Does Your Sheffield Copywriter Have To Be Based in Sheffield?

Apr 9
08:02

2012

Nigel Graber

Nigel Graber

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UK copywriters need to find a new way forward in tough times. How about marketing yourself to a whole new audience?

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It's been tough for UK copywriters recently. Until about four years ago,Does Your Sheffield Copywriter Have To Be Based in Sheffield? Articles we thought the copywriting gravy train might never end.

But we were wrong. Those queues outside Northern Rock should have given us a wake-up call. Plan B was required.

We used to chuck about £350 a month at Google Adwords and watch the work flood in to our inboxes.

These days, a new strategy is required for drumming up work. The only ones clicking those Adwords ads and chipping away at our advertising budget are all those PR and marketing guys, laid off and desperate to find out more about this freelance copywriting game.

Then there's the boys from Bombay, selling us their web content at $3 a page. Copywriting was never meant to sell by the yard. It's become a commodity – like something you could pick up from a builder's merchant.

Today, copywriters need to market themselves in a new way. A niche approach is required. That's where Google is your friend.

In short, you have to stop restricting your search for work to your home area. Those days of long-tail keywords and local geography are gone.

Instead, why not create those long-tail keywords for other locations? Other cities? Be honest, how often do you meet clients these days? They might start out looking for a copywriter in Sheffield or Edinburgh, but by the time they've read your sales pitch, they'll be hooked. These days, you can work effectively over email, Skype and the phone.

As a copywriter, you've a pretty good grasp of keywords – good enough to find the right geographical focus. You don't need to be a Sheffield copywriter to be based in Sheffield. If you want to be a Sheffield copywriter, then, thanks to Google, you can be. Heck you can be a Reading copywriter if that's what you want.

Just insert those keywords in your H1 and H2 tags, go for 5% density, stir in a few backlinks, then season and simmer until thoroughly cooked.

This geographical long-tail masterplan will cost you almost nothing. With your content-management system, you can build new pages to your heart's content and build up a few backlinks on press release and article sites like this one.

Be honest, if you run a business in Sheffield and want for a copywriter, shouldn't you be looking for the best one, not just the nearest?