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5 Things Copywriters Wish Web Designers Knew:
How to Improve Your Visitor Time-on-Site Stats
 So many web designers are doing the copywriting for their clients, too. There's nothing wrong with that. Really there isn't-if they know what they are doing.
But some are just dropping in their client's own text, or writing keyword-rich copy that doesn't even address the reasons visitors landed on the home page in the first place. When someone arrives on your website, they should know immediately what to expect-how you're going to solve their problem.
Here we go. 5 things copywriters wish web designers knew:
1. A high Google ranking doesn't help if the copy sucks once your visitor lands on your site. I know. It's a rush to see so much traffic to your website. But if people find you and you don't get their attention with clear, compelling copy, well, they're not going to stay long, are they? Make sure it's not your copy that's creating the high bounce rates. Find a copywriter who understands marketing.
2. Benefits rule. The SEO (search engine optimization) may get them there, but it's the copy that sells your stuff. Your visitor doesn't care about the features of a photographer's camera. They are interested in preserving the special, emotional, once-in-a-lifetime moments of their wedding. So write from your customer's point of view. And always reach for the core benefit.
3. Simple trumps flashy. Your visitors are on a mission. They don't have time to learn new navigation tools. Don't make them wait for your flash intro to load because some of them won't. At the very minimum, give them a prominently displayed way to skip it.
4. If it's not scannable, it won't get read. Your users are in a hurry. They're late and they're looking for the car pool lane. They want shortcuts. So they can just find what they freakin' need and get out. If you don't tell them you have it, click. They're gone. Pull them in with a compelling headline (of course, you have to be very sure you know what they're looking for first), then move them along the freeway with sub-heads. And use spacing. Lots of it.
5. Engage your reader's senses and emotions. 60 to 70 percent of the population are visual learners, so that's a good place to start. They think in pictures. Give them something to visualize in your website copy. What we process in our right brains sticks with is because it's what we see and feel. Use analogies. In a recent blog post, I wrote about 5 Things Middle Schoolers Can Teach Us About Authentic Marketing. And in another, how to visualize (and get rid of) your inner critic that prevents you from writing engaging, killer marketing copy. Tell a story or two. Give me that picture and I'll remember what you say so much longer. |
