COLLEGE OF MEDIA

AND PUBLISHING
ONLINE COURSES IN COPYWRITING, PROOFREADING, MARKETING, SEO AND WRITING

Copywriting course

Lesson 03: Researching your subject

OBJECTIVES

After studying this Lesson, you will be able to:

1. Carry out fast, effective and targeted internet and social media research.

2. Apply internet and social media research skills to a practical scenario.

COPYWRITING COURSE LEARNING MATERIAL

GETTING INFORMATION

As a copywriter, you will spend a lot of time finding things out. Efficient and effective research can mean the difference between
average copy and good copy. It’s highly likely you will be asked to write about subjects you know very little about or have zero
personal interest in.

But, this is all part of the challenge. Writing about random topics that need thorough research is central to the job. Effective research
means you will be well informed. And, being well informed will help you write better-quality copy.

For each client you take on, you need to get under the skin of both their business and their wider industry. This will be your first
research task.

Ensure that you find out what the relevant trade websites and publications are. Where does your client go for information about their
industry? Who do they trust?

For example, if your client is an online letting agent, you will find industry news and opinions at propertymark.co.uk and nrla.org.uk.
Add these to your web browser’s favourites bar and you can check in regularly to stay up to date and research article topics.

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Getting to know the key players and hot issues in your client’s industry is essential for helping you to gain an overall understanding of
a subject. And, it will impress your client.

SEARCHING THE INTERNET FOR INFORMATION

As a copywriter, you will need to know where to find things out and where to check facts quickly. The internet is your most valuable
tool for finding out information, provided you know how to use it. This is a skill in itself and one that few people have formally
learned.

You can search the internet using search engines and social media.

Using search engines

1. The first step is to choose a good search engine.

The top five search engines in the UK are:

Estimated UK % market share

Google 86.31%
Bing 9.61%
Yahoo! Search 2.36%
DuckDuckGo 1.01%

Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/280269/market-share-held-by-search-engines-in-the-united-kingdom

Because Google is the most popular search engine, we will concentrate on how to use Google to search.

2. Then, you need to know how to conduct a search.

Basic searches

Most people have a pretty good idea how to do basic searches. Simply call up the search engine, type in what you are looking
for and hit enter. With trial and error, you most often end up with a page of results that gives you what you want.

See How to search on Google:

https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/134479?hl=en

Advanced searches

But, what if you have too little time to take a guess? Or, what if you are searching for something quite specific? There are
advanced methods you can use to get the information you are looking for quickly and neatly.

With Google you can use these tools:

Advanced search

Image search

Search tools and filters

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 Punctuation and symbols in search

Specialist searches

Google is very good and will generally get you the results you are looking for. But, if you feel you really need to concentrate
on a specific field, there are many other search engines that do just that.

These are known as vertical search engines, whereas Google and the others listed above are known as web-based search
engines. Vertical search engines tend to concentrate on a specific topic or industry.

Here are some:

Flights and travel

https://www.skyscanner.net
https://www.kayak.co.uk

Blogs
http://www.blogsearchengine.org

Images
https://www.flickr.com/creativecommons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

People
https://pipl.com
https://www.192.com

Forums
https://boardreader.com
http://omgili.com

Music
http://musicengine.radio-internet.com

Audio and video

https://fyyd.de
http://itools.com/tool/youtube-video-search
https://www.google.com/videohp

Slides
http://www.pptsearchengine.net

Medical
https://accessmedicine.mhmedical.com

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 Icons
https://www.iconfinder.com

Private search (you search but are not tracked)

https://www.startpage.com
https://duckduckgo.com

USING SOCIAL MEDIA

Searching with Twitter

You can use Twitter to search for people, subjects, places, locations and postcodes.

See how to do this at:

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-to-use-twitter-advanced-search

Searching with Facebook

Facebook also has a search bar. Type in any search term and you will get a list of pages you can look at.

Searching with other social media

Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, SlideShare, etc. all have search facilities. Just find the search bar and type in your search.

Searching using hashtags

It’s helpful to use hashtags in searches. Hashtags are mainly associated with Twitter but are also useful for searching on search engines
and social media such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest.

People use the hashtag symbol # before a relevant keyword or phrase (no spaces) to categorise those Tweets or posts and to help them
show more easily in searches.

This is what a hashtag could look like:

#audiQ4

#audi_Q4

For further information:

https://help.twitter.com/en/using-twitter/how-to-use-hashtags
https://www.facebook.com/help/587836257914341
https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6390658?hl=en-GB
https://blog.hootsuite.com/how-to-use-hashtags

Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message shows you all other Tweets or posts marked with that keyword.

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This website is a valuable resource for hashtags: https://www.hashatit.com

CONCLUSION

The copywriter’s main priority is to create original content. And, the better your search skills, the more likely you are to find unusual
ideas.

As a copywriter, most of your searching will be done through Google, and other mainstream search engines. Twitter, Facebook and
other social media channels may not be your main way of finding information.

But, social media can be useful for tracking down more unusual content, images, contacts and ideas.

Referencing your research

Now your research is done, it’s time to write.

When it comes to citing your research, there are a few points to keep in mind:

 If your research has simply checked a fact or confirmed background information to a subject, there is no need to reference it.

Just use the facts you have discovered and integrate them into your copy. Facts are facts and don’t need a source, for example,
a specific model of car’s combined mpg is 64.

 If you want to quote a person within your copy, make sure that they are relevant to the audience and, preferably, known to
them. Quoting a random Twitter user is meaningless. Who are they? Why should your audience trust them or even care what
they think?

 Any academic-style referencing you may be familiar with does have its place in the world of copywriting.

For example, content for a physical ad billboard which cites a statistic or quote will need a reference in small print at the
bottom.

For long-form articles such as white papers, which can run to thousands of words, your client may also request the addition of
full references in footnotes or at the end of the piece.

 If your content is to be published online, an anchored hyperlink is your friend. This is the neatest way to reference an online
source:

For example, latest figures from the Office for National Statistics
show that in the period December 2019 to February 2020,unemployment
increased by 22,000 to 1.36 million.

To add an anchored hyperlink in Word:

o Highlight the phrase you want the hyperlink to show up on (in this case “latest figures”).

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LESSON 03: RESEARCHING YOUR SUBJECT 5
 o Right-click to the drop-down menu.

o Click on “Link”.

o Cut and paste the web address where you found the statistic into the “Address” box.

o Click OK.

If you are looking for some good quotes to include in an article and add some colour, try www.saidwhat.co.uk.

ANY QUERIES?

If you have any queries, please contact your tutor via the OLA.

ASSIGNMENT

ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS

You can find instructions here:

https://ww2.collegeofmediaandpublishing.education/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=2

ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS

QUESTION

You have been asked to write a piece of promotional copy of up to 200 words about a brand new car model. This will be featured on
the manufacturer’s website as an introduction to the model.

Choose your favourite, if you like, but please don’t write in the first person.

The car you choose must be available to purchase brand new, and you need to base your copy on any factual information you can find
on the web, as well as on either Twitter or Facebook.

For example, the new Volkswagen Golf 8:

https://www.volkswagen.co.uk/en/new/golf.html

https://www.facebook.com/Golf-8-103919565459733

Then, write the copy based on your research, ensuring that it’s original.

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THE NEXT LESSON

Your next Lesson will be available for download from the OLA once this assignment has been graded.

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LESSON 03: RESEARCHING YOUR SUBJECT 7