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The Best Free Tools for Copywriting

Thanks to these handy tools, you can check your grammar, sharpen your word choice, and tighten up your sentence structure. All without spending a cent!

Are you tired of trying to write high-quality content to market your business day after day, week after week, and month after month? We get it. Even professional copywriters experience burnout from time to time.

And while we can’t offer you a magical writer’s-block-fixing elixir, we can give you this piece of advice:

All those free copywriting tools and resources out there? Use them.

Sure, you might be “A Creative.” You might have better ideas than every other person you know. You may even take pride in schooling your friends and family on the basics of grammar. But you’re not perfect. However, with the help of our favorite (free) copywriting tools, your writing can be.

When it comes to online copywriting tools, there are a lot of options to consider. But the apps, websites, and tools we mention in this article are the ones we use at Myriad nearly every day.

We know that one misspelled word or poorly written paragraph can affect our credibility. So we’ve been using these resources for years to tighten up and polish our creative works before we go public with them.

Check them out.

Grammarly

Grammar is a very polarizing topic. In certain circles, The Oxford Comma is a matter of life and death. But whether you love grammar or hate it, copywriting for your business is a time to take grammar very seriously.

A simple grammatical mistake on your website, blog, or social media feed may seem like no big deal. But in the eyes of your readers, it represents a blemish on your brand’s trustworthiness. After all, if a plumber can’t spell “faucet aerator,” can you really trust him to install one in your kitchen? What’s more, a pileup of grammar mistakes can impact the readability of your text, which we know is a big no-no in online writing.

Thankfully, you don’t have to be a Grammar Nut to produce error-free content. Grammarly is a free tool that reviews the spelling, delivery, punctuation, clarity, and grammar of any given text. It’s crazy easy to use, is helpful at every stage of the writing process, and can be installed as a browser extension for Chrome, Safari, Edge, and Firefox.

We recommend downloading the browser extension because it allows you to use Grammarly in Google Docs and Gmail. As you’re writing, the extension will provide you with popup suggestions which you can either accept or reject. It’s as if you have a little Grammar nerd resting on your shoulder from the moment you sit down to write! (Sounds creepy, but we promise it’s a good thing.)

Disclaimer: Sometimes, it is okay to ignore a grammar rule. We actually do this all the time. Like, when we use an obscene amount of ellipses or write incomplete sentences. The important thing is when we break grammar rules, we do so intentionally. For artistic purposes. (There’s an incomplete sentence for you, friends!)

Titlecase.com

As writers, we like to think we have the rules of title case on lockdown. But sometimes, we find ourselves second-guessing. We can’t tell you the number of times we’ve Googled, “Should the word ‘and’ be capitalized when writing headlines?” Or, “how to format hyphenated words in a title.”

Again, these seem like minor issues. And they are. But to some readers, improper formatting for a headline appears messy and unprofessional. Even worse, improper title case can negatively affect your SEO efforts.

Thankfully, there’s another easy-to-use tool to save the day. Actually, there are several. But we recommend Titlecase.com as our favorite tried and true resource. Simply copy and paste your headline into the box labeled “Enter Text Below,” then click the convert button. The website will generate a few different options, and you can select one based on the type of title case you’re looking for. (For example, there is an AP-style option.)

Et voilá!

When it comes to copywriting tools, there are a lot of options. But the tools we mention in this article are ones we use at Myriad nearly every day.

Thesaurus.com

As word nerds, we have to say that we think this free tool is possibly the best of the bunch.

Note: We could have said “the best of the assortment, arrangement, assemblage, or stack.” But we didn’t. Know why? Because “bunch,” is informal, easy to read, and a little quirky—which means it was the most on-brand word for us to use. It was also the word that fit best with the flow of that sentence.

What we’re trying to get at is this: word choice matters. If we had said, “This free tool is the best of the assortment,” it wouldn’t have sounded like Myriad. Over time, your business will develop its own recognizable voice. And when that happens, the words you use will signal to a reader that this is content from a brand they know and trust.

As you navigate this process and settle into your own confident voice, we recommend you turn to Thesaurus.com. And often. We are so fond of this tool that we have it saved as a bookmark in our browser. And you would probably be alarmed to discover just how often we click on that little orange and white icon. (Hint: It’s more than once, twice, or three times a day. A lot more.)

Sometimes when you’re writing, you use a word that doesn’t feel quite right. Rather than snap your fingers one hundred times and mumble, “Ah, what is it??”, turn to Thesaurus.com. Insert the word you used and discover dozens of alternative words and phrases that might work better.

Warning: you will become addicted to this website and may even feel the need to search every last word you use for a better alternative. This is just a phase and it will pass.

The Hemingway App

Sometimes, it can be hard to put your own writing into perspective. Even if you read through what you’ve written over and over again, you may fail to spot problem areas. After all, those long and winding sentences came from your mind. Of course they make sense to you!

Sadly, that doesn’t mean they make sense to your readers.

The Hemingway App is great for putting a spotlight on these kinds of issues. Simply copy and paste what you’ve written onto the webpage and get instant feedback on:

  • The grade level of the content. (We typically shoot for between 6 and 8.)
  • Instances of adverb usage and passive voice.
  • Complex, lengthy, or difficult-to-read sentences.

Our favorite thing about this tool is that it highlights wordy sentences in red. Of course, we don’t always go back and change a red sentence. Sometimes a lengthy sentence is necessary! But if there is a big clump of crimson in the middle of the page, we know we need to break up a few sentences and/or use smaller words.

As with most of the tools on this list, the more you use The Hemingway App, the less you’ll need it. Eventually, writing shorter, less complicated sentences will become second nature to you. This is when you are welcomed into the Masonic Order and The Illuminati. (Just kidding.)

Don’t Even Get Us Started on ChatGPT

Of course, we would be remiss to discuss free copywriting tools and not mention ChatGPT. However, we’ve already written about that topic excessively in these articles:

ChatGPT is just one example of the many luxuries available to content creators and copywriters today. As you use the other tools we’ve mentioned on this list, let us know what you think. Do you find these resources as helpful as we do?

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