Rules of Great Copywriting

[KristineS]

I see lists of the "6 Rules of Great Copywriting" and the "8 Secrets of Great Copywriting" all the time. I'd like to start our own list of great copywriting rules. What do you think is required for copy to be truly great and effective?

I'll start.

I think one rule of great copywriting is that your copy has to have passion. You have to feel something about your subject. If you're disinterested in your writing, it shows in your copy.

What else can we add to the list?

[cbscreative]

It must be compelling and invoke some kind of response from the reader (other than zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz).

[Patrysha]

You must know your target market - spending time writing copy without knowing what the target market wants, needs and desires is an exercise in futility...

[KristineS]

This is a good start to the list. I'll add another one.

You must understand your subject. Writing about something you don't understand leads to vague, misleading copy.

[vangogh]

Good copy must know it's purpose. Steve mentioned above it must invoke some kind of response in the read and along those same lines the copy must know the response you want the reader to take.

[Dan Furman]

It has to be easy to read. Both in what you say, and how you say it (for example, I use short paragraphs, subheadings, and bullets almost everywhere.)

Back when I was forever finding a new job, you'd be surprised how many HR people commented on my excellent cover letters. I really didn't do anything special in writing them, but I made sure I used a subheading and a 3-4 item bulleted list in each one. Resume books would tell you to never do that... but what do they know? They weren't the one looking for a job :D

[KristineS]

I think good copy should also be fun, or at least interesting to read. Copy that just lies there on the page won't hold anyone's attention.

[cbscreative]

Use of titles and headings is important too. Think about reading the newspaper. Certain titles tend to stand out and make you want to read the article. I sometimes spend as much time creating a good title as writing the content. BTW, I usually write the content untitled, or a basic title, then do the title last.

[vangogh]

Use of titles and headings is important too

You need a good title to get people to read in the first place. Headings and other things like lists and blockquotes are great for letting someone skim and scan. Online most people tend to scan. I'm someone who believes they still read, but I think they first need to decide if something is worth reading.

I've seen some great copy where just by reading through the headlines and other standout elements you can really pick up all the ideas in a piece of writing. It definitely encourages further reading of the details.

[cbscreative]

I'm glad you brought up that scanability, vangogh. I was thnking of that too when I posted, because people do skim and scan just like you said, so I'm a firm believer in making it skim friendly.

[vangogh]

Your post reminded me about scanability. I hadn't thought of it till I saw you mention headlines and then it hit me. I had a feeling that's where you were going with your post and figured I'd expand on it a bit.

Having scanable content is a lot more important than people think. It took me awhile to learn the lesson and I won't say I've quite figured out the best way to make a post read well on a scan only, but I'm learning.

I do know that when I see one endless page of text with no headlines I usually move on.

[the goat]

I think getting to the point right away is a big one when writing for the internet. People just don't hang around if you don't get their attention right away.

[vangogh]

Yep, there are simply too many other sites offering essentially the same information you are so you need to grab attention right away. It's one reason why your title is so important. The titles pulls someone in. Next is your opening paragraph. It needs to pull people in further.

[Take5]

You can use bullets and sub headings

[gregorydiehl]

You have to anticipate how your reader is going to react with each new revelation about the product you are selling so you know how to guide their emotions and thoughts next, even when they aren't right in front of you.

[BizAdvisor]

Ah man, I was gonna add something, but you already reached the 6 rule limit.

[Holly_hippiedigital]

If you want your copy to be recognizable and help strengthen your brand perception and reach, as well as be enjoyable to read, it should have a distinctive voice and a clear sense of personality. Combine this with the right balance of a conversational tone and the appropriate level of detail, and you've got the basis for compelling copy that strengthens your brand, whether it be personal or business.

[Youltorbed]

I use the most basic and powerful principle of marketing writing: AIDA

A – attention (awareness): attract the attention of the customer.
I – interest of the customer.
D – desire: convince customers that they want and desire the product or service and that it will satisfy their needs.
A – action: lead customers towards taking action and/or purchasing.

Try it and see the difference!

[Magda's]

I use the most basic and powerful principle of marketing writing: AIDA

A – attention (awareness): attract the attention of the customer.
I – interest of the customer.
D – desire: convince customers that they want and desire the product or service and that it will satisfy their needs.
A – action: lead customers towards taking action and/or purchasing.

Try it and see the difference!


Is it enough? Whether sticking to these principles will increase the profit?

[Margaret]

I agree about passion. You should find anything interesting for you in the topic always

[jlee1994848]

Compelling headline, interesting and relevant continuance in the opening paragraph, a strong call to action

John

[John89]

Always think diffrently and by your own mind. What I mean is to not look at other people what they are actually writing, but only what you come up with.

All the Best

[AndrewLockman]

How about . . . "Thou Shalt Proof-Read Thy Copy". Even better is to have someone else read it before submission but often this is not possible. There's no excuse for spelling mistakes even though the Internet seems a lot more forgiving these days.

[Fulcrum]

There's no excuse for spelling mistakes even though the Internet seems a lot more forgiving these days.

That's because no one seems to be able to take criticism any more. I think, belive, and feel thats how a wyrd shoold be spelt so everyone must bough to mi weigh of thinking.

[KristineS]

Spelling mistakes and grammar mistakes are pet peeves of mine. If you're going to write something for public consumption, make sure you use proper spelling and grammar.

[geekhibrid]

I think it takes understanding and empathizing with the need of your market and finding a way to communicate the solutions to that problem with them so they can be more motivated to take action on your information or product.

[Jennina]

One thing I learned about copy writing is that as much as providing facts and statistics are of high importance - especially in the business industry. - it's still vital that we learn to have a sense of "humanness" in the way we create our copies. Tapping into our readers emotions and making them see that someone understands what they're going through is one way to ensure that people will engage in what you write.

Another aspect that I think should never be overlooked in copy writing is proper paragraphing and formatting. People who go online to search for specific information have low attention spans. More often, people will not spend time reading through blocks of text. They just skim it quickly to look for keywords that are relevant to what they're looking for. So never underestimate what proper paragraphing can do for you content.

[bella.lopez]

Some great points here.

Let me add something.

A great copy should be easy to read and have simple, small sentences. Think of your reader as a skimmer. He may not read the whole post. Write in a way that even skimmers can get the main idea you're trying to get across from the complete post.

Also, be entertaining. You have less than 10 seconds to garner a user's interest in your post. Make your content clickable and shareable.

[FlipzSide]

Good copy should be economical. Get your message across as concisely as possible. Words shouldn't just be there to fill up space.