8 Websites Every Copywriter Must Know in 2023

Professional copywriters cover a wide range of areas — we all strive to be social media pros, press release experts, and product description wizards. We’re persuasive writers that help businesses sell their products and services. 

As a copywriter, it’s important to possess strong writing skills and thoroughly understand the various marketing materials used by businesses. Many companies expect us to be able to write for multiple digital platforms, including newsletters, website pages, and online ads.

In my six years as a freelance copywriter, I’ve routinely created marketing material for both up-and-coming companies and high-profile clients. These include digital ads, social media posts, press releases, and email campaigns. In addition to developing my own practice, I’ve often turned to online knowledge in order to hone my writing skills.

Here are my top 8 websites offering advice on how to develop a copywriting career and improve your writing skills. I’ve based this list on each website’s reputation, authority, how readable the content is, and whether they provide genuinely helpful and actionable advice.

1. Make a Living Writing

Becoming a successful freelance writer takes time, as many new freelancers struggle to find regular clients to build a long-term income with. If you’re looking to grow your client list and increase your earnings, Make a Living Writing can help.

The site is aimed at authors and freelancers, and offers great articles on copywriting, including a comprehensive guide to getting started as a copywriter. 

I love that the website has a guide on how much freelance writers make. This includes research on average rates and tips on how much to charge.

They also offer free, downloadable ebooks. One of my favorites is The Recession-Proof Freelancer, written by the website’s creator, Carol Tice. Tice began writing in the mid 90s, and has worked with leading organizations such as Forbes, American Express, and Costco. In her ebook, she shares how to grow a freelance income regardless of what’s happening with the economy.

2. Wordtune

An AI-powered writing and productivity tool, Wordtune offers personalized writing suggestions based on individual writing styles and preferences. From rewriting sentences to make them more digestible, to suggesting alternative words to improve flow, Wordtune helps writers create more effective and engaging copy.

As a copywriter, Wordtune's Shorten button is my favorite feature. The famous writer, Arthur Bryant, once said that the secret to copywriting is to “Say what you have to say in the fewest possible words.” Keeping copy short and sweet is vital for copywriters. A concise message is easier to read and more likely to make an impression because it cuts through the noise and drives the point home.

Here’s an example of Wordtune’s Shorten feature in action:

Notice how Wordtune’s shortened alternatives are easier to read. 

We began with the sentence “There is a tendency for long, complex sentences not to be as engaging as shorter sentences.” But with Wordtune, we can now use the more efficient version: “Long, complex sentences are less engaging than short ones.” 

Try for yourself — head to Wordtune’s Editor, type a sentence, and click Shorten to generate suggestions.

Wordtune also has a helpful blog that features copywriting guides written by experts. For example, you can learn marketing tips by reading articles like “How to Create Swipe Files for Copywriting & Marketing” and “6 Tips for Writing Effective Shopify Product Descriptions.”

The blog covers many other subjects related to copywriting, including social media, working with AI, content writing, SEO, press releases, and more, making it a great resource. 

3. Copyblogger

Launched in 2006, Copyblogger provides expert advice and resources for novice and pro copywriters. The website started as a “one-man blog” which has since grown and now generates an eight-figure annual profit — proving copywriting really can pay! According to Copyblogger, this is all down to their ability to teach others how to create high-quality content.  

They do this by demonstrating how writers can connect with their target audience and inspire readers to take action. The site offers many free features, including a “Content Marketing” section. Here, you can find beginner how-to articles on copywriting, email marketing, SEO, and landing pages. For instance, there are tips on how to write headlines and understanding the basics of SEO.

I personally read Copyblogger as a skill refresher. As a copywriter, I often create a variety of online content, including press releases, social media captions, and newsletters. If I haven’t written a press release in a while, Copyblogger reminds me of what to focus on.

Their blog also features articles on how to make money and find clients, proofreading, content planning, and headline writing. The content is easy to understand, including diagrams, bullet points, examples, and listicles that break down information for you.

4. Moz

Most copywriters need to understand search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is the process of improving content based on a series of measures in order to make a website rank highly on search engines such as Google. 

With Moz, you can access SEO insights and data. Specifically, its Free Domain Authority Checker gives you an overview of a website's search engine results page (SERP) performance in comparison to its competition.

Moz allows you to check a website's domain authority (DA) — a number between 0 and 100 that indicates a website's perceived strength. The higher the domain authority of a website, the higher the search engine ranking. 

In this example, I typed in Wikipedia and Moz gave me the following results:

• Wikipedia’s DA score
• How many other sites have added a link to Wikipedia (linking domains)
• The number of Wikipedia’s keywords that perform well on SERPs 
• Wikipedia’s highest performing pages
• Its top ranking keywords
• Its biggest competitors
• Its spam score

This is invaluable information for writers who specialize in SEO copywriting or assist businesses with web copy. Knowing a site’s most successful keywords and its competitors can tell you where to focus your copy and how to improve your client’s SEO strategy. Thanks to Moz, I’ve been able to produce stronger search engine results for companies, leading to more long-term projects and relationships.

5. Neil Patel

Neil Patel is one of the biggest names in content marketing. A top web influencer — according to The Wall Street Journal — Neil was recognized by former President Barack Obama as a top 100 entrepreneur under the age of 30. No copywriting resource list would be complete without his blog.

He’s built several multi-million-dollar companies, including his self-titled site which receives more than 10 million visitors a month. Whether you specialize in social media, SEO, or email marketing, Neil covers every aspect of copywriting. You’ll find lots of research and in-depth analysis on how to make copy more persuasive. 

His article “6 Copywriting Tips That’ll Keep Readers Eyes Glued to Your Screen” details how brands successfully market their products. Neil shares concrete examples and actionable tips that you can apply to your own writing.

I frequently visit Neil Patel to find out about the latest SEO practices and updates in digital media. You can also keep up with Neil’s content via his YouTube channel.

6. Hootsuite

Social media is a lucrative marketing channel for businesses. That’s why it’s not uncommon for copywriters to create content for social channels alongside long-form writing. I’ve even increased my earnings and developed my relationships with clients by offering social media copy as an additional service.

Social media constantly changes, so writers must stay up to date with what’s happening. For years, I’ve used Hootsuite’s resource library and blog posts to do just this. Under the “Free Tools” tab, you’ll find a webpage dedicated to social media updates. There’s also a dictionary page of social media terms and free, downloadable templates to help you create content for different social networks.

To impress clients, it’s worth downloading the social media report template. You can use this  document to track and present data about your client’s social media channels. It’s a professional way to show clients or your boss how many leads and sales you’ve created through their social platforms.

For example, most social media sites have an analytics section. Use this to see information about how many new followers your account has. Or, check how many people a post reached (and how many interacted with your content). By tracking this data using the template, you can easily demonstrate what content works and what doesn’t. 

7. The Email Copywriter

Email marketing is the marketing strategy with the highest return on investment. As a result, businesses often seek out expert email copywriters. Brush up on your skills by reading The Email Copywriter. Chris Orzechowski launched the website in 2015 and is well-known for generating millions of dollars through email campaigns.

My favorite part of this site is “Email of the Week” — a series Chris publishes on a weekly basis in the “Articles” section of his website. It explores what makes different types of emails work, and can help you learn strategies and practices to boost audience engagement rates. It’s especially helpful to see concrete examples of copywriting techniques.

For example, Chris highlights that emails should focus on outcomes and not products. So, rather than describing what a product is, explain how the product will address your customers’ problems.

The Email Copywriter also has a YouTube channel that covers email marketing and general copywriting tips. There are videos on helpful copywriting books, as well as tips on how to write effective product descriptions and email campaigns. 

If you’re a fan of podcasts, The Email Copywriter lists all of the podcasts Chris has appeared on, so you can listen to his advice while on the go.

If you’re interested in developing your skills further, consider one of their email marketing courses such as the 1,000 Happy Customers course. This teaches you how to develop a large email list of people who are interested in buying your products. Or, invest in one of their digital and print books such as Scale While You Sleep — a guide to using email campaigns to grow an ecommerce business.

8. Talking Shrimp

Talking Shrimp was launched by award-winning professional copywriter, Laura Belgray, to help writers create effective copy that sells. Belgray has been featured in leading publications such as Forbes, Elle magazine, Insider, Yahoo and Time.

Known for her witty, light-hearted content, Laura writes in a conversational tone and often uses humor to explain her points. Posts titled How I Motivated My Lazy Ass To The $1 Mill Mark and How not to write like a 90s business robot that had a baby with a college professor instantly grab my attention.

Visit Talking Shrimp for personal insight and wisdom on what it takes to build a thriving copywriting business. Laura covers everything from email marketing and procrastination to getting out of a creative rut and how she began earning money writing. A lot of her content explores common insecurities that us professional writers face, such as worrying about what to write and how to promote yourself on social media. 

I frequently read Talking Shrimp to hear Laura’s professional perspective on concerns writers deal with, all filtered through her casual and friendly tone.

Summary 

If you’re a copywriter looking to develop your skills, there are many websites offering free and detailed educational content to help you. This includes content ideas, guidance around marketing your services online, advice on overcoming writer’s block, and more. 

These sites can also help you stay on top of the latest digital marketing changes, including SEO updates and social media developments. Knowing what’s happening in your industry will help you to deliver stronger results for your clients.

From experienced professionals such as Neil Patel to editing assistants such as Wordtune, these are the best websites for copywriters in 2023 that can boost your copywriting expertise.