Imagine trying to check out a restaurant and the only things you can find are their social media pages – to add extra salt (and vinegar) to your disappointment, all you can find are disorganised clusters of photos and posts… forcing you to resort to comments submitted by other patrons (which aren’t the most reliable source of information).
Given how often modern consumers do their own research, not having a company website is almost a guaranteed way to mess up the first step of customers’ journeys. However, a website hastily cobbled together with bits and pieces of text won’t get you very far either – join Wordsmith and let’s explore how we can optimise our website copy!
Why word choice matters
Building a brand-new website today is pretty easy. Considering the variety of tools available online (such as Wix or Squarespace), the process has become incredibly streamlined, and even computer-illiterate users can make do with one of the many free templates – simply plug in a few details and you have a functioning website! Visitors to the website may be charmed by the visuals, but a quick glance at the copy would no doubt raise some eyebrows.
Since every word matters when making a first impression, it’s essential to avoid “word cocktails”. Helen Croydon (a Forbes Councils Member and professional writing coach) defines these as ingredients with “many sophisticated, sumptuous-sounding ingredients, but gives no indication as to what you’re going to be served” – in other words, fancy filler. “You can usually identify a word cocktail by the number of double-barrelled adjectives like ‘mission-first’, ‘app-driven’ and ‘sustainability-inspired’,” Croydon explains. “They may sound impressive, but do they help you understand the literal meaning of what a product or service does?”
Imagine reading something like this:
At BNX, we strive to deliver customer-oriented solutions tailored by seamlessly integrating the latest industry innovations with your specific requirements – only then can we guarantee results without compromising on performance nor quality service. Our team of certified digital professionals are ready to help you develop a holistic strategy that spans each and every aspect of the marketing channel. Simply give us a call for a free consultation.
All that fluff just to say “we are a marketing agency” is definitely not necessary! “When you pack a load of abstract terminology into a sentence, you ask your reader to use more brain power and time to compute it. In a content-saturated world, that’s not doing your audience any favours,” Croydon adds. “Even if your website visitors stick around to analyse your word cocktail, you risk attracting the wrong type of client because they won’t appreciate your professional handiwork.”
She makes an important point there. If a prospective client saw that dribble and still decided to hire BNX, then they either don’t care about good copywriting or they believe it to be good copywriting… neither of which are ideal. Even worse, imagine the client’s disappointment (and possibly fury) after they’ve hired BNX and were met with sub-standard results – the client may not know the writing is bad, but the client’s audiences can definitely tell.
In addition to word cocktails, Croydon also highlights several empty words she sees often on websites, such as seamless, committed to or solutions. Much like new innovations, seamless is redundant. “Any product or service should be seamless,” she explains. “If it isn’t, it isn’t fit for purpose.” Committed to is a strange one – many businesses claim to be committed to what they do, but that commitment often falls apart when challenges occur. “This phrase should only be used if you really mean it [and have strategies in place to enforce it]. It has become so overused it sounds insincere,” Croydon points out. Lastly, the trendy word solutions… which are only relevant if the audience has a problem. Like Yin and Yang, solutions only exist if problems exist. And because solutions are so overused, it’s prone to misuse. Imagine if you offered “advertising solutions” but only dealt with graphic design! Prospective clients expecting a wider range of services wouldn’t be too happy now, would they?
As tempting as it may be to use flowery language to appear sophisticated and elegant, if simple sentences and word choices can get the job done, you’re better off going for the concise route!
Your mission, should you choose to accept it…
The point of a company website is to inform visitors what your business does, and it should be immediately clear after clicking in. Croydon brings up leadership expert Simon Sinek’s theory of the Golden Circle and his famous “Start with Why” Tedx Talk – which suggests that the most inspirational leaders are able to captivate their audiences through the passion of their why rather than through the what of their business nor how they plan to do it.
Although we agree that a strong why is a decisive factor in consumers feeling aligned with a brand or business, it’s more important to know what they do first. Imagine a salesperson jumped you and started going off about why he loves what he’s selling without telling you what he sells first… you’d probably think that he was a nutjob! “It’s all very well if you’re Starbucks [or any other globally recognised brand] and your homepage talks about how they’re trying to connect people,” Croydon writes, “but if a visitor doesn’t know whether you’re a gold-mining company or a psychic medium, your mission statement will appear random.”
Consider the following mission statement:
· At M&G, we are all about connecting people.
We can assume that most people who Google “marketing firms” and then have M&G pop up would link the two together… but for someone who’s casually scrolling through Facebook and discover the business through an ad using this mission statement, could you say the same for them? Is the business a headhunter company, a travel agency or a contemporary brewpub? An unclear mission statement is all it takes to ruin the first impression. If you aren’t an international megabrand, it’s better to assume that visitors won’t know what you do – hence you should clearly define your business from the start before going into detail about your passions.
Thoughts in a jumble
Aside from a cohesive mission statement and proper word choice, some inexperienced businesses make the bad habit of bloating their content.
Like growing a flower from bud to blossom, it grows best when you give it adequate space to grow – overcrowd the pot with too many seedlings and it becomes a free-for-all brawl over who gets their roots over the most dirt. Not only will this inhibit your primary point’s ability to make a convincing argument, you risk confusing the reader.
The general rule is to make only one point per paragraph (usually in the first few lines), then support it with facts, evidence or whatever you think directly helps to substantiate said claim. If you must make a second point, a helpful trick is to introduce at the end of the first paragraph (like a teaser at the end of the movie) and then fully expand upon the point in a separate paragraph!
No:
BNX prioritises the health and mental well-being of all our employees. We regularly hold events for sports and wellness, and we encourage all employees and their friends and family to join. We offer Pizza Fridays and cheat days too!
(Pizza Fridays and cheat days may conflict with the main point of health and wellness, so let’s see how we can fix that)
Yes:
BNX prioritises the health and mental well-being of all our employees. We regularly hold events for sports and wellness, and we encourage all employees and their friends and family to join. That said, we are also aware of the benefits behind the occasional “cheat day”!
Every second Friday of the month is Pizza Friday, and when employees aren’t feeling up to snuff, we allow our employees to take “personal day” once every four weeks.
Lastly, it’s not a bad idea to assume that your audience is inexperienced with your industry. You may have been immersed in your career for years, but it’d be wrong to think the same for your audience – that’s why it’s important to talk through your ideas at a reasonable pace. Don’t jump from point A to B without fully explaining point A and its relevance first! Otherwise your writing will appear messy, disjointed and very unfun to read.
Company websites are vital sources of information – not just for consumers to learn more about your business, but for you to demonstrate how well you can present your brand as well. Pretty pictures and videos may dominate modern content, but smart consumers need more than just shiny visuals to make an informed decision. If you could use some help drafting just the right copy for your website, give Wordsmith a call today!