Gurls Asylum

Reading time: 5 – 8 minutes

Every time I sit down to write an article for the web, I think of all the wonderfully written articles I read every day. Then I freeze for a bit. I start telling myself I could never write that well. That it will take years to get to that point. That my copywriting will always be sub par. It’s one of my biggest barriers to writing and to making an impact on the web.

Let’s face it, writing good copy is not easy, right? Blog copywriting becomes a ton easier if you use Problogger’s Copywriting Scorecard for Bloggers. I bought a copy two nights ago and read it from cover to cover. Now I feel better as I sit here writing this because I have some blog copy writing secrets from Problogger’s Darren Rowse and Devine Writing’s Glenn Murray. Now you can have those secrets too!

Blogging Copywriting Secrets Revealed!

The Copywriting Scorecard for Bloggers is packed full of “secrets” to great copywriting. You will find many surprising gems in this 59 page powerhouse of tips and tricks. Some of the things you will learn while reading include:

• How many keywords should you target at once
• Where should you put your keywords in titles and subheadings for the best results with skimmers and search engines
• How to correctly use common problem words such as
  • Its and It’s
  • Affect and Effect
  • Advice and Advise
• Why using contractions as you write is a good thing
• How important is keyword density
• And so much more

Things That Could Have Been Better

I was expecting more writing by Darren himself. The book seems to have been written entirely by Glenn Murray. Once I gave it a little thought, this arrangement made sense. Murray is the copywriting expert. I am sure Darren had a major role in the creation of this book or he wouldn’t have put his name on it. I just missed Darren’s writing style a bit.

There are also some points that are repeated a time or two in the book. This may annoy some, but to me it just reinforced the importance of those points. They weren’t repeated very close together in most cases, so I likely spotted it because I did read this in a single sitting.

Finally, some of this may be stuff you already know if you have read any of the million articles on how to write for the web. However, I am certain you will find some points that you aren’t familiar with. I also believe that using the scorecard itself will help you find areas that you can improve on.

Things I Liked

One of the major surprises for me was how readable this book actually is. Most of us think of copywriting as a boring subject. This book made the subject easy to understand and compelling to read. I found myself looking forward to using the scorecard on my next post.

Another great point about the book is the scorecard, of course. There are a full 63 areas for you to score your writing upon, then you total it up to get your score out a possible 100. It has references back to the page where the topic being scored is covered so you can refresh your memory or fix something you skipped. It also has recommendations based on your score that give you a good idea of which topics you need to focus on to improve.

This book could be used by any writer, not just bloggers. Using your knowledge of your field will be necessary in discarding any tips that won’t work  for your type of writing. However, I believe a lot of it would apply across the board.

Finally, I adore the price. It’s on sale for $9.95 until September 3, 2010. I’d have bought it at the undiscounted price of $14.95. Either price point is a steal. Even at a mere 59 pages, The Copywriting Scorecard for Bloggers is packed full of easy to implement tips to improve your writing.

Conclusion

The Copywriting Score Card for Bloggers is a great product for all writers, especially those writing for the web. It shows many blog copywriting secrets in a way that is easily understood. The topics are actionable and often have a nice tip to help you use the topic better.

I would highly recommend getting this book no matter your experience level. Having the scorecard to help show you places you can improve your blog copywriting is more than worth the price.

Read more about the blog copywriting secrets the book explores. Happy copywriting!

PS: This blog article gets a 80 out of 100. Not too bad for a novice like me Now to take my score and see where to focus my efforts to improve!