Creating copy that converts.
It’s now pretty widely understood how important it is to create meaningful, relevant and useful content for a better user experience. In order to encourage the visitors to your site to behave as you’d hoped (“sign up”, “register here” or “buy now”), you’re going to have to be helpful, informative and guide them into making their decisions. Good content is an art form.
In that respect, then, how do we all become artists? How can you ensure you write for users and for search engines?
Fear not! Here are some handy tips to keep in mind when you’re drafting that all-important copy…
Be clear and concise
Long, jargon-filled sentences and pieces with no structure are hard to read and offer a poor user experience. Writing as you’d speak adds personality around your brand. Approachable, friendly language appeals to a wide audience and leaves room to get more technical later on in the purchasing funnel. Moz is a great example of personality and expertise working together to create a strong ‘brand voice’. I also rate the writing style over at Copy Hackers. Refreshingly honest, friendly and straight to the point. Check out the way they talk about their new Snap offering:
No good having all that optimised, engaging and persuasive content if visitors see a big block of text and bounce, though. As far as aesthetics go, try some of these tactics:
Offer easy-to-remember bite-sized chunks of information
On average, people can store between 5 and 9 pieces of information in their short term memory. Grouping or chunking means that your visitors can store more relevant information within that chunk. Short term memory lasts for around 20 to 30 seconds before it’s either discarded or committed to the long term memory. A big block of text is likely to lead to infoxication and an overwhelmed visitor.
Use descriptive subheadings to introduce what’s next
A good subheading can act as a summary of the next topic and offer a teaser for what you’re about to say.
Forward-loading your content helps keep your visitors engaged and makes a piece of content look more