by Susan Carroll | Jun 4, 2008 | Random
Revisiting what makes good web copy, I am further convinced that most of the same principles apply from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0.
Usability guru Jakob Nielsen tracked how visitors scan a web page way back in 1996 (see the hot spots in Nielsen’s eyetracking study). He found that readers prefer to scan text written in a concise and objective style. Concise, scannable and objective text scored 128% higher usability.
Another study of video on the web notes that “Talking head videos are boring.” Though the analysis wasn’t yet in, Nielsen surmises that the web is an interactive medium, and that’s why I’m not alone when on zipping through the fast forward. However, a talking head in any promotional context is a killer if you ask me. I grab the remote when that garmento from the Men’s Wearhouse guarantees I’m gonna love the way I look.
But time is shorter than ever. And the need for linking is great. After all, the web is all about linking. So to further paraphrase many a smarter usability expert than me…
Here are my top 8 rules of good website sales copy
Use your titles and subheads to reflect search terms
Tell clearly what it is that you’ve got in your first two sentences. Here a picture is worth a thousand words
Make your next sentence or two about the problem they’re trying to solve by visiting you.
In the next paragraph tell them why you can solve it for them better than anyone else.
In the last paragraph reinforce how you will do it, better than anyone else.
Give them specific links to pages that address their concerns, worries or need to know.
Before they leave, give them an offer they want to refuse…but just can’t.
So what’s different?
To that list, I would add that best practices now dictate keeping your copy “above the fold” or above the cut line. Unlike with the print media, your reader (not you) is in control of the flow and ready to either click to your order, or click away to another interesting site. The trick is to structure your story with the fewest necessary words…not necessarily the shortest copy. Nielsen needs more words to tell his story. Dunkin’ Donuts needs less.
Never overhype or oversell. Nor undervalue what you can offer. Convince your visitor first that what you offer has unique value, and they’ll give you the attention you deserve. If they jump away before ordering or trying, provide them with a promotional pop-up reminder with a deal- sweetener.
Thanks to search engines, and search engine analytics, the copywriter’s job is easier: helping you find the key words and descriptions your audience use to find you. (By the way, I hate that word ‘prospect’, since no one likes to think of themselves that way). But SEO is only the beginning.
Speaking of which: for an insightful and easy read about SEO copywriting, check out CopyBlogger, whose success is the envy of many a writer. It goes to show that the same copywriting rules — which are good writing rules — are the foundation of success, online or off.
by Susan Carroll | Jun 4, 2008 | Random
Traveling back further to good writing. Every writer (and that means you) should read the definitive style manual: Elements of Style originally written by William Strunk in 1918, an easy read full of pithy advice such as:
“Make definite assertions. Avoid tame, colorless, hesitating, non-committal language.”
—Rule 12
It was updated in the ’50’s with the help of another one-time copywriter, E.B. White, author of Charlotte’s Web — a timeless inspiration to all of us do-it-yourselfers on the web.
But how does that translate to this web?
Then as now, give your reader a solution they are searching for. Spin a good story. It could mean saving their life or their livelihoods. Make so easy to understand that solution, that even a child (or caveman or even a pig) can do it. Avoid clunky corporate jargon like “utilize” when “use” will do (by the way I don’t like usability, but it’s a useful word). Then give them more reasons why to use you.
by Susan Carroll | May 8, 2008 | Random
They say that which you resist persists. I’ve been wondering, for about 20 years, why people are seemingly so unable to communicate and cooperate. Why don’t things get done?
What persistent BIG question have you been unable to resolve? I’m talking business-wise, not personal-wise (there’s more of that than can be handled here.)
Cooperation, not competition
That’s why I started IDEA LAND. Creative problem solving is something we all need. So, I started this forum to address these Big Questions with an exchange of Big Ideas.
It’s brand new, so we welcome your participation (no spam or scam allowed.) Here’s your opportunity to promote yourself through cooperation.
The only proviso is that what you provide is authentic, original, thoughtful help…and remember the Boy Scout motto to “Do Your Best”.
by Susan Carroll | May 8, 2008 | Random
A gazillion things competing for attention on the web. Having a great name like Sally Hogshead and smart concept and audacity helps. Sally Hogshead is aiming toward the high life as a consultant and writer of a book/site/attitude called “Radical Careering”. Haven’t read the book, yet, but she’s definitely an inspiring, energetic writer (who’s “easy on the eyes”).
Having a clear POV and engaging in a dialogue with your audience is one of those elephants on the table that many companies miss. Ms, Hogshead hasn’t. Although mine is a more linear virtual world view, I find her site refreshing, ambitious, if not perfectly navigable. (Like I should talk me with my old posts and broken links 🙂
I comment about what it really takes to be a great online writer on her Hog Blog, It’s Time to Upgrade to You 2.0.
by Susan Carroll | Feb 10, 2007 | Random
Blogging is a great way to connect with people you’d never imagine you could.
If you’re an entrepreneur or marketer, you’ll be inspired by Guy Kawasaki’s Art of the Start . He really distills everything down into an entertaining 20 minute talk!
The original Mac Evangelist is now Managing Director of Garage Technology Ventures…I found his blog exceptionally refreshing. He embodies all that we love about Apple: Simple, elegant, and about “Changing the World.”
I wish the Corporate Entity that Apple has become lived up to its earlier promise. A couple years ago I tried to discontinue the iLife subscription, which I couldn’t do except through the .mac website…which wouldn’t let me. My long-held affection for Mac completely ended when a tech support assured me it was ok to reboot the computer from the disk, “to fix the permissions” while FileVault was on. NEVER DO THIS!
All my files got locked away in a sparse.image file and my master password no longer worked. Apple reminded me that there’s a warning, but they did give me and a free copy of Tiger.
However, when I compare this experience to my fiance’s frustration with Vista and automatic Nazi-like updates from HP, I remain an Apple Evangalista.
Revisiting what makes good web copy, I am further convinced that most of the same principles apply from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0.