Copywriting your way to success

Copywriting Services are ten-a-penny – so how do you protect yourself?

As a freelance copywriter of 15 years experience, I have seen many thousands of documents, each with an intended purpose, but so many of them have textbook mistakes that I often wonder who has been hired to do the job of overseeing the completion of this work.

In order to help those in a similar position, I have listed here a few things to look out for. These may seem obvious, but if you are skim-reading a document, it is often very easy to miss them – rest assured your customers wont though!

• Short Sentences – Look out for paragraphs that are made up of short sentences. Many so-called copywriters do not have a good grasp of grammar and will use a full stop where it should have been a comma or semi-colon. The result of this is a document that whilst readable, does not have a professional feel to it. Tread carefully!
• Long Paragraphs – Nothing is more off-putting to to anyone who has a mountain of copy to read than huge blocks of text. Ideally, a paragraph should be made up of a few sentences breaking the page up into bite-sized blocks. This will make reading longer documents much less tiresome and will have a greater chance of being understood and digested.
• Ask for a sample – Do not be afraid to ask any prospective copywriter for a sample of their work if you cannot gain a feeling for their level of proficiency from their website. It is very easy for someone to be able to sell their services and sound convincing, but will they meet your requirements when it comes down to the work in hand?
• Cheapest is not always best – By the same token, most expensive is not always the best either! Where possible, avoid copywriting services where the copywriter will charge by the hour. You don’t actually know what you are going to get for this and whilst the document might only take them 40 minutes to write, you may end up paying for 3 hours of their time. Always try and get a price per article – this way you know how far your budget is going to stretch and it will also make it easier to ask for bulk discounts.

These are just a few pointers to watch out for when looking for any copywriting services. And remember, any work completed for you is a direct representation of your company, so choose your copywriter carefully!