Have you ever seen a website and wondered what the heck they do or sell? Does the following piece of copy look familiar?
At Taylor Copywriting, you will find our practices use proven techniques to increase your market presence. Our solutions have been proven time and again to increase your impact while disrupting your competitors market. By focusing on your core competencies, we bring the heart of your business right into the hands of your prospects.
What does that even mean? It's a paragraph stuffed with buzzwords that sounds like it does something. But what? What does Taylor Copywriting even sell? What if the name instead of Taylor Copywriting was Taylor and Stern? Then you don't have any clues.
When you run a business, it's easy to forget that you know exactly what you sell. Yet someone who stumbles upon your website might have no clue. Therefore jargon, buzzwords, and lack of definition tells your brand new visitor absolutely squat about how you can help them.
Why Clarity In Copy Is Vital
Fancy jargon sounds great. Most of us are even taught in college (and to some extent high school) that the more jargon you use, the better your grades will be. It's now second nature to incorporate as much jargon as possible into writing.
But this is not academia. Most people don't have a college education. Even those who do only know the jargon from their majors and minors.
Which means clarity is your friend. What exactly are you offering? If you can't condense that into a tweet, start over. Brevity is also your friend.
Your website should pass the 10 year old rule. If a 10 year old of average intelligence can't look at your website and give you a general idea of what you sell, then you need to hit the drawing board again.
Words to Avoid In Your Copy
Avoid anything without specific meaning. Also try to avoid adverbs. Oftentimes they detract from what you are trying to emphasize. Pick a different word.
I am very athletic.
versus
I am a run marathons.
Which one paints a better picture for you?
Careful Use of Current Trending Words
Words can be like clothing styles. Some become trendy. You probably wouldn't still wear your leg warmers in public. You shouldn't use synergy in conversation any more. It's past.
Keep careful tabs on your use of words like disruption, solutions, impact, core competencies, and anything else you start to read regularly in Business Insider. I guess that's unfair to Business Insider. All business publications jump on the lingo bandwagons.
They are great for a while. The first few times someone used "game changer" were great. Game changer meant something. Now anything someone wants to believe is the Next Big Thing (NBT) gets called a game changer. When you create a niche, you can be a game changer. When you are the 3rd or 38th to market, you aren't.
How to Fix Copy That Says a Whole Not of Nothing
Step 1: Scrap it.
It's easier to start over than it is to bring dead copy back to life. Gary Halbert (one of the great copywriting masters) said something to that effect. If anyone knows what they're talking about, he does.
That doesn't mean go take down pages of your website, just evaluate your main pages and your landing pages. Note the ones that need revised. That's the problem with websites, they always need tweaking.
Markets and consumers change. Your business deserves the attention to those changes to maximize friendliness to visitors. Otherwise you risk losing sales.
Step 2: Define what your business does (or is offering) in no uncertain terms.
Each page on your site has a purpose. Usually to move a visitor thru the sales funnel. Like your content marketing, each page of your web site should have a designated position in that sales funnel. When you start redesigning the pages that say nothing, make sure this is part of the design process.
Purpose clarifies action. To write good copy, you need to know what you want the copy to do before you even start the outline. With specifics and intention, you will be more convincing as well as more educational.
Step 3: Define the Transition from Blah (Current State) to Awesome (Desired State)
Your product or service is transitioning someone from Point A to Point B. Every product does this. That's the only reason we buy things.
Take a paperclip. Using a paperclip transitions someone from scattered papers (messy) to neat piles (organized). If the humble paperclip can offer such a transition, so does your product.
This transition is what is important. It's why we use things. Why we make purchasing decisions. The more you charge for your product, the bigger the transition needs to be. Therefore, the more you charge, the better you need to communicate the transition.
After all, most people want to be somewhere other than where they are. Metaphorically speaking. Whether that somewhere else is better looking or wealthier, it's that desire of transformation that drives the world forward.
Let's look at cars as an example.
You need a car to get you from you home to the grocery store. The basic function is to transport you. You can buy that transportation for pretty cheap.
Let's add some layers.
You want to look successful doing it. Real Estate agents everywhere spend a small fortune on cars to look successful to prospective home buyers. Throw an extra $30,000 down and now you have transportation plus a successful image.
You want to feel like you've made it. You've worked hard. Looking successful has brought you more success and now you want to feel awesome. Throw down another $50,000 and buy yourself a car that screams, "I am success!" to everyone else on the freeway. This beauty will enable you to drive really fast too. You took control of your life and your business so you deserve a little indulgence.
Now you have an exceptional car by most anyone's standards. You have transportation, and successful image, and the feeling of making it. You are a rock star. High five!
Define this transition with your products in your copy. Your visitors/prospects already have the desire because they are at your website. Show them how to achieve it.
Step 4: Make a promise in the headline, deliver in the content.
Head over to Buzzfeed for a moment. Take a look at the headlines. This is one of the most frequented sites on the internet. There is a reason. They have great headlines.
"But these people aren't my clients" you say. That's fine. There are still lessons here. Skim over the first page and take a look at the structure of the headlines. What does this tell you about the psyche of most people? Click baity titles word.
"But I don't like click bait titles" you say. That's fine too. Every single one of these titles make a specific promise of what you will find if you click it. That's the most important point. Start with that concept in your copy.
Once you have the promise, deliver!! You will lose all credibility (and hope of a sale) if you make easy promises you cannot deliver.
If I write an article titled "How To Rank #1 On Google Inside 1 Month" and then only talk about how awesome I am. You have no takeaway benefit. I look like a jerk because I wasted your time. Plus we have no chance of a profitable relationship. Everybody loses.
Now that you have some focus points for rewriting copy, you cannot forget the follow up.
Always Be Testing
It doesn't matter how much you like your copy. If it doesn't work, it's useless to you. Copy must funnel your visitors to the next stage in the sales funnel.
Luckily with the internet, it's easy to test what works and what doesn't.
When focusing on landing pages, write two. Have the same ad link in equal numbers to Landing Page A and Landing Page B. The results from each page should tell you what is working better.
The key is to have minor differences between the pages. It's like science. You cannot change 5 factors and determine what made the difference. One itty bitty thing at a time.
Awards Are Great, Results Are Better.
Winning an award is delightful. I don't know about your, but I'd take barrels of cash over an award any day. You can't pay your employees in awards, right?
Having the most beautiful website in your niche has merit. If your website looks sketchy like a 1990's Geocities atrocity, no one will believe that you are legit. Subsequently, they won't buy anything from you.
On the other hand, once you have a credible looking website, focus on you conversion rates. Unless your goal is art, the sales funnel is all important.
What If I like My Whole Lot of Nothing?
If you test it and it works, great! Keep doing what you're doing.
If if doesn't work, you have to change it. It doesn't matter how much you like something. It only matters if your visitors take the next action.
The sole purpose of your website is to funnel visitors toward a purchase. Keep that it mind and it'll help keep you from attachment issues.
TL;DR You website should assist visitors through your sales funnel. Make your copy specific. Skip as much jargon as possible. Define the transition from your customers current situation to what they desire. Make a promise in the headline. Deliver in the copy. Test everything like you're a mad scientist.