Usable Words

Language and writing

on the web and beyond

Usable Words 3: People are using your words to find out if you can solve their problems.

You talkin to me?OK, so you’ve managed to attract a bit of traffic to your website, and you’ve been clear enough about what you’re on about so that you’re on the shortlist of your target customers. What next?

Well, what’s next is that they choose you over anyone else on the shortlist. Duh. And there are two basic things you need to do for this to happen:

  1. You need to convince them that you understand their problems and you can make them go away. (Even one of their problems would help.)
  2. You need to convince them that you can do the above better than anybody else.

In other words, the way to get people to choose you is to make it all about them.

In the next post in this series, I’m going to be talking a bit about point 2, convincing people that you do it better than anybody else. But for now let’s concentrate on point 1, convincing them you can make their problems go away.

What we’re fundamentally talking about here, as many of you will have realised, is selling benefits, not features. In other words, don’t tell people what you do, tell them how you can help them. In the classic formulation, people don’t care about you, they want to know “what’s in it for me”.

I don’t want to reinvent the wheel here. There is a lot of stuff out there about using benefits to sell. I mean, really a lot, and most of it is just some variation on “Tell the prospect what’s in it for them. There, you’re now a copywriting genius. Give me $100.”

So yeah, really important principle no doubt, but do I have anything original to say about it? Maybe one day I will, but in the meantime, let me direct you to two of my favourite posts on the subject, by Sonia Simone at Copyblogger. Sonia suggests you bait the hook with emotional benefits, then reel them in with logical benefits, a formula I’ve found extremely useful.

So go and read Sonia. When you come back, you will be a copywriting genius (and not even $100 poorer), and you’ll be ready for me to tell you how to convince people you’re special. Because you are.

Image: mackz

2 comments.

  1. I believe I have the right combination of problem solving/benefits to customer and “I rock” but the challenge is getting in front of the right people in a way that will bring them to the site in the first place.

  2. Well, great content and no traffic is a challenge, for sure, but it’s a better one to have than great traffic and no content!

Post a comment.

How does something like this become good web writing?

Cut out the fat.

Break it up.

Plug in the keywords.

Add the links.

The call to action.

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Writing content for the world wide web web content is different from writing for brochures, magazines, or other print media. Good web copywriters know what web users need (the reasons they use the web, what they are looking for, and their habits), and how to help them get it. Here's what they do. There are five main elements of effective web writing.

1: Keep it web content short and relevant

First, Most web users don't have a lot of time and are doing several things at once - checking their email, updating their Facebook status, browsing newspaper sites, and maybe even working. Your target audience needs to know you're exactly what they're looking for...right away.

So the best thing to do is to write web content in short, punchy sentences. Write directly to the customer, as if you're talking to one person. And cut out anything that's extraneous, any words or phrases you don't need.

2: Lay it out for people who skim

Second, On the web people tend to skim, and they get intimidated by big, uninterrupted blocks of text. Use signposting methods such as

to break up the page and also to make your readers focus on your main points so that they are unmissable.

3: Use keywords strategically

Third, Although you're mainly writing for people, you have another audience: that audience is search engines. To make search engines such as Google love you, it's necessary to use keywords strategically, in web content but preferably without making your text read awkwardly.

4: Use links in web content to help people navigate

Fourth, well-written Web content should make it easier for people to find their way around a website. Use hyper links liberally, and make sure you always think about what's useful to readers when you decide on a label for them.

Finally, you should always try to 5: Include a call to action

Tell readers what you want them to do next. You'll be quite surprised how often they go ahead and do it.

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