Episode 28: Website Copywriter Brisbane
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[00:00:00] Saul: Hi everybody, and welcome to the Web Design Brisbane Podcast. This is episode number 28. And today's episode is entitled Website Copywriter Brisbane. My name is Saul Edmonds. And as usual, I'm joined by the lovely Gillian Smith.
[00:00:12] Gillian: Good morning, and hello, everybody.
[00:00:14] Saul: Oh, hello, we are the co-founders and creative directors of Roundhouse, the creative agency, local business with a passion for helping our clients grow. Over to you, Gil.
[00:00:23] Gillian: Okay, thanks very much, Saul. Well today, we will talk about website copy, and why you should consider using a professional website copywriter for your small business website. Now our goal here is to help small business owners’ start-ups and entrepreneurs in the city of Brisbane, Australia, take their opportunities to the next level with brilliant website design. If you are from another location or city, welcome. Thanks for joining us today and we hope we can help you grow your small business in the online space.
[00:00:54] Saul: Okay, so what's today's topics?
[00:00:55] Gillian: Well, today we're going to learn more about website copywriting. What does a website copywriting do? Why you should use a website copywriter? When to use a website copywriter? Finally, how much should you expect to pay for website copywriting services?
[00:01:12] Saul: it's all about the copy today?
[00:01:14] Gillian: It's all about the copy.
[00:01:15] Saul: Yeah, sure.
[00:01:16] Gillian: Okay, well, Saul. Can you give everyone an overview of what does a website copywriter do?
[00:01:21] Saul: Okay, people who write copy text wording on your website, but I guess more than that, as well, they're going to be adding the literary flavour to your website so copy comes in a range of different service levels, like everything does at the level of getting a really good understanding of the person's brand, website, copy, and then any sort of copy period is really important to be able to add that extra layer of meaning to when people are reading about your services, about you, and about anything on your website.
[00:02:12] Gillian: So your website doesn't just need to look good, it needs to actually have really good quality content.
[00:02:17] Saul: Yeah. So content yet again, content is of course king so that comes down to your copy the text, what people are reading on the side, what they're looking at the side, and what they're probably listening to on the site, and looking at in terms of also video as well so that can all depending on the type of content on your website, if you've got video content or any other audio content like now for example, you can have somebody scripting, and writing certain parts of that too, but ideally, in a perfect world so it all ties in really well, and the proper thought about how it ties into the brand, holistically. Yeah, there's that word again, it ties in holistically to the sort of messages you want to convey to your potential clients and customers.
[00:02:21] Gillian: Because it always comes back to the client, doesn't it?
[00:02:48] Saul: Yeah
[00:02:51] Gillian: Knowing your customer will set you on a pathway for what type of content that you should have on your site.
[00:03:28] Saul: Yeah, that's right, and in turn their customers and clients because whilst of course, it's for them, it is good, it's about their brand. But ultimately, depending on the style of writing to whether it's more for sales, or more to nurture, or whatever that might be
[00:03:53] Gillian: Education?
[00:03:53] Saul: Yeah, or to educate, or just to explain things clearly if it's a complex idea to be able to explain things clearly at well, and still be on brand, then those are the sort of specific skills that a good website copywriter, or copywriter in general brings, but is a little bit different on a website to just because of the environment that people are looking at, especially if they're looking at it then on the mobile, too. Having things that are going to get to the point and be specific about what people need to know but give the right flavour. Yeah, that's quite a skill.
[00:04:35] Gillian: Well, you mentioned a complex information. So is an infographic something that a website copywriter could assist you with starting off and why infographics a good idea?
[00:04:46] Saul: Yeah, certainly. That's quite true, too. Infographic is any content, like anything else, on your website, having something that's going to distil particular ideas, whether it's about services, or about processes, or even about products, having some simple visual that can capture that easily that involves good copy, as well can be a fantastic tool for business. They really great, all-rounders, but I guess infographics traditionally, are about information. Of course, hence the name infographics so having great copy in them to, which is usually could be a cut down version of what they might find somewhere else. But it still is a direct flow on from other content on their website, or elsewhere online. And also, just one of the points with copyright is to, especially on websites, is then the real skill or well, not the real skill. But one of them the real skills also comes in to be able to tie in, what they're talking about, then with text is going to be optimized for the search engines too, that's that can be really tricky, because search engines like Google have got specific requirements they want to see, especially if you're going to be targeting particular search terms, and that's really important to know that at the beginning of your project, even if that changes over time, then to include those sort of words and things in the right way.
[00:06:34] Gillian: Review your content with keywords.
[00:06:36] Saul: Yeah.
[00:06:37] Gillian: in a natural way.
[00:06:38] Saul: Yeah, in a natural way. So it doesn't sound overly spammy and makes sense.
[00:06:42] Gillian: Now, why should people consider working with a professional copywriter, as opposed to doing the content themselves?
[00:06:50] Saul: Yeah, okay. One of the biggest, we've always found over the years, and people themselves often find this, one of the biggest hurdles of getting yourself sites that having a smooth process is then the content, if the client says, I'm going to be doing the copy, and that's fine, that happens many times, is that they need to obviously have the time to do that. It's not and if they're not used to thinking about it in that sort of why then it can be a quiet quarter a hard task for a lot of people, not only time saving, but then not knowing those other things that we spoke about, they don't know so then for themselves, they won't end up getting really the best result that they could possibly have. It's not to say that heaps of people don't do a good job, because they often do but it could be even better if they use a professional to do that. Sometimes, what we've done and other people might do to it, take somebody's copy and then refine it. So it's either done from scratch, or take some content, there's always a part of that process with the client needs to be involved. Even if all the copy has been done from scratch, they need to provide certain information.
[00:07:07] Gillian: Now, of course, for people just starting a new website or considering starting a new website project, you need to have the content in place before you get going so website copywriter could be useful in that circumstance.
[00:08:29] Saul: Yeah, that's right. Ideally, you have all your content ready to go before you start the design. The reality. On the flip side, isn't always the case. And that's okay, too. It's no hold up for at least for us to start work, you can put placeholder content in there so people can start to get a feel of how it's going to look, and then working on it at the same time. Ideally, it's better if it's there in place, because then it makes everything quicker, but it's not always realistic.
[00:09:02] Gillian: Okay. Well, I guess a final key question other people might have out there is. Is professional website copywriting expensive?
[00:09:11] Saul: Okay, well, no, not necessarily. I mean, once again, you've got a huge range of people who charge varying our rates could be from down to $20 to $30 an hour, up to a few hundred an hour. It does range generally, somewhere in between is the average is the most important thing, the most common thing. But you will find with a lot of people, they will also want to give a fixed price quote, which comes yet again, back to the very sensible component of it is that to be able to do that, you need to have a good (Skype). So the copywriter, and everyone involved needs to have a really clear idea of what they're going to be doing and that can just be as simple as knowing we're going to be doing copy of roughly this many words, or even a range of like five to 700 words,
[00:10:21] Gillian: targeting these keywords?
[00:10:22] Saul: Yes, targeting these keywords over (X) amount of pages and then that might change if the copywriter needs to do things like doing extra research, if it's an area they're unfamiliar with, or it's a complex area that they need to do more research on, they would then like knowing that they would need to factor into their pricing for that, that extra time, and possibly anything else but once again, that coming from a really clear scape. And that's really like anything in a website. It can be relatively simple. If everyone's got a really clear idea, which sounds like a no brainer, right? But that's one of the best things anyone can do. And with that in mind. That's it for today. Again, guys, thank you so much for listening. Before we go. Please don't forget to rate review and subscribe to this podcast. We'd love to hear your feedback. Also, if you'd like to read the transcript of this episode, please visit our website @roundhouse.cc/web-design. We're on a journey to help local Brisbane businesses grow their opportunities online and exceed their goals. Thanks for listening and we'll see you tomorrow. Bye.
[00:11:42] Gillian: Bye, everyone.