Are you playing hide and seek with readers of your copy?
If you?re serious about running a business on line you shouldn’t treat it as a game. You can be sure potential customers won?t. If they want that kind of entertainment they?ll go to a kiddie?s party. That means your copy shouldn?t be a version of blind man?s bluff either.
If the reader has to grope around blindly looking for the object of their search they won?t bother. They?ll expect to see clear copy that provides the information they need without having to seek it out. And if you really are playing hide and seek with the facts you might as well forget it.
If you were in a hurry and passed a shop with boarded up windows, would you waste time stopping on the off chance it might have something of interest to you? If you could even tell it was open in the first place. Or blunder about inside looking for clues about what they were actually selling? Not unless you didn’t have anything better to do you wouldn’t.
Shoppers online are not there to waste time either. Copy shouldn?t assume they?ve got all the time in the world to listen to your ramblings. While it?s a competitive world online as well as everywhere else, it?s not a competition to see who can write the longest copy. Or the most obscure. In this instance it?s quality that?ll win the attention not quantity.
It?s the words you use that count, not the word count itself. There?re so many ways to say the same thing. If you?re writing a novel you can go off on scenic flights of fancy. With copy you have to stick to the point. That doesn?t mean you can skimp on the facts. Just be more matter of fact with the way you present them.
Even a few words can be informative. And interesting and entertaining. With copy less really can be more. The more thought you put in to it the more favourable the reaction will be. It?ll show you?re thinking of them rather than yourself. And perhaps more importantly, understand fully their busy schedules.
If it looks as if you?re playing games with them, people might just think you?re trying to pull the wool over their eyes. And wonder what you?ve got to hide. So leave playtime for the school yard and concentrate on being a grown up. And make sure your copy reflects that.
