Dandy

I’ve just treated myself to a lovely jumper for the winter, spotted it on the net but had trouble tracking one down in my size, eventually emailing the company direct.

Turns out the company is based in Nottingham - the lovely people at Universal Works. A fledgling little company with it’s heart in the right place, foregoing mass market appeal to produce well designed, often locally produced, crafted clothing - rejuvenating the art of the artisan. But that’s not the reason for this little piece, though that in itself is worth telling.

What I found so rewarding was having got in touch with them and exchanged a couple of email’s we came to an arrangement where by they delivered the jumper in person, leaving a beautiful little accompanying letter telling me a little about the history and source of the item, and thanking me for my custom, even popping in a extra little ‘pocket square’ gift - lucky me. Beat that for service.

Good customer service isn’t planned, contrived and worked out in process meetings, it’s born of a genuine love for the work you do and the passion to pass that on, thanks to David and Stephanie at Universal Works for reaffirming that and leaving me with an extra little feel-good factor inside.

As you may or may not know, we like to give a little back, that’s why we’re members of the ‘1% for the Planet’ organisation. They’ve just produced a neat little video, all very YouTube, to promote the work they do, we’ve popped it on our ‘Good’ page to just let people get a bit more of an idea of what it’s all about, but you can take a look below.

This year we contributed to a number of projects, high on the list was The John Muir Trust, which safeguards the wilderness of Scotland for future generations.

Great organisation, great idea, great work. If you own a company or work for a company, why not join the gang.

It was only a matter of time before Pantone realised the full value and potential of their brand, the long time staple colour partner for every creative studio in the land.

First it was mugs, then bags, seats etc etc. But I must admit I didn’t see the Pantone Hotel coming, very adventurous idea, but looks fun. I love the idea of getting my credit card key to room 375C - you just know it would look so much cooler than your average motel card key.

I can see this place popping up in all the Sunday magazines very soon, book to avoid disappointment, metallic rooms are extra!

New work up on the ‘projects’ page, our ‘Green’ campaign for The University of Nottingham. Promoting the environmental steps the University are taking, but also a call to action for all students and employees to play their part too. Go take a look.

Of course, who doesn’t? Only problem is, so does everyone else.

Yes, keywords and phrases are important but there’s a depressing trend for companies to just cram as many repetitive words as possible onto pages, resulting in some kind of weird, garbled robotic prose:

“Looking for a creative design agency in Nottingham? Then we’re the creative design agency in Nottingham for you. Dandy is a creative design agency based in Nottingham…”

And so on. You wouldn’t speak this way to your customers, so why do it on the web? The answer, of course, is to be higher on Google.

I understand that there are certain things you’re supposed to do to improve your prospects but these don’t have to be at the cost of possibly damaging the relationship you have with customers. I’m not an SEO copywriter but, for what it’s worth, here are a few tips for writing for the web (and writing in general):

1. Be consistent. Your website is just part of your communications. Take a step back and consider everything you do: brochures, emails, newsletters – even what the nice lady says when she answers the phone. There should be real consistency that reflects your brand.

2. Keep it short and sweet. No one wants to read hundreds of complex words, so get to the point. (I know this piece is long, but this is a blog entry so it’s different.)

3. Break up the text. Use headers, sub headers and bullets to make it easier to read.

4. Focus on the benefit. Tell customers why they should care.

5. Use ‘you’ rather than ‘the customer’. Talk as if you’re chatting to someone face to face.

6. Write for your audience not for you. This is a huge trap lots of people fall into. They are so close to their product that they tell people every little thing about it. Or they write to please their boss. Your website is not for you or your boss, it’s for your customers. Think about what they need to know. If your copy doesn’t pass the ‘so what?’ test, cut it.

7. Keywords. By all means, include words people will search for but don’t be too repetitive – it’s off-putting to the reader and Google doesn’t actually like it if you use too many.

8. Use descriptive text for links, not just ‘click here’.

9. Edit. When you’ve finished writing, leave it for a little while and then come back. Now approach it as a reader, go through everything and if something’s not needed – even if it’s beautifully written – cut it.

10. Employ a copywriter. Well, what did you expect me to say! 

There are other things you can do, like having blogs and a Twitter account and getting people to link to your site. But the point I’m making is, don’t let your website – and your brand – down with poorly written copy for the sake of trying to gain a few places on Google.

Good copywriting is about building trust and loyalty and persuading people why your product or service is the one they should choose.

Get that right and you won’t have to worry too much about where you turn up on Google.