The copywriting blog

We just love all the one-sided communications that pop up around election time, and  there’s nothing more dodgy than newspaper editorial.

Here’s a link to a brilliant comparison of two articles in the Scottish and English version of the Sun – Obviously neither are famous for their integrity and amazing writing, but it’s still funny to see how brazen the (English) Sun is when it’s talking about politics. 

Our favourite line is:

‘Can there ever have been a more squalid spectacle than this discredited loser scrabbling on his knees to stay in No10?’

Sorry, we shouldn’t mock, but as copywriters we’re used to using emotive language to persuade and influence people, and this is far from subtle. To paraphrase Alastair Campbell’s in his recent run in with a Sky reporter, ”Calm down, have some dignity”   

http://www.dracos.co.uk/scribblings/sun-2010-05-11/

It’s one of the first questions we’re always asked – how much does your copywriting cost?

Well with copywriting, you get what you pay for. We’re not in the business of cheap, bargain basement copywriting. You can get cheap copywriting by outsourcing to India, and can get a 600 word article for a couple of dollars. We know this because we’ve had a few big jobs rewriting the rubbish into proper copy that achieves its aims. If you just want pages of nonsense to fill 1000s of web pages then we’re not for you. This copy will turn your customers off and lose you sales.

On the other hand, we’re not going to charge you £10,000 for a sales letter that pulls in extra money for you. That’s part of our job and we don’t need to take a percentage of your extra sales. Just buy us some nice biscuits if we make you an extra million

So anyway, back to the question. what does copywriting cost? The answer is, it depends.

It depends on what you’ve got, what you need and how much you want. On average we charge £40 per page of SEO website copywriting. It takes an hour or two to write a killer website page, so we’re not charging any more than any other professional service – and our expert writing can make you money too with extra sales, happy customers and more customer interest.

So don’t focus on charges and prices – maybe rather than ‘what does copywriting cost?’, maybe the question should be ‘how much can good copywriting make me?’

And the answer to that, is ….. loads.

Copywriting companies – UK or US?

Good copywriting can transform any business, but it’s also a very local thing. Take copywriting companies in the US for instance, they tend to go for the long copy sales letters. These are single-page websites with big, red titles like

“7 copywriting secrets GUARANTEED to make you live forever“

followed by a load of waffle with special offers, exciting claims and information from satisfied customers.

These just don’t work as well in the UK, and UK copywriting companies focus on direct mail sales letters, brochure websites and the like. It’s about knowing your audience.

Obviously this is a bit of a simplification – many US companies have great copy, but it’s a definite trend in copywriting companies. UK or US you can tell the market a mile off.

The writing agency is based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, but we provide copywriting services for companies across the world. We prefer copywriting for UK companies though, because, well, it’s closer to home, and slightly less……how can we put it…….cheesy.

As for copywriting companies in the UK, they don’t really vary in style, except for Leeds, that is – in Leeds we’re cheaper, friendlier, better, more inventive, and just generally ace. Take a look at our recent copywriting work for proof

copywriting squid

A new list of annoying words was published today, and we love it. It’s from a book called “Damp Squid” that’s full of the most infuriating phrases that make life annoying, from”at the end of the day” to “shouldn’t of”.

While these phrases are most often found in speech rather than copywriting, as writers we’re well used to being annoyed be words. It made us think, as website copywriters, what are our most annoying phrases we come across when we’re editing other people’s copywriting. A quick chat around our copywriters, and here’s our top 3 annoying words

1. “utilise”
2. “welcome to our website”
3. “click here”

Grrr, it’s made our website copywriters angry just thinking of them, and if you send us any copy with them in, they won’t be there once our website copywriters have finished.

It’s for your own good, honestly!