10 Online Copywriting Rules To Live By
Copywriting is, without a doubt, one of the most essential tasks of online marketing that you should have a working knowledge of. In fact, I would dare say that anyone who is trying to make a little money online should be able to do a little of their own copywriting.
That being said, I do admit that it is a daunting task for someone to undertake if they are not familiar with writing at all. Articles, sales letters, ads, autoresponder messages, landing pages, blog posts, and even comments can befuddle people and leave them speechless… or rather, wordless.
To make this process a little easier it might help to think about certain rules rather than absolutes. I made this statement to my middle school basketball team the other day while teaching them the motion offense as opposed to set plays. When running set plays there are certain places you need to be, things you need to do, and it can get you “locked in” and stifle your creativity. While the motion offense is really built upon a few rules and opens up your offense to a world of creative playing.
I believe copywriting to be about certain rules rather than specific “set plays”. Copywriting is all about creativity and anything that is perceived to be “set” can squash that creativity and leave you grasping for the right words.
Copywriting rules to be creative by.
To avoid sitting there looking at a blank screen (or blank piece of paper) here are a few rules to live by rather than absolutes to die by.
1. Copywriting is about creativity. I already mentioned this one above, but it is too important to leave out of this list. Your creativity is your secret weapon to your copywriting success. You are not locked into any type of “must to” and “have to” rules. You are only limited by your imagination.
2. Copywriting is for real people. Any writing for that matter is for real people. You’re writing for people who are going to visit, read, make a decision, and either leave your site or want to go deeper.
3. Copywriting is about action. An effective sales letter, ad, or even an article should have an overall call to action with smaller actions spread throughout. Think about it, the reason you are writing something on the web is for traffic, opt in subscribers, or new customers. So, everything you write should have some action in it.
4. Copywriting should be done in blocks. Instead of looking at the entire copywriting work as one BIG project, look at it in smaller blocks. When writing sales letters for web pages I tend to break it down into smaller chunks of writing. I can write much more this way and can create a flow for the reader instead of one long winded ramble.
5. Copywriting should be personal. When writing anything a connection between the written word and the reader should be made. There are a few ways to do that, but the one that I favor, and use most of the time, is to be a little personal in the copy. Examples of my life (or the client’s life), current events happening in the world, and situations that the reader is in are all great ways to be personal in your copywriting.
6. Copywriting is best when a problem is solved. One of the main aspects of writing copy, especially a sales letter or ad, is to give a solution to a problem the reader will be, or is, facing. One of the biggest reasons I will buy something, sign up for something, or just give up my money to someone I have to know that it’s going to help me. The same thing is true online. A copy that will give a solution to a problem will trump one that doesn’t.
7. Copywriting should contain several sub-headings. Sub-headings are the lure that draws people down to the end of your sales page or sales letter. Sub-headings are kind of like the proverbial trail of bread crumbs. When your reader is at your sales letter there should always be a sub-heading showing on the screen.
8. Copywriting should be written with the end first. In every sales letter or copywriting piece there is, or there should be, and end goal. That end goal should be what draws you through the writing and sets up your beginning. The worst thing a person can do when trying to write something from the top down. You will be much better off if you write from the bottom up, or with the end in mind throughout the entire copy.
9. Copywriting defines the product. How many times have you read something that you could have some sort of interest in only to be left in doubt because you couldn’t decipher what the actual product, or service, was? The copywriting on the sales page is how people are going to make a determination if they want to spend any money with your or not. They should know exactly what they are paying for. So, copywriting is then the definition of the product or service.
10. Copywriting is a creative outlet. Rules always box you in so that you don’t have the ability to think or be creative. Yes, this is about some ‘copywriting rules to live by’ but in reality these are just guidelines. Copywriting should be as creative as you can make it. Each and every piece you write should contain some sort of creativity that sets it apart from everything else. Don’t get sucked into the “cookie cutter” approach and turn out page after page of the same drivel. The internet is full of that already. I shudder everytime I read client landing pages. They are all the same. It’s no wonder they don’t work. Be creative.
Just do it.
Copywriting is your online business. The only way to learn it is to do it. To fail at it. To learn from your mistakes and continue being creative. Just do it. Go ahead. Take some, or all, of these “rules” and apply them to your next copywriting piece.
But, above all else… Just do it.
