There are at least seven ways new website owners fail to get the
words on their site that will truly attract the business they so badly
need. Here are some of the common pitfalls, which are effectively all
down to us. The good news is that they can be worked around.
It is not all about you. In fact, not even a little bit about you.
"I", not "you". "We" not "you". "The company" not "you". "Here at", not "you". People ramble on about customer focus, all the time. They talk about how focused they are on customers. Yawn. Funny people are too busy making others laugh to bother telling them about how funny they are. Show, don't tell. It is all about the customer, make it so. Use testimonials to show how in touch with customers you are. Or to put it another way: "why should I take your word for it? Show me."
That horrible teacher when we were ten or eleven years old.
Sure it might be older or younger for you -who criticised your creative writing assignment. That sinking feeling when you had that bad mark, that shaming in front of the whole class. That can be enough to erode confidence and cause you to give up, or keep revising drafts to the point that you have nothing. Zilch, zip, and all other kinds of nothing. Weeks can go by, and you still feel queasy every time you read your words back. You have become your own kind of nasty teacher. As a result you are intimidated and frozen, unable to write effectively. This is made all the more irritating by the realisation that it is only words and you can talk to clients and others perfectly well. So why can't you write your website copy? This time, with a different mindset and perseverance, you will come through. Put your nasty teacher in a sound-proof box. You don't need them and you won't miss them.
Coming across as too needy is never attractive.
Most of us have trouble blowing our own horns. A balance needs to be struck. Unless you can see things from your readers/customers/prospects perspective you are never going to talk about yourself and what you do, effectively. Make the shift from the features of what you do, to the benefits of what you do, for your customers. Yes, it still is not about you, even when it seems it is. It is about them. Or did I already mention that? Getting unapologetic and reaching out to customers is vital. Once you understand what you are really selling and you see your business as a service, and one which offers real benefits, you are on the right track. Copy writers don't sell words, they offer the benefit of time for their clients. Time not spent wringing their hands in frustration about what to write. Time spent with their families, or watching sport. What benefits does your business bring to your clients?
The smoke and mirrors approach to your words will only hook people for so long.
Words such as: "amazing, revolutionary, innovative, original, unique, astonishing" and all other hyped up statements just make you look silly. Ninety nine times out of a hundred that is. Let's face it, if what you did was really that good others would be queuing up to tell people about you and your business. Twitter would have told, Instagram would be awash, and Facebook would have it all over. Don't tell them you are funny, make them laugh. Don't tell them how good you are, let others tell them for you. Your job is to focus on the benefits to your customers, of the services that you offer. Which brings us on to...
Testimonials and social proof should be the same, if not, you are in trouble.
The former are only relevant if they are true. If there are floods of testimonials on your site but there are directory sites and search engines telling a different story with their reviews then you are in trouble. There has to be congruence between self published and independently given reviews. If both are in the same ball park then good, testimonials rock. What many business owners fail to do is to collect testimonials, or even ask for them. If a customer is really happy with your work they still might not trouble to write about it, even if you ask them. You need to do it for them. Talk to them, draft it for them, send it to them and ask them to make corrections and send it back. Follow up and soon you have words that you have not struggled to write and words that will have a great impact. Well done, you.
Not being clear about who you are talking to is a no-no.
If you don't know where the target is, you can't hit it. You get to decide who the target is. It might be a composite of people you have known, happy customers in all probability. While you are at it, take time to think about those customers you did not get on with. And STOP trying to appeal to them through your words. You can't please some of the people any of the time. Stop throwing good words money after bad. Build up personas, avatars, impressions of the good customer composite that you already know. Their ages, stages, what they wear, where they shop, what they love to do in their down-time. Get in touch with what they most like and dislike, and imagine what they are saying about their lives. What pains them, and what brings them joy. You have worked out what you are really selling in relation to the BENEFITS that your products or services bring. Now reach across to your composite customer and talk to them. This technique works for your about and home pages, your blog, your contact page and everywhere else in fact. Sure you might want to invent any number of these un-people, and that is fine. Anything which helps you to keep the focus where it should be.
Pomposity, self-preening and Priggishness, unless you don't suffer from irony-deficiency, that is.
You see, there are two deadly sins in a single, too-long sentence. The first being too-long words, which are another way you can try and fail to fool people. They don't make you important, they make you inaccessible. They make your copy too dense, and they are not written for 12 year olds. Because that is the level that even the cleverest of us expect, online at least. We skim read, we like simple words and we even want bullet points. Because that is the writer saying "this is important, take note". As long as it is, congrats, you have caught their attention. The second sin was to use humour, or at least, try to. That would be the irony-deficiency bit. Too clever by half, it interrupts the natural flow and says "look at me, the writer, see how lucky you would be to do business with this funny guy". By now you are talking to their backs as they go to find someone who wants to talk about them. Not themselves. People do not buy from clowns-as Claude Hopkins the American businessman said. Don't try to be funny. It is not a laughing matter.
Have you got the message yet?
So: it is not about you, less is more, and be you. Let others speak for you whenever possible, and get over yourself if not everyone likes you. Get out of your own way and the words will show themselves to you. And above all enjoy. Writing your own website content need not be painful.
It is not all about you. In fact, not even a little bit about you.
"I", not "you". "We" not "you". "The company" not "you". "Here at", not "you". People ramble on about customer focus, all the time. They talk about how focused they are on customers. Yawn. Funny people are too busy making others laugh to bother telling them about how funny they are. Show, don't tell. It is all about the customer, make it so. Use testimonials to show how in touch with customers you are. Or to put it another way: "why should I take your word for it? Show me."
That horrible teacher when we were ten or eleven years old.
Sure it might be older or younger for you -who criticised your creative writing assignment. That sinking feeling when you had that bad mark, that shaming in front of the whole class. That can be enough to erode confidence and cause you to give up, or keep revising drafts to the point that you have nothing. Zilch, zip, and all other kinds of nothing. Weeks can go by, and you still feel queasy every time you read your words back. You have become your own kind of nasty teacher. As a result you are intimidated and frozen, unable to write effectively. This is made all the more irritating by the realisation that it is only words and you can talk to clients and others perfectly well. So why can't you write your website copy? This time, with a different mindset and perseverance, you will come through. Put your nasty teacher in a sound-proof box. You don't need them and you won't miss them.
Coming across as too needy is never attractive.
Most of us have trouble blowing our own horns. A balance needs to be struck. Unless you can see things from your readers/customers/prospects perspective you are never going to talk about yourself and what you do, effectively. Make the shift from the features of what you do, to the benefits of what you do, for your customers. Yes, it still is not about you, even when it seems it is. It is about them. Or did I already mention that? Getting unapologetic and reaching out to customers is vital. Once you understand what you are really selling and you see your business as a service, and one which offers real benefits, you are on the right track. Copy writers don't sell words, they offer the benefit of time for their clients. Time not spent wringing their hands in frustration about what to write. Time spent with their families, or watching sport. What benefits does your business bring to your clients?
The smoke and mirrors approach to your words will only hook people for so long.
Words such as: "amazing, revolutionary, innovative, original, unique, astonishing" and all other hyped up statements just make you look silly. Ninety nine times out of a hundred that is. Let's face it, if what you did was really that good others would be queuing up to tell people about you and your business. Twitter would have told, Instagram would be awash, and Facebook would have it all over. Don't tell them you are funny, make them laugh. Don't tell them how good you are, let others tell them for you. Your job is to focus on the benefits to your customers, of the services that you offer. Which brings us on to...
Testimonials and social proof should be the same, if not, you are in trouble.
The former are only relevant if they are true. If there are floods of testimonials on your site but there are directory sites and search engines telling a different story with their reviews then you are in trouble. There has to be congruence between self published and independently given reviews. If both are in the same ball park then good, testimonials rock. What many business owners fail to do is to collect testimonials, or even ask for them. If a customer is really happy with your work they still might not trouble to write about it, even if you ask them. You need to do it for them. Talk to them, draft it for them, send it to them and ask them to make corrections and send it back. Follow up and soon you have words that you have not struggled to write and words that will have a great impact. Well done, you.
Not being clear about who you are talking to is a no-no.
If you don't know where the target is, you can't hit it. You get to decide who the target is. It might be a composite of people you have known, happy customers in all probability. While you are at it, take time to think about those customers you did not get on with. And STOP trying to appeal to them through your words. You can't please some of the people any of the time. Stop throwing good words money after bad. Build up personas, avatars, impressions of the good customer composite that you already know. Their ages, stages, what they wear, where they shop, what they love to do in their down-time. Get in touch with what they most like and dislike, and imagine what they are saying about their lives. What pains them, and what brings them joy. You have worked out what you are really selling in relation to the BENEFITS that your products or services bring. Now reach across to your composite customer and talk to them. This technique works for your about and home pages, your blog, your contact page and everywhere else in fact. Sure you might want to invent any number of these un-people, and that is fine. Anything which helps you to keep the focus where it should be.
Pomposity, self-preening and Priggishness, unless you don't suffer from irony-deficiency, that is.
You see, there are two deadly sins in a single, too-long sentence. The first being too-long words, which are another way you can try and fail to fool people. They don't make you important, they make you inaccessible. They make your copy too dense, and they are not written for 12 year olds. Because that is the level that even the cleverest of us expect, online at least. We skim read, we like simple words and we even want bullet points. Because that is the writer saying "this is important, take note". As long as it is, congrats, you have caught their attention. The second sin was to use humour, or at least, try to. That would be the irony-deficiency bit. Too clever by half, it interrupts the natural flow and says "look at me, the writer, see how lucky you would be to do business with this funny guy". By now you are talking to their backs as they go to find someone who wants to talk about them. Not themselves. People do not buy from clowns-as Claude Hopkins the American businessman said. Don't try to be funny. It is not a laughing matter.
Have you got the message yet?
So: it is not about you, less is more, and be you. Let others speak for you whenever possible, and get over yourself if not everyone likes you. Get out of your own way and the words will show themselves to you. And above all enjoy. Writing your own website content need not be painful.
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