What is an iFrame? An iFrame prevents the entire screen from moving when you scroll down a web page. Instead, only the text scrolls while the company header and page menus remain in view.

I’d give you an example of an iFrame, but I don’t want to be liable for defamation–I’m about to criticise the kipper out of them.

3 Reasons to Get Rid Of The iFrame On Your Company Website NOW!

1. iFrames are all about you. iFrames usually reside under your company logo and website page menus. But these two website elements (while necessary for ensuring readers are on the right site) are the two most-ignored website elements by your readers!

Readers view company logos and website page menus as “company” propaganda. They ignore such company info more readily than radio commercial time. So why would you waste precious reading time, risk annoying and depleting your audience’s short, online attention span with an iFrame? It’s a really bad idea to try to force your online readers to focus on you instead of their interests.

2. iFrames are hard to read. You want to give your readers a reason to read your text. By making your text scroll in an isolated box forces laptop readers to tuck in their chin to read. It’s uncomfortable and discouraging.

And don’t tell me  you “put the content in an iFrame because no one reads the website words anyway.” If you aren’t putting interesting content on your website, why bother with any content at all? iFrame content is surely not going to encourage readers to pick up the phone and call you, unlike these copywritten websites.

Further, there is no need for iFrames now that all computers can scroll quickly. Scrolling readers who hit an iFrame feel like they’ve caught their ‘line’ on a snag. Readers are jarred when they try to scroll down and the page abruptly stops and  starts scrolling in an iFrame. It annoys readers and makes them feel out of control. The Internet is all about moving along in the driver’s seat. By taking away this power, iFrames put a bad taste in the mouth of your readers and are a hindrance to the success of your company website.

3. iFrames are contrary to Web 2.o and are an outdated method of design. Now that we have accepted – and come to expect – the fact that online readers will skim read your content, Web 2.0 website design allows websites to work well for skimming. Your website is more like a newspaper  anyway.

Web 2.0 designs typically use image headers at the top with built-in copywritten text so readers get to see an overview of the site’s content at the top of the page (priority space). These built-in headlines help readers skim and find the content that interests them. Setting up your website content with a design that enables quick website content navigation builds rapport with your audience because you demonstrate a respect for their time. Because “everyone’s a publisher” in the Web 2.0 environment, you’re sure to be publicly criticised if you don’t respect your readers’ time.

Also, most great websites allow you to interlink easily so that your website works like Wikipedia: readers can quickly move through the content on a path that interests them. Because iFrames make it hard to move through the content, it’s hard to get to the links that interest you.

Start phasing out the iFrames in your company website if you’re using them. Try learning WordPress instead.

1) Content Strategy and set KPIs

2) Content research and collation

3) Determine and find audiences and sources for dissemination

4) Content creation, client feedback, adjustments and scheduling

5) Dissemination to various sources and audiences and track KPIs.

Now you might be wondering:

• What is great writing?
• What to expect from a website copywriter.

“First we wrote the content in-house, and now it’s time for content that suits our professional image.” 

BEFORE the ideas on the website were too complex and didn’t suit online reading. The text needed to be organised and explained simply to help both technical and non-technical prospects pinpoint key information. Quantec didn’t want their website to be a knot of “marketing fluff” – the website should communicate the integrity of their company.

AFTER: Here’s what Quantec Geoscience thought about our SEO Website Copywriting Process

“Tangible Words helped us to present our geophysical services in a way that our clients could appreciate and understand.  Our previous website contained way too much text–it was repetitive, overly technical and did not do a great job of highlighting our expertise. Alysha and her team were able to articulate our services in language that spoke to the needs of each of our client industry groups, turning our website into the key communication tool it was meant to be.“ More… 

How to make SEO Copywriting (Toronto) turn your website into a sales tool like Quantec’s:

1. Use the website re-writing process to collate ideas, expertise and opinions from all key team members. By gathering and negotiating agreement between key decision makers, we made sure all team members’ expectations were equally understood so that everyone’s goals were met, rather than leaving some Quantec staff disappointed in the website rewriting process.
2. Organise old material: determine which sales messages had been most useful to Quantec’s clients in the past and and which hidden benefits prospects would want to know to help them make an educated purchasing decision.
3. Storyboard over 25 pages of content and determine which pages were necessary but also which messages belonged on set pages to help readers more easily navigate the website.
4. Tightly manage all timelines.
5. Substantiate all claims with evidence to communicate Quantec’s integrity with online writing.
6. Write and rewrite the content thirteen times before presenting the copy to the client.
7. Provide a process for assessing content and lead meetings with key decisions makers and complete three sets of edits to ensure all team members feel the new copy is “the best fit.”

Due to the success of this process, Quantec has hired Tangible Words on an ongoing basis to make sure all content marketing is consistent, including brochures, other webpages, sales letters, etc.

Dates: May 30th from 6pm – 9pm and June 6th from 6pm-9pm
Location: Loyalist College in Bancroft; 195 Hastings Street North, Bancroft.
What to bring: Either bring your own laptop or use the computers in the Loyalist e-lab.

You’ll leave knowing:

• How to publish content – and schedule it in advance.
• How to control spam and what other people post on your blog.
• 7 Essential Free Business “Plugins” for your site.
• The connection between your business blog and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).
• How to blog more effortlessly.

PLUS – You’ll have time to create a business blog!

BONUS inclusions for this workshop:

• One-on-One assistance working through WordPress Software
• ‘Top Tips Using WordPress for your Business’ e-Book
• Snacks, Coffee, Tea – sponsored by Loyalist

To Register for WordPress workshop: http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e5s6js7u56b534b6&llr=dcpl9gjab

- a light lunch  will be provided
Workshop fee is $85 dollars*

Here’s a full day workshop to help you transform your website into a powerful sales tool. You’ll have the whole day to learn and apply 5 strategies to make your website content compelling to prospects. Understand how people read online, discover how to share your expertise, and get feedback on your writing all under guidance of an e-literacy expert and website copywriter.

Learn from multiple examples, asking questions and time to rewrite your website homepage. So you will leave the workshop with:

• A Storyboard of your website content
• Headings and subheadings that work more effectively
• Content focused on your customer (WII.FM?)
• Guidance on language and online writing styles
• A plan of action to start relationships with your website visitors

BONUS inclusions for this workshop:

• Same-day feedback on your business website
• “How to use Twitter for your business” e-book
• How To Fix Your Website Content To Attract More Prospects’ – E-book
• Register today

Why every small to medium company needs content marketing

Everyone is buying stuff online – even if we aren’t actually using e-commerce; we are researching products and brand names like crazy. This means that the most information wins:

• Whoever communicates “the best” is more likely to persuade us because we are analytical, trained shoppers. We have objections and your content marketing is your opportunity to make us feel better.
•  Whoever communicates “the most” is more likely to be stumbled upon more times. The more you connect with your audience (in meaningful ways) the easier it is for prospects to trust you–even if they are learning to trust you from a website. And you already know, there is no sale without trust.
• Whoever communicates by following “SEO” principles will be found more readily and quickly by hungry prospects. Internet readers are impatient. Being found quickly is essential to the sales process–and not to “rush” the sale, but to build rapport and to become known.
• When two companies are parallel in ability, leadership and the thinking behind the company become essential to helping readers make an educated purchasing decision. Well-planned content marketing has the potential to communicate the intelligence and leadership of your company.
• Communicate to become a trusted advisor. Journalists are searching online too: when they see your publications they may pick you up in their “content feed” or think to interview you for comment on industry issues. For instance, Canada has two national newspapers: The Globe And Mail and The National Post. Recently, Tangible Words appeared in the National Post based on part of our content marketing plan.

In Summary there are 3 Principles of Content Marketing:

1. Publish great content to build trust and establish credibility.

2. Publish frequent content to communicate with authenticity and to stay ‘in the game’.

3. Publish SEO-friendly content so people can find you more easily, more quickly, more often.

Content writing is essential for a business to build rapport with clients online.

Review #2: Mailchimp (www.mailchimp.com)  

1) Metatitles - Search Engine Optimization is critical when writing online. Not only do your key words need to be throughout your content, but don’t forget the meta titles on each page. For those that aren’t sure what they are, when you open a website, on the top hand corner (usually in grey), you can scroll over it and words should appear. Unfortunately most businesses don’t implement themselves, or instruct their website developers to make sure these contain their keywords and not just the title of the company.

Mailchimp does this well. On the home page the meta title is: Email Marketing and Email List Manager and THEN their company name. These are the words they have chosen. If you look at Tangible Words, you will see Toronto Copywriters, Melbourne Copywriters, Website Copywriting, Content writing and THEN Tangible Words.

2) Call to Action? - Make it easy for readers on your business website to get in touch. Remember you have 3 seconds to attract their attention and if they don’t contact you soon after, you may have lost them for good.

Mailchimp is clear that all they want us to do is “Sign Up for Free”. Who wouldn’t want that. Not only is the Offer amazing (free) but it makes you want to take action and click the button.

3) Ease of Finding the Information – as we are all readers online, we know how frustrating it can be, when you go to a site and you can’t find the information you are looking for, or you don’t know where you are supposed to go next. That is why website storyboarding your business website is important before you start revamping or cleaning up your online content.

Mailchimp: Since they are an online service that can be completed without really any interaction with a human being, it is essential that their navigation is clear. They have done this with clear buttons at the top of the page, clear content on how to get started with interlinks for their readers. You don’t have to go far to find out what to do next.

Overall: Mailchimp has a clean and clear website. Not all businesses have only one main service that can be purchased right online, but if you do have a ‘shopping cart’ type business, then take note on what Mailchimp has done right. You don’t always need long copy, or tonnes of pages to convert readers into customers online.

What are two fastest ways your website will fail as a sales tool?

1. The website design is created without thinking about the copy (text).
2. The copy (text) is created without thinking about the website design.

When you’re looking at redeveloping your website, having both professionals speaking to each other is crucial. In the Internet world, we speak the same language. We know information you don’t want to learn.

As the experts on what makes a website a powerful sales tool – let your team of Internet design and online copywriting professional services know each other and work together.

• Make an e-introduction
• Expect them to talk directly to each other
• Give them each other’s emails and phone numbers.
• Or let us recommend someone who can fulfill your needs (we have web developer affiliates we work with regularly in Toronto, Kingston, Bancroft, and Melbourne.)

That way, you won’t ever have cause to be disappointed when your website is finished.

As a website copywriter, it absolutely breaks my heart when I don’t always get to work with website developers and graphic designers.

Why? Because when Tangible Words writes website content—I know how much work has gone into it: research, planning, collating, writing, editing, re-writing, editing, working with the client…sometimes our part of the process ends there and the website content writing gets slapped up on a website willy-nilly, without any consideration to layout and how the readers’ eye movement–when that happens, it doesn’t matter what the text says if it also looks terrible. The opposite (good web design, crappy copy) is just as true.

When you  go onto a website and see that it’s content offers nothing fruitful for you to read, says the same gobbledygook as every other website–no matter how great the design looks, the website leaves you feeling empty. You bounce back to search results, quickly forgetting about the site, and the sales cycle is broken.

What stops website copywriters and web developers from working together?

Sometimes you might think it’s a good idea to hire your ‘friend’ for one of these two critical tasks and to hire a web developer or a website copywriter for the other. That’s cool—but just make sure both of these two service providers are professional enough to know, plan, and expect to work together.

And furthermore, here are 7 more points I’d like to make on this topic:

1. How to get web developers to build the site you wanted–ontime
2. What to expect from a website copywriter
3. Unhappy with the copywriter you paid?
4. Here’s how consistency makes money
5. 5 Things to know before hiring a copywriter
6. How to get your copywriting done on time
7. What is great copywriting?

Consistent Branding is Essential for a Successful Business

Have you ever noticed that when you see a Coca Cola tv commercial, or a poster, or their bottles, that the same messages appear? That they clearly are the same company? Or how about Nike? Their logo appears everywhere and you don’t see ‘Just Do it’ in one place and ‘Just Capture it’ somewhere else.

Just because you may not be as big as Coca Cola or Nike, doesn’t mean the same rules apply. If you decide to revamp your website and really work out your U.S.P and the benefits of your business and invest in content that talks to your clients, then you can’t just stop at your website.

What about your business brochures, email marketing, social media, blogging?

Although many of our clients don’t know exactly what they might need once they have redone their website, there will always be other materials to implement your consistent business messages. Offering clients ongoing contracts that provides flexibility on what gets content written next, allows businesses to have a future branding plan.

Think about all the other tools you use to attract clients. Do you have a brochure? Sales Letters? Email Marketing? Facebook? A Business Blog? Likely you have one if not more than one of these, and they to need attention like your website.

Still not sure? Take a look at the samples page, testimonials and even the case stories might help you understand how your business can benefit from consistent branding. Any questions?

I hate online shopping.

I know. It’s a little embarrassing. You’re probably thinking: “If a website copywriter hates online shopping, doesn’t that mean e-commerce and websites as a selling tool aren’t important?”

But then you’d remember that websites aren’t all about e-commerce. Everyone who feels “every business must have a website” — you’re right. Websites are crucial for reinforcement, accessibility and awareness.

So why I hate online shopping? Because I’m a kinetic shopper. I can’t buy clothing without first feeling the fabric in my hands. The thing is, despite having the Internet in my pocket wherever I go, despite being told frequently how “Gen Y” I am, there’s still a lot of time in my life where I like to be “offline.”  (How many other people feel the same way?)

So when it comes to your company, it’s not enough to exist solely online. (Even e-bay appears in print). You have to be offline too—and that is not only so you accommodate the Luddites and the laggards of the world.  Here’s why.

The Top 5 Reasons Why Your Company Still Needs To A Print Brochure(s)

1. Shoppers are kinetic. We aren’t always online. Even if you have your smart phone handy, sometimes it’s easier to pick up paper. Prospects hang onto paper more–so long as it is well-written and has a great design (that’s why copywriters and web designers must work together).

On April 14th, I went to the top drawer of my kitchen and pulled out a Pizza Pizza flyer that was clearly sent around Halloween (given the kid ghosts and pumpkins). That’s proof the right kind of advertising still works, even if I didn’t get “ghouly gooey pizza.” Their local number was on it. I didn’t have to go searching through a corporate website, or wait on hold to talk to someone who didn’t know where “Bancroft” was to order my pizza.

2. Face-to-face connection. When we’re face-to-face with a prospect, it’s nice to be able to hand over/lean over or pass something physical between you. Besides the connection that is communicated by the body language here, the sales team also looks professional to the prospect; a brochure helps you come across organised and prepared for a sales conversation, and there is still a connotation of “wealth” (success) by having something a brochure ready to go.

Even better, with a brochure you don’t have to “send someone away” to go and look at your website. You can discuss what’s right in front of you together, without the distractions of an electronic device immediately offers (technical problems, waiting for it to load, something popping up, You Tube, searches, passwords – I used to teach at a laptop school, and if there is one way to lose your audience it’s to try to get them to listen to you while they’re sitting in front of a laptop with the lid open – even with adults in our WordPress Blogging workshop!)

3. Win-Win for customer and vendor: another point of contact in the sales cycle. These days you need more than 7 points of contact before a prospect trusts you. Having a brochure to send gives you a reason to touch back with your prospect. It allows you to give them more information, raise more objections and ask you more meaningful questions. This further the sales cycle for the sales professional and most importantly: it’s better for the customer who’ll be able to make a more educated purchasing decision. 

4. Ease of reading. Unfortunately, not every company has mastered the Tangible Words Website Sales Tool Trifecta (we talk about this in our website content writing workshop). Too many websites are “too hard.” For example, when you just want to order from a menu, you want to have the menu in your hand; circle the product you love and thus be able to quickly find it and order the same thing next time. Brochures allow you to do this much more easily than websites. And if you’re thinking this only works for cafes, you’re wrong. (Look at how many people still print out websites, emails and invoices.)

We circle the things we like to buy so we can remember to buy them again and that matters because people still think on paper. At our recent business blogging workshop in Kingston, a lady said to me, “I think with pen to paper.” That makes sense: when you sit down at a computer, you fall automatically into editor mode, not creative mode: spellcheck, grammarcheck and coordinating small type face layout makes sure of that.

There have been studies that show that doodling on paper can be a memory jogger. In our copywriting course, I teach writers the importance of brainstorming with a pen because it is known to engage your “right brain” (creative, not analytical side). So it stands to reason that you want your prospects doodling and writing on your materials.

5. Tradeshows, workshops and seminars. Think about prospect-movement: you’ll want to have some kind of sales tool that not only gives the prospect something to do, but gets them further into the sales cycle while they wait to speak with you.

How to make your prospects hold onto your brochures.

The “killer combination” that gets prospects to respond to your online content marketing. It is:

• Offer: give the prospect an opportunity that would interest them
• Incentive: give a reason to act “now” (rather than procrastinate)
• Action: explain how to take action.

This “killer combination” is the difference between a well-planned, well-written sales tool and just a piece of paper. And remember: your prospects won’t take action from behind a blue-lit computer screen all the time.