You studied several copywriting books.
And read blog post after blog post with copywriting tips.
But what about writing your own web copy?
Does it still feel like a struggle?
You know the grammar is fine. But the copy sounds bland.
You read, and re-read your copy. You can’t quite put your finger on it. What’s wrong? How can you improve it?
Today I’ve assembled 17 examples of yucky copy. And I tell you exactly what’s wrong, and how to improve it.
Sound good?
The Art of Copywriting
You may feel you need to be a “real writer” to write good copy.
You may think your writing skills aren’t good enough.
But follow the right process, and you can turn average text into persuasive copy.
Start with understanding your reader.
Sneak into his mind. Understand what makes him contact you. And know exactly what stops him from buying.
Become a good psychologist, and a good salesman. Understand your audiences’ wishes, dreams, and secret desires.
And then simply tap into these desires with your words.
Recommended reading on copywriting:
The So What? trick to translating features into benefits
Free checklist: 25 copywriting essentials you must know
How to write seductive web copy (Kindle book)
OMg! I love your content. You have broken down copywriting into facts! Not Bs hyperbole. Thank you! You have a new fan.
And a question: How can I get some of these slide charts sent to me? (Please say it’s possible)
Thank you. 1000000xxxxxx
Thank you, John. If you email me, I can send it to you.
Hi, Henneke.
I really love your articles and the way you write, it’s an inspiration for me. Thank you so much, you’re really helping me in this writing road.
What a lovely comment. Thank you so much, Laura. I appreciate your stopping by. Happy writing!
Hi Henneke,
I was most impressed with your slide share. A most impressive microlearning method of teaching.
Thank you, Colin. I appreciate your compliment. It was so much fun to put the SlideShare together.
erm… where are the 17 tips? I just have basically an intro paragraph.
The tips are in the SlideShare. If you have problems with accessing the SlideShare, try this link: https://www.slideshare.net/HennekeDuistermaat/17-copywriting-dos-and-donts-how-to-write-persuasive-content
Let me know whether it works?
Nice points and reminders on this article Henneke, it is helpful in creating a new content. The slideshare is very informative and provides awesome tips for writers that wanted to produce a wow content.
Glad you like it, John 🙂
And we can hire an expert like you to help with copy writing, too 🙂
I absolutely adore your illustrations, Henneke!
Thank you so much, Lucy. It’s your encouragement (and that of other readers) that have persuaded me to keep drawing and to publish my illustrations. I’m really really grateful for that 🙂
Great tips, Henneke. And your Slideshare presentation rocks. Brilliant graphics.
Thank you, Terence. Your comment puts a smile on my face 🙂
Beautifully done, as usual. You’re getting good with the illustrations, too! I have to ask, how long does it take you to put a project like that together? This would take me forever.
Ted
Thank you, Ted. It took me forever to put this together, too. Probably 10 – 12 hours (I didn’t keep track of time). Creating the drawing for the opening slide took me probably nearly four hours.
When you look at it from a productivity point of view, it might not make sense as there are much quicker and easier ways to create a slidedeck, but sometimes I do things just because I enj0y them. This didn’t feel like work for me, just a new interesting project 🙂
Good to see you again!
Good evening, Henneke!
You are definitely an expert!
I’m a beginner here. Did you write smth about email marketing?
You can find some information about email marketing here and here. You might also want to check out my guest post on Copyblogger about writing emails: 37 Tips for Writing Emails that Get Opened, Read, and Clicked.
Let me know if you have any specific questions?
Hi Henneke,
I found your blog by way of Kevin Duncan’s ‘Be A Better Blogger’ blog. I’m sure glad I stopped by. I am looking to grow my knowledge with online marketing and this will be another resource for me for sure!
I really enjoyed the slide as well. It was amusing, informative and practical at the same time.
Have a good rest of the week Henneke!
Thank you, Steven. I’m glad you found the slides both amusing and practical.
Hope you’re having a good week, too!
This is the best post. It feels really solid. You write good. You minimized my downtime but it felt awkward. I feel relieved!!!! I read what you wrote because you’re so much appreciated by me. Truly you are one of many great bloggers who optimize content for top performing analytics. You cover all the topics so I can write better. Beautiful, soothing, insightful, catching, bombastic words were chosen. Henneke is the most wonderful writer I have ever read. If you like this blog show up every day at noon your time and read it twice then Like It & Tweet It!!!!!
17 Ways to suck at commenting …
Best comment ever 😉
You studied the presentation really carefully, didn’t you? 😀
Honestly, Henneke. Must you give away ALL the trade secrets? 😉
Uhm… secrets??? 😉
Tricks of the trade, woman. You take things soooo literally!
I think you missed my wink 😉
Hi Henneke,
Great examples. I especially like “You’re so much loved by me”. This made me laugh!
Writing website copy is something I’m always working on. It’s taken me some time to let go of the academic and corporate writing style. But I think I’m improving! I find that reading everything out loud helps. If it sounds stilted or awkward then I know something needs changing.
Thanks for sharing,
Sally
Yes, “You’re so much loved by me” is not really a corporate sentence, so didn’t really belong in the presentation. But I like breaking my own rules. And after all it explains how stilted the passive voice sounds.
And you’re absolutely right about reading copy aloud. I read everything aloud before I publish it. Quite often I read it aloud twice. It’s amazing how much difference it makes.
Thank you for stopping by, Sally.
Very useful and succinct set of writing tips Henneke. You should turn this into an app.
I like that idea … a sucky sentence detector 🙂
Hi Henneke,
Wonderful tips! This must have taken you a good little while to put together. Well done!
I must take issue with #16, though. You say:
“Don’t publish sugary testimonials (because nobody believes them)” and then you use “Henneke is the most wonderful copywriter” as an example.
What’s unbelievable about that one? 🙂
The correct version is, she’s an “Enchanting” copywriter. 😀
Guys, guys, don’t make me blush.
Pleeeeease.
Creating the text didn’t take me long, but getting the slide design right took quite a while – especially that first drawing took me ages.
An excellent SlideShare presentation Henneke that I found very engaging. Was amused by Slide 62 followed by the “More persuasive” Slide 63. Enjoy the sunshine.
I was a little worried that 70 slides would be too long, but it seems fine.
Thank you for stopping by, Mark. I hope the sun is shining on you, too.
It wasn’t too long at all Henneke. The 70 slides were just right and it flowed very well. I actually wonder whether a SlideShare presentation, with bite size nuggets of information on each slide, is more engaging in certain circumstances.
Yes, I think you’re right – it’s a good format for sharing bite-sized information.
I’ve only started creating SlideShare presentations recently, but I like the format. I’m also amazed how much traffic it generates from the SlideShare site.
That is the real secret: knowing what drives the reader is how to write what he wants to read. It’s as simple and difficult as that. And true.
Yes, and you’re absolutely right. I might say it’s simple, but it can be really really difficult to understand what drives the reader.
Good to see you – as always, Katharine 🙂
But Henneke IS the most wonderful copywriter. 😉
😉
What an comprehensive compilation of phrases! Almost every brochure / marketing material is guilty of using these (yucky) phrases, including mine.
This makes a handy list to evaluate marketing copy. Great work Henneke!
Ha yes, it’s rare to find marketing material that does not include any yucky phrases. But I keep fighting to stamp them out 🙂
Thank you for stopping by!
Great checklist, Henneke.
I need to figure out how to etch these rules into my writer’s brain.
Thank you, Bill. Quite a lot of it goes back to being specific, so you need to develop a radar in your brain for generic statements. If you think about phrases like “excellent customer service” or “market-leading product”, they don’t really mean anything. So I always wonder why – what’s good about your service? What makes your product so special? Always try to dig one level deeper to make your copy more persuasive.
Thank you for stopping by again!
Really good summary for this, Henneke. All the tips really do relate to being specific: specific to your audience, specific in your points, & specific in your wording. If a word isn’t needed then for the love of all the eyeballs in the world, take it out!
I will often look at my writing and ask “What’s the point of this sentence?” With web copy, words can serve a ton of purposes: they can demonstrate product/service value, show brand personality, lighten the mood, relieve anxiety, target keywords, etc. Once I’ve figured out the point of the copy, I can then ask, “Does it *really* service that point and, if so, is it best placed right here?”
I think that it is actually somewhat harmful to put checklists into the writer’s brain. Rather, the checklists should all sit in the editor’s brain. Not sure if those are separate brains for all people, but I know for me editing while writing is detrimental to actually getting something out the door.
Thanks for the post!
Lucy
That’s an interesting point about checklists and where they fit in the writing and editing process.
When I write client copy, I need to get specific input before I can write any text. So in this case it’s part of my planning process. I’ll ask them a lot of follow-up questions like but what does that mean for your customers? Or can you give me an example of that? Or why is this better than what your competitors do?
Then I use this as basis for my writing; and when I put my editor’s hat on, I’ll do as you suggest – checking that each point of the copy adds value.
Thank you for stopping by and adding your valuable thoughts. I appreciate it. 🙂