The Professional Writing Service

Understanding the Writing Process - A Guide to Improving Your Web Content
By Jay Neaves

As any professional writer will attest, there is a lot more to professional writing than just writing! While it would be incredibly convenient and far less time consuming if all we, as professional writers, or you as website owners and bloggers needed to do was put words on a page in some semblance of order. Unfortunately, the writing process and creating high quality web content is a far more complex series of 4 overlapping stages.

For website owners who are looking to improve their web content, developing their understanding of the writing process is an important first step. Skipping the steps of the writing process in the hope of 'winging it' is incredibly counter-productive. While you may make savings in terms of your time, the cost implications in terms of both the quality of your web content and the conversion of traffic will be far greater.

Professional writers have been doing this for a very long time. Their livelihoods depend on them creating high quality, effective web content for their clients. If professional writers understand that following the writing process through all 4 overlapping stages is the route to success, there is probably reasonable cause to believe that website owners and bloggers who write their own web content could benefit from following it too.

For professional writers, the writing process starts in the pre-writing stage. Before a single word is produced, there is a process of discovery that needs to take place. For professional writers, this often involves a period of researching the subject matter, as they are usually given a specific topic to work with. However, for website owners, this is more likely to be a process of discovering new ideas or discussion points within their niche.

Pre-writing is a means of gathering your thoughts. The objectives in the pre-writing stage are to understand the writing task at hand, and to research the relevant information required to complete it. Mapping, brain storming and free writing are all techniques that are frequently used by professional writers to help them create an outline or plan for the written task.

Armed with both a plan and the relevant information, the drafting stage can commence. The objectives in the drafting process are to bring together the information you have gathered and formulate a coherent piece of text that will inform and interest the reader.

During the drafting process, the professional writer will order the information they have gathered and paragraph-by-paragraph start to structure it for presentation to an audience. While some professional writers choose not to pay too much attention to writing technicalities such as grammar, spelling and sentence structure, others will be more diligent in an attempt to reduce the time required in the later stages.

The next stage of the process is to review and edit the draft of your web content. While it may not be the case for all personal writers, most of us opt to take a short time out from our draft at this point. Immediate review can easily lead to the writer missing things that need to be edited. Reading your work with fresh eyes is often more congruent to finding any areas of weakness or inconsistency.

The objectives in the reviewing and editing stage are to fine tune your work and achieve writing effectiveness. Professional writers have a tendency to be meticulous in this stage of the process and for most, this is the most time consuming stage of the process. Any technical errors, non-contributory sentences, or ordering errors should be addressed, edited or omitted at this stage. Thus, the writer is left with a carefully crafted, well-written piece of web content that serves the purposes for which it was intended.

The final stage, proofreading, is the stage that is most commonly overlooked. The objectives in proofreading are to find any final errors or glitches that need to be made. Common errors are spelling mistakes, typing errors and missing punctuation. Professional writers will often print their final version out and in teacher-like style, go over it with a red pen, correcting any simple errors. Most professional writing services ensure their work is then checked again by another professional writer. The text or web content then goes back to the editing stage for the final errors to be rectified and the final piece of copy is complete.

Using this simple 4 stage writing process to create web content will help you improve the quality of your web content and ensure that any mistakes are picked up before yours reader see it. While it may take a little extra time, the alternative is poor quality web content that is often littered with errors. Remember, your credibility and authority in your niche is judged by the quality of your web content not by the speed at which you produce it. Quality, not quantity is the key to traffic and conversion for your website.

Jay Neaves BA (Honors) Communication and Media - Author, Writer

Jay Neaves is a highly qualified, professional writer with almost 15 years experience in the field. His work has been published in over 50 publications and appears on hundreds of websites and blogs. During his career he has produced everything from academic text to fictional short stories.

This year has been an exciting time for Jay. After almost 15 years of freelance writing through reputation alone, he has taken his business online. The Professional Writing Service was launched in April 2009. With the support of his existing clients and the welcoming of many new ones, The Professional Writing Service online has quickly established itself as a front runner for the production of outsourced web content and article marketing.

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Professional Writers Guide to Effective Persuasive Web Content - Principles of Persuasive Writing
By Jay Neaves

Creating effective persuasive content for your website or blog is about striking the right balance. Web content needs to serve a variety of purposes and not all content is created equal. Professional writers are finding that the leading reason successful website owners outsource their web content to professional writing services, is that a highly skilled professional writers can create web content that is effective in terms of authority, search engine optimization (SEO) and most importantly persuasion.

Mastering the art of persuasive writing can take a long time even for professional writers. Contrary to popular belief, it is not hugely difficult to write effective persuasive content, however, it is by far, the easiest form of web content to get terribly wrong. Common reasons why so many website owners get persuasive writing wrong are a lack of structure to their content and a failure to understand the basic principles of persuasive writing

Poorly structured content has two negative effects. Firstly, it leaves the reader struggling to find the key information that affects them. You may be trying very hard to present your argument convincingly but the reader is looking for how it relates to their needs wants or problems. Secondly, it hinders the readers ability to view you as an authority in your field. In order for your web content to be effective and persuasive, the reader has to feel they are reading the work of an expert who can clearly and coherently present the relevant information and provide a solution to their problem.

Clear structure is achieved in two ways, the knowledge of key writing principles and applying that knowledge to devise a detailed plan for your content. While planning in this way may seem like a time consuming exercise, it prevents you from losing focus or deviating from what you need to say and ensures your web content accomplishes your goal. So what are the key principles to writing effective persuasive web content?

The first principle of any writing task is to have a "purpose". Without considering what the purpose of your web content is, there is little chance you will achieve the desired outcome. Like all persuasive text, persuasive web content or sales copy has a very distinct purpose. That purpose is to convince the reader to think, or behave in the way you want them to.

Step one in your plan is to establish and write a clear statement on exactly what you want your reader to think, believe, agree with or do. be as specific as you can and try to avoid any general statements, such as, 'buy my product'.

The second principle that must be considered is the "key point" you are trying to make. To write effective, persuasive content, you need to know exactly what your point is because if you don't know, your reader certainly won't! Essentially, your key point will need to be abundantly clear throughout your web content, so be absolutely sure you know what it is. Any deviation or digression from that point will just confuse the reader.

Step two in your plan is to write a clear statement on what your key point(s) are. This could be the unique selling points (USP) of your product or how your product can solve the readers wants, needs or problems.

The third principle is "audience". It is vitally important that you know who your audience are and what their wants and needs are. Effective, persuasive web content relies on the ability of the writer to connect with the reader through mutual understanding. If you understand your target audience, you can write web content that appeals directly to that audience. This is arguably the single most important factor in terms of converting your reader to your way of thinking.

There are two issues you need to cover in your plans relating to audience. Who your target audience are including their interests and/or demographics and what their wants, needs or problems are.

To put this into context, imagine your website sells Ford cars and the purpose of your web content is to convince and persuade people to buy Ford cars. Perhaps your key point could be that they are very affordable. Who would be your target audience? Anyone who wants or needs a new car or people who need a new car but have a limited income? Furthermore, what can you ascertain or assume about people with a limited income?

Understanding who you need to write your web content for is half the battle to effective persuasive copy. After all, even the best professional writer could not write web content that will convince a millionaire to buy a Ford when they want a Ferrari! Many professional writers go so far as to create a profile for the target audience within the planning stage.

The final principle you will need to consider is "Voice". For some this may seem like an obscure term to use, considering the communication is written and non-verbal, but selecting the correct "voice" or style and tone for your web content is very important. The style and tone of your web content will largely depend on who your target audience are. However, two good rules of thumb iare that people do not respond well to being directly told what to do or think and that no one likes a bully.

If you have taken the advisable step of creating a profile for your target customer, what style or tone are they most likely to respond to? Would they respond better to simple, straightforward language or detailed, complex language? Will they appreciate a witty and friendly tone or a more serious authoritarian approach? These are important factors to consider when for the planning your content.

Writing effective, persuasive web content requires knowledge, preparation and skill. Even professional writers can find it difficult without formulating a detailed plan. Persuasive web content must;

a) have a known purpose to serve

b) clearly and concisely make the key point(s)

c) have a specific, targeted audience

d) be written in a clear style and tone that the audience respond favourably to.

Getting your persuasive web content wrong can be hugely detrimental to your business, particularly in terms of conversion. Understanding the key principles of persuasive writing and making a detailed plan will significantly increase your chances of writing effective, persuasive web content.

However, if it all seems too time consuming or too much like hard work, you can always outsource to a professional writer or writing service, like The Professional Writing Service, and let us do all the planning and writing for you!

Jay Neaves BA (Honors) Communication and Media - Author & Writer

Jay Neaves is a highly qualified, professional writer with almost 15 years experience in the field. His work has been published in over 50 publications and appears on hundreds of websites and blogs. During his career he has produced everything from academic text to fictional short stories.

This year has been an exciting time for Jay. After almost 15 years of freelance writing through reputation alone, he has taken his business online. The Professional Writing Service was launched in April 2009. With the support of his existing clients and the welcoming of many new ones, The Professional Writing Service online has quickly established itself as a front runner for the production of outsourced web content and article marketing.

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10 Steps To Effective Sales Copy From The Professional Writing Service

Writing persuasive web content and effective sales copy is not as easy as you might think. Much of the work outsourced to our professional writers at The Professional Writing Service is sales copy. Our clients report that they find persuasive web content and sales copy the hardest form of copy to produce and often come to us requesting we rewrite their existing efforts. We find our clients are usually completely mystified why their attempts at writing sales copy has been completely ineffective, but a quick glance from one of our professional writers usually reveals the same common mistakes.

As part of our commitment to our readers and clients, the professional writers at The Professional Writing Service like to produce regular hints and tips to demystify web content production and enable website owners to produce quality content that meets their needs.

As professional writers who specialize in persuasive web content and sales copy, we follow a very simple, yet highly effective step-by-step process shown below. This 10 step process, coupled with the information provided in our forthcoming article The Professional Writing Service Guide To Writing Effective Sales Copy, offers web owners an detailed road map to killer sales copy!

Step 1. Attention Grabbing Headline

The purpose of your headline is to capture the attention of your target customer and to compel the reader to keep reading. It must be specific to your niche and it needs to appeal to their curiosity.

Step 2. Establish A Rapport

Persuasive web content and sales copy has to connect with the reader. They need to feel valued and that what you have to say directly affects them. This is best achieved using a conversational style and letting them know that you understand their needs or desires and that you are well positioned to meet them.

Step 3. Be A Credible Authority

The potential customer needs to know you are a credible authority in your niche. Sales copy must convince the reader that you are experienced and knowledgeable.

Step 4. Use clear, concise, punchy statements To Convey The Benefits

Always remember that customers are primarily concerned with the need or desire they have and are looking for solutions.

Step 5. Include Testimonials

Testimonials enhance your authority and credibility and show the customer that your product has successfully met the needs of other people and can meet theirs too.

Step 6. Value

The customer needs to know that what you're offering presents value for money. Having already convinced that your product has huge benefits for them, you now have to justify that the price presents exceptional value.

Step 7. Risk Reversal

Customers do not like risk. Offering a satisfaction guarantee offers customers an assurance that very few would actually take up.

Step 8. Call To Action

Effective sales copy needs to create a sense of urgency while informing the customer of exactly what they need to do to buy your product. The easier you make it, the more likely the customer is to act.

Step 9. Incentives

There should always be an incentive for the customer to 'BUY NOW'. Offering bonuses and price reductions is a good way of prompting the customer to seal the deal.

Step 10. The Afterthought

Quality sales copy almost always has some form of P.S. attached. This is an opportunity to recap what your product has to offer including any bonuses, incentives and benefits.

The first rule of successful website ownership and blogging is generating traffic. While there are many ways of doing this, article marketing and pay-per-click advertising to name just a couple, the best way to attract traffic is to ensure your website ranks with the leading search engines, particularly google, employing search engine optimizaition or SEO techniques.

Search engine optimization or SEO as it is known in the online world, has long been considered the golden strategy in the development of successful websites and blogs. However, many website owners and bloggers fail to understand that there is a very delicate balance to be struck between effective SEO and effective web content.

A common error is the excessive use of keywords or keyword phrases within the web content. While this may have positive results in terms of search engine rankings and may attract traffic to your website or blog, the overuse of keywords can have an incredibly damaging effect on conversion.

The reason for this is that web content that is entirely focused on SEO tends to be dull and laborious to read. Constant repetition of a limited number of words or phrases becomes incredibly tiresome and is viewed by the audience as needless. This can be particularly troublesome in niches that are quite uninteresting in the first place.

For web content to be effective, it must be keyword rich while remaining interesting, informative and most importantly persuasive. After all, someone visiting your website or blog does not, in and of itself, generate an income. Revenue and income are realm of conversion.

Coverting your traffic into a paying customer requires your visitor to be interested in what you have to offer. No one will purchase your product or services, no matter how good it is, unless you convince them they need it! The key to conversion is ensuring your traffic views you as an authority in your niche and believes that your product or service can meet an existing need they have.

If you web content has excessive keyword or keyword phase usage, it will not provide the level of information your traffic requires to make a purchase, it will not sustain their interest long enough for them to fully appreciate what you have to offer and it certainly won't persuade them to part with their hard earned money!

The key to writing effective web content is to carefully construct copy that does a little bit of everything. By all means, employ SEO techniques when writing your web content but do so in a careful rational way. Unless you're a highly skilled professional writer, use your keywords sparingly and limit their use to no more than one or two appearances per paragraph. Use them in context to ensure your web content flows nicely and makes sure what you're writing contributes to both your authority and your sales pitch.

The overuse of keywords or keyword phrases will send your visitors cursor to the X top right when your overall goal is for them to hit the 'pay now' button. Ensuring your web content is informative, interesting to read and persuasive, as well as being keyword rich, will generate far greater financial rewards than SEO alone.