Hello fellow DPers, This article is for all copywriters who are looking to improve their existing services to their clients. I'd like to discuss the topic of proofreading. Most people only pay attention to obvious grammatical / spelling errors, overlooking many other blunders. Hopefully, this post will help you no matter if you're copywriting for a client, or for yourself - the end result will be a better, higher-converting sales copy. 3 THINGS TO LOOK FOR WHILE PROOFREADING: Proper formatting Misplaced sentences An opportunity to insert a powerful headline Appealing formatting will make the overall effect of the sales letter more professional and sharp. Sentences that are indented in one paragraph but not in another, for example, can throw a reader off. Using every color of the rainbow in every highlighted headline gets to be annoying, also; sticking to a brief color scheme is a must. Misplaced sentences are sentences that would make more sense or provide higher impact on the reader in another place. Perhaps you need to shift it up or down a paragraph, or cut it and paste it in an altogether separate section of the sales pitch. Look for opportunities to focus your reader on your point as much as possible. An opportunity to insert a powerful headline arises when you have boring paragraphs after paragraphs of text. Just straight lines of sentences, one paragraph, then another, then another... it gets frustrating to read, and the reader is forced to skim. You don't want that; you want the reader to see everything that you've go to say. A good headline can serve as a nice break between two separate parts of a sales page. Please feel free to discuss my tactics in this thread. Thanks for reading! Best Regards, vip-ip.
Oh, one more thing that I missed: What good is an article if it produces no ROI? Remember the purpose of all content. It may be to inform the reader about a product, or to directly sell it to them, but one way or the other you need to directly reference a web-site in the article. That way they know where to proceed to get more information, to register for a service, or take other particular action(s). As a writer, it's your job to entice the reader to do the first step and click the link, and many proofreaders leave this bit out. Best Regards, vip-ip.
Don't forget good flow and style. Often writers will work on sales copy at different times of day and on different days, interrupting the thought process. Often you will see a sentence or entire paragraph that sticks out like a sore thumb. It's always good when proofreading, to smooth this out with a clever or active voice transition.