Copywriting
Good Copywriting
Good copywriting should be informative, easy to read and aimed at your target market. Gone are the days of ‘keyword stuffing’ to make website copy attractive for search engines. Today, copy should be written for people, while keeping in mind the requirements for search engines like Google.
If you are a business owner, your primary interest is likely to be copy that advertises your products or services. Unlike copy you might use in a sales letter, your website copy should be relatively short and to-the-point. It is important that it also uses more ‘you’ than ‘us’ or ‘we’. After all, you want your potential customer to feel as if you are more interested in them than yourself.
Don’t forget that proof of quality (social proof) is important for those that have not used your services before, so have a testimonial page and refer customers to it.
Good copywriting should answer the following questions:
Who are you speaking to?
What are their problems?
What is your solution?
How do they know it will work?
How do they get it?
Copy Editing Example
Let’s take a look at a short example of some copy I took from a plumbing website and how I reworked it to improve it. Only the business and city names have been changed. The original is not the worst I’ve seen, but hopefully you will appreciate the point I’m trying to make.
Original Copy
Jerry’s Plumbing and Irrigation provides our customers with unparalleled expertise and services for the plumbing and irrigation industry. Located in Spuzum, Jerry’s prides itself on providing personalized and quality customer service for their clients. We are industry leaders, and our clients have grown to appreciate our unwavering commitment to provide premium services. If you’d like to know more about our available services in Spuzum, please contact us today!
My Revision
Are you looking for plumbing or irrigation services in Spuzum? Jerry’s is committed to providing you with quality personalized service. Know to be industry leaders we promise we will look for every opportunity to provide you with the best in parts and service at a fair price. Please take a look at our testimonial page to see what our customers are saying about us and then give us a call at 222-333-2222. We look forward to hearing from you and to helping you with your plumbing or irrigation needs.
Can You Appreciate the Difference?
Do you see some positive differences in my revision? I speak more directly to the website visitor, I don’t make the claim of leadership personally, and I give a concrete call-to-action near the end. Also note, the first sentence of the original copy implies they serve the ‘plumbing and irrigation industry’. In fact, their Services page makes it clear that they serve the retail customer. This confusing sentence alone could cost them business.
Do It Yourself or Hire Me
Of course, there’s a lot more to good copywriting, and it’s possible that you feel comfortable and have the time to write the copy for your own website, but if you would rather not do so, contact me today to discuss your project.