Content is ubiquitous. It’s usually referred to as “king.”
However, in this content-driven, content-worshipping, content-producing age, we all need to hear a warning: Your web copy —the way you write your content — might be losing you revenue.
An Autopsy Report on Revenue-Crushing Copy
What kind of copy loses revenue?
To make this autopsy simple, let me be clear. The leading cause of deathly copy is lack of quality.
Quality is ruined by a lot of things. You’ll read a tactical list in the characteristics section below. For now, just keep in mind that you will lose revenue if you produce low-quality content. Google doesn’t like it, readers don’t like it, and your boss won’t like it either.
Why does low-quality content lose revenue?
- Because it devalued by the search engines. Today’s sophisticated search engine algorithms actually have quality features built into the algorithm. They are able to determine both the authoritativeness of a site and its relevant quality. Sites are ranked in the SERPs based on their quality. If you create low-quality web copy, the search engines will give you low ratings.
- Because it’s not trustworthy. If you were to see misspellings, grammatical errors, and punctuation mistakes in this article, how would it reflect on the publication? If you’re like most discerning readers, those mistakes would erode your trust in the quality of the publication. To err is human, but to repeatedly make mistakes is to breed mistrust.
- Because it’s not interesting. The cardinal sin of Internet copy is boringness. Every day, writers and lackeys pour out an unfathomable amount of copy on the Internet. Most of this copy won’t be read by more than a few dozen people on earth. Why? One major reason is that it’s mind-numbingly boring. Boring copy doesn’t get read. And copy that doesn’t get read is a waste of time and money.
- Because it’s not persuasive. Whatever type of content you’re writing, there ought to be a persuasive element to it. When you write a copy — even if it’s a generic company description — you are trying to persuade the reader to accept your viewpoint on the issue. Copy without persuasion is powerless. It will not contribute to your company’s value.
- Because it’s not compelling. Compelling copy generates excitement. You’ve read exciting copy before. It has a motivating quality about it. Copy that lacks this tingling sense of excitement doesn’t take your readers anywhere. It simply joins the wallowing mass of unread, unreadable, and uninteresting copy on the Internet today.
- Because it’s not clear. If you want your audience to understand your business and what you do, your copy must be extremely clear. Without clarity, there is no understanding. And without understanding, there is no action.
9 Characteristics of Revenue-Crushing Copy
Let’s get specific. What exactly does it look like to have revenue-crushing copy?
1. You have high bounce rates.
One data-driven approach to determine your copy quality is to look at bounce rates. A “bounce” is a visitor who visits your page, then leaves without visiting any more pages.
Perhaps a visitor who bounced did so because the content was so compelling and successful that they left without further need for any more clicking. Well done. More commonly, however, the visitor was not compelled nor motivated by the content, and left in a huff.
If the first scenario is true, then your copy needs a CTA to engage the user further. If the second copy is true, you need a CTA, but you have a more important issue to work on — the quality of your copy.
Bounce metrics are available in the overview of Google Analytics. You can drill down for specific data on individual pages or categories as well.
2. You have low CTRs.
To find out your clickthrough rate (CTR), you can use Google Webmaster Tools: Search Traffic → Search Queries.
Google provides a chart that displays the user’s query, and the number of clicks. The CTR is the percentage of users who saw your content in the SERPs and clicked on it.
Web copy with high CTR usually has a well-written meta description, so make sure you focus on this when you create your copy.
3. You get negative comments.
If you have a lot of blog comments such as “this sucks!” or “Wow. Tons of typos!” then you’re probably doing something wrong.
Be prepared to face negative criticism, but don’t bring it on yourself. If you produce content on the web, some people won’t like it. Welcome to the world of needing thick skin.
Of course, you’ll have plenty of comments of the variety that get spun and spammed across every webpage:
“I have happened to come across this blog pages. It is happily the indepth and acurate. Good keep-up the workin!”
If you’re facing a constant barrage of critical comments, however, you may want to take a careful look at the quality of your copy.
4. You have no comments.
In the early days of blogging, the comments may not come thick and fast like you’re hoping. After a while, however, you should be able to expect some feedback. If you’re not getting comments, check your copy. Are you asking for them? Taking a stand? Proving in-depth information?
5. You produce a wall of text.
A wall of text is an affront to any sane reader. It’s impossible to read, and more impossible to understand.
In order to avoid the wall of text, use headings, paragraph breaks, bullets, numbered lists, pull quotes, and gracefully short sentences.
6. You bore yourself when you write.
If you are boring yourself as the writer, then you’ll also bore your readers.
If you find yourself clicking off to The Oatmeal or Buzzfeed when you’re supposed to be creating some killer copy, then I can almost guarantee that your copy will not be killer.
Your brain is telling you, I need stimulation. This current activity is not stimulating. Please, stimulation! I need!
The problem isn’t the subject matter. The problem is the writer.
7. You always use boring verbs.
Choose your verbs intentionally. Depending on your verbs, you will either bore readers stiff or make them hang on to every word.
Here are some examples of boring verbs:
- Be - including is, are, were, been, etc.
- Have - has, had, etc.
- Do - done, did, etc.
- Can - could
- Will - would
- May - might, must
- Use
- Take
- (Any passive verb)
Sometimes, you must use these verbs. (See what I did there?) But overuse them, and you run the risk of boring your readers away.
8. You’re trying to be formal.
In college, you wrote formal essays. In life, you should write interesting copy. There’s a difference.
The formal tone that handed you As and Bs in English and Business Writing won’t win you readers and raving fan bases in today’s web copy world.
Instead of churning out formal content, strive to develop interesting content. Write like you talk. Instead of “creating a blog post,” just jot a note to a potential customer you ran into at the bar. Just be natural, and your content will get a lot better.
9. You use long sentences.
Long sentences hurt the brain. It’s tough to hang on to all those bits of data that our eyes take in.
If you write a sentence that’s longer than thirty words, you’ve probably lost readers in the first half. Try to write sentences that are around twenty words.
Four Tips for Creating Revenue-Building Copy
So, how do you crawl out of the pit of despair, and produce content that wins? Here are four tips.
Study your audience, then write for them. The fundamental rule of good writing is good listening. Listen to your audience. Know them, research them, and understand what it is that they want and enjoy. Then, write content that directly meets them there.
Read a lot of good quality copy. To keep my writing skills sharp, I read as much as I can. But I don’t just read any junk I can find. I read high-quality publications like Forbes, New York Times, Time Magazine, The Atlantic, and Wall Street Journal. Regardless of the subject matter, I’m usually assured that these publications will feature copy that is grammatically impeccable, stylistically flawless, and eminently understandable. That’s how I want to write.
Write as frequently as possible. The more you write, the better you’ll get. Writing is like any other skill or habit. As you engage in it more often, your skill will increase. I write every single weekday, and even most weekends. This daily effort pays off in incremental improvements.
Stretch yourself by contributing to other publications. Pitch some stories or topics to some blogs and websites in your niche. Chances are, you’ll get a chance to guest blog at one of these locations. Guest blogging allows your content to be read by a wider audience. Plus, you get free feedback and critiques from the site’s editors.
Conclusion
If you can improve the quality of your copy, you can increase the value of your company. As I mentioned in the introduction, we live in a content-driven, content-worshipping, content-producing age. The copy that shapes that content is important.
The better your copy, the more widely it will be read, the more deeply it will be respected, and the more revenue your company will earn.
