Web copy has the power to makeorbreak your online presence.
Think about it for a moment.
When new customers find your company online, what is the first impression they get? It’s coming from your web copy, but does that copy welcome them in or push them away? Does it educate them? Is it funny and relatable and written specifically for them? If not, it’s not fulfilling its purpose.
If you want to succeed online, you need to learn how to write web copy that intrigues, delights, and inspires your readers. Only through learning how to do this will you excel at online marketing and build the reputation your brand deserves.
Read on.
How to Write Web Copy (and Why it Matters)
Today, experts claim that we only have seven seconds to make a first impression. People who find their way to your website or social media profiles are developing an impression of you and your company as soon as they start reading, and that impression can either help or harm your business.
Think about the sites that publish web content that stands out in your mind. What do you love about them?
If you’re like most people, you love that these sites speak to you like a real human that wants to learn new things, rather than a “target persona” with no name or feelings.
These companies know how to create compelling web copy, and you can follow suit by paying attention to what they do so well.
How to Write Web Copy 101: 10 Smart Tips
If you want to learn how to write web copy, follow these ten quick tips:
1. Keep scanning in mind.
While people read books, people scan web copy. Because of this, you can’t write the two things the same way. Web copy must adhere to the way that people read web copy, which means it must be straightforward and easy to digest.
It must also keep the habit of scanning in mind. This means short, succinct paragraphs, headers, and subheaders that tell readers what to expect in a section, and bulleted or numbered lists that showcase must-have bits of information.
When your web copy includes these components, it will automatically become more reader-friendly, and it will perform better online.
2. Give your readers what they want.
People don’t read marketing blogs just because. In most cases, they’re looking for information, trying to solve a problem, or searching for a product to purchase. In other words, they’re on the hunt, and it’s your job to give them what they want.
The first step in doing this, of course, is to understand your readers. What do they want? If you don’t know, develop a buyer persona to help you put your finger on their top needs and desires.
Once you’ve done this, be sure that your content is positioned in such a way that it’s delivering what your customers are looking for. In addition to making your content more relevant to them, this simple step will also help ensure that your web content finds its niche and stays there.
3. Arrange your content with the most relevant information at the top.
Think about how you bait a hook to go fishing. You don’t place the bait halfway up the line, where the fish is unlikely to see it, do you? Instead, you put the bait on the hook, right where the fish is virtually guaranteed to bump into it.
The same practice applies to your web content. When you top-load your articles and blogs with the most relevant and important information in the first few paragraphs of the body copy, you stand a better chance of “hooking” readers and keeping them there.
With this in mind, add all of the most critical details of your piece to the upper portion of the web page. Depending on the topic of the page, this could include benefits of a product, detailed information about an event or launch, or statistics that illustrate your point.
To take your web content a step further, use the personal “you” voice, and a selection of facts, figures, and statistics to appeal to your readers and draw them in from the get-go.
4. Don’t try to sound smart.
One of the most-shared blogs of the year was on exactly this topic. Published by Harvard Business Review on October 5, 2016, “Stop Trying to Sound Smart When You’re Writing” is all about how trying to sound smart often has exactly the opposite effect. Instead of impressing your readers, it alienates them. Instead of boosting your brand, it harms it.
That said, start writing the way you talk. In addition to being more authentic for you and your company, this approach will also help to keep readers interested. When you don’t speak down to people, they’re more likely to want to stick around and engage with your content. This is a great thing for both you and your brand.
5. Get rid of the jargon.
If the only people who can read your web page copy are people in your industry, you’re doing something wrong. To keep your web page copy reader-friendly and accessible, get rid of industry jargon or unfamiliar words. While it may seem like this helps you sound smart or professional (see tip #4) it more commonly alienates entire segments of readers and hems your online writing in too tightly.
With that in mind, get rid of the jargon and use familiar, simple words to communicate your point. For help, use an editor like Grammarly or Hemingway to make alternate word suggestions and help you catch overly complicated sentences.
6. Research your keywords.
Keywords, once the center of on-page SEO, have fallen from grace a bit in recent years, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t important. In fact, keywords still work hard to guide Google and your readers to understand what your content is about. Think about it: when readers search for online content, they do so using a string of keywords.
For example, if I wanted to find a business that served coffee in NYC, I’d type, “coffee shop NYC” into Google. That’s a keyword phrase, and using keyword phrases that relate to your company and offerings is an excellent way to improve the conversion rates of your web content and help readers find what they’re looking for. If you need help researching keywords, use a tool like Google’s AdWords Keyword Planner tool, or get in touch with us to discuss our keyword research services!
7. Format your content correctly.
Again, online writing isn’t the same thing as novel writing, and you need to format your online material properly to help it to convert. Do the following things before you publish your web content:
Break your paragraphs into short chunks. Each paragraph should have a maximum of 4 sentences
Shorten your sentences by eliminating any unneeded words and phrases
Simplify your language by removing jargon
Swap out passive voice for active voice
Delete areas of repetition
Use second-person voice to appeal to readers
Learning how to write web content can be tough, but these simple bullet points will go a long way toward helping you format your content accordingly. This, in turn, will make it easier for your online visitors to read and engage with.
8. Arrange your web content to be cohesive.
One of the most-overlooked aspects of learning how to write web content is that people don’t interact with web content chronologically. This goes for your website as much as it does your blogs and social media material. Because of this, you’ll need to make sure you’re not organizing your content so that people must interact with it in a sequential manner.
Arrange your content so that it is independent and free-standing. Every page of your website, for example, should have a link to take visitors to the home page. Your content should read as an individual chapter of a book and you should include your name, address, and phone number information in everything you write.
9. Include visuals in your web page copy.
Learning how to write web copy isn’t all about writing –it’s about learning to use visual content, as well. On the one hand, “visual content” refers to formatting, which we already talked about. Good formatting makes your content appealing and can help draw in readers.
The other offshoot of visuals is images. Think stock photos, infographics, screenshots, memes, and more. The reason for including these things is simple: people get exhausted by reading dense bricks of text, and adding relevant visuals throughout a piece of content can help break it up and make it more approachable for readers.
That said, use compelling and informative visuals like graphics, photos, and screenshots to illustrate points and provide a visual break for readers.
10. Keep it friendly.
It’s easy to make web content too stuffy and unapproachable. To make it as exciting and welcoming as possible for your readers, keep it warm. Write the way you talk and don’t be afraid to infuse your individual personality into the web copy. It’ll help it convert better and be more memorable for your clients.
How to Write Web Copy The Right Way
There are dozens of wrong ways to write web copy, but these ten tips will help you ace yours right from the gate!
By learning what it takes to craft compelling web copy, you can help your brand or business stand out online – both now and in the future!
Need great web copy? Trust a pro team. We can help!
Humor is like common sense, it doesn’t grow in everybody’s garden.
Some people have a good sense of humor while others don’t. And some have a dark sense of humor that will make you choke. Humor is highly subjective, yet it appeals to our want to have fun, laugh, and be happy, which is why it’s such an awesome tool to leverage in web copy—if it’s leveraged the right way.
Our Want for Laughs
People love to laugh. Every year just about every last one of us tune into the Super Bowl, whether we’re avid football fans or not. For the friends and spouses who don’t much care for football, the commercials are what they live for. Year and year the Super Bowl broadcast has provided a spotlight for amazing commercials sprinkled with just the right amount of humor. There’s no mistaking our want, and need, for comedy.
Adding Humor to Web Copy
Inserting humor into a televised ad is far easier than infusing our web copy. Let’s face it; getting humor across in writing is tough. Writing is all about tone, and since body language isn’t present, one slip in tone or word choice can result in the exact opposite: an insult.
According to a recently published article by Jillian Richardson via Contently, although making humorous content is a great idea, “it takes a lot of hard work to earn actual laughs.” For example, Kmart tried their hand at being funny by placing GIFs in real life in one of their latest commercials. The idea isn’t bad. I mean, they are trying to be trendy. But the execution isn’t stellar. In fact, most viewers find the commercial annoying. (Thank goodness for the mute button on the remote!)
In contrast to Kmart’s attempt at humor, let’s look at an abstract means of awareness brought to us by The Australian Metro. The transportation organization has landed over 82 million YouTube views for what is, in its most basic form, a public safety video designed to make people more aware of the dangers of trains. In this pithy video, you will see a rather ingenious mixture of adorable characters, catchy lyrics, and a dark sense of humor. At the end of the day, people don’t want to share another “Look Both Ways before Crossing the Tracks” article. They want to get this tune, “Dumb Ways to Die,” stuck in everyone’s head!
How to Bring Visual Humor into Context
There is no denying that humor is a powerful marketing tool. But how can you take it off the screen and bring it into context in your web copy? Here are six tips to help you make your readers giggle, chuckle, and laugh out loud:
Know your audience. As is the case with all marketing copy, the greatest success comes from knowing what makes your audience tick. Humor works best when it hinges on something everyone can relate to.
Stay true to your brand. Whether it’s a silly video or a funny tweet, be true to your brand by staying consistent and relevant. If you veer too far from the image you project, even the most hilarious comment will fail.
Be obvious. When you write the punch line, it needs to be instantly obvious. If your reader has to reread to get the joke, it’s not going to have the desired impact.
Do not offend. If you know your audience well, then chances are you’ll be capable of steering clear of anything offensive. After writing a humorous piece, always evaluate it from someone else’s perspective. Be sensitive to race, gender, and culture.
Test market. You know how marketers preach about test marketing a campaign idea before going full bore? The same thing applies to humor. Seek opinions. Find a few trusted staff or audience members, and ask their opinion about a humorous piece before you publish.
Hire a funny person. Funny is hard. Sometimes the best solution is to hire a pro, a writer who has experience weaving humor into content and knows how to create humor in your niche. Funny is a tough act. If it weren’t, we’d all be stand-up comics. Since we’re not, don’t be afraid to seek professional help.
Funny Anecdotes and Stories
One of the most effective ways to infuse your content with humor is to use funny anecdotes and stories. This is one of the best kinds of humor because it’s something people relate to and it’s conducive to writing. It also establishes an emotional connection, something that makes content irresistible. But once you’ve begun to wield the power of humor, the trick is to wield it responsibly:
Be strategic. Do not scatter punch lines willy-nilly throughout your content. Instead, use humor with strategy, whether it’s to hook the reader at the beginning or drive home the point at the end.
Use it frugally. Humor is like candy; it tastes great, but too much will make you sick. As you infuse some sweet laughs into your content, use this new confection frugally. Limit the humor to selective references. The purpose of humor in content is to make a point in a creative way, not come across as an entertainer.
Keep it focused. Be sure the humorous parts of your content are on topic. You don’t want them to detract or distract from the main point.
Queue the laughter. It sounds like a sitcom filmed in front of a live studio audience, but there’s nothing wrong with letting your readers know it’s okay to laugh. Find subtle ways to let them know that you are laughing and it’s fine for them to join in.
As business owners, marketers, and writers, it’s up to us to use the tools at our disposal to hook and keep our readers. Humor is a fantastic way to touch and connect with your audience. As the old saying goes, “If you can’t get your audience to open their mouths to laugh, you can’t get them to open their hearts to learn.” And that makes for truly effective web copy.
Are you one of those people who really think that the success story of their business is going to write itself? We hate to break it to you, but without a solid growth plan based on effective, personalized online marketing strategies you will probably wander in the dark for a very long period of time.
Content plays a very important part in this process and can guarantee your smooth evolution and considerable profitability and popularity increases on time and on a budget. Great content is one of those things that just seem too good to be true, and yet they are: it is affordable, even if you rely on professional web writing services, effective and offers you the chance to make a name for yourself in your field of activity, sell better and faster than ever before, bury you main competitors 6 feet under the ground, diversify your clientele, improve brand awareness and enhance your online presence.
The Era of the Content Beast: Feed It Regularly!
The most recent infographic launched by Express Writers tells us that we live in the era of the content beast. To keep the beast on your side, you have to feed it regularly. This means that you have to publish and update quality content as often as possible.
Doesn’t this sound like a fun challenge? Truth be told, fantastic, reader-oriented content won’t bring you your coffee in the morning, but will pretty much take care of the rest. So what’s stopping you from putting your awesome writing skills to the test? We will let you in on a little secret: investing in web content can make you money.
Money makes the world go round and great content will rock your entire universe, turning you into a well-known, influential, highly competitive player in your sector. Contrary to popular belief, first-class content doesn’t have to burn deep holes in your pockets. Obviously, there are two categories of copy: bad copy that makes you pinch pennies and good copy that gets you where you want to be and lets you sit on a pot of gold, according to Forbes.
Does Your Web Copy Help You Make or Waste Your Resources?
These days, Google gives you everything you could ever need to create stellar, search engine-friendly and user-friendly content. From essential SEO tools to cost-free guidelines enabling you to optimize your content the easy way, Google bends over backwards to give you the key to perfecting your web copy. Since all these amazing resources are widely available, not using them would be like finding the gold fish and throwing it back in the water.
Why Your Copy Could Be Throwing Money Out the Window
Before we go any further, try to provide an honest answer to this question: does your web copy make you earn or lose money? If your current promotion strategies haven’t taken you very far, chances are that your content stinks. Fortunately, there are many ways in which you could address this pressing problem. First of all, you have to identify the cause. Your web copy writing could be impacted by multiple issues, including the 2 concerns listed below.
You’re Not Getting Enough Traffic. OK, so you write headlines better than David Ogilvy, understand your audience and create content based on the elementary needs and demands of your audience. You play by the book, and still you don’t get enough traffic. This probably means that you don’t make the most of 3 key elements that could save your business and help you pursue your most ambitious goals.
A Verified, Personalized Content Strategy: According to Forbes, a content strategy represents the solid foundation of any marketing campaign that you may want to launch. To evaluate you current content strategy in an objective manner, you should ask yourself a few important questions: Am I creating and delivering web copy on a regular basis? Are both my content and my website properly optimized for search engines and tailored to the real necessities of my reader? Do I expand on interesting topics that can actually convert my readers into fans, followers and devoted buyers? Am I on the shortest path to SEO success or did my outdated, unverified, ineffective pre-Panda and pre-Penguin optimization tactics made me get lost in a labyrinth of unpaid bills and ever-growing expenses?
White Hat Link Building Strategies: Inbound links work to your advantage, letting Google know that you are a high-quality, popular, trustworthy source of information. If other respectable sources link to you, this basically means that they vouch for you. Guest blogging, getting listed in local directories and creating link-worthy content pieces are three excellent methods to build credibility and trust, according to AudienceBloom.com.
Social Media: Some of the most popular social networking websites give you the opportunity to profit from free or extremely affordable promotion strategies that support your current content distribution tactics. Social media can amplify your web copy marketing strategy and act as a powerful brand builder.
You’re Not Selling. Isn’t it extremely frustrating when you do as you are told and somehow your sustained efforts never get rewarded? We hear you. You have always crafted killer web copy which is 100% original, optimized for search engines and complying with all the rules and guidelines introduced by Google. You make the most of the very best marketing strategies and you are still very far from improving conversion rates. Your story doesn’t have a happy ending: your readers are not buying. There are a few possible scenarios that you should factor in:
You Are Not Launching the Right Bait: perhaps the web content that you have been creating so far is not actually targeting your ideal customers. Before crafting web copy, you have to define and analyze your audience, to be able to come up with inspiring, compelling articles and blog posts.
Your Content Is Not Stimulating Your Readers to Take Action: a content piece that does not include a powerful call to action is as useful as a bathing suit at the North Pole.
Your Website Looks Tacky and Isn’t Mobile-Friendly: your web copy may not be the one and only culprit for your lack of success. Did you really expect to witness improved conversion rates without updating your website? Since more and more clients are mobile, standard websites are so 2013. To boost your profit margins and restore your competitive edge, make sure your website undergoes an extreme makeover. Play your cards right by relying on responsive web design. Otherwise, you may lose money, and we’re not talking pocket change. According to eMarketer, almost ¼ the entire global population will use a smartphone in 2014. Can you really afford to ignore the ever-growing needs and demands of an ever-growing audience? We didn’t think so.
How to Address a Bad Copy Alert
Bad web copy can be a real nightmare, especially when your end goal is to make a lot of money fast. Guess what: bad content is just like a car without gas. You can push it a few miles and sweat your heart out if you’re really perseverant, but it won’t take you very far. To address this problem, you just need to follow a few basic steps:
Make sure your current content is properly optimized for search engines
Rely on both on-page and off-page optimization strategies to witness rapid results
Ditch black hat SEO strategies that could get into trouble (duplicate content, paid links, hidden text and keyword stuffing)
Write with your readers in mind
Use Google Trends to discover new exciting topics that could raise the interest of your readers
Take a peek at what your competitors are doing and see if you could actually embrace a similar approach
Write compelling posts that include strategically placed call to actions that are difficult to ignore
How Good Copy Fills Your Pockets
Good web copy can pay for all the things that you need and crave for. That’s right: instead of making you break the bank, awe-inspiring content actually gives you the opportunity to attain your most ambitious goals while scoring a big profit. You may ask: how is this possible? It’s not magic and it’s definitely not rocket science. Here are 5 of the most important ways in which first-class content can become your personal wish-granting genie in a bottle.
Good Copy Puts Your Products in a Different Light. Let us tell you this much: perfection is 100% attainable, especially when it comes to web writing. If you can write stellar content you’ll do it; otherwise you’ll find an excuse. There is no justification for low-quality content. Great web copy gives you the chance to individualize your products and separate them from their counterparts launched by a sea of competitors. Great content pieces bring out the best in your merchandise, accentuate its unique features and its benefits and make it seem more appealing in the eyes of a larger segment of buyers.
Good Copy Turns “Average” into “Remarkable”. OK, so your detergent can wipe the tiniest, most stubborn stain off the face of the earth in a matter of a few seconds. But what you may not know is that dozens of other manufacturers brag about the same thing. Flawless web copy focused on the uniqueness of your brand allows you to exceed their efforts and compel more people to put your product on their shopping list.
Good Copy Sells Your Stuff Faster and Better Than Anything Else. Good copy sells faster and better than an employee working on commission. Why? The answer is simple: it resonates with your audience. It creates a compelling story that surrounds your products and your brand and makes them recognizable. Copywriters have that special something (a mix of creativity, empathy, passion for in-depth research and their own way with words) that enables them to create effective copy.
And by effective, what we actually mean is that client-oriented copy is a solid moneymaking machine. Copywriters know how to explore and exploit the secret desires of a large audience. Just analyze Louis Vuitton’s most recent spring campaign. At a first glance, you will probably be shocked: what could be the connection between South Africa, luxurious, insanely expensive handbags and wild animals? Actually, the creative minds behind the Louis Vuitton campaign got everything right. Associating iconic, high-end handbags with exotic destinations and a stress-free lifestyle based on the carpe diem principles was an excellent idea and represented the foundation of a very successful advertising strategy.
Good Copy Brings and Keeps You in the Public Eye. Good copy makes you invincible. The success of your company comes to an end only when people stop talking about your brand and your product. Excellent web content pieces give you the certainty that this worst case scenario could never become a part of your reality. It’s actually a pretty fair exchange: you give readers unlimited access to info that could simplify their daily life or make it more enjoyable, while they spread the word about your business and offer you the chance to expand your client database.
Good Copy Brings You on Page 1 in Google. Yes, we are fully aware of the fact that obsessing with rankings is not healthy or productive. But this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t work hard to bring your website on page 1 in search engine results. A better ranking will increase your online visibility, making it easier for your clients to find you. Great web copy reflecting an ideal keyword density and an optimal number of inbound links will help you improve your website’s current Google ranking. At the end of the day, you have to keep in mind that you write for people, not for machines.
Keep things interesting, cultivate the interest of your readers and stimulate their feedback, conduct extensive research to spot changes that could affect your rankings, get to know your audience, learn even more about your products and services and their list of benefits and stitch all these pieces together to solve the puzzle. Good web copy is not a gift from above; it is an extremely valuable end product that requires time and effort, but eventually leads to much-appreciated monetary advantages.
You can’t put a price on perfection, but we can tell you this much: premium web copy is an excellent long-term investment, taking into consideration the tremendous success that you’ll have with Google and SERP rankings and also the increased number of buyers. Whatever you do, don’t forget that great content is the element that creates and feeds the powerful love story between marketing and sales.
Content is vital when it comes to online marketing, and many website owners understand this and take steps toward improving their web copy. Yet others are still just groping their way toward grasping this basic idea. Updating your web content on a regular basis might become a dreary job after a while, but it’s critical in maintaining your reader’s interest.
What to Do, What Not To Do – For Your Website Copy
Just as you don’t go to work wearing the same shirt every day, you need to refresh the content of your website constantly or people will steer away. Staying up-to-date may not be easy, but it’s not an impossible thing to achieve if you put in some discipline and follow a simple, common sense strategy.
Nothing New Under the Sun: Socrates’ Method
One way to approach your content repositioning is using the right questions to get the answers you need. Imagine you’re standing in front of a building with several entrances. You need to get in but you don’t know which door is the right one because none of them have an ENTER sign. You have to get in on the first attempt, otherwise you’ll be late for a potentially life-changing appointment.
One way to figure this out is to adopt what’s known as Socrates’ method. It’s called maieutics. Behind the weird name there’s something pretty simple. Yes, greatest accomplishments often stem from the simplest ideas that stare you in the eye. Essentially, Socrates’ idea was that truth is somewhere in your mind, but to get to it, you need to ask questions. Good questions, smart questions, which will eventually uncover the truth, and provide you with the answer you’re looking for. It’s what you need to do to find your way into your reader’s mind in order to write fresh and effective web content.
Why Is Fresh Content Mandatory for Websites?
Although the phrase Content is king has become an underlying principle of quality copywriting, many still fail to grasp its real significance. Why is content vital for your business success? Because it makes the difference between staying on top and being left out. Because now it’s the most important thing that search engines, and this means Google, care about. If your content gets stale, your website will get discarded by Google, and although you may have a great offering for your clients, something they need and desire, you will become just another face in the crowd that Google won’t recognize because it’s not different enough to rank well.
Therefore, fresh content is a must if you want Google to spot you and people to find you. Fresh content has become a mantra lately, is emphasized by Google, and taken seriously by business-driven website owners. It’s a rule of thumb that can make the difference between conversion and oblivion.
Search Engines Buy Your Ticket to the Show, But Don’t Forget You’re Playing For an Audience
When writing web copy you want to be visible to search engines so that your website or blog ranks well in searches, but don’t ever forget this is just a means to an end, not an end in itself. Your ultimate goal is hooking and mesmerizing your audience. To achieve this, you’ve got to take that leap and be them. Your content should always respond to your readers’ needs and desires if you want them to stick around. Quality web content that works has two outcomes: it helps and it entertains. Fresh content that is both useful and enjoyable is key for business success.
But what are the must do’s for fresh website copy? Here’s the top 5:
1) Update Your Content Regularly
By posting new content every week you will improve your ranking and let people know you are there, alive and kicking.
2) Always Use Images
Adding images to your text will make it friendlier and more enticing. An appealing image can sometimes be as effective as a great headline, stirring people’s curiosity and prompting them to read. But make sure your text is at least as interesting as the picture.
3) Find Your Own Voice and Stick to It
Coherence and consistency are essential if you want people to recognize and remember you. A pretty face may help you offline, but online you’ve got to rely on your voice—that is your writing—to draw attention. Be friendly and informal if your business allows it, and avoid sounding stuffy or uptight, whatever your niche.
4) Always Edit Your Content
Your content may be fresh, interesting, and really valuable and beneficial to your visitors, but remember that poor grammar and punctuation can be a major turn off, and will undermine your credibility. Make sure you proof read everything before posting it.
5) It’s All About Sharing
To increase your website traffic, write engaging content that people will feel compelled to share. Insert social media buttons on your website and blog, and urge readers to share content. Theirs and yours.
By following these 5 simple do’s when writing your web copy, you will find it easier to create fresh content that increases traffic and boosts your Google ranking.
Whether you’re a small business or a large corporation, you’ve likely heard about the importance of effective copywriting. But, what is copywriting exactly? You’ve been told time and time again that you need it, but pinning down what copywriting is can be a lot more difficult than it may sound. Copywriting, in its most basic form, is a marketing tool that is crucial for your business’s success. Having well-written, compelling content can be the difference between converting a reader to a buyer or watching them move on to the next guy.
Transform Your Copy Into Copywriting
Unfortunately a lot of websites don’t understand how powerful efficient copywriting is and that not everyone can do it. Article writers and general SEO writers cannot always break into the copywriting industry, because copywriting is a skill that needs to come naturally.
Well-thought copy doesn’t need an obnoxious sales message, embellishments or over-the-top messages to get the job done. Instead it uses a technique that gets the reader’s attention, sparks interest and makes them compelled to act. To know the answer to “what is copywriting?” you must know how to make effective copy without being over the top.
1) Exploit Benefits — Your Readers Want Them
When it comes to effective copywriting, it is all about the customer. You need to exploit the benefits not for yourself, but for the customer. Tell the reader how your product/service helps them and why you’re better than the other similar products or companies out there.
2) Don’t Be Afraid to Exploit the Competition’s Faults
Just because you tell the reader you’re better than the competition doesn’t mean they won’t go over there and buy from them anyway. You need to also tell the reader why the competition isn’t the solution. Your copy must explain the weaknesses of your competitors so that your readers know that buying from your competitors could be a costly mistake. While you want to tear the competition down, you need to back up the faults you list with actual proof. Don’t make up competitor faults just to gain an edge — it will back fire.
3) Understand Your Readers
As a business owner or inventor, it’s hard to really know your audience. After all, you come from the product/service perspective — not the buyer perspective. Effective copywriters flaunt your products, but do so from the perspective of the reader and consumer. They can tailor your content to speak the lingo of your target audience. For example, if you’re marketing to young teens or adults, a copywriter can use terminology that your audience uses on a day-to-day basis.
4) Flip the Perspective to the Other Side
Your readers don’t care about the “we” or “I” of your company. If most of your website’s copy refers to what “we do” or “we offer,” it’s time to switch. Switch your perspective from the “we” to the “you” and write directly to the audience.
5) Get Aggressive and Stop Being Passive
Actionable content results in actionable moves from the readers. If you just say “call us if you want” then the reader really doesn’t feel compelled to call, now do they? If, however, you say “Call now for your offer!” you’re going to get readers jumping on the phone to call your company. Passive voice doesn’t sell, and it doesn’t make readers react to your content.
What is Copywriting and Why Should You Hire a Pro?
There are a lot of books and websites out there that tellyou what techniques to implement to create effective copy. Strong statements, compelling calls to action, bullet points, and awesome headlines. So, with all of this information out there, no one should ever have the need for a professional, right?
Well, this isn’t true. There are times DIY projects make sense, but there are also times when professional help just makes sense. So, instead of asking what is copywriting? You should be asking, when do you need copywriting services?
You’re Not a Writer
Natural writing talent accounts for about 90% of copywriting, while 10% accounts for the personal connection with the product or service you’re selling. Also, if you don’t have the time in your schedule — how could you when you’re running a business, right? — You need a professional to help you out. According to the Content Marketing Institute, 64% of businesses don’t have the time to generate the amount of content needed for their website.
Writing can feel like a chore to someone who doesn’t do it on a day-to-day basis. If you feel as though it’s a boring task, it will show in your writing and your readers will notice.
Bottom line, it won’t matter how amazing your company is or how revolutionary your product/service is if you cannot tell the readers about it. Powerful copywriting delivers your message.
You Don’t Have the Necessary Writing Experience
You know your product and you know your company. So, you might be able to generate awesome content for your company newsletters or even your blogs, but when it comes to sales letters, landing pages and marketing material you need to be able to write well enough to move people from readers into buyers. An SEO writer or copywriting service can write your sales content so that it not only increases your conversions, but ranks your website higher with search engines too.
It’s Hard to Be Objective
When you’re close to your company it is really hard to be objective about what you’re offering customers. After all, you think about the time, resources and personal effort you put into creating what you’re selling. You know all of the behind-the-scenes details that most customers will never know about and unfortunately most customers don’t care to know about.
A writer from the outside can put aside those background details and write about what matters to the customer.
Your Brand is On the Line
Your brand’s reputation is always on the line. Since 80% of customers connect with brands through social media, according to the Huffington Post, a company needs to positively influence its brand through its website, blog and other online marketing outlets. Your sales copy and ad copy needs to make a positive impression that lasts, and a great copywriting service can do just that.
Recap: What is Copywriting?
It is writing that markets to the customer.
It is a well-structured service that conveys authority and gets customer attention instantly.
It is a professional service and investment for your company.
