Quick Course On Effective Website Copywriting

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2012/05/18/quick-course-on-effective-website-copywriting/

by peeplaja • 14 years ago

98 9 14 years ago

smashingmagazine.com

iusable• 14 years ago

SmashingMag always comes up with some super useful stuff. Instant InstaPaper It.

I am guilty of having thought "I write based on how it sounds to me!".

luxpir• 14 years ago

This article contains information that is not in some of the best published copywriting books I've read, as well as the classic copy basics. Highly recommended.

rmATinnovafy• 14 years ago

Great post, though too short. It does contain valuable information, but not enough about copy writing itself.

So let me add a bit to it.

The job of your copy is to make the prospect reach into his pocket and give you his money.

It is not to make you look good.

It is not to get you likes on Facebook.

Copy has to sell.

Now, writing copy to someone who programs is a bit difficult. You are used to structure, rules, and abstraction. You may be comfortable with feelings, but may have some difficulty in expressing them. I know. Happens to me to.

So, how do I write copy that moves (an emotion) someone into giving me their money?

You start by writing a description of what it is that your product is. Don't use buzzwords. In fact, never use them. Ever.

Say -- "Facebook allows you to keep in touch with your friends and family. You can share pictures, and they can write comments on them. It also allows you to get back in touch with people you havent seen in a while."

Easy, right?

Then from there you expand. Your basic product description is the wire frame for the copy. It dictates the main message.

But RM, that is boring.

I know. I know.

Here comes the hard part.

You must get the attention of the person reading the ad.

How?

A headline!

Well, a headline, or a picture. Or something that communicates your main message.

Ok, ok.

So, while using the product description above, I would put a picture of a happy family. You know the kind. Where everyone is sandwiched together side by side. I bet you have one just like that. See, I bet you also smiled while reading that last line.

To continue...

You take the family picture, and right above it you write (in big catchy letters):

Keep in touch with your loved ones.

Then a quick sun-headline:

See what everyone is doing with Facebook.

And now. Hey, by now everyone is reading the add. The saw the picture, the headline, and the sub-headline.

Are they ready to buy?

No.

They dont have enough information.

Your job now is to give them the information they want.

But how?

Write a list of all the good things your product has.

Write a list of all the bad things your product has.

Use the good things list to write the first paragraph of the add. Keep sentences short. Very short. People hate reading long sentences. They are hard to follow (plus they are lazy).

Then put one or two paragraphs of the bad things. Say:

"I know what you might be thinking. What about my privacy? Does Facebook respect it? Yes, yes it does. Facebook allows you to choose who can view your profile. You control your pictures. Videos. And even the comments."

Then what?

You go in for the sale.

Write up your sales pitch as if you were selling it to a friend.

"So, why not join Facebook? It makes your life richer. Easier. Better. Click on the little button below to join."

Then include a PS. because people read them. It must have the same sales pitch but in condensed form.

But wait!

That's not all!

If you have noticed, everything I've written follows a rhythm.

Sure, it doesn't rhyme. But it does have some kid of kick to it, right?

That's where practice comes from.

You need to practice copy writing until your fingers can talk better than your mouth.

Until then, just keep writing.

For a more detailed look into this, go and get a copy of Joe Sugarman's book. I always forget the title. But you can find it quickly with a web search. Joe Sugarman was one of the best copy writers ever. He is the guy who sold the blu-blocker sunglasses. A multi-million dollars a year product. Yeah, the same crappy glasses you find at Walgreens.

Hope I was able to add to this thread.

You can always tell me how much you hated this post by sending me a quick email.

PS. My email is: rm at innovafy dot com

tagawa• 14 years ago

Thank you for the step-by-step guide from an engineer's perspective.

I guess the Joe Sugarman book you mention is one of these two:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Adweek-Copywriting-Handbook-Advert...

http://www.amazon.com/Advertising-Secrets-Written-Word-Entre...

nhebb• 14 years ago

Advertising Secrets of the Written Word is a good read. I read a bunch of copywriting books a few years ago, and this is the one that sticks out in my memory, above the others.

cristianpascu• 14 years ago

The article itself is an example of good (copy)writing. It's easy and a pleasure to read.

mplindhout• 14 years ago

I found it very irritating to read. Even though this article isn't trying to sell me something, it feels like there's a salesman screaming in my face when I'm reading it.

scoot• 14 years ago

"Will you choose a surgeon who has read some books on anatomy and knows where the gallbladder, is or someone who relies on his own intuition?"

After you've learned to copy-write, learn to proof-read.

jonnathanson• 14 years ago

"The goal of a regular text is to inform or entertain. The goal of Web copy (and ideally your website in general) is to get people to do something"

Good article, on the whole. But I disagree, slightly, with this point. At the risk of being cute, I'd say that the goal of all text is to get people to do something. Writing is persuasion. The particular end may change, but the means should always fit some end. Writing devoid of purpose is bound to be powerless. It's rambling. It's filler. It's extraneous.

Before writing anything, whatsoever, consider why you're writing it. Consider whom you're writing it for. Consider what you'd like that person to do, or think, after having read your copy. You need to be engineering an outcome. If not, you're basically gambling that your reader will stumble into something accidentally. Instead, leave nothing to accident. It doesn't matter if you're writing a cookbook, web copy, a letter to a friend, an email, or a science fiction novella. You're trying to get your reader from a point A to a point B, and the first step in doing so is taking careful stock of what A and B are.

Quick Course On Effective Website Copywriting

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