20 Website Copywriting Sins

February 11^th 2010 Sally Ormond copywriter, freelance copywriter, Suffolk copywriter, Website copywriting

Considering the size of the internet these days, there are a vast number of websites out there which adds up to oodles of content. You can find practically anything online these days.

Some of the content you come across is informative, funny, thought-provoking, persuasive, interesting…and some of it quite frankly is pants.

Funny how it is always the bad content you remember.

To make sure your website doesn’t fall into this Hall of Shame, I have put together a list of 20 website copywriting sins that should be avoided:

1. No attention-grabbing headline (or no headline at all)

2. No sub headings

3. No benefits

4. No guarantees

5. Spelling and grammar mistakes

6. No testimonials (believable ones, anyway)

7. No features

8. No conversational writing or questions

9. Over complex and long sentences

10. No deadlines

11. No call to action

12. No free trials

13. WRITTEN ALL IN CAPITALS

14. Very few ordering options

15. No visuals (all text is a bad idea)

16. No comparison against competitors

17. No emotional appeal

18. Too much jargon

19. Text is either too small or too big

20. Not enough white space

Take a look at your website now and make sure you’re not guilt of any of the above. I’m sure you’ve come across other no-nos that I haven’t listed here.

Just remember your website is there to be read - if it’s not read, it’s not selling. And if it’s not selling all you’ve got is a very expensive brochure.