Thinking of getting a new website? Sorted out a domain name and branding? Great! But hang on – there’s a lot more to having a website designed and built than just thinking about the pages you need and the navigation. Here’s my simple website checklist to help. This website checklist hopefully covers all the key questions to ask your web provider and points to consider in order to get a detailed and accurate estimate and save time and headaches. What to consider for your website design Template or bespoke (the latter is very expensive)? Squarespace or WordPress (and what about hosting package ..read more

I recently came up with a campaign concept which involved using words joined by “and” in phrases. I was after a quick resource for inspiration beyond the phrases I already knew. It was frustrating: I knew what I wanted to find, but not the correct term to search for the result. Because if you Google phrases joined by “and” (which seemed a pretty obvious place to start, frankly, a load of stuff pops up to do with conjunctions (i.e., “and”, “but”, and “or”). Which wasn’t what I was after. Thankfully I got there in the end and found a fantastic guide called Fixed Phrases with “and” which helpful ..read more

I’ve had some rather interesting (ahem) copywriting enquiries over the years; the best being from someone whose new business idea involved inviting people to live in trees on a South Pacific island  and not use any money. He instructed me to be as creative as I wanted and to “invert your thought plate.” Reader, we didn’t go any further but that is my all-time favourite client line. Here are a few more mailbox highlights (edited here for the sake of brevity, and for all our sakes really): the chancers, the cheapskates, the cheeky … Below is my brand story and I would like you to understan ..read more

This isn’t a blog post – it’s a warning. I’ve been alerted to the fact that someone has been using my photo and business profile (full of spelling and grammar mistakes) on a content mill site and passing off my blogs as their own. They’re providing a personal email address with a name similar to mine. Luckily, I was contacted via LinkedIn by the unfortunate client who’d been scammed by the fake Caroline Gibson and had realised their mistake. I have filed a crime report with Action Fraud, and am using this post to let other copywriters and potential clients know. Thankfully, that’s not my signa ..read more

Audio producer and director, voice caster and Cannes juror, Pam Myers set up Rorschach Radio Production c.30 years ago and is a legend in her field. CG: How did your career start?PM: I started as a creative secretary at Saatchi’s and saw an ad in Campaign one day for The Radio Operators, so wrote a letter in the form of a radio script to Tony Hertz there. He was looking for someone to take their showreel to agencies, so that’s what I did and then I got to sit in sessions. It was rather like a practical skills apprenticeship. I’m approached all the time now by fabulous young people in the ..read more

I was on holiday in Greece when I received a request from someone looking to take over ownership of my Google My Business account. I’m an established freelance copywriter and have had my account for more years than I care to remember. Was it a genuine chancer via Google? Or was it some kind of scam? I felt a little stuck, being away, and spent several hours looking for advice online (as Google can take dayyyyys to respond to queries). I found lots of blogs all saying pretty much the same thing, and lots from web agencies that then tagged on their sales pitch. However, all the posts were from ..read more

There are so many digital marketing channels that can help your brand, product or service stand up and stand out above everyone else; some free and some you have to pay for. So, which one, or ones, do you choose? My simple digital marketing channel guide tells you what you need to know at a glance, and where to delve deeper. What Is Search Engine Optimisation?SEO helps your website zoom up Google rankings organically and appear more frequently in searches. How do you go about it? Sign up for Google Search Console. It’s a free service that helps you monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot your si ..read more

A multi-layered agency carries multi overheads. For clients wanting their budgets to str-e-t-c-h further, a highly elastic option is the freelancer. But, as with everything, you get what you pay for. (And if your budget is teeny-weeny then, please, stop reading now and head over to People Per Hour, Fiverr or ChatGPT or Bard.) But what, exactly, are you paying for? The word ‘copywriter’ has taken on many synonyms today (blogger / content writer / digital copywriter / creative copywriter / content creator etc, etc – see six differences between a blogger and a copywriter). Who do you use? How do ..read more

Ta dah – here’s my 404 notice Pop-ups, cookie notices, 404 pages … little teeny things really, and yet a massive opportunity to demonstrate a creative tone of voice for your brand and show just how wonderful and unique it is while also demonstrating brand consistency and attention to detail. In my blog What Is Tone Of Voice In Copy And Why Does It Matter? I talk about the importance of having a distinctive tone of voice. Sadly, clients sometimes only look at the bigger picture such as having a sparkling new TOV for the website and how that may then translate across into a brochure or ad copy ..read more