Entries Tagged 'online copywriting' ↓

What do I mean by calm copywriting?

Well let me first tell you about what prompted me to write this post.

I took my eldest son to the Orthodontist this morning. The Orthodontist is a lovely chap and comes from Eastern Europe…somewhere. Anyway, after making my son’s next appointment we got in my car to head back to school when I mentioned that I might get his father to take him in for the next appointment as I might not have my car that day.

My son looked at me in horror and said “no, you can’t do that. You know what dad’s like, he’ll try and talk in his European English so the Orthodontist understands. It will be soooo embarrassing!”

The ‘European English’ my son is referring to is the good old fashioned British way of communicating abroad – s-p-e-a-k-i-n-g   v-e-r-y   s-l-o-w-l-y  a-n-d   l-o-u-d-l-y to make sure our European cousins can understand us perfectly.

Admittedly it usually ends up either offending or reducing people to hysterical laughter.

So how is all this related to copywriting?

Well there’s a lot of ‘European’ copywriting about too.

We’ve all seen the landing pages which comprise of different sized fonts, bold colourful words and truly awful graphics. And this isn’t just confined to landing pages you can also come across it in emails, sales letters and websites.

Does it give the reader confidence?

No.

Does it engage, enthral and sell?

No.

Instead it annoys, switches the reader off and encourages them not to buy.

Rather than relying in brash sales techniques like these, use your words carefully and let them do the selling.

Keep your text uniform (other than your sub headings), calm and persuasive. It will have a great effect; make you appear more professional and approachable.

Remember your reader isn’t an idiot. They will see through all the frills, fonts and colours. If you want to be taken seriously, write seriously.

As a copywriter I am frequently asked by people how to write effective copy.

Creating something that is interesting, relevant and that sells isn’t always as easy as it sounds.

There are a number of factors that have to be taken into consideration when creating copy for your website, brochure, newsletter, email campaign etc.

You must think about your audience, why you’re writing, what you want to achieve from it and that’s before you start looking at it from your customers perspective.

The easiest way to explain effective copy is to look at it from a ‘questions point of view’—put on your journalist’s hat and follow me…

W-W-W-W-W-H

Who?

Who is your product going to help? This will identify your target market and help you develop the right tone and voice through which you’ll convey your message.

What?

What am I writing about? What will it mean to my customers? This will help you identify the main benefits of your product or service. After all it’s the benefits that will persuade your reader to buy. It’s all about what it will do for them.

When?

Will your product help them now or in the future? How long will your offer last? Timing is crucial, especially with your offer.

Where?

Where can they order or buy your product? If they don’t know how they can get hold of it, how can they buy it? This might sound obvious but you’d be amazed at how many people forget this simple detail.

Why?

Why should they buy it? Yes we’re back to those benefits again. Why is it going to make their life better?

How?

Make sure you let them know how it works, how much it costs, how they can buy it etc.

Once you’ve covered all of those points you must also:

• Keep it simple – write in simple language, with simple sentences. Don’t use jargon as that is a real turn-off.
• Call to action – remember to always tell your reader what you want them to do (call now, buy now, sign up now etc.) otherwise they’ll just walk away.
• Honesty – it really is the best policy. If you make claims about your offerings make sure they are genuine. You want to build a relationship of trust.
• Offer – if you want your offer to appeal to your market make sure it fulfils their needs. To add extra impact make it time limited or limit it by number.

The main thing to remember when writing copy is always have your reader in mind, tell  them what they want to know, make an offer that will appeal to them and leave them in no doubt as to why their lives will be enhanced by it.

A Freelance copywriter understands that copywriting is all about writing for your reader. But did you know the way you structure your payment offers can also have a positive effect on the number of sales you make?

That doesn’t mean how you take payment (i.e. credit cards, cheque, PayPal etc.) but rather allowing your customers to try before they buy, pay later etc.

Listed below are 6 suggestions that will help you increase your sales:

1. Try before you buy

Let your customers try a free sample or shortened version of your product. By offering them something with only a few benefits (rather than the full version) they will be enticed to buy the full version to get all the benefits.

1. Let them choose their price

I haven’t gone mad. I don’t literally mean let them pay what they want. Simply list your original product and price and also offer another product for a slightly higher price. You can produce as many levels as you like and then your customer is free to choose whichever is right for them.

1. Free trial

This is a classic. The free trial option demonstrates your own confidence in your product or service and therefore it will sell itself.

1. Give something back

Offering a cash back rebate of, say 10% will help boost your sales. Plus, most customers will probably forget to send off for their rebate.

1. Pay later

By allowing the choice of buying now, pay later you’ll prevent the loss of customers who can’t afford to buy your product or service at that particular time.

1. Just a little at a time

This one goes nicely with number 5. As well as delaying payment you can also offer paying in instalments. Again this avoids losing those customers who may not be able to pay the full amount straight away.

Why don’t you give one or two of these a try?

Let me ask you something. What do you look for in a website?

You probably want a website that is eye-catching, interesting and that is going to give you the answers you are looking for.

In that case, why do so many businesses tick the eye-catching box and then stop?

Website copywriting is the best way to get visitors and keep them.

But be warned writing great online content is not as easy as it would seem. Yes you can probably write, and yes you know your business better than anyone. But that is exactly why you should get a website copywriter in to write the content for you.

A website copywriter is trained to write to your reader. You may think that is easy; if it were, every website you came across would be like that, but very few are.

Here are 6 simple steps to help you create a sticky website:

1. Loads of white space

Break up your text into bite size chunks. Short paragraphs will make it appear easier on the eye and more readable.

2. Simple language

Keep your language simple. People will be put off by fancy words and long sentences. Don’t forget to use the magic words.

3. Benefits

Ask yourself what it is that your customer wants. Website copywriting is all about selling the benefits – What is it about your product that will make their life easier? Answer that in your first paragraph and you’ll have them hooked.

4. Titles and subtitles

Break down your text and give it headings. That way, your reader can see at a glance what your page is about.

5. Keywords

You would have done your keyword research but don’t over stuff your copy. Concentrate on 2 or 3 main keywords per page. Use them in the titles and then once or twice in the body text. Remember you are writing for your reader first and the search engines second.

6. Call to action

Once you have your reader don’t leave them wandering what to do next. Make your call to action as clear and simple as possible.

Take a look at your website. Could it be improved?

If you were honest, I bet it could. So please never make the mistake of thinking about the services of a website copywriter as an expense. Instead, think of it as an investment. Any money spent will be recouped many times over.