Web Copy: Avoiding the Ego Trip June 5, 2010 at 4:47 am
Name a pesky plague targeting far too many websites these days. That’s right, the ego trip. Usually a term you’d find referring to high-minded corporate execs, ego tripping is no longer reserved for the boardroom. We’re talking web copy that places itself on a pedestal, outdistancing the audience and never looking back. Now, name the biggest no-no in web copy. Kind of goes without saying, doesn’t it?
When it comes to web content, just remember this: your audience is your master. A site has 15 seconds or less to appeal to its reader. After that, all it takes is one click and that rich potential could disappear forever. Just like you, we’re sick of stuck-up content, so we’ll show what works and why. Then, we’ll show what doesn’t work and what really doesn’t work, just because, all egos aside, we actually want to help.
What Works: Customer Comfort Copy
High-traffic websites have one thing in common: they inspire the reader to act. Though it may be tempting to wow the reader with clever diction, the most effective route is to stick to language that motivates rather than charms. Readers find their comfort zone with content that provides down-to-earth details and solid, well-organized concepts.
This involves engaging the reader using content that doesn’t alienate, or even worse, annoy. The effect is achieved with a focus on the reader’s needs and habits. Web copy that’s attentive to your audience is the best way to garner the attention a good site deserves.
What Doesn’t Work: Center-of-the-Universe Company Copy
Avoid the all too familiar TMI Syndrome. TMI, of course, stands for “too much information.” When it comes to web copy, TMI is a disease in its own right. Usually found in the form or mystifying details and tongue-tying words, too much information often means one thing – too little action.
Though web users may not be experts at understanding all the technical details presented on your site, they are, more often than not, hip to hype. What your company does and that it does it well may completely fail to captivate your audience. Understandably, every website wants to put the best foot forward when it comes to presenting a site, but that doesn’t mean copy should focus 100% on the unique attributes of an organization.
What REALLY Doesn’t Work: Conceited Prose Copy
One doesn’t have to search relentlessly to find less than stellar web copy, and unfortunately, really less than stellar web copy is also rampant. It doesn’t make sense, but many copywriters are hired for a quick fix – made to write copy for websites, they have absolutely no familiarity with just to meet a deadline or fulfill a heavy workload. The result – eclectic prose that flowers and curls across a page when it should simply assist and inform.
A copywriter is concerned with writing, its art, technique and style, regardless of whether your site is actually about digital design or medical insurance. This is the reason why some web copy can be completely self-absorbed. What you actually desire is copying that connects with the audience on a personal level, so say it. In communications with your copywriter, make sure instructions about how and why the site operates are front-and-center.
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