If you’re a copywriter, chances are your primary goal is to get people reading and enjoying your writing. Unfortunately, getting them to read is only half of the job. Copywriting for B2C or B2B purposes has an even more important job – it has to sell! In other words, your writing should be able to convince readers to take action, whether it’s filling in a form or buying something. Writing copy that sells is challenging, but there are steps you can take to improve the chance of a conversion. This article shares six tips to help you make your web copy sell:
Define your objectives
As a copywriter, whether writing for websites or print media, without clearly defined goals – your writing might as well not even exist. There needs to be a clear purpose for what you’re doing. Since we’re talking about web copy that sells, we’ll assume that the end goal for your writing is to facilitate the conversion of some kind. Great! Now you know what the goal is, and it’s your job to work towards achieving that goal.
Research your readers
Who exactly are you writing your copy for? In most cases, web copy is written with a specific target audience in mind. Are your readers’ serious businessmen who demand corporate-style copy? Perhaps you’re writing for an ice-cream brand and your target audience is teenagers. By knowing the personality traits of your target audience members, you’ll know who you’re writing for and can say the things you know they’ll enjoy and hopefully engage with.
Research your topics
We’re on step three and we haven’t put pen to paper yet (or fingertips to keys). This should prove to you that copy development involves much more than just sitting down and writing. The next thing you need to do in preparation for writing web copy is to research your topic. Anyone can regurgitate information, but a lack of understanding of the topic WILL come through in your copy, and can really depreciate your entire piece of writing.