We have been telling clients and prospective clients for some time now that quality content is more important to the success of their website than nearly anything else. We have also talked at length here about the importance of relevant content. Since we began harping on these topics, Google strengthened our arguments by giving away tidbits of their algorithm.

What we have known, from these confessions, is that since this past spring we have been proven right. Our approach to SEO copywriting and web copy in general was right all along. Good quality writing, the kind that brings visitors back to a site again and again, is the same type of content that the search engines like also.

As copywriters, we know now to sell and as SEO copywriters we know how to sell and get our clients found by customers online. This has turned out to be a good combination and explains some of the success of our company ACME Writing, LLC. Our specialization in all things Internet has been the impetus for the success of Solution Content also.

In the process of all this writing for clients worldwide, we learned that we can develop remarkable taglines and slogans, so Super Taglines and Taglines R Us were born. Both have been great niche market performers.

We are now venturing off to be the go-to source for web copy and SEO copywriting advice and counsel. Our site Web Copy Today is brand new and will provide an abstract of everything new to the discipline. Our retail sites are growing in number also and the total Internet portfolio is impressive.

One downside to all this success is this great old website. One trick that SEO experts know is that fresh content is of great importance to any website so it is treated well by the spiders and bots that scour the Internet daily.  We have neglected The Great Writer in this regard. The shoe makers children often go barefoot. And so it goes.

There has been an interesting phenomenon that has occurred in recent years. The most popular copywriters have not arrived at that distinction because they are proven sales-producers, but because they are outrageous. People are always attracted to outrageous personalities, and in the copywriting profession, this is no exception.

Here is an example of what I am referring to.  A mainstream copywriter may advertise their business thus:

We provide effective copywriting that sells your prospective customers by appealing to their most basic needs. Our copywriting has proven results with dozens of client testimonials to support our claims. We write professionally to enhance your company’s reputation and brand.

Then, there is the outrageous copywriter, who has been catapulted to cult status because of the way they ignore image to concentrate on absurdity.

We reach out and grab your prospects by the neck and squeeze until their eyeballs pop. We drag them kicking and screaming and beat your products’ benefits into their heads. Our approach smacks them in the face until they buy while we throw your competition against the curb.

Which writer is the better one? There is one way to discern the difference between the pop-culture heroes and the tried and true copywriters.  Good copywriters have verifiable results they can point to. They have legitimate clients, companies with established brands and products. The outrageous copywriters point to their own self-promotion and followers pronouncements as proof of their prowess.

Does it seem that one group of writers spends more time pushing their style and making millions based on their perceived capabilities?  The plain-vanilla copywriters work every day and get real results. They research their client’s markets, connect product or service benefits with client needs and produce sales. They offer their clients real value.

Next time you hear someone suggest a copywriting superstar who has a long-copy sales-page website screaming of their success, tell them; no thanks. Good copywriting works when the client’s brand and image are considered along with selling their product. The outrageous copywriters write for companies that will last for a year or less. By this time, they have made their money and moved on.

© 2010 K Richard Douglas

Welcome to 2010. The last year of the decade reminds us that a lot has changed in the past nine years. The nineties saw the escalation in the popularity of the Internet and the current decade exploded in its application. Everything has changed.

At the beginning of this decade, companies were allocating just a smidgen of their marketing budget to digital marketing.  Some big companies still allocated none of their marketing budget to the Internet. Today, the focus has made a monumental shift. Brand recognition and product and service sales are dependent on the Internet. A new generation goes to the Internet as a matter of routine.

Copy writing for print media was still the focus of most big companies at the start of the decade. Content is slowly replacing print media copy.  There are no trees sacrificed to create a virtual page. Internet pages allow linking and viewer interaction.

Content still has the same mission as copy.  When content is employed on an ecommerce site, it must sell products or services. Content must also build brands. Some content goes viral and gains the influence and power of millions in ad revenues for free.

The next decade will bring an entirely different use for words. Portable devices will be the norm and content will have to deliver in very new ways. Smart companies will work with experienced content writers to harness a whole new set of opportunities for utilizing words.