Do you pay a lot of attention to the copy on your website? A lot of attention and detail goes into the design and development of a site, but sometimes, the words don’t get the fine-tuning they deserve. In terms of selling the visitor on a product or service and getting conversions, the words are extremely important.
Popular Web design blog Smashing Magazine recently published a list of “Five Copywriting Errors That Can Ruin A Company’s Website.” One of the errors, writing inwardly, seems to creep up quite a bit in business website copy. How do you fix it?
“Customers don’t have time to admire your greatness. They’re too busy searching for ways to make life better for themselves. A high-level Web page answers one question of the reader above all: What’s in it for me?”
In other words, don’t put so much focus on features and specifications. Instead, tell the reader how your product or service will make their life better. Apple does a fantastic job of this, both in their print/online advertising and on television. Instead of selling features, they sell the experience. Competitors run commercials touting features that their customers might not understand, and then they wonder why their sales aren’t as good. It’s no surprise.
There are some other great tips in the Smashing article for eliminating copywriting errors like burying a lead, or using a weak call to action. Read through and see if some of those same mistakes are creeping up in your own copy.