Website Copywriting – Five Ways to Make Yourself Credible
Website copywriting is different from any other sort of copywriting. Website visitors are fickle and can easily click away, whereas people reading a mailer or brochure are holding the copy in their hands. And what’s more, visitors to a website are bombarded with competing claims. So why should they believe you?
This is the important question. Because if you want people even to stay on your site, let alone buy your product or service, you have to give them reasons to believe what you say. So one of the main skills of website copywriting is to make yourself credible. Here are some suggestions.
Be genuine This seems obvious, but it’s surprising how many don’t follow this principle. You have to have a genuine offer in the first place. Because if you don’t believe what you are saying yourself, you can be sure no one else will. Whether you’re promoting your own copy or someone else’s, you must be convinced it will do what it says it will do. This means research, research, research. You must know everything there is to know about the product – its history, who uses it, how many buy it, what results it has, whether there are any problems or weaknesses.
Be passionate If you really believe in your product, if you care about your product, it will show in your writing. Dry facts and figures won’t cut it. Even if it’s not something you yourself would use, you have to put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Look at it from their viewpoint and think of the benefits it will bring them You want them to be enthusiastic about it, to be passionate about it, to fall in love with it. So you yourself must write with enthusiasm, passion and love.
Be a friend We don’t usually trust strangers – but we do trust friends. Make yourself a friend, a human being they can relate to. Show you really understand and identify with their problem Tell a story – nothing in copy is as powerful as stories. A story about yourself suffering the same problem as them, how it made you feel then, how you feel now. Use confiding language, talk the way they talk. Show you like them, and they will like you back.
Be open Believe me, nothing gives you as much credibility in your website copywriting as admitting to a negative or a weakness. You may be very reluctant to do this, but it really works. If there is a small fault in the product, say so. If it’s only the second best seller, not the best seller, say so – but add that you’re planning to make it the best! If you’re cutting the price because you’re short of money and need quick sales, say so. This gives you credibility as nothing else will, and means your customers are far, far more likely to believe everything else you say.
Be an authority Your customers have to believe that you really know what you’re talking about. Demonstrate a clear knowledge of the whole field and the competition, as well as the product. If you’ve published articles or books, say so. Use precise figures not generalizations. Instead of saying it has been used successfully by over 100 factories in X State, say it’s been used by 128 factories. If it’s a product with a science connection, show that you clearly understand the scientific basis for your claims.
It’s impossible to over-estimate the amount of competition you have on the Internet. That’s why your website copywriting must be not only powerful and persuasive, but believable. You are selling yourself as well as your product – and if your customers have no reason to believe you, they are likely to go elsewhere.
