THE PROJECT

The Nevada Commisison on Tourism is a government entity charged with enhancing the economic vitality of the state of Nevada and its various tourism industry entities. Sounds impressive, right? My first experience with the Nevada Commission on Tourism was at my former agency. When I jumped ship to freelancing after the birth of my son, NCOT contacted me for a handful of writing projects. They were in the process of launching a new site and I wrote stacks of content – optimized descriptions for every golf course, park, ski resort, byway and I can’t even remember what else. I also wrote stories for monthly e-newsletters sent off to over 150,000 opt-in subscribers and few highly targeted print ads (motorcycles, bird-watching, skiing and the like) for various publications.

THE APPROACH

The goal with the new site was visibility, so all content was keyword-driven. I wrote optimized content for various activities, venues and locations, all of which had overviews in addition to individual descriptions. The goal was to make each description engaging to read even as I hit the appropriate keyword and word counts. All of this content added up to a massive website that pulled in an impressive number of unique visitors.

The monthly e-newsletter content needed to be short and engaging enough to encourage a high click-through rate. NCOT provided the general info and I wrote fun little blurbs to whip up some excitement. The print ads were highly targeted as well. NCOT provided imagery and info about the target market, and I brainstormed compelling headlines and body copy for ads that produced a measurable response.

THE UPSHOT

“Working with Jessica was an absolute pleasure,” says M.E. Kawchak, marketing manager. “Her writing was a vital component to the launch of our website, keeping copy fresh and optimized for search engines. She’s a highly competent researcher and copywriter and her writing style always reflects the target audience. She is self-motivated, detail oriented and consciousness of deadlines. Moreover, her communication and grammar skills are excellent. I highly recommend her as a creative copywriter/editor.”