Copywriting Confusion

If you were to tell someone you were a copywriter, they may have the wrong idea about what you do. Copywriting is more akin to marketing than it is copying a piece of paper or filing a form that states you invented the product. Copywriters influence our daily lives. Their work surrounds us. Marketing is everywhere we look: in magazines, on the television and especially on the computer. How many times have you received an email that promoted some sort of product? It has probably been more than a few times.

Web copywriting has increased in the past few years as the popularity in search engines rises. Web copywriting is most often in regards to articles written in a specific manner. The articles are called SEO (search engine optimized) and are specifically written around certain key words. The key words are recognized by the search engine used and then cause the article or product to be displayed in the results. An example would be the words: dog clown suits. Any articles or promotional writing that is on an internet webpage that have those specific words written in sequence would come up as a result.

The use of copywriting does not stop at the internet. Advertising copywriting is a huge industry. Companies rely on copywriters to bring in more customers. An ad that does not make sense is one that consumers will ignore and thus the product or service is ignored. Ads can also be used to sway an audience against an idea. An example is the anti-smoking ads issued by government agencies and private groups to help show the affects of cigarette smoking on the body. The idea of a negative image is used to help keep young people away from smoking.

You do not have to work for a huge advertising firm or a media group. There are many freelance copywriter positions available on the market today. Copywriting jobs can be found on many career websites and at job fairs. Some positions do not require a lot of experience either.

Copywriting is around us each and every day. It is something that most of us do not take into consideration as we flip through a magazine or surf the internet. The next time you use Google to search for something, pay attention to what the results bring up or look at how an article is either for or against something. That is copywriting in action.