HiRoad Communications

Copywriting that speaks to your target audience

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I did it last week. Twice. Did you?

That’s really not bragging. It’s what every business, large or small should be doing once or twice a week at a minimum.

The “it” referred to here is adding new content to your website (let’s keep it out of the gutter, people).

When it comes to our websites, the fundamental complaint business owners have is not ranking high enough in the search engines. While
there’s the entire science of having the right keyword or keyword phrases, adding new content on on a fairly regular basis remains a critical part of higher rankings. Yet how many actually do it–add new content–each week?

Search engines only see words. Once a site has been indexed, it receives its ranking. If other website owners–new and those with existing sites–add new content with those same keywords, they can leave you in the dust.

That’s why having a blog that’s built into your website–not on separate blog sites–is critical to sustaining your search engine ranking. By simply posting a blog entry with your select choice of keywords, you are sending a message to the search engine spiders to “reindex me” with that new content. That helps keep your site from going to the bottom of the list.

So, how do you manage to do it at least once a week (shame on you if you haven’t caught on by now)? Here are some easy ways to consistently have fresh content:

  • Hire a freelance article/blog writer like yours truly to draft a month’s worth of blogs.
  • Make it a priority for you or a dedicated member of your staff to add content at least once a week.
  • Recruit guest bloggers. Invite non-competitors who have a similar target audience contribute a blog to run on your site. You can return the favor by writing one for theirs. If you work this right, you can be writing one blog a month but have new content every week and reach additional audiences.
  • Reference articles and link to them. That’s not advocating publishing an article verbatim on your blog. But a paragraph describing the article and then linking to it is fine.

Companies spend thousands of dollars in establishing a web presence. Yet it’s amazing how many forget to put that same effort on an
ongoing basis by updating the content to ensure the success of the site. By “doing it” once a week (or more), you can keep your website current and virile.

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The perfect e-newsletter

Let me break this to you gently: you are not reading it.

The perfect e-newsletter features a smoking subject line that demands, not asks, that you open the e-mail.

The design and layout looks like a piece of art. Subtle and sophisticated, it complements the words on the page beautifully.

The first headline fastens you to your seat like a nail gun at close range.

The articles suck you in and command you to call, click or e-mail, credit card or checkbook in hand.

The perfect e-newsletter.

And you know how many people will read that perfect e-newsletter?

That depends on one key factor: -whether or not you actually sent it.

It’s a trap that many small business owners fall into. You want your e-newsletter to be perfect. What happens is you sweat the tiniest details and then get caught up in the other many details of your business. Consequently, you miss an easy opportunity to consistently stay front-of-mind with customers/clients, prospects and, probably most importantly, your network.

One of the many beauties of the Internet age is the ease in which you can evolve your marketing materials with very little associated costs. A website, for example, is never truly finished because you should always be adding content. It’s the same for an e-newsletter. You put out your best effort and then keep tweaking to make the next effort even better.

Will it cost you business if you put out an e-newsletter that not done particularly well? Maybe.  Will it cost you business if you do
nothing and you don’t maintain consistent contact with your target audience? Most definitely. And that’s the true price of perfection.

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Better off dead? Why your subject line should make headlines.

The last issue of “Changing Lanes” featuring the subject line “My father doesn’t like me” nearly broke a record for number of opens (that’s how many people actually opened the e-mail for you folks who do not use Constant Contact). While pleased with that result, it remains a bit troubling that an e-mail that contained an obituary of another “Joe D’Eramo” achieved the most opens since the re-launch of Changing Lanes in 2010.

On the flip side, it does illustrate a point that yours truly has tried to hammer home with clients and potential clients for years. You
must treat your subject line as your headline. If you do not give the reader a reason to open it, he or she will not. It’s just the nature of people these days. We only have a certain amount of time and if there doesn’t appear to be any news of interest in an e-mail, then we move on.

That’s not saying you have to resort to trickery and fancy word play to get people to open and read your e-newsletter. That typically
works only once and then you risk losing your readers forever. But you do have to deliver a punchy headline that scratches an itch or piques their curiosity-then deliver the goods in the newsletter.

The shame is that many e-newsletters do have a worthwhile message that can benefit the reader in some way-new product, new
service, tip on how to do something more cost-effectively. Then they essentially throw it away with a subject line like “News from …”.

You’re probably saying “Joe, you’re just trying to justify people hiring copywriters to do their newsletters.” My answer, “you’re darn right I am!” But the greater point, whether you hire a writer to do it or not, is that you should put as much thought if not more into your subject line as you do the introductory paragraph of the newsletter. It doesn’t even have to be the most creative headline of all time. Just tell them why they should open your e-mail and you’d be surprised how open rates will rise. And that’s a whole lot easier than finding an obituary with your name on it.