Copywriting: how many texts, and the tone to avoid, asked before writing
This is a suggestion, not a standard. We do not do your job: this list is a starting point, to be added to, cut down and rephrased to suit the way you work.
The questions
What there is to write
The kind of copy, and how much of it.
What copy do you need?
Multiple choice · Required
The answers offered:
- Website pages
- Blog articles
- Product descriptions
- A newsletter
- Social media posts
- A press release
- A brochure
How many pieces in total?
Number · Required
How long should each one be?
Dropdown · Optional
The answers offered:
- Short (300 to 500 words)
- Medium (500 to 1000 words)
- Long (over 1000 words)
- It varies, case by case
Search engines
Writing for your readers, and so that they can find you.
Does the copy need SEO work?
Single choice · Required
The answers offered:
- Yes, and I already have my keywords
- Yes, the research needs doing
- No, not this time
Your keywords
Long text · Optional
The address of your site
Short text · Optional
The tone
Who you are talking to, and how.
Who are you talking to?
Short text · Required
What should this copy make people do?
Dropdown · Required
The answers offered:
- Find us on Google
- Want to ask for a quote
- Buy a product
- Feel reassured before buying
- Stay informed and come back
What tone should it take?
Multiple choice · Optional
The answers offered:
- Formal
- Conversational
- Expert
- Plain English
- Warm
- Direct
- Corporate
- Light-hearted
Competitors' sites worth a look
Long text · Optional
A tone of voice guide, or anything useful
File · Optional
Anything that already says how you speak: a brochure, an old site, internal notes.
And finally
Your deadline, and anything that did not fit the questions above.
When do you need it?
Dropdown · Required
The answers offered:
- As soon as possible
- Within 2 weeks
- Within a month
- No particular deadline
Anything you would like to add?
Long text · Optional
A constraint, a question, a detail I ought to bear in mind.
Any other files to attach
File · Optional
On top of what is asked for above: screenshots, sketches, documents. HEIC from an iPhone is fine.
The colours to offer
- Ink black
- White
- Paper
- Taupe
- Navy
- Slate blue
- Garnet
- Olive green
How it works
1
You pick your trade
When you sign up, and the questions on this page are already in your account. You cut them down, add to them and rephrase them: nothing is fixed.
2
You send one link
Your client answers from their phone, when they can, and uploads their files. They install nothing, create no account and choose no password.
3
What follows stays in one place
The conversation, the chasing, the later rounds of questions, the deposit and the balance, and the delivery of the files, which can open on its own once the payment settles.
What it costs
Frequently asked questions
- What should you ask before writing a client’s copy?
- How many texts and how long, who they speak to, what they have to make somebody do, the tone to avoid, and whether search visibility is part of the job. Without those answers the text is judged against an intention nobody wrote down.
- Should SEO be quoted separately?
- It should be asked about separately, because it changes the writing and not only the proofreading. Copy optimised afterwards carries phrases forced into it and it reads that way. Writing while knowing the target queries takes more preparation, and is priced accordingly.
Think something is wrong?
A question that is missing, one that means nothing in your trade, a word that is not the right one: write to us and we will fix it.
Write to us at [email protected]These questions are already waiting for you
Create your studio, pick your trade, and this brief is there. You send one link, your client answers once, and you follow what happens next in the same place.