Andy Clarke

Occupying the well-traveled space where nerddom and writing meet, with an eye for detail and a passion for storytelling.

A creative, logical, and proactive individual, with solid knowledge of copywriting and the print / digital publishing sector, gained through editorial experience in various publishing agencies and from my time as a Copywriter and Creative Executive for HEG.

I run a team of creative specialists, split over three website products, for GoDaddy EMEA. We combine strict best practices with creative flair to deliver unique and engaging content that helps budding businesses define their brand's tone of voice and tell their story to the online world.

A confident and friendly communicator who excels under pressure, experienced in developing and mentoring professional copywriters, proofreading, project management, tone of voice development, creative and directed SEO copywriting, subediting, and website design.

I pride myself on being able to create bespoke and engaging copy on any topic from a blank sheet or minimal brief.

Hi there,

My name is Andy, the Word Wizard. By day, I write compelling and optimised content for businesses of all shapes and sizes. By night, I write very different content for my friends as a Dungeon Master. Ever since I was young, I have been fascinated by the connection between language and meaning and how we follow or break linguistic rules to achieve effective communication - and good storytelling.

However, now that the internet effectively serves as a third brain lobe that we all share, this creates a (somewhat looming) gap for effective communication to bridge. The internet is full of static and loud noise - a rainforest of pop-ups, fake news, robots, and scammers - and can often obscure genuine intent.

This is why the role of modern copywriting is to support search engines like Google by telling transparent and authentic stories that demystify and educate from a position of authority. The quicker we connect someone to a genuine solution for their problem, the greater the chance they will convert into meaningful, repeat business.

As a Copywriter & Creative Executive for 123 Reg, I was responsible for defining the tone of voice, writing the content, and structuring the overall user flow and visual layout for each website purchased through the 'Make Me A Website' product line. This content brief provided an all-in-one reference document for the Design team to use when bringing the website to life on WordPress.

The role was part editorial manager, creative writer, and SEO specialist. As the first Copywriter hired for this experimental service, my content followed SEO/EAT principles to ensure the best possible score from Google. I keep my understanding of these principles relevant with regular courses from Google and Semrush.

When creating the content brief, if I was missing any information or assets, I would research the topic myself to fill the content gap. Initially, this was done manually, but now I use AI tools like ChatGPT to cut down on the ramp-up time so I can focus on making the content relevant and engaging. Because each project was at different stages of delivery and aftercare, I needed to be flexible and collaborate closely with the customer-facing and design teams daily through JIRA and Slack.

With 123 Reg and GoDaddy's primary focus on entrepreneurs, start-ups, and SMEs, I had the opportunity to define and adjust the identities of many different brands and understand the relationship between value proposition and brand persona. This included B2B and B2C businesses ranging from e-commerce fashion sellers and SaaS providers to artists, musicians, and artisans.

To help some of our less experienced customers understand their tone of voice, I created a series of simple questions and sliding-scale options to debunk the process and give them a logical foundation on which to build: funny or serious, friendly or distant, first or third person, single or plural, simple language or metaphoric? This system also made it easy for existing brands to understand their current tone of voice and how they could adjust it based on available audience data.

As the team grew and I began to proofread the other writers' work (a fundamental for both quality assurance and skill development), I quickly realised there was no structure or framework in place to standardise and guide our work—an essential requirement given the pace and diversity of the writing tasks each of us was handling daily.

Building on the skills I had learned from the publishing world, I defined a new house style and four best practice principles that balanced the rigour of good SEO with the fundamentals of compelling storytelling. These principles guide all website content we create for our customers: Flow and Style, Optimisation and Relevance, Purpose and Structure, and Tone of Voice. This quickly propelled me into the position of Copy Team Lead as the team doubled in size, and I had already created the content foundations for our department.

Since then, I have enjoyed the opportunity to create content for GoDaddy's VIP customers while also working freelance on blogs, video scripts and storyboards, email newsletters, website content, and learning management systems for brands including ORCKID, Sonos, and Marriott Bonvoy.

I am looking for the next big writing adventure - and I am confident you can provide it!

Kind regards,
Andy Clarke
The Word Wizard

Bachelor of Arts, English Language & Communication with Psychology - 1st with Full Honours