23 Copywriting Rules To Live By
Whether you’re responsible for writing the copy for your company’s marketing collateral or you’re reviewing the work of a freelancer you hired, your copy should always be in line with these 23 rules and tips.
1. Mention a powerful benefit in your headline
2. Focus on benefits, not features
3. Talk with your customer, not at them
4. Ditch the big words for words that everyone understands
5. Avoid superlatives and buzz words
6. Answer your reader’s question of “What’s in it for me?”
7. Use short paragraphs
8. Use bullet points and numbered lists
9. If you can say it in fewer words, do so
10. Address common objections in your copy
11. Never write before doing research
12. Use statistics and relevant facts to build credibility
13. Use the word “you” more than “we”
14. Include trust-building testimonials (real ones)
15. Write clear, powerful calls to action that tell readers exactly what to do
16. Have a guarantee that reduces or eliminates risk
17. Always be testing
18. Write the way you and your target audience talk for conversational copy
19. Use P.S. in sales letters
20. Write for your customers first, search engines second
21. Create a sense of urgency in your offer
22. Replace generalities with specifics
23. Appeal to reader’s emotions
Which copywriting rules would you add to this list? Leave a comment to let us know!
October 8th, 2009 at 9:07 am
All very good tips. I’m going to say I really think #1 on the list is the most important. If the headline is compelling, it can make the difference between someone taking the time to read and/or passing your content by and going to the next thing.
Regarding #20 I don’t agree 100%. I find it interesting when people say to write for people and only consider search engines as an afterthought. Yes it’s important to connect with readers on a human level but you can do this while still taking SEO into account. In other words I think you should write for both search engines and people equally. It’s true it does take a little practice.
October 8th, 2009 at 10:30 am
Great tips. I question #14 though. Since written testimonials can be fabricated so easily, do people really believe them? The video testimonials are best, but are not compatible with most email readers unless they are web-based.
October 8th, 2009 at 10:56 am
Reread what you have writen at least 4 days later and have someone else proofread for you. I find that if I proofread right away, I miss can very obvious mistakes.
October 8th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Indeed… headlines are very important. And in regards to #20, my thoughts are that if you’re good at what you do, then you don’t have to worry about it because your writing abilities perfectly balance and cater to both people as well as search engines.
October 8th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
@Gerald and Garry–100% agreed that it’s possible to balance both user-friendly and search engine friendly content. I like to think I do it pretty well. The brevity of these rules made it difficult to fully explain what I meant with each one. The main thing I was trying to convey with that point is that high ranking copy is meaningless if it doesn’t convert. Conversion is the first thing on my mind when I’m writing copy. If that means I need to use a keyword less frequently or something, I’m willing to do that.
October 8th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Eric,
I honestly don’t believe that writers have to be as “keyword conscious” as one would believe. Ironically, the power of attribute #1 coupled with a few other elements is so strong that it allows writers to lighten up the amount of keyword usage in the content. All in all, I think you’re right. My point is that if a person is really good at SEO then that person will know that there’s really no need to write for search engines because of their true SEO efforts applied to the actual web page. I think you article is spot on, and totally well said.
October 8th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Right again. Maybe it’s because I write so much copy, but keyword-usage almost never crosses my mind, and I sure as hell don’t measure keyword density. I think you get to a point as a writer where you just write naturally and everything falls into place.
October 9th, 2009 at 12:07 am
I maintain my stance. Write for both humans and searc engines.
October 9th, 2009 at 12:07 am
*search engines
October 9th, 2009 at 12:21 am
I especially like #8. Not only does it promote organization but bullets can also make it look like you spent a lot time compiling and researching your post.
“I maintain my stance. Write for both humans and search engines.”
I wouldn’t be a SEO if I didn’t agree with that statement. The way I see it, my job is to create content that the search engines will favor AND that users will respond to.
October 9th, 2009 at 12:24 am
I see Gerald’s point. I hear bloggers say all the time… forget about SEO and just write content. This is bad advice. Period. If you want the search engines to fine you then include some good keywords for the spiders to come across so you can get some organic traffic. This is basic SEO.
October 9th, 2009 at 1:11 am
Strange how often ‘modern seo’ and the advice turns out to be nonsensical unused tails these days. Keywords and nofollows and sculpting oh my
October 9th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
@Jim–I actually wrote a post a while back about giving your testimonials more credibility. Check it out here: http://www.seohosting.com/blog/search-engine-marketing/giving-your-testimonials-more-credibility/
April 23rd, 2010 at 10:23 pm
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