid out. 

Even though you keep seeing recommendations to hire a copywriter or are studying writing techniques yourself, you aren’t placing too much stock into the idea. 

After all, words are just words. Right? They’re easy enough to put down. Even though it’s been a while since high school English and freshman composition class, you send texts and emails every day. So putting together a few sentences about your product and uploading them to your website should be plenty. 

You’ve also budgeted for social media ads that you’re feeling confident about writing yourself. After all, isn’t it really the product that matters most and not the advertising attached? 

So, you move forward with your launch. It’s an exciting moment! You’ve been working your way up to this point for quite some time, and you’re ready to help people and change the world. 

However, after a few months, you aren’t making many sales. In fact, it doesn’t seem like your web traffic is even breaking more than a few visitors a day. Or maybe you’re having the opposite problem. Maybe your ads are getting a lot of clicks, but no one is making the purchase.

What gives? 

It’s Not What You’re Saying – It’s How You’re Saying It

Believe it or not, you do need more than a few sentences on your website or advertisement to actually convince people to buy your offer. 

Now, you’re spending extra hours in the morning and late into the night learning about copywriting because it keeps coming up as the missing piece to your success. 

But, “what even is copywriting? Isn’t that like a trademark?” You think to yourself. 

Copywriting is a powerful form of marketing that has been used for more than two centuries. Even if the practice has looked different throughout the passing of time, copywriting’s goal has remained largely the same. 

The end goal? To close sales, of course! But when done well, copywriting can even position your business and brand as leaders in your industry – making you stand out from the competition and rise to the top. Your customers’ problems are solved, and your dream of having a successful business is accomplished. 

Therefore, it’s really no surprise that copywriting can help your business thrive. Because no matter its form, the aim is always to move prospective customers closer to hitting that “Order Now” button on your website. 

4 Ways Professional Copywriting Can Help Your Business

Copywriting – not to be confused with copyrighting – encompasses many different parts of a marketing strategy. So, it’s easy to understand how you might feel a little unsure at first how it can actually help your business. 

At the most basic definition, copywriting is any piece of writing or content you might find on a website, billboard advertisement, newspaper ad, and even a flyer you receive in the mail. 

Copywriting is also part of commercial advertising (if you’re still watching cable television these days), as well as slogans, catchphrases, and infomercials. 

Really, copywriting is everywhere, and has been for quite some time!

Nowadays, thanks to so many businesses moving online, it’s especially beneficial for businesses both new, old, large, and small. In the digital realm, copywriting takes the shape of sales letters, email newsletters, social media posts, blog content, video scripts, and more. 

From coffee roasters to law firms, no matter your industry, product, or service, copywriting acts like support beams to your entire foundation. It helps you solidify your mission and message, connect with your audience, and grab the attention of those who’ve never heard of you. 

1. Copywriting Improves SEO & Increases Organic Traffic

Recently, you’ve been looking for new desks through Google. So, you’ve been searching for things like, “best desks for home office” and you immediately have a wide variety of beautiful desks in front of you. 

You click on one of the first few websites that come up because they grabbed your attention. 

Well, that’s copywriting (and a little SEO strategy) in action. Not only does copywriting help your website actually show up in search results from Google, but that brief little description underneath the website link was written by a copywriter. You knew almost exactly what you would find before you even clicked on the link. 

But, maybe you want to learn more about this specific brand’s furniture. You might not find it featured prominently, but if you dig around a little, there’s a good chance you’ll find a section dedicated to Blogs. 

Why is that, you might wonder? Well, blogs are a form of copywriting that actually serve two big purposes. 

Blogs Offer Free & Valuable Information

First of all, blogs are a way for brands to provide valuable information to their customers – which often leads to better B2B or B2C conversions. 

Maybe you want to know how the desk you’re thinking about buying was made. Look through their blog, and find the piece that covers their whole assemblage process! 

Maybe you care about the environment and you want to be sure the desk is constructed with sustainable materials. In their blog section, you’ll probably find articles detailing their commitment to sustainability. 

See what’s happening here? You had questions and their blog has already provided you with the answers. So, essentially, the goal of blogs is to address your questions, needs, and concerns in greater detail. 

What kind of business would you most likely purchase a desk from? The one that has a lot of information available about their desks and products? Or the one that has nothing but a desk and a check-out button? 

This example can be applied to a lot of different kinds of businesses and industries. 

Need to schedule a dental appointment but you can’t choose between two different offices to call? 

While one has good reviews, you can’t find anything about their services, pricing, or commitment to providing you a good, pain-free experience. The other office, however, has full-on articles and FAQs about ways in which their dentists help you through dental anxiety – which, (we know the feeling, believe us) is something you’ve struggled with since you were a kid. 

So which office has closed the deal and earned your call? I’ll let you decide! 

Blogs Boost SEO 

The value of blogs doesn’t end with informational content for your customers. You see, the only reason you clicked on that website with all the desks in the first place, was because of a little thing called SEO. 

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is like putting up highway markers leading to your business. Picture the interstate highway system lined with every furniture store on the internet. If you just type in “furniture store online” into Google’s search bar, you’re going to find a lot of results. 

That’s because all of these businesses have put up signs that say something like, “This is a furniture store. We sell furniture here.” 

But let’s say you type in “furniture stores near me.” Now, your search is going to be more localized. You may have fewer results, and the stores will specifically be in your area. 

Can you guess why? 

The furniture stores near you have indicated to Google that they sell furniture in a certain area. They probably have a physical storefront, as opposed to furniture stores that sell exclusively online. 

But how did they get Google to register their business in a certain area, and understand what it is that they sell? 

For this part, look through their website! 

What words do you see on their page? If they have a blog, what kind of topics are they writing about? 

When a business wants to show up on search engines for certain phrases or search queries, they use copywriting to incorporate those words into their web pages or blog content. 

This signals to Google to show their business for the keywords people are searching for. 

Simple enough, right? 

Well, good SEO doesn’t quite end here. 

Word Count & Quality Content 

You see, the more content a business uploads each month, the more web traffic it generally will receive – which makes sense if you think about it. 

The more signs they put up on the highway, the more road trippers start to recognize their brand and offers. 

We won’t get too technical here. Generally speaking, blog content with a word count of a thousand words or more is thought to be “quality content” in Google’s eyes. While word counts of two thousand words or more will yield even better results for your website. 

In fact, there have been several studies from notable content marketing agencies over the past two years that have done deep dives into the correlation between word count and SEO results. 

However, the content must be quality. This means well-researched, well-formatted, and well-written! You shouldn’t expect grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, or incomplete thoughts to bring in much organic traffic. 

Additionally, you should never copy and paste someone else’s entire work onto your website or blog content. Seriously, don’t. 

Google has ways of recognizing bad content that’s just trying to game the system and will punish your website link by making it more difficult to find or remove it from its results completely. 

Ready to have a steady stream of quality content up on your website? Schedule a discovery call with FocusCopy, and we’ll take the content process off your plate. Freeing up your time to focus on your clients, business, and personal life. 

2. Copywriting Builds Relationships With Your Audience & Fosters Community

Brands and businesses benefit a lot from having an active online community. 

For example, do you want constant feedback on your offer? Having an online community to engage with on social media allows you to easily take stock of customer opinions. 

Additionally, you can get to know your customers on a more personal level, which helps you better serve their needs (more on that later). 

Copywriters can help your business build an online community by creating email newsletters, content pillars, and by giving away free information such as the content on your blog. 

Content pillars are like ebooks or in-depth articles about specific topics in your industry. The goal is to provide value to customers even if they don’t all make a purchase. 

Encouraging visitors to sign up for your newsletter allows you to communicate directly with your customers through their email inboxes. But you need a persuasive subject line and copy to really convince customers to take action on your promotion or offer. 

3. Copywriting Speaks To Your Customer Needs 

Understanding your customer needs is a big part of having a successful business. And it can mean several things. 

For example, your customers are more likely to respond to brand voices that they connect with or relate to. Copywriters are effective at capturing brand voices and speaking your customer’s languages. 

And once you’re speaking your customers’ language, you know their goals, problems, and where they are mentally and emotionally. 

Because even though copywriting is about closing more sales – it does this by solving customer problems. Effective copywriting does this by making your customers feel heard, understood, and that your business cares about helping them. 

Let’s solve problems together. Schedule a discovery call with us, and we’ll help you make your business vision a reality.  

4. Copywriting Strengthens Your Power Of Persuasion 

The purpose of copywriting is ultimately to drive customers and users to action. 

Whether that be signing up for your newsletter and email list, following you on social media, or of course, choosing to buy one of your products. Good copywriting leads your customers through a funnel. Until, eventually, you close a sale! 

The more effective your copy and research, the more likely you are to generate revenue. However, good copy still needs a quality product or service to offer potential customers. 

The most persuasive copy won’t help you if customers are leaving bad reviews about your product and telling all their friends and family about their horrible experience. 

Increase Your Conversions With Focused Copy 

Your business deserves to be on your customers’ radars. You’ve put time, money, and a lot of effort into making a service and product that actually helps people and improves their lives for the better. 

Don’t you want the best team of copywriters at your side, supporting you each step of the way? Contact us today, and together, we’ll develop a plan to tackle each one of your business’s objectives.

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

Let’s Grab A Virtual Coffee With Us To Discover How To Boost Your Words
Schedule Discovery Call
pillar blog post

Create A Pillar Blog Post That Sells

Content Marketing / By / February 20, 2023

You’ve heard of a pillar blog post before, but can’t help but feel lost. You’ve been working on your marketing and you’ve nailed the use of keywords throughout your blogs. Or so you thought. That’s all it takes, right?

It seems simple enough, doesn’t it? Write relevant and engaging blogs and plug in the keywords as you go. But you’d be misinformed to think that blog posts with keywords are all you need to rank ahead of your competitors.

Now, you’re not entirely wrong. Blogging for SEO used to be an amazing way to boost your website traffic. However, content marketing has changed and requires a little more work than monthly blog posts.

Enter pillar blog posts. We’ll talk about what they are, and how you can create one that helps you make money.

Would you rather get pillar blog post assistance directly from the experts? Get started with FocusCopy.

What Is A Pillar Blog Post?

A pillar blog post is a long-form piece of content that is written covering a specific topic. It should be broad enough to offer a comprehensive look at the subject. Yet, it should also be definitive enough to get into some, but not all, of the nitty-gritty details. 

How To Write A Pillar Blog Post That Sells

Find out what you need to get started writing a pillar blog post for your business. 

Start the structure, then write! This will help you save time whenever you’re ready to write.

Collect Your Keywords

Before you sit staring at a blank page, you need to start with the keywords you’d like to target. Use whatever tools you normally would to narrow down some reasonably achievable keywords that apply to your business and what you have to offer. 

When it comes to the keywords you’re aiming to target, make sure they:

  • Are relevant to your business
  • Can be combined in discussion with a service or product you offer
  • Are interesting enough to pull in your target audience

Once you have your keywords rounded up, you’re ready to put together an outline. Putting together the foundation of your pillar post will help you (a lot). That way, you have something to go off of when you’re writing, and you don’t need to struggle to come up with the next topic as you go.

Define Your Topic Clusters

If you’re unfamiliar with topic clusters, they’re truly simple to understand. What your pillar page is about will be your broad topic. 

As an example, this may be “Facial Plastic Surgery” if you’re a cosmetic surgeon. Or you may want to talk about “Air Conditioning Maintenance” if you own an air conditioning company. Both of these are broad enough to have the ability to discuss a bunch of other topics within them. These are called topic clusters and will consist of related topics you go a little more in-depth with. However, you shouldn’t worry about discussing each one in too much detail. You only need to talk about each topic enough to give a comprehensive view and why it’s essential.

Using our example as a cosmetic surgeon, you may want to discuss the following under your “Facial Plastic Surgery” pillar blog post:

  • Rhinoplasty
  • Chin implant
  • Cheek enhancement
  • Brow lift
  • Lip fillers

For your “Air Conditioning Maintenance” pillar blog post, you may want to cover:

  • HVAC definition
  • Common problems resulting in AC failure
  • DIY fixes
  • Benefits of AC maintenance

As you can see, there are several things you can talk about. Each one of these things makes up a topic cluster. Flesh out your topic cluster based on the broad topic you’ve chosen. Then, you’re ready to move ahead with your pillar page.

Don’t Forget The Hyperlinks

Hyperlinks define your content – ultimately defining it as a pillar page. Adding hyperlinks into your content allows the reader to click and reach another page on your website. Whether it takes them to a more in-depth blog or service page, these links will help Google navigate your website, improving your ranking. 

Another important element here is making sure that the linked page is also hyperlinked to your pillar page. This way, your reader can get right back to the pillar page without any trouble. It creates a sort of full-circle moment and helps Google understand what your website is about. Then Google can determine whether you’re offering valuable content rather than stuffing keywords into copy that isn’t well-written or helpful.

Is A Pillar Page A Blog Post?

Yes and no. This can be difficult to understand because pillar pages look like web pages but are longer than regular blog posts. The truth is, they’re a combination of the two with a purpose.

Your typical blog posts are pretty specific, and the reader knows exactly what to expect from it. This type of blog post is probably about 1,500 words. Its topic is narrowed, coming from the expert (you), and can contain many keywords to help your ranking. 

However, you can think of a pillar blog post more as a what-you-need-to-know page. It’s full of topic clusters, which help organize your content as you go. You can talk about them all on your pillar page, but you wouldn’t go into as much detail as you would on a devoted blog. You can also use the space to answer commonly asked questions your clients are most likely to ask.

RELATED: 6 Essential Elements In A Blog You Need To Include Today

Can I Use My Page As A Blog Post?

Yes. As mentioned above, pillar pages have an interesting blend of blog and website components. Additionally, you can use them as blog posts for your business as long as they have the necessary aspects needed to serve as a pillar page genuinely.

How Long Is Too Long For A Pillar Blog Post?

Let’s start by saying pillar pages do need to be long. And they certainly need to be longer than your regular blog posts. However, there’s no need to go overboard and write 20,000 words on a single page. Your sweet spot will be at 2,000 words. It’s okay to go over a little bit, but you don’t want to overwhelm your readers and force the topic if you’re starting to lose your intention.

If you’re having trouble and don’t know where to start, talk to the team at FocusCopy.

Perfecting Pillar Blog Posts For Clients In All Industries

Google and its algorithm can be a nightmare to navigate, especially if you’re not too up-to-date in the digital marketing world. But that’s okay! As a business owner, you’ve already done so much and perfected your own craft. So, if you feel like you know where to begin, but don’t have the time and tools to do it yourself, allow the experts at FocusCopy to guide you. 

We can not only walk you through the process, but you’ll have open communication every step of the way.

What do you say? Let’s grab a virtual coffee and get going on your digital marketing goals.

Need help writing pillar blog posts for your business? Contact FocusCopy for help.

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

Let’s Grab A Virtual Coffee With Us To Discover How To Boost Your Words
Schedule Discovery Call

FocusCopy® caffeinates your brand messaging so it energizes your target audience to take action. 

(281) 916-4949 | info@FocusCopy.com

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