Is Self-Centered Web Copy Hurting Your Websites?

In short, features tell, benefits sell.

This was really refreshing. Posts like these will help webdesignerdepot.com find a happy medium between the viewership of smashingmagazine.com and the content depth of alistapart.com.

Niice article, but some examples would have been great….

Great post – I wish I could write copy for the audience exclusively, but the audience don’t pay me to write for them. They pay the clients, who in turn pay us, so ultimately they do pay us, but that cycle doesn’t help the client understand that although they know their brand better than us, we know how to talk about it better than them.

We try to educate clients, we really do. But how far do you push education when you begin to run the risk of alienating your client? Would you, if faced with the choice, write only for the audience and not your clients ego (everybody will at some stage be asked to), but go hungry (or at least not as fat) as a result of it?

Again, great post. – thanks.

Good i too had the same hurt

Good post. It is always better for a writer to leave his ego out of it when producing content for any medium.

Good post. Agree that benefits are what sell the product, but in some cases having features their as well is necessary. You should give them the option of viewing the features, as I know I look for that at times.

Should the benefits be written in a creative way or straight to the point?

Enjoyed this post because I can honestly admit that some of my older and current writings fall under the bad category but this was a great reminder of how I should be connecting with my readers. Thanks!

Something refreshing and essential to ponder about.

Brilliant! Now if I could just sell my boss on this (My on going struggle)

This is an excellent post. I have seen many people fail to realize is that good design goes beyond individual specialties. Websites are just a means of communication and the message needs to be conveyed by a combination of all disciplines in order to maximize potential.

Rick,
Terrific article. I couldn’t help notice your bio indicates that you [help] businesses increase online traffic and sales with optimized web copy.

Any suggestions or advice for writing good audience-friendly and SEO copy?

Writing web page copy that includes targeted keyword phrases in certain frequencies and densities that also appeals to the audience can be tricky balance. Since having keyword combinations appear throughout the page copy generally helps search engines further identify the relevancy of the page (and website) it makes sense to include these terms and phrases. Good SEO copywriting seamlessly integrates keywords in a way that doesn’t offend the reader. Not easily done if you’re in a competitive environment where exact matches to searched phrases can position your pages above the competition. It’s the awkward phrases that people search for, say “binoculars law enforcement”, that tend to trip up even the most skilled copywriters.

~ jason

I would LOVE to see some Before and After copy examples. Before self-centered copy, after, altruistic copy.

Only 13 comments under such a crucial topic?? That only shows how web designers underestimate copywritting! It is actually much more important than the design itself. I have seen far too many beautiful designs that massively failed in delivering the message correctly. But nevermind, I will gracefully keep it as my competitive advantage

Excellent article. This lays out some key principles of copywriting clearly and effortlessly. ^^

As it has always been known that content is king, having the right content that attracts and educate visitors instead of ’screaming we’re good, choose us!’ always win.

Three things…

1) As the saying goes, “It’s not what you say, it’s what people hear.” (from Luntz’s “Words That Work” – Chapter 1 is a must read for anyone who uses words).

2) But it’s not just self-centered copy… What about over the top, self-centered design?

3) Pardon me if this is a bit off topic but IMHO there are far too many portfolios that don’t define the objective / goal of the project. Good / great design exist within context, and just looking “cool” doesn’t mean boo.

Having worked with a web writer who just wanted to look brilliant, I can appreciate what a good web writer can bring to a project. In fact I think the best web writers completely put their egos aside to cater to what the customer really needs. The same goes for web designers…we should be more concerned about a customer’s needs rather than what our web design peers will think is cool. Great article!

I could go on and on about this – as I’m sure you could, too.

Re the question of the client who wants the ego-driven copy — what I call Little Piggy copy because it goes We, We, We all the way home — you need to start the project with a clear understanding: is the site you’re developing supposed to sell stuff or not? And if it is, every decision you make – including and especially the copy – must support that objective. So you write the copy to sell the products from the beginning, and when the client starts putting the we-crap in, you ask: now, what’s the true benefit of that? And draw the client out about how much his/her customer’s business or life improves because of that feature. If the client can start to see for him/herself that the real selling points fo the products or services -the real concerns of the target audience – don’t have much to do with the bells and whistles, they’ll start to leave them out.

There is, furthermore, a second set of benefits you want your client to focus on. And that’s the big-picture result that his/her client is going to get from using the product or service. If they save money by buying your client’s solution instead of the competition, what happens after that? Does their team think they’re a hero? Do they get a raise? If your organic weed-control solution gives them a nicer lawn in half the time, do they then have more of their weekend to spend with their significant other -and thus a better relationship?

Notice that that second set of benefits gets the customer higher up on that list of human needs quoted from the Times review of Made To Stick (though it’s also a precise summary of Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs, a basic principle of human behavior). And the higher you get on that pyramid, the easier the sale.

Sweet article on web content. Any designer, programmer, writer or SEO person can gain a lot from this. VERY informative. Keep the great content coming!

Why are web writers so egotistical when it comes to writing for the web? Maybe its because their jealous web designers get all the attention and credit.

@Mark

“But it’s not just self-centered copy… What about over the top, self-centered design?”

Bang on!! Web designers, like web writers, need to revisit what they’re trying to achieve! It’s not about cool designs, it’s about connecting with the market. Kudos for publishing this insightful article.

Never thought this was about web content, but it makes complete sense. Thanks for the eye-opener…ALL web design clients should read this article…would make the web design world a better place.

Writers are great to work with to build up your portfolio with quality material, however, they often babble on about nothing and seem to miss the important elements, like why the visitor should make a purchase. I’m going on myself, but I guess that’s why you hire a web writer, right?

@Pepa
I agree that the topic of web copy is critical to good web content and websites in general. Yet, there’s so little discussion. Ironically, it might be that designers are too “self-centric” to really value what a web copywriter or writer in general brings to the table. If a web copywriter disregarded what good design and development brought to a project, it would have devastating effects to the client. The same goes for designers that disregard what good copywriters can do for a website. Consider how beneficial it would be for any designer to have quality web copy on their websites and portfolios. It could make the difference between getting low grade customers and big well to do companies that are willing to fork out nice big budgets for good designs and websites overall.

I agree with Trevor. If there were more designers that leaned on professional web copy writers, everyone would win=the client, consumer, designer and writer!!

I love to see articles on writing…as writing is very important whether it be offline or otherwise. It’s nice to see people thinking about writing from other perspective as well. It’s always vital to speak through your audiences eyes. When they come to a website, they expect to find information that they can analyze and digest for their needs or wants. So simply try to speak with your audience always at the forefront of your mind.

A well written article that shows just how important a website copywriter is to the success of a website. I never really thought of web copy this way. Now as I surf the web, I see exactly the different typoes of web copy styles at work – some web content is self-filled jargon, and some is written with the website’s visitor in mind. Thanks, WDD, for the useful web content insight.

Breaking web copy down like that is cool. Unfortunately, it seems almost every website copywriter must naturally (or get forced to) write self centered web copy. There’s so much evidence – the Internet is full of it!

For website designers and developers serious about their websites, they can’t achieve optimal success on the Web without help on the web copy front. A web copy writer can not just help with web copy, but smooth out information architecture and even navigation with the right labels. Great article!

I agree with the view that truly professional designers push clients to use professional copywriters to stay away from the boring, poorly written web copy that’s so common on the internet. While a good copywriter can make a difference to any marketing material, a website copywriter, one who specializes in web copy, would probably be best. Same with designers – the ones who work on the Web would be better than one that generally works in print.

This is ‘right on the money’! So much copy on the web is ready by the company and for the company. But actually, you aren’t the ones using the website, and you aren’t the ones that needs addressing.

There’s a tool out there which checks this .. a rough measure, but don’t have the URL to hand. Uses pronoun checking, keywords etc I believe ….

Copywriting really does have to know what it is trying to achieve, and who it is trying to achieve it with.

I think a lot of people learn this the hard way and some do not even learn at all.

Awesome article on web copy! When it comes to web copy, I think designers should respect what copywriters have to say (at least professional copywriters), as it can significantly impact design and even functionality. I’m going to save this article for my clients.