The Kopywrighter Philosophy
The Kopywrighter Philosophy isn’t anything deep or wonderfully life-affirming like "cogito ergo sum," "carpe diem," or "que sera sera."
Rather, it’s my philosophy about the style of writing necessary to boost website stickiness, hold eyeballs longer, and increase conversion rates.
The first thing you’ll notice on my site is the lack of bells and whistles… animation, heavy graphics, video, music or much of anything else bloating webpages today.
As I’ve stated elsewhere, the most important feature of any webpage, of every piece of advertising you see, read, or hear, is the writing.
Your website... so how's that working out for you?
Take a minute to consider your website and all the money you've dumped in web designers' laps to create a flashy, "sticky" site.
You paid a ton of dough for SEO (Search Engine Optimization).. paid for advertising on similar sites.. and jammed your metatags with meticulously researched keywords.
So your site may have a great look, but consider what it's gotten you.
Visitors, yes. And if you're using the right tools, you can track that in depth, including which keywords worked, and which keywords didn't.
But what about the conversion rate? (That's the visitors who actually converted to paying customers).
Isn't that what you really care about?
How many orders have you taken through the website?
What's the bottom line on sales directly attributable to your website?
Is it possible that you've neglected something?
Take a look at this website (www.kopywrighter.com, in case you've forgotten).. I'll give you seven seconds. (I'll tell you why it's just seven seconds a little later).
It’s fairly straightforward, clean and uncluttered. Easy to navigate. No distractions. The emphasis is on the copy, as well it should be.
Let me explain.
Think about how you use the internet. Whenever you visit a site, for the first time or the hundredth time, you're in control, because you've invited yourself.
You chose to come here. You've made the effort because you're expecting to find what you want. And if you don't find it quickly, you're just a back-click away from looking for a better result, from some other copywriter.
And here's where the writing figures in.
The Seven-Second Rule
If you're on a website for a specific reason.. and you can't see immediately how to navigate the site, or how to find the specific answer or product you came for.... CLICK! Or (insert your native language's "goodbye words" here).
Adios.
Sayonara.
Auf Wiedersehen.
Ciao.
Aloha.
Remember what I said about "seven seconds?" That's the estimated length of time an average web visitor stays on your site before he clicks back to his search results to find some other site that's better suited to his needs.
(For an in-depth look at the "Seven Second Rule," click on the following link, Chapter 9 from "A Roomful of Monkeys": The Seven Second Rule of Web Copywriting.)
Because you have just a few precious seconds to capture and hold the visitor, your site better be simple to understand and easy to navigate.
So it makes sense that your webpages provide your visitors with the information they want, as quickly and clearly as possible, without a lot of industry jargon, densely written mission statements, or empty promises. And all those fancy bells and whistles, banners, pop-ups and heavy graphics can kill your site faster than you can say "okay, what else ya got?"
What everyone's looking for on a website
If you're anything like me, you expect that every website, somewhere within it, will provide specifics about the company, its history, accreditations, awards, products and services.
I'll want FAQs that are genuine and helpful, and not just what the company wants me to know.
I'll want complete contact information, including names, positions and their qualifications relevant to the company, product or service.
If you have a brick and mortar store near me, I'll want to know your hours, find directions or maps, and, ultimately, get clear information about pricing, and an easy-to-follow method for purchasing the products or services I'm seeking.
But.. and this is the important part.. I'm not looking for any of that in the first seven seconds. If you don't have what I'm looking for..
- I don't care about your mission statement
- I don't care if you're family owned
- I don't care if you've been in business for 35 years
- I don't care if you've satisfied thousands of customers
- And I don't care about your hours or payment options
I don't want you to tell me about you, I want you to tell me about me, and what you can do for me.
"It's all about me" (the visitor)
I want you to tell me, your visitor, that you have the products or services I want, obviously, and I want you to tell me, in specific detail, how it'll benefit me.
Most of all, I want you to prove to me why I should do business with you. Without your industry's jargon, doubletalk or "advertising words."
Tell me in plain, simple language, how I will be a better, happier person after I buy from you.. and tell me why.
And you'd better do that in those first seven seconds. (Or at least give me a reason to keep on reading past those first seven seconds).
And that's it in a nutshell.. just keep me reading!
Tell me a story about me, in which I'm the main character. If I like what I read, I'll become engrossed and involved and chances are, I'll give you my hard earned dough. (For another in-depth look at this concept, click the following link, another excerpt from "A Roomful of Monkeys".. Bringing Life To A Website.. Real Life.)
It's all about the wording. The writing. And the copywriter.
So if all you've got to show visitors is a flashy site that you paid a ton of money for, and you haven't given anyone a reason to stay or to buy what you're selling, you've just lost another pair of eyeballs.
And they're not coming back.
So capture them, and keep them.
Have you figured out yet how it's done?
Hmmm.. could it be the writing that keeps people on your site.. that leads them to your ordering page, that persuades visitors to press the "ADD TO CART" button and place their orders?
Finally.. why web writing is more important than pictures
A picture may be worth a thousand words, but only because pictures can invoke memories of past experiences and trigger a story in your head.
But each of us has different experiences, different influences, and different ideas.
So a picture of a sailboat on a calm sea may bring back pleasurable memories for a boating enthusiast...
...but for a non-swimmer, that same picture may dredge up a very different water-related childhood memory, one fraught with terror.
And for that visitor, a thousand pictures suddenly aren't worth a few well-chosen words.
A thousand words, on the other hand, if they're clear and simple to understand, leave little room for doubt.
If you do all that, then I, as a consumer, dismiss my fear of commitment (of shelling out bucks) and pay what you're asking, because I believe either that it's worth it, or you're delivering more value for my money.
All this (and more) is explained in a straightforward fashion in my e-book, A ROOMFUL OF MONKEYS: COPYWRITING SECRETS TO POWER-BOOST YOUR WEBSITE.
So that's the Kopywrighter Philosophy, for copywriting, and specifically for web copy:
Keep the copy simple, clean and uncluttered, and above all, involving for the listener/viewer/reader.