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16 Comments

How do I go into making the copy for a site?

Hello everyone, we are almost ready to launch our new project. This time we hired some help for the front-page design, while we focus on the product.

How will I go into making the copy for a site? That is the wording and content of the page?

  1. 5

    I recommend reading https://www.julian.com/guide/growth/landing-pages. It covers the entire design process for a landing page.

    In my personal experience, it was more effective to write the copy first and then design the page afterwards. Even for the simple reason that the illustrations should match the text and not the other way around. What I do right now is write everything in a Google Doc and use Tables to roughly sketch out the structure of the website (e.g. use a 3x1 table for a feature section).

    Emotionally, prepare yourself for spending a devilish amount of time writing and rewriting your value prop!

    1. 1

      Thank you that is a lot of information. I'm guessing A/B testing is a crucial part of the process.

    2. 1

      I do the exact same thing. I just use notion instead of a doc though.

  2. 3

    John (@8bit) wrote about this earlier today: https://www.indiehackers.com/post/voice-style-and-how-to-write-super-gud-daa3009288

    And, I've been using this a lot lately:
    https://readabilityformulas.com/free-readability-formula-tests.php
    Apperently, the average reading level in the US is gr8 so I've been taking chunks of content, pasting it in there, then playing with it to get the readability scores as good as possible.

    Finally, lot's and lot's of feedback from both target customers/demographic, friends, and non-friends. Keep track of the feedback you get, some of it might be contradictory so you'll have to balance it.

    1. 3

      And, @SeanKirby built a pretty amazing landing page for Lakebed:
      http://www.seankirbycopy.com/landing-page-makeover-lakebed-io/

      If you have a budget to hire someone, even just to do a final review, I highly recommend Sean.

      1. 1

        Thanks for the endorsement. I appreciate it.

      2. 1

        @SeanKirby made your site look... objectively better.

        although, i did like the first version.

    2. 1

      thanks for that!

  3. 1

    Congrats on your new project! @steban

    Among many great ideas here. I'd always suggest circling back to "Who, Why, What, When and How?", Value Proposition and Lean Canvas might be helpful to craft out some crispy copy.

    I'm also updating my site, keen to know your ideas!

  4. 1

    Never underestimate the power of a good outline.

    Start with the big strokes, and only write the name of each section ("Hero," "Reviews," "Footer," etc.). Once you've got that, start filling in your copy. Try to say everything you want to say in as few words as possible.

    This isn't just for you; it's also for the designer you want to bring onboard. I've been brought into so many projects (as a designer) where the client didn't know what they wanted to say, and their attitude was somewhere between "just use placeholders" and "you're a writer too, right?" Nowhere on that spectrum gets the project any closer to the finish line.

  5. 1

    I bookmark sites whose copywriting style I like for inspiration.

    Some examples:
    https://mailchimp.com/
    https://basecamp.com/
    https://www.figma.com/

    Also, this is a good resource too: https://saaspages.xyz/sites

    I just write, revise and iterate my copy in a Google doc.

  6. 1

    Best practices will vary depending on what parts of the site you're referring to and what your objectives are. Writing conversion focused copy is a different skill set than writing blog posts and pages that qualify as "content writing," although there is a certain amount of overlap.

    Since this is posted in landing page feedback, I'm going to assume your goal is getting people to sign up for a trial or some other type of offer related to your product. Here are some tips.

    1. Stress benefits over features. Makers love features because they are all about the product. That's their baby. But users care about benefits because it's about them. Lead with the benefits and use the features to support it.

    This image is a great way to think about features v. benefits:
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CGb1sy4XIAAUjs1.png

    1. Match the words and phrases of your target audience. Write like they would speak. Sometimes you can even lift a specific phrase from your customer research pieces, like surveys or interviews. It also helps to picture an individual and imagine you are writing directly to him or her.

    2. Apply the laws of physics. I explain it in an article in this issue of the Philadelphia Direct Marketing Associations newsletter: https://pdma.memberclicks.net/assets/DirectViews/PhilyDMA_DirectViews_Fall2019-OL.pdf

    Hope that's helpful. Best of luck.

    1. 2

      Thank you, Sean, it is extremely helpful.

  7. 1

    i would honestly try just writing it yourself. you'll learn a ton about the process and you'll figure out what works and what doesn't.

    even if your grammar isn't perfect... that's entirely okay!

    i mean, shit... i don't even capitalize most things.

    1. 1

      I feel like we have put a lot of effort into the product, not to go the extra mile and make sure the copy is right. Thank you for mentioning Sean, his post is very helpful.

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