What is the main condition for promoting your website? An appropriate niche being found? A brilliant advertising campaign? A good neighborhood? Of course, all these factors are of high importance, however, there exists the most significant consideration – that is content. In combination with smart linking and some other Internet marketing tips, good content can increase your site’s traffic incredibly, bring it to the highest SERP positions and make much profit.

Just imagine: amazing and captivating, original and logically organized, relevant and keyword rich content, sweet delicious content with an appetizing golden brown crust… But suddenly, to your horror, you discover that someone has stolen the basic feature of your site and now your content can’t be called unique anymore. What will you do?

In prehistoric times thieves were torn to threads or just fed to wild animals. People of the Middle Ages subjected them to tortures. Two centuries ago swindlers were killed in duels. But nowadays such steps are a little bit out of fashion, in addition, there is a more progressive way to punish tricksters – I mean DMCA, or Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

As a United States copyright law, DMCA outlaws production and distribution of devices which serve to obtain the access to copyrighted works. It also criminalizes removing copyright management information, like the author, title, copyright owner’s name, terms for the data use and some identifying symbols. Such illegal actions as abuse of the copyright law and dissemination of anti-security tools imply various civil penalties – from banning the plagiarist website to imposing a fine or even imprisoning.

The law includes several exceptions, and not any borrowed data is considered the violation of DMCA. Thus, the act allows to use online information for educational, governmental and law enforcement purposes. Another example is computer programs or games coming in obsolete formats and requiring the original hardware to get access to; in this case the necessary programs are “borrowed” for the preservation or archival reproduction purposes.

But what if that isn’t the case, and your content, based on the best SEO copywriting technologies, was shamelessly stolen and placed onto other site(s)?

First you should determine the extent of the offense and try to find out about the infringer as much as possible. You can contact the circumventing websites’ owner directly or send him/her a warning letter. If your message is ignored, and the copyrighted content wasn’t removed from the offending site, make up a DMCA infringement notice by yourself, or with the help of a lawyer, and send it to the hosting provider.

To attain its object the notice should meet certain requirements. To make it clear, your notice has to contain detailed identity of the copyrighted material, such as identification of the web page or posts where the data was published and the URL coming with the title, name of the source and date, – or the link leading to the initial post. Then it should provide the identity of the infringed data, its name and all accompanying posts and pictures, if necessary. Don’t forget to include your contact information, like email or fax. The DMCA notice is concluded with the signatures of the copyright owner and the author. Such host as Google require handwritten signatures, yet in most cases an electronic one is still valid. (Learn more details and examples by visiting Google’s DMCA department on the web.)

The majority of hosts will reply to your DMCA notice within 1-3 business days. In most cases the response is favorable, as any host doesn’t want plagiarists on its service. Nevertheless, don’t send the notice without being completely sure your content was stolen, otherwise such actions will be considered illegal.

There are many example when, thanks to the DMCA’s interference, circumvented data was removed from the the sites-offenders, and the latter were even banned. So, be aware of these methods standing on guard over your website reputation.

Can a human being be substituted with a robot? Who is better – a man from flesh and blood with her unpredictable temper or a precise machine from stainless steel? According to the popular literature and cinema, terminators, despite all their strength, are on a lower stage of development. However, modern scientists have a different point of view, trying to prove that anything a man can do, a machine can do better.

Thus, one could suppose, up-to-date tools are to replace humans not only in quick calculating but also in writing. As webmasters have understood that the importance of content on site cannot be questioned, a whole variety of content generators and content rewriters have appeared, allegedly making the process of writing easier and less time consuming. Here, you’d only need to paste a genuine article in the text space, click the “generate” button – and to obtain a new article featuring “unique” content. If you click 10 times – you will get 10 different new articles, 100 clicks equal to 100 rewritten articles, and some content generators can create thousands of them!

But who might need such an infinite number of articles?

People who are running an online business know that a good, search engine optimized article is the best way to promote their product. Yet, writing kilometers of text for websites requires much time and money, and in addition, many people think it is incredibly boring. Moreover, as for SEO purposes content should be updated on a regular basis, writing original copy for one’s site can become an unpleasant routine for some webmasters. So, they just buy some spinning tools and multiply one and the same content.

Content generating tools come in several ways. Some of them (known as rewriters, spinners or spoolers) only replace separate words with their synonyms from an in-built thesaurus; others include additional words or phrases and change the structure of sentences preserving the original sense. Besides that, there exist content generators which only need keywords or phrases to be provided, and, with the help of online article directories or other resources, they produce articles almost from scratch.

Nevertheless, the quality of such output more often than not leaves a lot to be desired, and even the most sophisticated article generator doesn’t guarantee your content will be considered original by search engines. According to Google, each page is analyzed not as a whole but in parts, so, replacing several words with synonyms won’t do, and a rewritten article of this kind will be easily detected by search engines. With that said, there is a definite rate of permissible matches, so if the percentage is too high, Google will classify the article as plagiarism. If you don’t want to write a genuine article or get it written by professionals for you, and prefer generating content through auto tools, or just “borrow” it from the Internet, its rightful owner can appeal to Google and, according to the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) your website may be banned once and forever.

Apart from that, the effectiveness of content generating tools varies greatly, and some of them don’t manage to keep the logical order of sentences, so a rewritten article has to be edited manually.

The matter of automated content generators in copywriting sphere resembles disputes about computer assisted translators: there is no arguing that machines may store more information about a language than its native speakers; however, they still can’t compare with a professional human translator/interpreter. The same applies to modern intellectual medical equipment: would one agree to be operated on by a clever robot, and no qualified surgeon?

Developing an online business, it is very useful to remember that articles are written not only for search engines. PEOPLE ALSO READ THEM. That is why content is so important. Good content can boost profits hundredfold, so choosing the author is a crucial point for your success. Nobody knows what kind of Internet technologies will be invented tomorrow, but today a content generator, even a most advanced and innovative one, can’t replace creative and ingenious human brain.

No matter if you create content for your site, work on a term project or an essay, compile a CV, or pore over a sales letter for your product, you certainly need quality writing to achieve the aims set. This is especially true for the profession of copywriter, where your profits depend entirely on your writing skills.

But what stands behind these magic words “top quality copy” that you see every now and then on the Internet? What are the essential components of good writing? Let us try and name at least some of them.

1) Original thinking. Just like in every business, in copywriting you are unlikely to become successful without fresh and creative ideas. Everyone who’s dipped their toe in the market of words understands the difference between UNIQUE writing, conscious rewriting and shameless duplicating. The value of your words increases in direct proportion to your originality; on the other hand, theft of someone else’s ideas can result in many bad things starting from great expenses to the loss of reputation. You might say, there are only 26 letters in the English alphabet, so how on Earth can one be original? However, as it is your words that earn the money, do your best to mix them well before they are put on sale.

2) General knowledge/education. Though a writer may have more experience in one particular field than the others, of course it is impossible to know everything. All topics require prior research, but the time and depth of this research can vary considerably. Here, academic background can be of great help. What I mean is this: no matter what subjects you studied at the University, one thing you must have learned for sure is the ability to learn itself. Some time you may wish to thank your Mom who’d made you do your homework.

3) Communicability. This one can be your savior when you have to say something on a dull topic and say a lot about it. People who have a ready tongue often become good writers and find no difficulty taming words. It is interesting that you may be a bad talker and a great writer at the same time.

4) Ability to put difficult concepts in clear words. The more you indulge in a subject, the more jargon you learn. These special words can be real jaw breakers, difficult to read and comprehend. But have you ever heard that a true scientist is the one who can explain her theory to a 5-year old kid? Similarly, one of the basic rules of successful copywriting is staying simple. Lexicologists say that most Anglo-Saxon words consist of 1 or 2 syllables, and yet they are more emphatic and emotional than words of Latin/Greek/French origin.

4) Basic literacy. Stupid grammatical mistakes or even typos can seriously undermine your authority. All those notorious ‘loose’ and ‘lose’, ‘it’s’ and ‘its’, ‘their’ and ‘there’ are easy to overlook, but they make a great difference for the reader and may produce an overall negative impression: imagine an HR manager reading your resume and wondering whether you’ll make similar mistakes in your work if you are hired. Revise, edit, polish and proofread your copy until it’s perfect.

By the way, you don’t have to be a native speaker to write well: research shows that ESL speakers are often more accurate in writing than native speakers as the former study the language more carefully and intensively.

5) Ability to organize your thoughts logically and coherently. Even if a person is extremely knowledgeable in a field, this does not make her a good writer. On the other hand, someone who knows just the basics of a subject, but is quick-witted and intelligent enough to catch the key concepts, can produce quality content and strike as an expert.

6) Persistence and diligence. It is almost inevitable that occasionally you’ll have to deal with the so-called writer’s block. Don’t lose heart if you seem to have run out of ideas; there are many sources of inspiration around that might make your creative juices spring! Try to approach the whole thing as a gradual problem-solving process. Set yourself tasks and tackle them one after another.

7) Good teachers. Just like a poet or a novelist would start their “career” copying the style of some renowned writers, a beginner copywriter could learn from the works of some copy gurus and follow their advice on writing techniques step by step; as even most intricate things can be easily settled if you take them to pieces and study each one separately…

Hopefully, the above small tips have helped build the general notion of good writing essentials and will be of use making your final product more effective. One thing to add: always be professional in your attitude, ’cause it is only then that you can expect professionalism from the others.

Good luck!

Today, there is no need to speculate on the importance of advertising in business. Everyone knows that to become popular you need to advertise. In fact, we do it ourselves every day, advising a new restaurant to friends, complimenting an interesting book or a movie, speaking about our own virtues and talents at a job interview.

We do our best for the people to believe us and respond to our call for action, whatever it might be. But what happens if they actually follow your advice and then are extremely dissatisfied with the outcome? Do you answer for the results? Should you account for your promises? Or is it really a problem at all?

These questions get a special meaning with regard to the profession of a copywriter. As while you are unlikely to persuade your buddy to buy crap, if it is your job to compel, you sometimes need to compromise with your conscience. Even knowing that magic weight-loss pills are not that magic if not to say worse, you receive money for saying they are good, so what’s the difference? However, many copywriters refuse to perform the like assignments as they feel responsible for their words.

Let us take another simple example, namely, e-books. Hundreds and thousands are sold on the Internet covering every imaginable topic, and only a tiny proportion of them is really worth spending time and money on. But still it is the copywriter’s job to assure the target audience of product quality. If people are told “black is white” a lot of times in a row they soon start believing it. Amazingly, statistics shows that even if there is a return option, few take advantage of it, so bad stuff does sell when it has nice wrapping.

Look at the fast food stores: most of them provide products of medium to law quality, and every person can make sandwiches better than they make at MacDonald’s, still the business is extremely successful thanks to the highly professional and well-elaborated advertising campaigns. At the same time even products of exceptional quality can be getting dusty on store shelves without proper presentation.

So the answer to my initial question, whether cool copy can sell crappy stuff, is a definite “yes”. Thus, do not economize on copywriting services, this sort of investment can be repaid a hundredfold.

Once upon a time Far Far Away there lived a King. The King’s name was Content Compellius. He was very powerful and ruled his great kingdom with an iron hand.

Content Compellius had many laws enacted in his fairy land, and it was difficult for many to observe them, however, for those who managed to do so life was much easier and happier, too.

Moreover, the King was very smart and willingly shared his knowledge and wisdom.

For example, Content advised people to be original and creative, taught them to always take into account the needs of others, be relevant in their communication and focus on the right words to be heard. He used to repeat, it is not only WHAT you have to say, but HOW you are saying that.

Content’s valuable skill of persuasion helped the Kingdom avoid wars with neighbors more than once, as negotiations with the King as a rule would result in enemies’ turning into friends or at least business partners. A pen is mightier than the sword, he would say, and considerably easier to write with.

So what was the secret of Content’s success? In fact, debates about it are still taking place. The majority of contemporary historians agree, however, that is because he used plain words, was specific, took a personal approach and always concentrated on benefits for people, researched the issues he was dealing with, and also listened to advice of his clever Queen named Linking. In particular, the latter always told him it was important to be friendly and maintain good relations with others.

Content Compellius was a rightful King, and not a figurehead like many other rulers of those times. He is still honored our days, and it is very probable that his power will not be questioned for years to come. Viva Copywriting!