The importance of superior copy
Being able to write high quality copy is the skill most likely to help your online business.
Many online businesses focus on generating traffic to their site, which of course is also important, but you are not going to make any profit from your visitors if you don’t have convincing sales copy once they reach you.
Copywriting has often been described as “salesmanship in print.”
It needs to fulfill all the functions of a salesperson without the benefit of face to face communication.
In a store, a salesperson has the chance to build a personal relationship with their customer through their body language and general appearance.
A copywriter has to achieve this emotional element using the written word.
Another advantage of in person sales is that the customer can actually see, and sometimes test the product for themselves.
The copywriter has the task of convincing their audience that their product is of high quality and should be bought, without the customer actually being able to see or touch it.
As you can see, your sales copy has to work very hard.
Here are just a few of the important roles it needs to fulfill:
1. Convince your customers to take action when they visit your site
2. Build up a personal relationship and trust with your customer
3. Accurately describe and sell the benefits of your product
In this article series you will discover:
a. What makes great sales copy? – Including what length is optimum for great copy
b. Whether you should write yourself or employ a copywriter
c. How to improve your copywriting
d. What motivates people to buy? – Including the psychology of buying
e. How your choice of words can make or break your sales – Including whether copywriting should focus on ‘you’ or ‘I’.
f. Why you should beware of keyword density
g. Five common copywriting mistakes to avoid
What makes great copy?
Great copy is more than just a sales pitch. It might tell a story such as the way the product came about, or it may describe the author’s own experience with the product.
Experienced copywriters will try to find a unique angle that their readers will relate to and weave this into their sales writing.
Great copy sells to the heart.
By finding something that customers can relate to, copywriters are able to appeal to their readers’ emotions.
Research shows that people buy with their emotions and then look for a rational reason for their purchase afterwards.
Good copy spells out the benefits of a product to prevent the customer from having to think for themselves. Great copy overcomes objections before they surface.
Great copy is conversational.
When you start copywriting you can forget a lot of that grammar you learned in school. To engage your reader they need to feel you are actually talking to them, and so you should write in the same style as you speak.
Here are some tips your English teacher might not have agreed with:
1. Use slang if it is appropriate
2. Use fragmented sentences if they create impact
3. Use short punchy words rather than long complex ones
4. Spell out your meaning simply rather than using clever word plays or subtle hints
However, don’t get too relaxed or your writing will lose credibility:
1. Check your work for typos, these are unprofessional
2. Don’t use too many capital letters, this is seen as shouting in cyberspace
3. Exclamation marks lose their impact if used too often
The length of good copy is suitable for the product
There are advantages to both long and short copy. How do you decide? The safest, surest bet is to always make sure your writing is long enough for the value of the product you are selling.
A more expensive product will require longer copy as customers will take longer to decide whether to buy. You don’t want your readers to reach the end of the page when they are still undecided about whether to buy.
Advantages of long copy are:
1. More information makes your customers feel comfortable about their purchase
2. Giving your customers the facts upfront may reduce your customer service work
3. There are more opportunities for search engine optimization and including keywords
Advantages of short copy are:
1. You get your message across before your customer loses interest
2. Your web pages are neater and more compact
3. You avoid repetition and the appearance of a hyped sales pitch
In the end the quality of your copy is more important than the length.
You can include links in short copywriting to give more information to customers that want it, or you can highlight key phrases in long copy for visitors that don’t want to read the whole page.
As reported in previous articles on