Pop Your (Web) Copy

Hi, I’m Tiffani.

I like to read and write.

Friday, June 26, 2009

I’m here to talk to you
about your (web) copy.


(my boss)


A little more about me
Community Specialist and
Account/Project Manager
Blue Flavor

M.A in Ethics & Philosophy
University of Chicago

Lived a block from
Barack Obama

Ran a vegan restaurant

B.A.’s in Psychology
Religious Studies
Indiana University

Studied Wolof in Senegal


Disclaimer:
I’m still a new kid.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.noob.no/noob-kid.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.noob.no/
&usg=__ReP5lYrAQ07A1QMhty6DpiQ4xRg=&h=470&w=500&sz=22&hl=en&start=7&sig2=kzue5KcaIjXcQ5hHV3wTsw&um=1&tbnid=D4JjcMr5g0MkSM:&tbnh=122&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq
%3Dnoob%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dﬁrefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:ofﬁcial%26sa%3DG%26um%3D1&ei=yBlBSpfLOJTYswOgsNCfCQ


What is
Copywriting?


Brain dump. Journalism. Magazine
writing. Diary. Self expression.
Making yourself laugh. Writing an
email. Tricking people.


Not just pretty pictures.
Or grids. icons. colors.


Copywriting is a
user experience problem!

http://www.websiteoptimization.com/secrets/seo/1-13-honeycomb-morville.jpg


Copywriting is using
words to sell
stuff.

http://www.claudehopkinsaudio.com/oglivy2.jpg

products, businesses, opinions, ideas.


Copywriting is using
words to create
tribes.

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/09/bloggers/image/sethgodin.jpg

(of people who like you and your biz)


"Getting across the perfect
message, with the perfect
words."
- Rob Nightingale


This is copywriting.

Good copy addresses a
very important
question.


WIFM
It’s business!


What really persuades
consumers to buy or not
to buy is the content of
your advertising, not its
form.
- David Ogilvy


Some Basics.


Be a good writer.
(like, generally)


Don’t know how?
Get these books.


The Four Big’ns

Brevity. Simplicity.
Clarity. Humanity.


Brevity
ten words, not thirty.


http://www.braintrafﬁc.com/what-we-do/


Simplicity

http://www.charlesknobloch.com/hvra/2007-11GLImages/I4.jpg


Clarity


Jargon
Use it when it matters.

Write plainly where possible. Everyone can
understand plain language.You can be taken seriously
without jargon.


Actual Sentence Translated

The Acme Defense Systems We care about
strategy is to understand the customers. We make
enduring needs of customers our products better
and provide value-added by using new
solutions to meet their technology.
requirements. The strategy
includes understanding the Copywritten
art of using current and
emerging technologies to The strongest
improve the capabilities of defense system in
existing products and the world.
delivering new solutions.


Humanity

your Self, in writing.
http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/3066025100/


Rands in Repose

What does a lie sound like? How do we decide to trust?
There’s a reason why you can ﬁgure out in an instant
whether a mail is spam or not. It’s not a single, measurable
thing, but a whole set of small, invisible variables with
which you can instantly make a judgment — I do not trust
this mail.

You have a complex set of analytical mental muscles that
help you make critical snap emotional judgments. Whether
it’s a mail, a website, or a person, your brain can instantly
look at 12 imperceptible aspects of a thing to determine how
you should feel.


Experimentation leads to great
new things.

http://www.hss.state.ak.us/gcdse/history/Images/section%2003%20-%20renaissance/3e-early-surgery.jpg


“Hard writing makes easy
reading. Easy writing
makes hard reading.”
- Zinsser

Good writing takes work and
patience.


Writing to sell.


Do your homework. Know your
position. who’s your
audience? what
does your product
do? what does
your audience
want?


Be clear and direct.

orange juice from Uwajimaya


Show benefits and features.
minimal design!

asks question Navigation ties in perfectly

friendly, confident

free!

benefits listed


Get speciﬁc (wifm)


Grab peoples’ attention.


sexy! Rock the visuals.

(From Kind Company)
http://kindcompany.com/

But remember:

The good news is that anyone who
touches copy can make a difference by
insisting that every chunk of text on the
site is doing something concrete.
“Selling” is a muzzy, undeﬁned process,
so you can’t tell if you’re doing it
properly just by looking. Copy needs
speciﬁc goals to accomplish.
- Erin Kissane
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/writingcontentthatworksforaliving/


Web Copy is Special.
Why?


It’s about helping people do stuff.
(plus all of the above)


It’s interactive, silly.


Find. Understand. Act.
From homepage to contact form.


Copy in direct
proximity to an action
must be insanely clear.


Your Audience

who are they?

Goal-driven, page-scanning,
self-interested creatures...

in a hurry.

Dealing With Scanners
• use bullet points
• highlight important words
• few words
• chunk sections
•one idea per paragraph

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/03/Gort_Firing.jpg


Invert the Pyramid.
title
main point
support
history

end

http://www.radiantdaggers.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/inverted-pyramid.jpg


Finesse Headings.

http://media2.moma.org/collection_images/resized/343/w500h420/CRI_7343.jpg


whassup?
chillin.

be conversational.


Imperative statement:

Passive voice: The CMS was built with scalability in
mind to facilitate ease of use by you.

Active voice: We built a scalable, easy-to-use CMS.


Cut the Crap.
Throw out what doesn’t work.


http://museum.msu.edu/museum/tes/talltale/talltale02.jpg

Tell
a story.
with your copy,
visuals, and brand.


More Special
Considerations for
Web Writers.


Designers and Writers
“Ideally, you should work with a writer
from day one to design the voice of the
copy in conjunction with the visual
language of the site. And getting a
writer involved early can help you
solve lots of other problems—from
content strategy issues to information
architecture snags. ”

- Bronywn Jones,
A List Apart
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/betterwritingthroughdesign/


You’ll need a plan.
(a content strategy)

Content strategy plans for the
creation, publication, and
governance of useful, usable
content.
Kristina Halvorson, of Brain Trafﬁc

Content Strategy Queen


Who will make it? Who will publish it?
How often? For what audience? Who
will be responsible for overseeing it?
What are our key themes?

This is why some copy sucks.


Know technology.
(nothin’ fancy)


You’re in business.

http://www.earlyofﬁcemuseum.com/IMagesWWW/Equitable_Bldg_NYC_Largest_Business_Bldg_in_World.jpg


Business’ Goals your job. User’s Goals


Pop Your (Web) Copy.

http://www.obfuscated.org/static/images/douchebag.jpg


Readings
The Copywriter’s Handbook, Robert W. Bly
Content Strategy for the Web, Kristina Halvorson
Killer Web Content, Gerry McGovern
Content Critical, Gerry McGovern and Rob Norton
Ogilvy on Advertising, David Ogilvy
The Art of Writing Advertising, Ogilvy, Bernbach, etc.
Letting Go of the Words, Ginny Redish
When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It, Ben Yagoda
On Writing Well, William Zinsser


I hope I made you
happy.
Feel free to hire me.

tiffani@secondandpark.com
tiffani@thingsthatarebrown.com
twitter: ticjones


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