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5 Secrets For Turning Fine Copy Into Good Copy |
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Submitted by Jan O'Daniel
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As a wife, there's almost nothing worse than having my husband say I look "fine." Mind you, "fine" is not too bad by the world's standards. But, trust me, by a wife's standards "fine" is not good.
Not by a long shot. And so it is with copy. Copy that's "fine" is probably free of most grammatical errors and one or two (or even three) read-through's will get some of the basic messaging across -- more or less. But "fine" copy is not "good" copy.
One of my specialties is taking "fine" copy and reworking it into something that's more readable, more engaging, more effective. Here are a few hints on how you can do it yourself.
(1) Read the entire copy passage, step back and summarize it into a single sentence. If you can do this, you'll be able to prune away any extra messaging that's cluttering your copy.
(2) Break a long, complex sentence into 1-3 sentences. Your thought will be easier for your reader to read -- and understand.
(3) Lead with the benefit to your reader. Your reader doesn't (or won't) work too hard to figure out what's in it for him or her. Make it easy to recognize the benefit.
(4) Write only enough words to say what needs to be said. Delete as many extra words as you can. Hint: Eliminating adverbs is one of the fastest ways to do this.
(5) Let go of trying to "hang on" to some of the existing copy just because you like it. If you must, save the copy in a separate file and repurpose it for another time.
Let your copy tell a story. Give readers something to identify with or become immersed in and you'll get them reading from beginning to end.
Jan O'Daniel is a web copy expert and veteran communication strategist who has crafted messages, created content strategies, and told the stories of some of the world's most well-known brands. In collaboration with creative teams, Jan has won multiple awards including Web Marketing Association IAC awards, the HOW Design award, WebAwards, and Macromedia's Site of the Day. Get ideas, insights and resources for better communication and great copy at http://www.getgreatcopy.com
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