Why, as a Human Writer, I DON'T Find AI Copywriting a Threat
Yes, I know more and more companies are using it. After all, AI is only expected to grow. Still, I’m sorry, robots: I don’t fear you. Here’s why.
By 2025, the AI market is expected to reach $60 billion and eliminate 85 million jobs.
“That’s crazy! How can you NOT be scared that AI will steal all your work, Giada?!”
This isn’t about me crazy, overly optimistic, brave, or anything like that (although I can totally see myself going all Sarah Connor when fighting Jarvis the-AI-writing-assistant).
I’m just being realistic.
First things first: what exactly is AI copywriting?
AI copywriting consists of tools that generate marketing copy automatically after being given some information and parameters to follow.
I’d say there are two main types of AI copywriting strategies:
Trusting these ‘robots’ alone (I guess we haven’t learned anything from The Matrix, have we?)
Hiring some so-called ‘AI writers’ to use one of these tools and then make the text more presentable by editing or adding to it
I was actually approached by a prospect asking me to do the latter (spoiler alert: I refused).
Still, more and more businesses are relying on one of these AI copywriting strategies.
And yet…
5 reasons why I’m not worried about AI copywriting tools StEaLiNg My JoB
And, just so you know, I wrote this entire article myself. No AI involved.
I practice what I preach, yaknow?
1. AI copywriting isn’t actually that good at the moment
In most cases, AI copywriting is grammatically correct. In fact, what these tools come up with doesn’t look any different from what some humans can write (and please note how I said ‘humans’, not ‘professional copywriters’).
Is it effective, though?
I’ll let you judge for yourself.
I’ve asked an AI copywriting tool to come up with three potential taglines for my own business (if you’re new around here, hi: I’m a copywriter for female entrepreneurs).
Here’s what it had in store for me. Ready?
I mean, you’re more than welcome to steal them if you feel like telling your audience that you’re smarter than them.
Me? I’m pretty sure I’ll pass, thank you very much.
(Although the third one is pretty catchy, I’ve got to admit: I’m now repeating it in my head in the same tune as “You’ve got the peaches, I got the cream” from Pour Some Sugar on Me.)
2. It goes against Google’s guidelines
Now, I’m sure all the AI copywriting fanboys are going to argue that Google hasn’t got the ability to detect AI-generated content in the first place.
Good point.
But still: this doesn’t change the fact that AI-generated content does go against its guidelines.
As a human copywriter, I’ve reached Google’s first page countless times, both through my own web pages/blog posts and those I’ve written for my clients.
I’ll never recommend doing anything that goes against this search engine’s guidelines.
Just like buying backlinks or creating link farms, it can easily backfire.
3. Writing is actually the smallest part of my job as a copywriter
Let’s say you’ve decided to hire me to write some blog posts for your brand. Here are just some of the things I do before I type a single letter:
I ask you all the right questions in my project planner and carefully review your answers so that I can fully understand what your brand is about and what sets you apart
I analyse your target audience and figure out how your business can make their life better
I ask for your input as an expert in that field (most of my clients send me some bullet points I can then use in the actual article)
I then research the actual subject
I perform keyword research to find the right terms to help your blog post show up on Google and be found by your actual audience
I look at the top-ranking blog posts for that keyword and analyse them: how can I make your article the very best out of all of them? What gaps need to be filled?
I find the right call to action to turn some of those readers into leads: this must be relevant to their current stage of awareness and their position in the funnel
Only then do I start writing my first draft.
Without all the preparation and research behind it, though, it would only consist of ‘words’.
Sure, words that might read well. Words that might make sense grammatically.
But still… words written without a strategy! Without really taking your unique brand and audience into consideration. Without adding anything beyond what these tools can find on Google.
Basically, words that don’t translate into actual results.
4. Robots aren’t human but your audience is
Hey, if I’m wrong and you actually sell to a bunch of androids, ignore me and choose the first AI copywriting tool you find.
Marketing to humans?
Then you need a human copywriter.
Someone who can come up with creative ideas while still making your message crystal clear.
Someone who can understand your audience’s pain points, stir them, and present your offer as the solution.
Someone who can paint a picture of how much better their life or business will feel once they’ve invested in it.
And, to do all this, that someone needs to have a freakin’ brain and heartbeat.
5. The kind of businesses that rely on AI copywriting aren’t my dream clients, anyway
Don’t get me wrong: I do think some copywriters and, especially, content writers will lose their jobs to AI copywriting tools.
After all, as we’ve already seen, plenty of businesses are already relying on them.
But what type of clients are they?
Cynthia who tells me “I could write it myself, I just haven’t got time.”
Alex who pays £10 for a 1000-word blog post on Upwork
John who expects his writers to come up with five pages of website copy without even giving them a brief
And what do Cynthia, Alex, and John have in common?
👉 They don’t value the work and expertise of a professional copywriter.
Simple as that.
So, this isn’t a drill: anyone who works with Cynthia, Alex, or John SHOULD be worried about AI.
Writers working with badass clients who’re incredible at what they do but understand they need to trust a copywriter when it comes to words?
We can relax.
(Or stress over something else entirely, of course.)
So, will AI take over copywriting?
In my not-so-humble opinion, NO: AI won’t take over copywriting any time soon. Not for professional copywriters, at least.
It will, however, make things more difficult for writers who’re happy to be paid peanuts on Upwork and Fiverr.
If a client is only buying ‘words’ (and not ‘a strategy’, ‘my expertise’, or ‘the results I can bring them’), then they can already get them even cheaper through these AI copywriting tools.
I don’t sell ‘words’, though.
I offer:
Tangible results
Higher leads and sales
Being seen as a though-leading expert in your field
Becoming the go-to solution in your dream audience’s eyes
Sounds good? Let’s collaborate. For anything less, I’m sure a robot can help you 🤖
More #crafty blog posts on this topic:
“Wait, You Don’t Do Free Discovery Calls, B*tch?!”
As a copywriter for ambitious female entrepreneurs, my onboarding process is a bit different. Here's why (and how it works)
Ok, nobody has actually used the final word. I wouldn’t be too surprised if some of them had thought it in their head, though.
After all, everyone offers free discovery calls nowadays, so why do I need to be on such a high horse?! 🐴
Or, at least, that’s probably how it comes across to someone who was secretly just hoping to ‘pick my brain’ for free.
Here’s the actual reason why I no longer offer free discovery calls.
Spoiler alert: no horses involved.
The reality behind most discovery calls
Before introducing my current onboarding process, here’s what it used to look like (and how it still does for many of my virtual colleagues, as I often see them complaining about it on LinkedIn).
Random Uncommitted Prospect: “Hi, I need a copywriter. Can we jump on Zoom to see if we’re a good fit?”
Old Me: “Yes, sure!”
Old Me would then schedule a time in her diary. Then, that day, she’d know she couldn’t go too deep into a project because she would have had to stop working to do this free discovery call. She’d also google that prospect’s business to find out a little more about it and jot down some ideas (for free)
Time for the free discovery call! Random Uncommitted Prospect starts talking about their business and asking questions that were clearly answered on Old Me’s website. Old Me would also end up sharing a ton of tips and value during this call (for free)
Then, Old Me would spend HOURS creating the perfect proposal (for free) and calculating the right quote for the project
What then?
Sure, in some cases, Random Uncommitted Prospect turned into a client
In some others, however, Random Uncommitted Prospect had just done the EXACT. SAME. THING. with a bunch of copywriters. All without even taking the time to look at their website and pricing starting points! They’d then choose a writer—usually based on the cheapest quote—and, in the ‘best-case’ scenario, let the others know
In most cases? They’d straight-up ghost them 👻 (seriously: I’ve lost count of how many prospects haven’t even had the decency to tell me they had gone with a different writer!)
Some of them even used that packed-full-of-value proposal with a cheaper writer
Why that old system wasn’t sustainable and didn’t sit right with me personally
Disclaimer: if YOU offer free discovery calls and they’ve been working well for you, I’m by NO means telling you that you should do anything differently. You do you, my friend 👊
Here’s why they didn’t work for me personally:
I’d spend AT LEAST three hours of my time doing all that for free… only to never hear back from some of these prospects!
When you time that by three or four prospects a week, that’s 9/12 hours that I could have used to work on some actual projects for my fantastic clients (or, on a selfish note, to have a more sustainable work-life balance). That’s longer than a full working day!
My business is a one-girl band: if I’m that busy doing free calls and proposals, err… who’s doing the actual copywriting? (looks around confused)
Jumping on Zoom without even knowing what this person needs can be a ridiculous waste of time (someone literally approached me to build a website for them, once: I’m NOT a web designer!)
I’m always more than happy to give value for free to my badass audience. For real! My blog, newsletter, and social media are OOZING free tips 🙌 But, when it comes to one-to-one scenarios, it’s not sustainable or, in my opinion, ethical. As I mentioned, some prospects would just take my tips, advice, and proposals… and use them with cheaper writers
Selfish reason: as an introvert, calls DRAIN ME. Jumping on Zoom with so many Random Uncommitted Prospects was seriously undermining my concentration and workflow
Why I now start with a paid strategy session (£99)
Now, I only work with clients who’re actually ready and EXCITED to collaborate with me.
Those who’ve been following me for a while. Who’ve read my website, writing samples, pricing starting points, and case studies. Those who trust my expertise.
Most importantly, I start by figuring out what they actually need.
No more offering a quote based on a generic “how much for X” when… X might not even be what their business would benefit from!
The aim of my initial strategy session is to understand your current challenges, goals, and what exactly it is that you need (from a copywriting point of view) to get there.
It’s not ‘to see if we’re a good fit’ or sell you something you don’t actually need just because you asked me about it when you approached me.
And, at the same time, it’s not for people to pick my brain for free and then take the proposal that I spent 2/3 hours creating and use it with someone else.
#SorryNotSorry
So, how do these strategy sessions work? 🙌
Instead of ‘Random Uncommitted Prospect’, we now have a much cooler new character:
✨ ‘Committed and Respectful Prospect’ ✨
And Committed and Respectful Prospect has either been following me for a while or looked at my website, services, samples, case studies, and pricing starting points.
Here’s what our interactions are like:
Committed and Respectful Prospect: “My current website copy isn’t converting” / “Nobody reads my blog” / “I want to generate more leads with my blog” / “I wrote my website copy when I first started out and can tell it no longer represents my business” etc.
New Me: during this strategy session, I ask them all the right questions to understand their current situation and what they’re hoping to achieve with this new project. I always end up sharing some tips and ideas on the spot, too
New Me: after this session, I take some time to figure out exactly what they need to get there
(e.g. whether or not SEO needs to be a part of their website copywriting strategy, how we should organise the copy for their new website pages, how we’re going to capture their visitors’ email addresses, how many blog posts they should publish every month, how to promote them, what to blog about for their audience, and so on)
Committed and Respectful Prospect: they obtain a #crafty blueprint with all these juicy details and a step-by-step plan. This is entirely theirs, and they can use it however they please. Pinky promise. And yes, that includes giving it to another writer. If they decide to use it to work with me, however, I’ll remove the initial £99 from the custom quote included in the blueprint. And if, for whatever reason, I decide I can’t help them, they also get their money back, of course
So, I hope you can now see that I’m not on a high horse (like, seriously: I can barely ride a pony 🐴).
I’ve simply decided to create a different system that, so far, has been incredibly beneficial to all my serious prospects (and I’ll be honest: to my own sanity and workflow, too).
Unlike with traditional discovery calls, I usually see them write down my ideas and tips, having little eureka moments when I mention my suggestions… and that’s before I’ve even prepared the actual blueprint for them! How cool is that?!
If you’ve made it this far and realised that you’re ‘Random Uncommitted Prospect’, I guess we’ll have to part ways. Maybe we can do that with a little slow-mo moment and some sad music playing in the background?
But, if you know you’re ‘Committed and Respectful Prospect’ and are beyond ready to work with me, the magic’s about to start! ✨
Now, you know what to do.
I’m a copywriter making ambitious female entrepreneurs become THE go-to solution in their dream audience’s eyes.
Hit that button, tell me more about your current situation when it comes to website copy or blog posts, and let’s discuss it in-depth during a proper strategy session.
My words, YOUR badass brand.
More #crafty blog posts on this topic:
Can A Copywriter Actually Write in My Brand Voice? (Real Talk)
Hey, badass female entrepreneur: want the truth? If you want a copywriter who can write in your brand voice, there's something YOU must do, too.
“It’s MY business: how can a copywriter write in my brand voice without sounding… off?!”
First of all, let me be completely honest.
I get it: outsourcing is SCARY (and your question is legit)
I’m a copywriter, so I’ve never had to worry about having someone else write for me—although I have actually written for some fellow writers before, which helped them look at their business with fresh eyes.
Still, I’ve had a similar concern when outsourcing other aspects of my business:
“How will this graphic designer be able to create a logo that represents MY business?” (spoiler alert: she did)
“Will this professional photographer really be able to take pictures in a way that showcases MY brand?” (spoiler alert: she freakin’ did, too!)
It’s normal. Because let’s face it: our brand is our baby.
Whether you’re a woman solopreneur or run a female-founded business, you’re invested in it.
The thought of trusting an external person with it? An I-want-to-hide-in-a-corner-forever kind of scary.
Here’s an enquiry that I’ve received from a fellow female entrepreneur looking for ghostwriting services a while back:
After explaining my process, she decided to take the leap and… guess what?
This was her feedback:
So, the answer to your initial question is YES. A good copywriter can totally write in your brand voice.
In fact, that’s literally what we do for a living. It’d be pretty bad if we sucked at it, don’t you think?
How to ensure that a copywriter matches your brand voice
Now, while a copywriter should be able to match your brand voice, here comes the truth bomb: we can’t read minds (yet).
So, for us to write like your company or personal brand, we do need something from you.
1. Work with a professional copywriter instead of looking for cheap work on Fiverr
First things first: if you’re thinking of finding the cheapest writer on content mills like Fiverr or Upwork and paying them £20 for a 1000-word blog post, you can’t expect them to match your brand voice.
A real copywriter will spend more time doing the actual research than… writing. For real. And how can you expect someone to take the time to understand your brand, audience, and voice if you’re only paying them peanuts? 🥜
So, my advice is to look for a writer who’s running their own copywriting business and also has an actual brand rather than a desperate freelancer struggling to make ends meet on these platforms.
Ask your contacts if they can recommend a reliable copywriter
Look for one on Google or LinkedIn
Then, check out their website and portfolio: do their writing samples sound different from each other?
Congratulations: you’ve found someone who can match different brand voices.
What now?
2. Share your brand bible with them
This is actually what I told my client when she approached me with that initial question:
the best way to ensure that a copywriter can write in your brand voice is to… share your brand bible or tone of voice guidelines with them. Duh.
These documents are what allows you to keep all of your communication consistent.
For example, some of the points that I’ve seen in other brands’ guidelines are:
Always use the Oxford comma
Unless talking about a specific example, opt for inclusive language like ‘parents’ instead of ‘mummy & daddy’
Refer to BIPOC as ‘marginalised communities’ rather than ‘minorities’
Avoid words related to addiction like ‘-aholic’ variations (e.g. ‘shopaholic’) or ‘junkie’
Use short paragraphs and punchy sentences more often than longer alternatives
Preferred usage: ‘our herd’ instead of ‘our employees’, ‘bikes’ instead of ‘bicycles’, ‘complimentary’ instead of ‘free’...
The adjectives that we use to describe our brand: ‘premium’, ‘luxury’...
When you provide your copywriter with such a comprehensive document, there won’t be any risk of them using the wrong word for your style or writing in a way that doesn’t match your other marketing materials.
3. “What if I haven’t got a brand bible? Am I DOOMED?!”
Not at all!
And don’t worry: this tends to be the case for at least half of my clients, especially solopreneurs and fairly new businesses.
If you haven’t got a brand bible or tone of voice guidelines, you can tell your copywriter how you’d like to sound:
By describing your ideal voice (e.g. friendly, confident, bold, etc.)
By linking to some examples of brands whose voices you admire
Mind you: this doesn’t mean you should copy them! But it’ll help point your new copywriter in the right direction.
And if you are the brand:
Link to some examples of your own tone of voice in action (e.g. a newsletter you wrote)
If possible, provide a video or audio recording, too (e.g. a social media video in which you’re talking about your business)
Personally, I’d also ask for your permission to record our initial call so that I can then refer to it and write your copy in the way you talk
Either way, before I start writing for my new clients, I always ask them to fill in my project planner. One section is entirely about tone of voice. So, if you haven’t got a brand bible, you’ll also get to circle some adjectives that best describe yours.
To put it into perspective, here are some examples of how some famous brands describe their own voice:
“clear, genuine and with a bit of dry humor” - MailChimp
“strong, confident and aggressive” - Harley Davidson
“witty, elegant and classic” - Tiffany
They make sense, don’t they?
That’s why adjectives can be an excellent starting point! A professional copywriter won’t leave it at that, though.
Written examples, videos, and audio recordings are what makes it oh-so-much-easier for us to sound like you.
Working with me: my words, your brand voice🖊
Now that you know that a copywriter can totally write in your brand voice, have you already found one?
If you’re interested in strategic website copy or blog posts, I can help. And you already know my process to match a brand’s tone of voice. Nice one!
I specialise in helping ambitious entrepreneurs become THE go-to solution in their dream audience’s eyes.
My secret? Well, it’s not that much of a secret as it’s plastered all over my website, but it’s all about:
using the right SEO strategies to attract your target customers in the first place
impressing them with copy that was written with their needs in mind
positioning your brand as the most logical solution to their pain points
More #crafty blog posts on this topic:
How Long Should Your Web Pages Be? (Size Matters!)
The importance of the right web page length shouldn’t be just about SEO! Here’s how long your web pages should be and what to focus on, too.
You’re probably wondering how long should a web page be so that it can rank higher on Google, but here’s the thing: the optimal web page length for your business website shouldn’t be just about SEO.
Let me show you what you should focus on for the best results and conversions.
Understanding optimal web page lengths
From your home to landing pages and your contact section, here’s what to consider when writing your website copy.
How long should a web page be for SEO?
Take if from a professional website copywriter: when it comes to SEO, a web page should be at least 300 words long.
This is because Google tends to classify anything below that word count as ‘thin’ or ‘low-quality’ content.
Think about it: whenever a user types a keyword or some kind of query (e.g. in our case ‘how long should a web page be?’), this search engine wants them to find the best possible answer.
Can that really be given in less than 300 words?
Unlikely.
If, instead of the blog post that you’re reading right now, I had written a couple of paragraphs telling you to aim for at least 300 words, I would not have given you a good enough answer.
Why? Because there’s so much more to take into account!
Google knows this. So, if you try and get away with 150 words or so while most of your competitors dish out 600, 1000, or +2000 word pages, Google is not gonna trust your answer.
So, does this mean that the longer the better when it comes to web page length?
Actually, no.
Focus on VALUE over fluff or strict word counts!
While 300 words is an important starting point, you should always focus on writing copy that serves the specific purpose of that web page on your business website.
Because this varies, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer for web page length.
There is absolutely no point in stuffing your web pages with useless or repetitive sections, nor using twenty words when four could do just so you can obtain a longer word count.
No point.
You’re just going to bore or scare your readers away… and that will backfire from an SEO point of view too. If too many visitors abandon your website too quickly, you’ll end up with a high bounce rate, and Google doesn’t like that.
And let’s be realistic: from your home to your About or a Sustainability page, that will be over 300 words. Even if you’re not actively striving for that number.
A popular exception is the Contact page: I mean, do you really have that much to say by that point, other than a couple of paragraphs that further encourage your visitors to get in touch?
I doubt it.
I mean, if you do, that’s great. But, if you don’t, don’t worry: having one or two pages that are shorter than 300 words isn’t going to penalise you on Google.
Just as long as your core pages (e.g. home, about, services, etc.) are a bit longer.
How long should a landing page be?
There’s no right length for sales or landing pages. However, while they should still be at least 300 words (like other standard pages) from an SEO point of view, it’s only logical to have much longer landing pages.
Why?
Because they must be optimised for conversions and move your visitors aaaaaall the way down the funnel.
Can you really do that in 300 words?
Maybe, if those who find your landing page are already towards the bottom of the sales funnel.
In most cases, however, the answer is a big fat NO.
Are you asking them to give you their email address in exchange for a free ebook? That’s not a big commitment, so a fairly short landing page will do.
Are you asking them to invest thousands of pounds into your high-ticket programme? Then your landing page will need to be waaaaaaaaay longer.
Not for SEO reasons, but simply because… well, you must convince these people to part with thousands of pounds!
And, for this to happen, you’ll need to:
agitate their current pain points
tackle all of their most common worries and potential objections
show social proof
paint an irresistible picture of what their reality will look like once they’ve invested in your products or services
Basically, you need more words.
Best practices when it comes to web page length
While I always recommend remembering that magic number (a minimum of 300 words), here’s what you should actually focus on when writing copy for your business website.
1. Write excellent copy where EVERY. WORD. MATTERS.
Here’s the thing: when it comes to word counts, best practices change, and people have more opinions than on the Game of Thrones finale.
For real.
While 300 words is a consistent number since it’s one of Google’s ranking factors, you’ll find blog posts telling you to only publish content over 1000 words.
No, actually, 1500.
No, wait! +2500.
Honestly? Forget about all that.
So, focus on strategic website copy that grabs your audience’s attention, show them why you’re the best at what you do, proves how your products or services can benefit them, and helps them move down the funnel.
That’s it.
Don’t get too hung up on specific word counts!
2. Make your above-the-fold copy unmissable
Regardless of how long a web page should be and all that, let’s be realistic: nobody will read the entire thing if the first part doesn’t hook them in.
Your above-the-fold content consists of everything that your website visitors can see before they scroll down.
Its aim is to convince them to stick around and read the rest, which is why it’s the most important part of your page. No wonder users spend over half of their page-viewing time above the fold!
For example, when it comes to your home page, your above-the-fold copy should convey:
Exactly what you do
For whom
Why that matters/how it benefits your target audience
3. Use headings
Nobody likes a page full of lines and lines of text in the exact same size!
You need to use headings to help your readers read or skim your page without getting put off by a huge wall of text.
Plus, headings are excellent for SEO, too: they’re ideal to create a hierarchical structure and use your keywords strategically.
4. Break up your text even further
Headings aren’t the only way to break up your text.
For example, to further facilitate readability you could use:
Bullet points (how meta!)
Different sections
Images
CTA buttons
No matter how long your web pages are, using these tricks (together with the right copy, of course) will help readers stick around and take action.
Grab the right words for your female-founded business website
Now that you know how long web pages should be (and why it doesn’t always matter that much), you have two options: write them on your own, or outsource them to a professional.
If you’re a fellow copywriter, the first option makes a lot of sense.
Not your area of expertise?
I’m a website copywriter & brand messaging consultant turning female entrepreneurs into THE go-to solution in their dream audience’s eyes.
My copy will allow you to attract more visitors organically, turn them into leads and sales, and stand out against your competitors.
Let me fill your website with copy that brings actually results, not just ‘words on a page’.
More #crafty blog posts on this topic:
Using Images in Blog Posts: Complete Guide for Businesses
You should always use images in blog posts, but where can you find them? How big should they be? And how do you optimise them for SEO? Let’s see.
Do you use images in blog posts?
I always thought it was a no-brainer, and yet I keep bumping into incredibly offputting text-only articles.
At the same time, chucking a bunch of random images without resizing them nor following a strategy isn’t going to benefit your company blog either.
So, let’s look into how to do it properly.
Should blog posts have images?
Yes, blog posts should DEFINITELY have images… unless you want to scare your readers away with a huge blog of text, that is!
No wonder articles with pictures get 94% more views than those without them.
Adding images to blog posts comes with quite a few benefits:
They complement your written content, helping readers visualise certain concepts, find visual summaries, or make the most of infographics
They break meaty sections of text, making it easier to read long articles
They offer SEO opportunities through their alt-text tags (more on that later)
In some cases, images in blog posts can even help you reinforce your brand
What type of images should I use in my blog posts?
You have several options when it comes to looking for and using images in your blog posts, and they mainly depend on your time and budget.
So, don’t worry:
if you’re just starting out or have already invested a lot of money in something else, you DON’T necessarily need to pay hundreds of pounds every month for custom images. I promise!
I’m gonna give you different options on how to create or find images for blog articles… for all kinds of needs and budgets (including £0).
Stock images
Stock photos are a fantastic way to start adding images to blog posts, and I’ll be honest: in many cases, they might be all you need.
You just have to make sure that you’re not using someone else’s pictures illegally.
Some terms are confusing—which doesn’t help—so let’s clarify them once and for all:
Royalty-free images aren’t necessarily free: they just mean that you don’t have to pay an on-going fee to use them, but you might have to buy the images in the first place. For example, you can find royalty-free images for which you only pay a one-off fee on Shutterstock
Copyright-free images can be used without limitations. While there might be fewer and less specific options compared to paid royalty-free platforms, you can still find a ton of free images that you can use legally without getting in trouble. For real. Some of my favourite websites for high-quality free images for blog posts are Unsplash, Pexels, and Pixabay
If you want to take your stock images to the next level to maintain a cohesive feel that’s on brand, you could also:
Look for photos including your brand colours
Use pictures with a similar palette (e.g. all with a white background or pastel colours)
Stick to a specific vibe, such as minimalist pictures with a single element or two
Shoot your own
If you have the resources for it, you can stand out even more by shooting your own pictures.
For example, you could use photos of your own restaurant or food items even if you’re tackling wider culinary topics.
In many cases, it’ll even make sense to include your actual product pictures. Maybe you’ve written an article on “the benefits of linen bedding” and you actually sell linen bedding yourself… it’d be crazy not to include a picture of it and a link to its product page, right?
Include screenshots in tutorials
Sometimes, screenshots might be relevant for your blog posts, and that’s especially the case for online tutorials.
If you’re explaining to your readers how to edit a picture on Photoshop, it’d be much easier and more effective to add a screenshot with arrows and circles that highlight the next step… rather than trying to explain everything with words.
Use editing software or platforms
If you have enough time to dedicate to them but not a great budget, you can create your own images using either free or paid graphic tools.
These are especially useful for infographics—an excellent type of highly shareable images for blog posts!—as well as graphs and images that summarise key concepts.
Although you can pay for premium features, Canva is the most popular free option. Other alternatives to create your own images for blog posts are Visme, Adobe Creative Cloud Express (formerly Adobe Spark), Design Wizard, and Easil.
Commission them to a graphic designer
Would you rather save time than money? Then the best and most professional option is obviously to get a professional to create images for your blog posts, and especially to keep them on brand.
This could be an in-house graphic designer, a freelancer with whom you only collaborate when you actually need some new images, or platforms to which you pay a monthly retainer (like Design Pickle).
Best practices when using images in blog posts on your business website
So, we’ve established why you should totally use images in your blog posts and understood where to find them.
Is that enough to use them successfully?
Nope.
Here are some steps that you just can’t afford to ignore.
1. Only upload high-quality images
Some badly cropped or pixelated pictures aren’t going to do you any favours!
Remember: you’re not using images in blog posts just for the sake of including them. You’re using them to add value to your readers.
Would Coca Cola or IKEA use crappy images on their website?
No, and neither should you.
Stick to high-quality options that help you look professional.
2. Resize & compress your blog post pictures
Super high-quality images are a must… but they can actually backfire if you don’t upload them correctly!
This is because they’re heavy, so they’ll end up slowing down your page loading time. And nobody has got time to wait an additional three seconds online in the 21st century.
So, here’s what to do before uploading these images:
Resize them: no point in using a huge and heavy 4000-pixel image when the average screen width is 1920 pixels. And your images might not need to be that big either: maybe your blog page is actually a little smaller? Maybe you’re adding text around them so they’ll only need to be 700 pixels or so in width?
Compress them: even after being resized, pictures are heavier than they should be because they carry additional information that you don’t actually need. Websites like TinyJPG allow you to get rid of them without compromising on quality
Use plugins: this might be more or less relevant depending on what platform you’re using to host your business website. For example, when you add photos to WordPress blogs, it’d be handy to use plugins like EWWW Image Optimizer or Imagify
Consider using a CDN. This isn’t just useful for images: it simply helps you reach users worldwide with the fastest loading speed possible, but it’s even more relevant if you’ll be using lots of images on your website since they all add up. Some of the most popular providers are Cloudflare and CloudFront
3. Understand where to use images in blog posts
Here are my main tips on how to place images in blog posts strategically:
Include a blog post header image: this will be the main picture for a specific blog post, and it’ll appear above the fold (before your users scroll down)
Use your images to break up your body of text
If your platform doesn’t automatically use your header image on socials, include a social sharing image, too: that way, when you or your readers share your blog post on social media, it’ll appear with a relevant picture rather than your logo
4. Include relevant alt-text
Remember when I mentioned that images are good for SEO?
This is because they offer you yet another chance to include relevant keywords through their alt-text tag.
This doesn’t mean that you should just repeat your keyword over and over again!
Only when it actually describes the picture.
For example, if your main keyword is ‘styling vegan dresses’ and you’re including a picture of someone showcasing one, your alt-text could be ‘model styling a vegan dress with a denim jacket’.
Basically, when you do it properly, using images in blog posts will benefit your SEO, readers, and overall content strategy!
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External Links: Should You Link to Other Websites in Your Blog?
“But I’ll lose readers and leads!’ Mmh, you sure? Here’s a jargon-free overview of external links & SEO to see whether you should include them in blog posts.
I keep seeing company blogs without any kind of external links, not even when they mention percentages and statistics. Are you guilty of that, too?
Perhaps you’re worried about directing your readers away from your business website?
More than one of my clients had your same concern, so I thought I’d tackle external links and SEO once and for all.
Here’s a jargon-free overview of what these links are, how they affect SEO, and whether or not you should link to other websites in your blog posts.
Understanding external links
It’s actually way easier than you think. Pinky promise!
External link meaning
The meaning of external links is really simple, and you’ve definitely seen them (and used them) countless times:
External links are the opposite of internal or inbound links, which also send them to a different page but within your own website (for example, if you’re writing a blog post on social media marketing and link to your ‘social media management’ service page).
What is an example of an external link?
Here’s a simple example of an external link:
‘Find more information in this SEO glossary of terms.’
The highlighted part in a different colour is called ‘anchor text’.
Again, a fancy-sounding term, but it simply means “the words that your readers need to click in order to navigate to the page that you’ve linked”.
Easy, right?
In HTML, a hyperlink will lool like this:
<a href=“https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo/seo-glossary”>SEO glossary of terms</a>
While this might change depending on your business model and industry, it’s fairly rare that you’ll need to use external links on your main website pages.
For example, I mainly include them in my portfolio to showcase some of my writing samples on other websites.
When it comes to your company blog, on the other hand, external hyperlinks are way more likely to be relevant.
For example, here are some of the instances in which you might notice them on blog posts:
To back up some stats and data
To direct your readers to stuff that you’ve recommended (e.g. in a listicle)
To help them find more information on a subject that you haven’t/aren’t planning on tackling on your own website
‘But if I link to external websites, I’ll lose readers and customers!’
I’ve heard this concern from more than one client, so let me just say one word (and then a few more):
RELAX.
You know what could actually backfire?
Using stats without sources or making false claims that you can’t back up with facts.
Now, that is counterproductive and could compromise your audience’s trust in your brand!
If you say that companies with a blog on their business website receive 97% more links than those without one, you must have gotten that piece of information from somewhere, right?
Then link to it so that your readers don’t feel like you’re making up your own data.
You’re basically giving them the option to find out more about something if they want to.
But the truth? It’s unlikely that they’ll feel the need to read a massive report and forget about your initial blog post altogether.
That blue colour and underline underneath a stat, on the other hand, can be reassuring on their own.
And if they forget about your blog post, then I’m sorry but it means that it wasn’t interesting and compelling enough.
It’s not that external link’s fault.
Take some responsibility, my friend.
External links and SEO
Now that I’ve—hopefully—addressed your main concern on external links on your blog and website, let’s move on to the top reason why these outbound links are talked about in the magical online world: SEO.
Because external links are also linked (excuse the repetition) to search engine optimisation.
Disclaimer: the main discussion around them concerns external links from other websites to yours. That’s a whoooooole new topic. Since we’re talking about whether or not you should link to other websites on your own blog, we’re gonna keep focusing on this subtopic alone before you bang your head against the keyboard.
Do External Links Hurt SEO?
No, external links per se don’t hurt SEO, so don’t stop yourself from including them when they can be helpful and relevant to your readers. They only penalise your Google rankings when done wrong.
Here are some situations in which external links could actually hurt your website’s SEO:
If you link to spammy sites: not only isn’t this a great practice for search engines, but you’ll annoy your readers too. Why would you want to do that?
If you use too many, since this can be distracting for your readers. If your page puts them off, they’ll leave it way too soon, and this sends a message to Google that your page isn’t worth sticking around on
If you include too many links to pages that aren’t relevant and have got nothing to do with your industry. This can penalise your SEO because it confuses Google and other search engines: what is your website actually about? Mate, they thought you had something to do with marketing, but now they see you linking to Wikipedia pages of raccoons, and hard rock, and articles on how to make bread?!
If you’re linking to pages that are targeting your same keyword: this is because, if a page receives many external links from other websites, Google thinks that it’s the coolest kid on the blog because it must have lots of useful info, so it’ll help its users find it. Basically, if you’re sending SEO juice to a page that’s competing against you for the same keyword, you’re shooting yourself in the foot. It would be as if I had linked to other blog posts on ‘external links’ in this article
Do external links help with SEO?
Yes, external links can actually help with SEO because they show Google and other search engines that your website isn’t a dead end and offers plenty of useful information to your readers, including backed-up stats and links to more in-depth articles whenever you tackle wider topics.
Here are the benefits of external links and SEO:
They show Google that you care about your readers (=Google’s users) finding the best info
It shows that you’re a team player and happy to be part of a larger community by linking to other relevant websites
When linking to other websites within your same industry, you’re helping search engines truly understand what your own website is about
If you keep creating excellent content and backing up your sources with relevant external links, you’re more likely to receive external links yourself. If many websites link back to yours, that gives you more SEO juice. It’s actually one of the main SEO benefits of blogging
So, should I use external links on my business website and blog?
Yes, you should definitely use external links (without worrying about losing your audience), but not just for the sake of including them: only when they’re relevant and can bring value to your readers.
How to use external hyperlinks in your favour: best practices
To back up your sources and stats
Whenever possible, link to relevant websites in your same industry
Link to good domains and websites with a high authority, not someone’s unreliable sitename.wordpress.com URL (psst: you can check a website’s domain authority with many free DA checkers like this one)
Link to reliable sources and to stats that have been published as recently as possible. A 2005 source for an article on social media isn’t gonna get you far
Use relevant keywords and descriptive text for your anchor whenever you can (e.g. “as shown in this social media report” rather than “as shown here”)
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How Your Company Blog & Social Media Can Team Up
Still thinking of your blog & social media separately? Nuh-uh. Here's all the magic that'll happen for your woman-founded biz once they complement each other.
Hey, fellow female entrepreneur: do NOT think of your company blog and social media marketing as two completely separate channels that never meet! They’re not parallel lines.
Social media and blogging should actively complement each other.
So, if you’ve been posting occasional articles on the blog on your business website and working on your social media plan separately… think again!
First things first: not that kind of company blog!
The strategy that I’m about to explain to you is only relevant if your blog has a content marketing strategy behind it.
You know, if it consists of audience-oriented articles that entertain and/or educate your dream customers by tackling topics that are relevant to your industry.
Is your blog filled with company news instead? Articles like “Check out our new office” or “We’re delighted to announce that”?
Then don’t bother.
Because nobody is reading them anyway.
Ouch.
Sorry, but there’s no point in you wasting even more time by using these social media and blog posts together if these are the kind of articles you publish.
So, if that’s the case, start by rethinking your blog altogether and focusing on articles that bring value to your customers rather than stroking your ego.
Here’s how to create a successful company blog.
Once you’ve done that (or if you were already blogging with that strategy), keep reading.
How can blogging complement social media marketing?
Blogging can complement your social media marketing by giving you more long-form content to post and share with your audience, providing your followers with more variety and in-depth topics.
But that’s not all!
Let’s look into how social media and blogging can work together.
1. Blogging provides you with more in-depth content
Social media is about playing to the platform, so I’m sure you’re already posting snappy tweets, showstopping Instagram images and videos, or even some funny TikToks.
However, some of your followers are the exact same people googling the topics around which you’ve built those blog posts!
Sure, some of them will still find them on Google if you’ve optimised them for SEO correctly, but sharing them on social media will allow you to reach more people.
And you’ll keep your followers interested by giving them even more valuable content.
Just be sure to keep an audience-oriented approach when sharing links to your blog posts, though.
None of those “Be sure to check out our new article.”
What’s in it for them?
For example, if you wrote an article on rayon fabric, you could write something like this when you share it on your social media: “Smooth as silk… but a lot more ethical! Discover how switching to rayon can make a difference for both your wardrobe and the planet.”
2. You can repurpose it, too
As well as sharing and linking to your blog post on social media, you can use snippets of it for future posts and pictures.
From quotes to data and pieces of information, an article will provide much more in-depth knowledge on a specific topic: use it for different bite-sized posts, too!
3. You can also post some images and videos that you created for that blog post
If you’ve created an infographic or a video to go with your article, don’t you dare waste it by using it only once!
Just like you’d post pull quotes from it or turn them into shareable pictures, you can add visual content from your blog to your social media, too.
4. Start a conversation on a specific subject
Here’s the thing with company blogs: people read them, bookmark them, fall in love with the brand behind them, subscribe to the newsletter that’s linked at the bottom… but they rarely comment.
I still recommend having a comment section at the bottom of your posts. After all, you don’t want them to feel like a one-way lecture.
But yeah, people don’t comment on them as much as they do on social media.
By sharing the same article on socials, though, you’ll get to start a conversation on that subject!
And you probably already know this but the more comments you receive on socials, the more your engagement levels will grow, and the more you’ll reach new users (the algorithm is fussy like that).
5. Encourage people to share your blog on social media themselves
If you’re blogging the right way and offering actual value, it won’t just be you sharing your own articles on socials: some of your readers will want to do the same!
And that’s basically free marketing for you, as they’ll help you reach people who had probably never heard about you in the first place.
That’s why you should always have some social sharing buttons on your blog.
6. If your blog and social media are consistent, you can reinforce your brand
It goes without saying but I’ll say it anyway because waaaaay too many things are (erroneously) taken for granted when talking about blogs and social media: they should always be on brand.
From fonts to voice and visuals, someone who has been following you on socials should immediately be able to tell that a blog post is yours as soon as they land on it, and vice versa.
So, if you keep blogging and using social media in a consistent way, cohesively, and with a strategy behind them, you’ll appear as even more of a thought-leading expert in your industry.
Your brand will look legit and trustworthy, unlike those companies that are clearly winging both strategies.
And a strong, cohesive brand is much easier to remember, of course.
7. Social media marketing will help your blog, too
It’s not just blogs that can complement social media: it’s the other way around as well.
The more clicks it receives, the more Google will think that it’s worth showing it to more people.
So, even though they’re not a direct ranking factor themselves, social media shares and engagement will help you with SEO, too.
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As we’ve already established, none of this matters if you haven’t got a blogging strategy and aren’t covering topics that are relevant to your target audience.
Struggling to stick to a consistent schedule?
Not generating any organic traffic from Google because you don’t know how to optimise your articles for SEO?
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Search Intent: What It Is & How to Use It for Your Content
Spoiler alert: if you’ve never taken search intent into consideration when writing content for your female-founded biz, you’ve been wasting time & money!
Would you propose to someone who’s just asked you out on a first date? If the answer is no, congratulations: you already understand search intent!
(If the answer was yes, either you’re Ross from Friends or need to slow the heck down.)
Not taking Google search intent into account when it comes to SEO will lead to wasting time and money on creating content that doesn’t rank nor move your readers down the funnel.
Let me help you get it right.
What is search intent in SEO?
Search intent (which is also know as user intent, keyword intent, or user search intent) describes the purpose behind a query or online search.
In other words, the reason why a person is googling a certain term or question.
Don’t be fooled: the concept itself isn’t anything fancy or complicated.
Just think of your own online searches. No matter what you type, you’re always looking to find something, aren’t you?
Maybe that’s a specific piece of information, or perhaps it’s a product to buy.
Either way, that’s your search intent for a specific keyword whenever you type it on Google.
Easy, right?
What are the 4 common types of search intent?
While there are gazillions of keywords out there from ‘are avocados good for you’ to ‘zebra petting zoo’, they can all be traced back to four types of search intent.
That’s good news, isn’t it?
Even better: I’ll list all of them for the sake of consistency, but you only need to care about three of them in practice.
1. Informational search intent
As the name suggests, queries with an informational keyword intent are simply searches that are carried out to obtain information, whether that’s to learn more about a topic, to find a specific answer, and anything in between.
Even though they mean that a user is looking for answers, informational keywords aren’t always a question.
Examples of informational searches
‘Game of Thrones explained’
‘How far is the Earth from the sun?’
‘Types of coffee’
‘Raccoons’
‘What is sustainable fashion’
‘Do I need SEO for my website?’
Best type of content to answer informational searches
Blog posts
Yes, in most cases, you should focus on informational searches on the blog on your business website.
Whenever I see LinkedIn posts or online articles asking ‘is blogging still relevant’, I can’t help shaking my head. My answer? Blogging will only be outdated when people stop using Google to find information.
In the meantime, it’d be crazy not to answer your target audience’s questions and keywords that are related to your business and products. Informational searches, in other words.
2. Navigational search intent
Navigational search intent is perhaps the most straightforward (and the least useful from an SEO point of view): it consists of searches carried out by users who are looking for a specific website or page.
Examples of navigational searches
‘LinkedIn’
‘Wordpress login’
‘Forbes 30 under 30 list’
Best type of content to answer navigational searches
Your homepage, core pages, and evergreen content (e.g. blog posts that will always be relevant and that have such a memorable title or angle that your audience will want to revisit them directly)
Navigational user intent is the one that matters the least from an SEO perspective in my opinion.
Why?
Because these users already know exactly what they want and from whose website/company they’re going to get it, so you can’t do much to generate additional traffic from them.
For example, with an informational search like ‘how to grind coffee’, you can attract more visits by having an attention-grabbing title and meta description, making it more likely that these users will want to open your blog post on ‘how to grind coffee’ rather than your competitors’. They know that they want some information regarding ‘how to grind coffee’, but they haven’t decided who they’re going to get it from.
But if they’re typing ‘Forbes 30 under 30 list’, they know that they don’t want just any under 30 list: they want the one written by Forbes.
3. Transactional search intent
Transactional user intent involves Google searches made by people who want to buy something right there and then (or, at the very least, add it to a wishlist or bookmark it for later).
In most cases, they know exactly what they want to purchase but not necessarily what website/platform/store they’ll be buying it from.
Examples of transactional searches
‘Buy On Writing by Stephen King’
‘Twin Peaks DVD set’
‘80s windbreaker second hand’
‘iPhone 13 mini’
Best type of content to answer transactional searches
Your sales pages and product pages
Transactional keywords are for the smallest chunk of your target audience that’s already at the bottom of the sales funnel, in full buying mode.
If you sell what they’re after, you want to be one of the first pages to show up on Google when they’re ready to hit that ‘buy now’ button.
4. Commercial investigation search intent
This is the cousin of transactional searches. Basically, commercial investigation consists of Google searches carried out by people who are planning on buying something at some point but are still narrowing down their choices.
They know what type of product or service they need: they just haven’t decided on a specific model or brand.
Examples of commercial investigation searches
‘Best vegan leather bags’
‘Top antivirus for Windows 10’
‘Cafes near me’
‘Best restaurant in Liverpool’
‘HelloFresh vs Blue Apron’
Best type of content to answer commercial investigation searches
Comparison and round-up blog posts
To harness commercial investigation keyword intent, you must help your target audience figure out what product or service would be the very best for their specific needs.
In some cases, they already know the type of product that they want. In some others, they’re torn between two or more specific options.
Now that we’ve covered all the different types of search intent, I’ll be honest: sometimes, you could argue that certain searches overlap when it comes to these four categories.
For example, if someone were to Google ‘AI course Deep Learning AI’, it could be seen as a transactional search (they’re looking to buy a course on artificial intelligence) but also navigational (they’ve already decided that they’re going to buy it from Deeplearning.ai and are just looking for that sales page again).
Overall, however, I think you can still narrow it down to one main type of search intent.
In this case, I’d say that, unless you own Deeplearning.ai, it’s navigational. It’s highly unlikely that you’ll be able to convince them to buy your AI course if they’re already typing that keyword, don’t you think?
Why is search intent important?
Going back to our initial marriage proposal analogy, you don’t want to scare someone away by showing them a salesy page if what they’re looking for is some generic information on the subject.
At the same time, if someone is looking to buy a specific product and you use that transactional keyword in an informational post, you’re missing out on sales.
Basically, you shouldn’t just pick a keyword and create the type of content that you see fit around it: you must understand what someone googling that keyword is actually expecting to find… and then give it to them!
Search intent isn’t just important when it comes to your audience. It matters to Google, too.
When someone types a keyword, search engines look for the best results. And the best results aren’t just the most comprehensive: they’re the ones that match the Google search intent behind the actual keyword as well!
So, if your web pages and blog posts don’t, they won’t show up in front of your audience’s eyes in the first place.
How do I use search intent on my website pages & blog posts?
To use search intent correctly, you must first understand what your audience is looking to find and do when googling a specific keyword, conduct some research, and then ensure that your piece of content matches their intent (and is the best option out there).
1. Figure out the search intent behind a keyword
You’re more than welcome to pay for some AI keyword search intent software like Keywi or Keyword Insights, but… my honest opinion?
As a human (as I’m sure you are), you have a bigger advantage over AI when it comes to figuring out the search intent behind a search. In most cases, it’s common sense!
Think about it: if someone is googling ‘what is the difference between light and dark roast coffee’, are they looking to buy it? Of course, not. Not yet, at least.
You first need to explain this difference to them. Then, by all means, you can link to your light and dark roast coffee at the end of your informational blog post. But you first need to build the actual piece of content around that question, not present them with a sales page.
Some keyword modifiers can also help you understand the search intent behind a query:
Informational: why, how, how to, what, who, where, learn, tutorial, info, guide
Navigational: [these mainly involve brand names or names of specific products/services]
Commercial investigation: vs, best, top, near me, comparison, roundup
Transactional: buy, buy online, second hand, cheap, discounted, order, offer
What type of pages are they: standard web pages, sales pages, product pages, or blog posts?
And, if they’re blog posts, how are they structured: do they provide an overview of a subject, compare two products, or offer a roundup?
2. Create a web page or blog post that aligns with your audience’s expectations
Now that you’ve realised that, say, most of the top results for ‘how to grind coffee beans without a grinder’ are informational blog posts, write an informational blog post yourself.
But not just any blog post: aim for it to be the best one out there!
When you analyse the other top-ranking results, you shouldn’t focus on keyword search intent alone but on what’s missing from them and how you can improve them.
Is there a popular question that has been left out? Are other articles perhaps a bit too technical while your audience is looking for a jargon-free answer?
Now, let’s address the elephant in the room:
I hope you’ve found my guide on search intent useful.
Shall I save you time and write content that matches your audience’s search intent for your female-founded biz?
If you’ve realised that your sales pages don’t match your users’ intent or you haven’t got time to write such in-depth blog posts on a regular basis, I’d love to help.
I 100% believe that ambitious female entrepreneurs deserve to become THE go-to solution in their dream market’s eyes.
Audience-oriented content matching their search intent will help you do just that.
Discover more about my website copywriting and blog writing services.
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