Web copywriting is not rocket science, but it’s not as easy as it sounds either. There are no hard and fast rules, but there are things you have to avoid. Sounds confusing? At first, it must be. However, there are ways to circumvent this confusion and turn it into something good. Here are some secrets to great web copywriting.
Web Copywriting Starts With Proper Research
And no, I don’t mean just knowing about your product. I mean knowing about why people would buy your product, market trends, competition, the nitty-gritty, that kind of stuff. You need to know what will cause your customers to buy your products and what will cause them to turn away. In other words, not only do you have to know the strengths of your product, but you have to know its weaknesses as well. Don’t write your content with SEO in mind, because there are currently SEO problems in Google that even you can’t circumvent.
When you delve into research, not only will you find out what your customers want and need, you will know how to speak their language. That is something that effective web copywriting is successful at.
What is the most successful way to find out this information? Why, ask them yourself! Customer surveys are a great way to gather information, as old-fashioned as it may seem.
Begin by asking them the basics. Age, job, where they live, lifestyle, preferences, etc. These things will sound simple but they will tell you a lot about the demographics about who might be interested in your products and, more importantly, how you should write about your products. Remember, you are writing FOR them.
1) Find A Unique Selling Proposition
Your product must be unique in some way, or else why sell it? Find an angle that you know will sell and sell it that way. There are two steps you need to take here:
- Define the problem: what do customers want fixed? How do they want their problems to be fixed?
- Explain the uniqueness of your offer: what is in your offer that your competitor doesn’t have?
For this part, you have to have an intimate knowledge of your competitors.
(See what I meant about research?)
Let’s face it, you didn’t just re-invent the wheel, did you? Of course your product is unique, but just how unique is it? You have to find an angle that your competitors haven’t thought of yet and that is where you will strike.
The best way to incorporate your unique selling proposition into your website is through a value proposition. A value proposition explains the benefits and values that the customers can get by availing of your product. Of course, a value proposition isn’t just a chunk of text that you put on your website. There is a format to it.
First, there is a headline. This is where you talk about the end-benefit of your product. It’s a one-liner that should grab the reader’s attention. Then there’s a sub-headline. The sub-headline is a 2-3 sentence paragraph that explains what your product does and what problems it fixes.
Next, put three bullet points. These three bullet points should be the points that your customers told you about in your research. You should list the most important benefits of your product here. Keep it to only three bullet points to make it short and sweet.
Lastly, put a visual at the very end of your webpage. Web copywriting that uses images can increase customer response significantly. Content is important , but so are images. Images will attract users and it will make your site more attractive anyway.
2) Be Human
Don’t write like a robot. The best way to know if your content will be read is to write the way that your customers do. Are they upbeat, funny, enthusiastic? Or are they laid-back, relaxed? If you did your research, you should know this by now.
Avoid jargon as well. Write the way that your customers would. So avoid jargon unless you are writing for a very specific group of people. If you work in the technical field, for example, then maybe you can write highly technical articles if you are writing for technical people. However, if you are writing for laymen, write like laymen do.
Web copywriting has transitioned from simple web content writing to now integrating social media such as Facebook and Twitter. Use these tools wisely and they will serve you well.
3) Be Grammatically Correct
Nothing will turn off readers more than bad grammar. That will show them that you are not credible at all and that the information that you are presenting can’t be trusted. After all, if you are selling a high-end tech gadget and you can’t even speak proper English, how can they trust that they gadget that you are selling is indeed authentic? Know what you are writing and how you are writing it. Also, mind your punctuation as well. Don’t put too many exclamation points!!!
It will sound off as if you are screaming at your readers, and that is not something that you would like to do.
4) Stay Focused On Your Consumers
I know you’re trying to sell your product, but you’re trying to sell to customers, so focus on them instead. Focus on how it will benefit them instead of focusing on your profit. Once you add value to your product, profit will follow flawlessly. Stay focused on what you are trying to give instead of what you are trying to get. This will pay off enormously in the long run. It’s better to give than to receive, as the saying goes.
5) Don’t Be The Salesman
Refrain from being too much of a salesman. Instead, be a friend and strike a conversation. Be a consultant and take a friendly tone for your web copywriting. It will pay off. A conversational tone is always preferable to a robotic tone of voice in any situation. This goes for web copywriting as well. They don’t want to hear you sounding off statistics like it was doomsday. Instead, talk about how it will benefit them, like how a friendly consultant will talk to you about your finances and how it will help you stay focused.