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Copywriting can be a great career for the word-savvy individual. As a copywriter with the right experience and skill, it’s definitely possible to bring in six-figure incomes.
So if you love writing, what better way to make money than by doing the very thing you enjoy?
Copywriting has many hats and is used in all areas of content creation, marketing, and more. It’s no wonder that companies and businesses are willing to pay for good copywriting. Because good copy means more conversions, more engagement, and more sales.
So, if you are interested in learning how to become a digital copywriter, or simply refining your trade, here are some skills that digital copywriters need in 2023.
What is a Digital Copywriter?
A digital copywriter is someone who writes content for webpages and landing pages, advertisements, products, services, and more. They can be an employee of the company, or they can be self-employed as a freelance copywriter.
For those who choose the freelance route, there is much more freedom, and opportunity to choose how much and how often you work. However, you will want to make sure you are still writing regularly to not lose your skills, current clients, or potential clients.
If you need a legal contract for your freelance business to make sure you get paid while also protecting your business, make sure to check out this legal template.
So, what exactly does a digital copywriter do?
They write content designed specifically for marketing, advertising, promoting, and so on.
Essentially, these content writers are creating high-quality written content that is designed for search engine optimization (or SEO) that really engages an audience to make a purchase. I’ll cover SEO more later on.
Have you ever noticed social media posts that really catch your attention and make you want to buy, even if you don’t really want the product? Have you ever noticed a difference in advertising and writing on different social media platforms?
With social media marketing especially, you may have the opportunity to work with graphic designers, and even work with video content.
Some of the common places where copywriting is seen include blog posts, email marketing, social media marketing, and other various digital platforms. You’ve probably seen copywriting as an email from a store you once shopped at, like Old Navy, Kohl’s, and even on Amazon.
If you’re interested in learning how you can get started and get your foot in the door for a copywriting job, you can apply to be a copywriter on Simply Hired. No experience is required.
What skills does a digital copywriter need in 2023?
In order to stay ahead of the game, or even get started, you will need to hone some of your skills.
Among these includes good writing skills, good research skills, and good communication skills.
For most copywriters who work from home, there are likely going to be a number of ways in which you will have to communicate with your employer, or your clients as a freelancer. So having good communication skills is key to maintaining a strong relationship between you and your client.
And it’s a no-brainer that you have to have good writing skills because of course, you are going to be writing a lot!
Now this doesn’t mean you have to have exceptional writing. But you will want to make sure you avoid any spelling mishaps or poor grammar. To avoid running into this, you can sign up for the free version of Grammarly. It’s super easy to use and you can even run it in your web browser as an extension of Chrome, use it in Microsoft Word, google docs, and more.
So, I highly recommend you use this great tool to help you with your copywriting process.
Research skills
Lastly, you also need to have good research skills as well. The reason you need to have good research skills is that you will need to be able to stay up-to-date with industry trends, find the right keywords for your target audience, and maintain the right brand voice.
For example, if you are copywriting for products designed for new moms (target audience), you will need to know what keywords (SEO) to look out for. You will also need to stay up to date with industry trends because a new mom will not want to purchase an outdated model of a car seat for her newborn.
She is also more likely to buy something that is trending because there are lots of reviews online to compare. And trending products often have great sales for quite a while, meaning that people like the product.
As a copywriter, you can use words that really trigger a buyer to buy. These keywords really stand out to eager potential customers who are ready to buy a quality product. So, you’ll need to use your research skills to learn which words sell best to your target audience.
A great AI SEO tool that is perfect for bloggers is RankIQ. This tool does hundreds of hours of keyword research for you in a matter of minutes, and allows you to write perfectly optimized blog posts in half the time. Plus, with RankIQ, your blog posts will start ranking on the 1st page of Google in a few weeks, compared to months or longer using traditional strategies.
Remembering the 4 C’s of copywriting can help you to maintain exceptional writing. For effective copywriting, your writing should be clear, concise, compelling, and credible. For more information on the 4 C’s, you can check out how to optimize your copy on this Linkedin article.
Time management and organizational skills
Time management and organizational skills are also necessary for digital copywriters. As with any content writer, there are about a hundred things that need done right now. Believe me, running a blog while also trying to grow my online business has been a long, arduous, and overwhelming task. However, growing my blog has been the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done, and is an incredible way to make passive income.
If you’ve ever considered starting a blog, I recommend starting with Lyrical Host as your hosting company. They offer incredible services with an excellent resource library.
As a blogger, being able to better manage my time, and prioritize my tasks has been crucial to more efficient growth in my business. But I also have to include breaks into my time management schedule to avoid burnout.
Avoiding burnout as a content creator is a serious matter. This is why I avoid working on the same project or task for longer than 1-2 hours at a time. And this is even pushing that limit.
If you know what your average attention span is, try and plan your time management strategy around this period. Take a break every hour at least and get up and move. If this simply means going to the bathroom or spending a few minutes finishing a chore, you want to ensure you get up and move.
Spend a few minutes away from your computer. And come back refreshed with a new perspective. Maybe even go for a walk outside if you have time.
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- Social Media Marketing In Business: Growth And Revenue
- What Skills Does a Digital Copywriter Need in 2023?
- The Only Legal Templates You Will Ever Need For Your Website and Business
- RankIQ Review: The Best SEO AI Tool For Bloggers To Rank (2023)
Improving the performance of digital content.
The performance of digital content relies heavily on search engine optimization. SEO is a tough skill to learn and takes time to really get the hang of. You can read tons of books, take lots of courses, and watch all the best videos on SEO, and you will still not know everything.
SEO is ever-evolving with industry trends and is based on a changing algorithm as well.
However, there are ways to keep it fairly simple. While you can spend hours and hours researching all the best keywords for your digital copywriting, your time is better spent actually writing content. You can use tools like RankIQ to stay up-to-date and stay ahead of the competition, while also having the best SEO information without hours of research.
There are all kinds of various digital platforms, and programs out there that boast great SEO results for your content creation. However, they get very costly and are just as confusing to navigate and figure out as it is to just do SEO research on your own.
That is why I highly recommend you consider using Rank IQ to help boost your SEO results. Especially for copywriters who create content for blogs, Rank IQ uses data analysis to find low-competition, high-traffic keywords to maximize your writing efficiency. It is a service made by SEO experts who have years of experience in SEO and are subject matter experts. If you want to learn how effective this AI tool really is, and how to use it, then click the link to read my comprehensive review post of RankIQ.
So, with RankIQ, you rank higher in Google searches much faster! (as quick as 30 days and less for me!) After only about 4 months of using it, I’ve already started ranking for almost 80 keywords and counting. That’s pretty darn impressive for only writing about 1 post per week!
I created my blog and started publishing my blog posts without ever seeing any organic traffic (all social media traffic with lots of self-promoting). Now, within the first year of blogging, it isn’t uncommon to have fairly low organic traffic due to the website being so new to the Google algorithm.
However, this post is written within that time as well and has great search engine optimization. I had previously written another post optimized by Rank IQ, which ranked in the top 10 search results on Google for one of their recommended keywords (within 30 days).
So, you can expect this post to rank as quickly as 30-60 days as well. Especially for domains with low authority, Rank IQ can help you maximize your content creation efficiency for the best results.
You can check out what Rank IQ has to offer by following the link here.
Another method to improve the performance of digital content is to practice writing on various digital platforms to see which platform offers the best results.
You also want to write on a regular basis to keep up your writing skills and to help you maintain copywriting best practices.
- Identifying the target audience
- Using compelling and eye-catching headlines
- Using relatable phrasing
- Using precise language and verbiage
- Keeping up with SEO
- And more…
Search engine optimization in digital copywriting
SEO is one of the biggest topics out there in the world of content creation. Any type of database or search engine will involve SEO, and it’s no different in digital copywriting.
But SEO doesn’t mean you can’t maintain a brand voice. In fact, maintaining a brand voice is a great way to create a loyal audience that comes back to your website to learn more about what you have to offer.
According to Search Engine Journal, 65% of consumers report that a brand’s voice helps build trust and other emotional connections to that company. So, keeping up with the brand voice can bring loyal customers back time and again. Now this is effective copywriting!
But how do you use brand voice in your writing?
Using your research skills, you will want to look into the company/individual you are writing for, what you are writing about, and who you will be writing to. Look for consistencies in the verbiage.
Does the company or individual you are writing for use words like trendy, amazing, hot, and stylish? Or do they use words like practical, all-purpose, and functional?
Digital Copywriter Job Description and Salary
Copywriting jobs include freelance copywriting, social media copywriter, technical copywriter, marketing copywriter, SEO copywriting, and more.
According to Zip Recruiter, digital copywriter salary ranges begin around $56,000 for the 25th percentile and as much as $122,000 for the top earners.
As a freelance writer, you will have much more freedom to write when, where, and what about when taking on new clients. But you also want to make sure that you are not running your freelance business illegally. Without the right legal documents, you are not only risking serious legal fees against you, but you also run the risk of not getting paid.
So, if you don’t have any legal contracts or documents protecting your freelance business, make sure you check out Amira’s Freelance Legal bundle here. With this bundle, you are saving over $2700 that it would have cost to hire a lawyer, and you are receiving over $800 in bonuses to boost your business even more.
Related: 16 Best Legal Pages for Websites: Blog & Business Must-Haves
These legal templates are incredibly affordable and worth every penny. I even use many templates from Amira for my blog. So, I never have to worry about legal battles that I cannot afford.
SEO copywriting will require an additional set of knowledge. As I mentioned earlier, you will want to have an idea of how to optimize the content you write for your clients. Search engine optimization will help bring in more money for your clients. So, when your SEO writing skills increase your clients’ value, you may have the ability to charge more for your services.
According to the Copy Blogger, the 5 levels of copywriting for great content creation are preparing, organizing, writing, editing, and reviewing. So if you want to be a good digital copywriter, make sure you keep those writing skills sharp, the research skills handy, and a fresh pair of eyes nearby if you want to have exceptional writing!
This is the most comprehensive article I’ve seen to-date regarding pursuing a career as a digital copywriter. Thanks for all the great info – this could be a rewarding career.
I’m so glad you found the article helpful!
It can definitely be a great way to make money from home.