Copy on your website represents the quality and tone of your brand.
It should be aspirational, actionable and easy-to-digest.
So, crafting copy for websites is a bit difficult.
It takes creativity, skill, focus and a deep understanding of your consumers to woo them.
Copy writing is all about your habits that make it easier to sit down and write well. It’s about finding easy ways to make your ‘writing’ a whole lot SNACKABLE and PERSUASIVE.
The Internet is flooded with loads of great articles about content writing and copywriting. Maybe this will become one of them.
Whatever. This piece is different.
Read.
No matter the level of skills and talent you have. With a little gusto in your writing habit, you can let readers feel something, take action, or stay more informed than before.
A few pointers below to show you how.
1. Barf Out Body Text
Do brain exercise. If you wanna blast with your copy.
- Just write out anything in your head
- Keep your fingers typing without leaving the keyboard
- Look at the keyboard, not the screen
- Have no care about sentence structure, grammatical errors
- Skip spelling and punctuation for now
- Keep your fingers moving
- Even for a paragraph or three, whenever you are stuck, just type.
This practice will engage your brain. Do this for any kind of writing. Editing comes later. Avoid mixing writing and editing together.
Trust me. Whenever you’re ‘stuck’, just type.
Every time, something useful will transpire before your writing-eyes-and-brains.
2. Write to a 7th Grader
Not because 7th graders aren’t quick-witted.
Because it encourages you to dump the ‘Terms and Jargon’ that eyeballs just glass over. And you’ll write clearly.
“Drive innovation.” “Think outside the box.” “Transform your business…” Hey, please stop using them.
They may grate on your reader’s nerves. They are some of the most over-used, under-effective statements.
No idea if I have any intentional feelings, but here is what you must know…
Jargon and terms say little while making the reader feel unfulfilled.
- Do the work
- Say something real
- Practice with your kid or any outsider to tell your useful message
Your readers will appreciate it and it makes good business sense.
3. Narrow Your Focus
Each piece of copy should have a single clear idea from headline to conclusion.
Following this tactic can enable you to
- form more logical arguments write
- write copy that flows naturally
- provide your readers with clear takeaways
Keep your focus as right as possible unless you are writing a pillar page acting as a central point for discussing a broad topic.
For example:
Bad: 7 tips to write social media copy for marketing
Better: 7 tips to write social media copy for small business marketing
Best: 7 tips to write social media copy for marketing for SaaS startups
It’d be hardly possible to write a valuable piece of copy on that first topic as the potential audience is just too broad. You merely can’t give advice appropriate for everyone, from a startup to a multinational brand.
So, narrow down your focus and provide readers with a real value around a particular topic.
4. Use of Semicolon or Colon
If you find yourself wanting to use a semicolon or colon, it is time to rewrite.
I confess. I’m not good with grammar.
No matter if you don’t even know the rules of using punctuation such as semicolons and colons.
Trust me. It doesn’t matter!
You should be Ok with that because a writer’s job is not to follow grammar rules. But to communicate clearly through the written word.
You should even be OK with starting a new paragraph with “And.”
You shouldn’t be amused.
Focus on the level of clarity whoever you are writing for. (Oops, ended that sentence with a “stranded preposition.”)
Note that you’re writing for distracted, busy audiences so can’t afford to slow down readers with overly complicated sentences.
Use clear and simple sentences.
5. Write with a Purpose
I always write with a purpose and so should you.
I communicate that purpose at the top of my draft piece to keep around the target while writing.
Be clear on the purpose whether it is for a blog post, email, website content writing, white paper or for any social media post.
Ask yourself ‘What action do I want my readers to take?
Do you want them to click the buy, call, or contact us button? Or you just want them to feel a certain way. Bliss? Empathy? Informed?
At times, we just write to write. No problem unless you are writing to sell products or services.
With millions of users, social posts have become a top-of-mind selling approach.
It is an easy medium to build, display and share your brand. Still, writing with an objective to raise your signal and lessen your voice is important.
Hey, do not miss to remove the purpose reminder at the top of your draft.
6. Talisman to Make Readers Success
Craft your copywriting to make the reader feel successful.
This can be achieved with short paragraphs and with breaks like bolded lines and single lines.
Break up your message to lead your reader down the page.
Talisman for reader’s success – short sentences, short paragraphs, transition lines, some bolded items, bullets.
Copywriting Conclusion
Great copy begins with defining your target audience.
If you don’t understand your audience or what they want to hear, you cannot create a compelling copy. Sure, you might be able to include nice words, but they are likely to fail in generating leads or sales because they are not targeting the right people.
Secondly, you need to be an expert in your field. That’s why I write about marketing, rather than bypass surgery!
Thirdly, talk about solutions for real-world problems step by step.
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