Online Copywriting Tip: How to be Clear and Concise
Web users are an impatient lot. Having run countless user tests, I can verify that users seldom read text the way they'd read a book. Rather, they scan through pages, looking for topics of interest. To be effective, web copy must be concise.
But how do we make our copy clear and concise? How do we know what words we can cut out?
Here are a few tricks I've learned over the years...
Use Strong Verbs
Too often, we'll take a nice strong verb... then turn it into a noun and use a weaker verb. For example, instead of simply writing decide, we'll write make a decision. What a waste of words. Other examples include:
- "Perform an evaluation" vs "Evaluate"
- "Conduct a survey among users" vs "Survey users"
- "Makes use of" vs "Uses"
- "Run a test on" vs "Test"
- "Is a good explanation for" vs "Explains"
- "Make an allowance for" vs "Allow for"
Use the Active Voice
Sometimes, the passive voice is better. (Especially when you need to sound objective, or you don't want to call attention to the actors.) But mostly, the active voice is preferred: it's easier to understand who's doing what. Consider the following passive sentences:
- Several violations were found.
- A good job was done by you.
- 12 subjects were tested by us.
- A good time was had by all of us.
Now compare the active versions:
- We found several violations.
- You did a good job.
- We tested 12 subjects.
- We all had a good time.
Avoid Cliches and Jargon
Cliches are phrases that have been ruined by overuse. They are a waste of words... and a sure sign that the author is on autopilot.
The one I despise most is "in any way, shape or form." Other dishonorable mentions include:
- Avoid [whatever] like the plague
- Thinking outside of the box
- Value-added
- Reinventing the wheel
- Putting the cart before the horse
- Tail wagging the dog
- Touch base
- At this particular point in time (You mean "now"?)
Cut Out Half the "Thats"
One final, simple tip: When proofing your copy, look for the thats. Ask yourself whether each is really necessary. I find [that] I can usually eliminate about half of them.
Compare:
- I knew that I could find the brand that she wanted.
- I knew I could find the brand she wanted.
Please feel free to chime in with other suggestions... or other pet peeves in terms of cliches.
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Nobody is just like anyone else, not even identical twins. The 'just' is stupid and patronizing and any text would be better without it. But for some reason, it's highly popular.
Yes, that is an annoying one. Thanks for adding it.
What the advertisers are trying to do, of course, is take advantage of the "Liking" principle of persuasion. That is, we tend to like and trust people who are similar to us. Here's a post I wrote on the topic:
http://blog.vkistudios.com/index.cfm/2009/10/1/Per...
But presented in such a blatant, heavy-handed way... yes, it's rather insulting. At least to those who see through it.
"Revolutionary"
Like a new flavour of toothpaste (or whatever) could truly be revolutionary...
Thanks VKI
Here's a few we're guilty of daily:
- Actionable (actionable insights is double plus good)
- Best Practice
- "Organic" (driving organic conversations, organic traffic, etc.)
- "drive"
- conversions
And so you get great sentences like "Our services provides actionable insights about your organic traffic, driving conversions and making sales."
That said, as much as cliches and jargon are hated by copyrwriters, they're really functional means of communicating ideas (provided they're specific to your audience) . They have defined, socially understood meanings that you can rely on to be understood in much more accurate ways than normal turn of phrase.
Of course they also make some people gag...