Whether you’re starting out and setting up an online presence or looking to create some new marketing materials, your success will be determined by their content.
Is your message engaging? Does it really give the reader what they want? Does is make them say “Wow, I really need that. How do I buy?”
Because that’s what it comes down to – the words you use have to attract, convince and convert.
I can do that…can’t I?
As well as working with individuals and companies directly, I also work with a number of graphic and web designers. When talking to them we always end up having the same conversation—they often find it hard trying to convince clients of the need for professional copywriting.
Why?
Well their thought process follows this pattern:
I have a limited budget…
I don’t know who to do HTML so I need a web designer…
Design is not in my skill set so I need a graphic designer…
I have no idea where to source great images from so I’ll pay someone else to do that…
Writing? Hey I can write I’ll do that myself.
Big mistake
So what happens next?
Someone in your company gets lumbered with the task of writing your sales copy. Here’s the problem:
It is unlikely they have experience in writing sales copy
They take ages to write it because they don’t have the time which holds up the whole project
The finished copy tends to fall into the category of ‘it’ll do copy’
It is very difficult to write about your own company because you’re too close to it. To write effectively you have to distance yourself from your business and write it from your customers’ point of view. Your readers want to know how your product or service is going to benefit them. So your copy must be written for your customer.
What a copywriter will do for you
When you hire a professional copywriter they will get to know you, your business and your product/service.
They’ll put themselves in your customers’ shoes and create structured copy that addresses their needs, sells the benefits and talks to them directly.
Your website copy will be optimised for the search engines so it will attract targeted traffic. The content will convert those visitors into buying customers. And the copy will tell them what action they need to take to buy your product.
Your brochureswill sell not just inform. They will convince the reader your company is the one they should deal with. No longer will they be used as a mat for their coffee cup.
Your case studies will entertain, inform and sell. Your press releases will engage and attract new business. Your email marketing will be opened, read and acted upon.
Does that really sound like a waste of money to you?
Yes we can all write, but creating eye-catching, compelling and powerful sales copy is a difficult skill to master.
So next time you are looking to create a new website or piece of sales copy, don’t try and go it alone. That piece of writing, whatever form it may take, will be the first impression the reader gets of your company – hire a professional and make sure it’s the right impression.
Is there really any point in you having a website if…
The internet is the place to be!
You are no one these days if you don’t have a website, but don’t rush out and grab any old thing.
Your website should exist for one reason, and one reason only – to sell. If it doesn’t do that, it’s a very expensive electronic brochure.
As a copywriter, I’ve used this blog as a platform to inform and (hopefully) educate people in how to get the most out of their website. But there are still people who don’t seem to get it.
Your website is your online shop window. If you did happen to have a shop window you’d want it to be in full view of everyone, eye-catching, informative and enticing enough to make people walk into your shop.
So why is it that sometimes it all goes to pot when you try to replicate that in a digital format?
Below are 5 instances when your website isn’t worth the space it’s taking up on the internet.
1. No one can find you
You might think that just by getting a website you’ve made it. There will be a small army of internet surfers landing on your home page. Well, think again. If you haven’t invested in any search engine optimisation, you are not going to be found.
If you’ve spent a small fortune on a very groovy looking flash site, you are going to find it difficult to get noticed because ranking may be tough as Google can’t read flash in the same ways it does HTML.
If you haven’t bothered to optimise your titles or URL and if you haven’t bothered investing in good SEO Copywriting, you’re not going to be found.
Yes, you could pay a small fortune and go down the PPC route, but did you know that 85% of internet users will click on the organic rankings and not the sponsored links?
SEO pays.
2. It’s all about you
Guess what? I’ve said it numerous times (but there’s no harm in repeating myself – I’m getting to the age when it’s acceptable), your reader couldn’t give a toss about you; they want to know what you are going to do for them.
If your navigation reads like – ‘About Us’, ‘What we do’, ‘Our products’, ‘News’ – they aren’t going to stick around. Your website copywriting has to be about your reader; how your product will help them – think benefits.
3. Tell them where to go
Don’t hide your navigation in cunning and artistic graphics. You want people to read your website. You want people to contact you. You want people to buy. So make it easy for them.
Clear, simple navigation will make your website easy to use and welcoming. If you make it hard work, your reader isn’t going to stick around.
4. Stop following me!
I really, really hate those websites that have pop up boxes that chase you around the screen. You’ve probably seen them, they either try to force you to sign up for something or ask ‘Are you sure you want to leave’ – YES, I’M SURE.
They are incredibly irritating. In fact even more so than number 5…
5. Music and video
I have absolutely nothing against using music or video on your website – it can be very effective. But don’t have it on autoplay.
The last thing I want is either a very s-l-o-w loading website, one that suddenly bursts into song, or one that thinks I want to watch a very loud video.
Why you need to know this
Despite what you may be thinking right now, I am not the only person who thinks this way.
When having your website designed, put your own ego and wishes to one side for a moment and think about what your customers want. After all, it will be selling to them.
So in summary:
• Get a website that is easily navigable
• Optimise your titles and URL
• Make sure your on page SEO (e.g. SEO copywriting) is done by a professional to boost your ranking possibilities
• Put an SEO strategy in place
• Make sure your website addresses your reader and sells them the benefits of your product
• Resist the urge for annoying gadgets no matter how ‘cool’ you might think they are
Your writing has to perform a number of functions simultaneously:
It has to attract traffic
It has to be interesting
It has to capture your readers’ attention
It has to persuade
It has to convince
It has to make your reader buy
As I said, it has to perform a number of tasks which is why you must create powerful website copy that is capable of satisfying all of these needs.
If you merely start writing about your business, awards you have won or your premises you’re not going to capture your reader.
The women’s Rugby World Cup is happening at the moment and the following video illustrates my point. We’ve all seen the All Blacks perform their menacing Haka before every game. Their gesturing, shouting, tongue sticking-out and other shenanegans would certainly make you think twice before approaching any of them.
But I recently saw the Black Fern’s version (that’s New Zealand’s female rugby team) – it’s not quite so scary:
Don’t get me wrong, I still wouldn’t like to face them on a rugby pitch. The closest I get is watching my son on a Sunday morning play for Ipswich – and that’s close enough. But to me it’s more akin to mums at a disco trying to recapture their youth by trying to remember dance steps to the hits of the 80s. Their movements seem to be too gentle to strike fear into the hearts of their opponents.
It’s the same with your web copy. You are competing with a huge number of other businesses on the web so you have got to create copy that will make you stand out from the crowd. And that means just one thing – write about your reader.
Tell them what they want to hear
As people browse websites, they are looking for one simple piece if information – what you’re going to do for them. They aren’t interesting in anything about your company. They are totally self-centred.
So make sure you tell them what they want to hear. If you do, and you address them directly and state the benefits immediately your website will stand out from the crowd.
Why?
Because I see far more sites with bad copy that revolves totally around the company than good sites that address the reader directly and show them precisely how they will benefit.
The easy way to good copy is to find yourself a good freelance copywriter. As they are not directly involved with your company they will be able to look at your products and services from a customer’s point of view. Even if you are the best writer in the world, if you try to write your own copy you will find it very difficult to distance yourself from your company and be completely objective.
Why do you need to know this?
Quite simply because you want your website to:
a) Attract visitors
b) Get people to buy
And the only way you are going to do that is by creating copy that is focused on the reader, tells them what your product or service will do for them (the benefits), and then tells them what to do through a strong call to action.
We all make promises. But how many of those promises do you keep?
Take my teenager for example (please take him). When I ask him to do something the usual response is: “Yeah, I’ll do it in a minute.” An hour later, when the task still hasn’t been done and I start to get annoyed with him I get the rolling eyes followed by “I was just about to…”
How many times has you made a complaint only to be assured by the staff member that “I’ll pass your comments on to my manager”. Do they really do as they promise? Very unlikely.
You’re probably wandering what this has to with website copy. Well, within your copy you’ll make various promises to your reader. In fact the benefits of your business are promises. So they are things like:
Being available 24/7
Smart and polite staff
Getting things right first time
We can’t be beaten
But when putting together your website copywriting, if you merrily add in loads of benefits like this without thinking too hard about them, you could be doing yourself a lot of harm.
When a promise becomes a problem
It’s the small things in life that matter.
You may offer a great guarantee, free postage etc., which you can easily fulfil. But if you can’t get the simple things right, are your customers going to believe your bigger claims and promises?
If you say your service is available 24/7 and when a customer phones they get placed in a queue constantly being told by a disembodied voice “your call is important to us” even though it doesn’t get picked up for 15 minutes, you could lose customers.
I tried to get in touch with a well known UK business recently. I didn’t want to send an email because I needed a quick answer so I decided to call them. Oh boy, what a palaver. The phone rang and immediately found myself in an automated system. After about 5 minutes going through umpteen menus, I finally got to speak to a real person. In all fairness they dealt with my query promptly, but it took some perseverance on my part. The thing that really annoyed me was they gave the impression that they didn’t want to speak to me because the first thing I heard as I entered the automated system was:
“You can find answers to your questions on our website…”
If I could find the answer to my question on the website I wouldn’t need to ring!
This was supposed to be a company that welcomed queries and were ready to help in any way they could – as it turned out, that relied on the customer’s ability to navigate their way through a (seemingly) never ending list of menus in order to speak with a real person.
Customer service is for life not just for Christmas
People are always talking about how good service is a thing of the past.
These days when you’re in a shop, the staff are more interested in discussing what happened to Tracey and Dave the night before than serving customers. And, worse than ignoring you, they serve you while still discussing the latest gossip breaking off momentarily to take your money.
Customer service is vital which is why you must be able to carry out all the promises you make on your website.
Many companies still fail to see their website as being their business. It isn’t a separate entity, and it’s quite often the first impression customers will gain of your business. If you say you answer all calls within 5 rings, do it. If you say you reply to emails within 2 hours, make sure you do – it sounds so simple but you’d be amazed at how many companies get it spectacularly wrong.
Promises like this are made just to look good. But if you can’t fulfil simple pledges like those, how are you going to convince customers you can fulfil your bigger promises?
So when you are writing content for your website think very carefully about what you promise. Ask yourself if you can really live up to what you’re claiming. You have to be able to fulfil every claim – if you can’t you’re leaving yourself open to a barrage of complaints.
Image is everything. Make sure yours is a good one.
If you tried to give your customers every piece of information about your business and processes within the body of your website, you’d end up with something confusing, long and incredibly tedious.
That is why the humble FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page exists.
It is a simple way to communicate simple pieces of information to your reader quickly. Most websites include one these days because:
They provide an extra level of support for your customers
They save you time by posting answers to questions you are constantly asked therefore reducing email and phone calls
They show you care about your customers by providing them with as much assistance as possible
Of course, for it to be a truly effective page you must ensure you include questions that people want to know the answers to. Look back through your email correspondence with customers and pull out all the questions that crop up time and again.
That’s all well and good, but how do you make sure you write a good FAQ page?
Well these 6 pointers will get you started in the right direction.
6 ways to write a winning FAQ page
1. Forget the fuss
The first thing to remember is that your FAQ page is there simply to provide information. It is not one of your main sales pages. So, although its content should still be clear and informative, it is the content that matters so forget images and other distractions. Make sure it is well written and easy to follow and that there’s no ambiguity.
2. Simplicity is key
Providing an FAQ page and then making it difficult to find answers is rather counter-productive. Make it easy for your user by categorising your Q and As. Cluster all questions relating to similar topics together. That way it will make your customers life much easier because they’ll be able to find the information they need quickly.
3. Information overload
The number of questions and answers you have will depend on your business. Some of you may only have half a dozen or so. But for those who are likely to have ten or more questions, gather all the questions together at the top of your page and link each one to their answer. That way your reader can scan down the list of questions, find the one relevant to them, click on the link and be taken to the answer. This will make it much easier to use than if you merely list all Q and As together so they have to scroll down your mammoth list until they find the one they want.
Just bear in mind though, if you do list your questions and link them to the answers, make sure you provide a ‘return to top’ link at the end of each answer so they can easily return to the top of the page.
4. Start with the easy stuff
Another good way to make sure your list of questions is useful is by placing the simplist and most often asked questions at the top of the list. The more complex questions should then come further down the list.
5. You’re not writing a novel
However tempted you are to write something literary and indepth, keep your answers short and to the point. Now’s not the time to show off your writing skills (in fact, that is something you should never do when writing any type of marketing materials. Your writing should be secondary – it is your marketing message that should be noticed), keep your answers simple, short and to the point.
6. Be available
One thing that really bugs me are websites without any contact details. It is so frustrating especially when the FAQ page doesn’t answer my particular problem. Like many people, if I find a site that makes it virtually impossible to get in touch with the company I’ll hit the back browser and find someone else. My instant reaction is what are they trying to hide? If you are a genuine company why isn’t your address, phone number, email address clearly marked on your website? Make sure you provide a link to your contact page from the FAQ page in case someone has a question that’s not listed.
So as you can see your FAQ page really is important and shouldn’t be thrown together as an after thought. It is your extended online customer service portal providing information that your customers need. By making it easy to find, easy to follow and easy to read, you are adding another layer of customer service. Plus, just think of how many emails and phone calls you won’t have to field because your customers can find the answers to their questions for themselves.
Remember to also keep it updated. It is unlikely you’ll predict every question you’ll ever be asked, so as new questions arise add them to your page. Over time you’ll accumulate a valuable bank of information for your customers.
Whether you’re starting out and setting up an online presence or looking to create some new marketing materials, your success will be determined by their content.
Is there really any point in you having a website if…
