Copywriting can be a real bitch. Even as a professional writer there are still times I find myself smashing my face into my keyboard and screaming at the Copy gods for mercy.

Alas, they’re an ungracious and mercurial bunch.

Fortunately, I’m not. If you’re looking to give your copy a really fast and easy boost, check out these ten quick and dirty tips to improve your copywriting…

#1 When In Doubt, Be Easy

Add the word ‘easy’ to any title or headline for an immediate boost.

#2 Succinctness Shines

Whatever you’ve written, rewrite it in fewer words.

#3 Embrace Blank Space

It’s advisable to add short lines, short paragraphs, images, and plenty of headings and subheadings for a reason: it creates Blank Space. This lets your readers rest their eyes while reading, making them far more likely to stay engaged, read to the end, and rally to your call to action.

#4 Mind Your Pronouns

If you’re trying to paint a vivid picture for your reader and make them feel you understand exactly what they’re thinking/feeling, use ‘you’. If you’re trying to build the Know, Like, Trust factor, use ‘we’. Use ‘I’ very sparingly, only when it’s completely unavoidable, and in direct reference to something unique to you (i.e. your bio, or a personal anecdote).

#5 Get Stuffed

The days of stuffing your keywords into your posts are deader than the Night King. SEO tactics are increasingly intelligent, you should be using Longtail Keywords, Latent Semantic Indexing, Topic Clusters, and multiple content formats (especially video!), but never, ever, keyword stuffing!

#6 Tell A Story

Using a story or narrative in your writing will make it more compelling. Add a personal anecdote, fable, or example from pop culture your ideal client will recognise to illustrate your point.

#7 Walk Like A Duck

Write like an expert, act like an expert, deliver like an expert; people will assume you’re an expert (even if you’re not convinced of it yourself!). Do it long enough, and you will become an expert.

#8 Size Matters

The length of your text matters:

  • Blog posts should never be less than 300 words long.
  • Posts designed only to boost SEO and drive traffic should be 500 words +.
  • Posts created as part of a content marketing strategy to establish your expertise, build the KLT factor, boost your visibility, and drive signups to your email list should be c.2500 words.
  • All social media posts should be optimised for their respective platforms.
  • Ad copy should also be designed to be the perfect length for the platform you’re using.
  • Website copy (i.e. home pages, product descriptions, contact pages, and team pages) should be kept as brief and to-the-point as possible.
  • Sales pages for complex products or services should be a lot more detailed.
  • Your ‘About’ page should be detailed if you have a personal brand, or a cracking brand story, but still as brief as possible while conveying your brand.

#9 Quality Over Quantity, But More Is Better

When creating content always choose quality over quantity, whether it’s in terms of the length of a post or the number of posts you publish. BUT be aware that the more frequently you post, the more effective your content marketing will be, provided all posts are very high-quality!

#10 Proof That Pudding

Proofread everything thoroughly. When you’re certain you’ve scoured all the mistakes from it, go away for a while. Ignore it for as long as you can (overnight at least) and proofread it again. If at all possible, get another member of the team to proof it after you as a final check. For really important copy, like Ad copy, marketing materials, product packages, and written products like books, get everything professionally proofread.

Need some more tips to improve your copywriting? Download my FREE guide, 55 Tips To Shit Hot Copy now…