This is the final post in this series documenting thoughts & things learnt from the copywriting course I attended. To see previous posts check here and here..
For probably around a third of the course I was attending Piers focussed very specifically on the differences and similarities of writing for online consumption as opposed to offline. This was the area which I took most interest in, and I tried to examine everything that was discussed from a CRO perspective. I may well repeat some ideas from the previous 2 posts here, but I think this is a nice way to bring it all together.
Time 
A big feature was one of time, and in relation to that patience. As web viewers we consume online content with a greater deal of impatience than offline. This is partly due to being burdened with the knowledge that there could well be something better online to fulfil your purpose just clicks away. If what we are looking at is not obviously what we’re looking for then unless we have particular reason not to (trust in site/brand, recommendation) we may well navigate away very quickly. We make quick judgements online, and should not be made to work hard to see what we need to see. The structure & wording of our copy needs to reflect this.
Offline vs Online
Offline when for example we read a newspaper, or are in a shop looking at electrical gadgets we can browse these things reasonably flexibly. We can move our eyes around a page, or casually glance at the next funky mp3 player on the rack. Compare:
1. Click on the back button to a product listing page, scroll back down the page, find the next product, click on that, wait for the page to load;
2. Place product box back on rack, scan eyes across rack, pick up other product.
I know I’m straying into usability territory here - which is another topic - but the point I’m making is that with the copy we use on our online shops, news portals or anything else we need to make this process as simple and effective as possible. If you can use language to direct people clearly and quickly this will help them to reach your conversion goal without stress or worry.
Our stress and tiredness levels tend to be higher online due to extra choice, rapidly refreshing computer screens, pixelated letters, slow internet connections and such. Don’t try and be clever with your users. Don’t ask them open questions without obvious answers, don’t make them solve riddles. Make them think maybe if it means you are engaging them, but not too hard and make sure it appeals to their sensibilities. We take things in differently online, and don’t read as much as we might otherwise, but that doesn’t mean the words are unimportant.
Quality prevails 
In fact the quality of the words is far more important as you have to say far more with fewer words. We have to make it scannable enough so the eyes aren’t being worked too hard or stress created. We have to consider general web design issues into the equation such as platform capabilities, site structure and the whims of arty web designers. But it’s all reasonably simple to do, here’s a few suggestions that Piers provided us:
- Headings are designed to make clear what a page is about. Keep it short & jargon free. At this stage creativity can be dangerous!
- Big chunks of text will be especially difficult to read in the upper reaches of a page - use sub headings every “fold” to break up content and always keep the visitor in tune on what they are reading about.
- Use of questions or the imperative verb (”Want to know more?”, “Click Here”) is useful to get people to click on links.
- Keep important information at beginning & end of paragraphs, which should be no longer than 3 sentences long.
- Summarise before details - a classic for product pages.
However sure you are of the effectiveness of your current copy you may just be wrong. However I have highlighted some areas that will definitely warrant your consideration when writing for a conversion; be it a click through, a purchase or simply engaging someone for a few minutes. You know the only way you can know for sure….
