Online copywriting should be easy to understand.
Ever rocked up to a website and cringed at the web copy because it doesn’t hit the right notes at all? Well, online copywriting certainly doesn’t come naturally to everybody but it’s an important part of your web presence so following a few tips can help this aspect of your web marketing.
Below we take you through four of the main copywriting tips for generating web content that gets a strong marketing message across, without appearing too “forced” or “awkward”.
1. Write To One Person Not Groups
A great starting point is to really know your avatar. This means climbing into the skin of your target audience and picturing what they are looking for. Think of one person – your ideal customer; then write everything with this person in mind, as if you were writing it exclusively for them.
This will help you keep your copy on-point, relevant to your target market and it will seem to your visitors like it has been written specifically for them – providing you have attracted the right people in the first place.
Avoid using phrases like “you guys” or “we”; aim everything specifically at the “YOU” that you are trying to attract.
2. Keep Content At 8th Grade Level
Don’t assume that phrases and terminology which are commonplace to you is known by everybody or you will potentially drown your visitors in jargon.
Keeping your copy at “8th grade level”, with clear information presented in a simple way, will give you a far better chance of making it “stick” than if you over-complicate. Especially watch out for unintended double meanings that can confuse readers.
3. It’s About Results And Benefits NOT just Features
Bad copywriting lists all the features of products without talking about the benefits they bring and the results they achieve.
Remember that your visitor doesn’t care if your business sinks or swims; they are wondering what’s in it for them. Understanding this simple concept will improve your copywriting no end because suddenly you will turn it around from talking about all the information you want to get out, to talking about how that actually benefits the customer.
A fire alarm with a self-testing battery is a feature; a fire alarm with a battery that tests itself so that you and your family can rest assured that you are always being protected from fire in your home is a real tangible benefit.
This is one of the most important lessons you can learn with copywriting.
4. Polish Your Skills
Don’t worry if it doesn’t come naturally at first – this is the case for many people; but it can be improved with practice and by following guidelines like those so far detailed.
If you find it’s just not working then you can always outsource copywriting very affordably these days, with plenty of websites specialising in overseas contractors for hire.
With the widespread accessibility of video these days, you may think that copy writing skills will become less in demand. Nothing could be further from the truth – when you make videos you need a great script; most of the same copywriting rules apply to scriptwriting.
Improving online copywriting is just one aspect of running a successful web business; in the Competition Crusher Workshop at http://www.crusherworkshop.com you can receive similar advice and tips on all the other main aspects of setting up and marketing a web business.
Some writers try to impress with their copy but they are doing it the wrong way. How? By using big words. I really find it useful to try to aim for the 8th grade level because it keeps my writing easy to understand plus it keeps on reminding me to polish my grammar.
I believe that making a copy ‘simple enough’ to understand is a great way to get people to stay on your page and read the rest of what you have to say. I’m one of those who would close the page immediately as soon as what I am reading doesn’t make sense to me anymore.
There’s nothing wrong in choosing ‘big’ words to use if you want to express yourself, but you also have to think of your audience (which is far more important especially in marketing your products online).
Agreed. When someone talks to me about the benefits that I’m going to get from a certain product, I’m more enticed to buy the product. Say, this product can answer the immediate need that I have, then I get more interested on it.