Call me biased, but I hate bad copy. In fact, I am far more forgiving of a badly-designed page or advert than I am of poor copy, and yes, I know the designers all disagree with me…

What we are all agreed upon, however, is that good text, words, copy, whatever you call it, good writing is one of the essential elements of a successful business, from branding and marketing through your website and sales, to how you communicate with your customers and team.

What makes good copy?
It is always easier to define good writing by what it isn’t rather than quantify what it is, because it's the elusive something that raises good copy to the realms of brilliance. There are, however, certain key elements that help make good copy. Here are my top five:

1. Snappy headlines
They should grab the attention instantly and make you want to find out more. Grab your attention and get you reading. A headline or strapline should encapsulate your feature, product, or brand in five words ideally; certainly less ten! And on the subject of branding, it is well worth investing in a good one because your strapline sums up the essence of your brand and is, in essence, how a brand longs to be remembered.

2. Succinct
If you need to keep repeating things in the same paragraph or page then you are either a school teacher or you’re spinning and in training to become an uber salesperson or an MP. Generally, long rambling repetitive text is a sign of desperation. Not enough to say? Use less space. Or do more research and say more. Whatever. Just put some meat on the bone will you, I’m about to click away to something more...

3. Page-turning, bodice ripping, galloping...
OK, perhaps not in an advert or manual, but all text should have passion and life because dry = turgid which = boring... click away! Text should catch your attention, tug at your soul, dance on the eye, drawing you on at a steady clip right. To. The. Very. End. If your clients give up reading half way through then it isn't any good. Enough said.

4. Informative
Your readers should get to the end of the copy having learnt something. Hopefully you’ll have presented an irresistible argument and can now close the sale, but in this less than perfect world we’ll settle for you just having informed them of something interesting that they will remember. And so recognise you next time and be prepared to linger a little bit longer.

5. Humour

Make someone smile or, better still, laugh out loud, and you've practically made the sale. However, use it judiciuosly. A manager I know quite well insists on bringing sex and porn references in to just about anything he writes or presentations he does. Not surprisingly, his company is not doing so well at the moment...

How do you know you've got it right?
When you can't stop reading it. When they can't stop reading it. When they come back to read some more. And respond to you. And buy from you. And recommend you to all their friends and family. And come back for more. And read it again.

Our visitors read an average of FIVE pages each time they visit. Some settle in for hours and a jolly good read... presumably their coffee gets cold!

Presumably, then, we write good words...

 

© Claire Burdett. No content to be reproduced without written approval of the author.

Claire Burdett is the Founder and Director of Funky Angel. She is a Writer, Journalist, and Editor, Integrated Marketing Expert, and Home Business Mentor.

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