Our top online tools for copywriters

From AI idea generators to the ever-faithful English dictionary––there are plenty of online copywriting tools that can help with content creation. But here are the most useful ones that take pride of place in our bookmarks. Down the rabbit hole you go…

The obvious choice. A go-to for those times when you need another word for something––or simply just need to check that random word that popped into your head means what you thought it did. They’re also great if you’re British but writing for a US audience, and vice versa. Plus, if you’re doing a play on specific words or phrases, it always helps to see your example in a sentence.

Top tip: If you want to see everything in one place, try OneLook. You can browse definitions, synonyms, mentions and more––all in one place. But brace yourself for a tonne of search results––some helpful, some not so much. If you’re the type that tends to head off on tangents (guilty) or just don’t like sifting through too much info at once, then stick to one tool at a time.

Phrase Thesaurus is one I use all the time for coming up with new ideas. It’s super useful for things like campaign headlines, product names, or just good old-fashioned wordplay. Throw in any word and it will present you with a list of common phrases. We’re talking everything from 70s song titles to cockney rhyming slang.

Top tip: You’ll get a list of phrases containing your word as well as phrases related to your word. Sometimes you’ll instantly strike gold, other times not. But you’ll almost always, at the very least, give yourself a few new directions to explore.

Another nifty search tool is Rhyme Zone. Enter a word and you’ll receive a list of results that rhyme, all categorised by number of syllables (handy, huh?). You can also search for similar-sounding words, words with similar spellings, and more. Probably not one you’ll use on the daily––not unless you’re creating assets like this for Byron Burger:

Top tip: I used Rhyme Zone recently while creating pun-heavy product content for a bathroom brand. Cue the endless opportunities for toilet humour…

• Join the Happy Crappers Club
• Derriere self-care (can we get a hell yeah?)
• Time to plop and smell the roses
• All-natural toilet sprays, reporting for doody
• These flushable wipes are a U-bend’s best friend

If you’re in search of inspiration around product copy, go straight to the source. The biggest fans are usually the most willing reviewers, so check out the product pages of the brand you’re writing for (as well as their competitors) and see how users put their experiences into words. You’ll learn first-hand what the biggest benefits are, how the product makes them feel, and how it fits into their world.

Top tip: If you’re writing for a brand with a big personality, then bonus points to be had here. Loyal fans will go the extra mile to connect with brands they love––and the reviews section is the perfect place to prove they’re part of the club. Check out this review of a product called Clutch from the punk and playful sex toy site, Unbound Babes:

And another from Tushy––the all-American bidet brand that goes hard on humour:

It might seem like a curveball, but Poetry Foundation was recently recommended to me by naming pro, Caitlin Barrett. If you want to know the kinds of words people associate with a certain subject––let’s say you were creating copy about a new line of woollen jumpers for a sustainable clothing brand, then poetry about sheep, farming and the wilderness is the perfect place for inspiration. Poems are emotive, they lean heavily on imagery, and they can help us think outside the box when it comes to generating ideas. So it makes sense, right?

Top tip: Poetry can also be great if you’re writing about topics you know little to nothing about (which, as copywriters, we all know can happen a lot). You can research something over and over on the web, but finding out how something makes a person feel? Hit up the Poetry Foundation, people.

One of the newer (and actually helpful) AI tools on the block is TextFX. Enter any word and it will present you with loads of suggestions across different categories, from ready-built acronyms to descriptions from various points of view. This one’s a go-to if you’ve really drawn a blank or can’t get the same train of thought out of your head. But brace yourself, things could get weird pretty quickly.

Top tip: Crank up the temperature control by the search box to see how crazy things can really get.