Is your copy going all around the houses?
In case you?re wondering what that?s all about, ?going round the houses? is a saying often used about someone being long winded. Or taking a long time to get to the point. Maybe doing a simple thing in an unnecessarily complicated way. To name but a few examples. If your copy is doing the same, it could be having a negative effect on those reading it. Making them give up before they?ve reached the point for a start.
Or sending them off into the land of nod with no chance of a return visit.
Think about the way you look at something online. Or more importantly, how long you?re willing to wait before you get the information you want. If you?re like most people the answer will be as little time as possible. If you haven?t got to the point in the first few seconds you?ve probably lost them for good.
The main point for potential customers of course is confirmation they?re in the right place. Only when they?re sure of that will they even consider sticking around. But not for long. In their opinion their time is precious even if yours isn?t. Taking them on a roundabout route or mystery tour won?t work.
Neither will replacing clear and simple language with a load of waffle. No one has the time or inclination to decipher your ramblings. Being concise and straightforward doesn?t mean you?ll be seen as a simple soul. Just an understanding one.
In the same way the conclusion of business shouldn?t be unnecessarily complicated either. It?s not a board game or twenty questions. What happens next and what customers should do needs to be made easy to find and carry out. There?s nothing worse than having to flip back and forth trying to make sense of the process. Confusion over paying for something usually means finding somewhere else to do business instead.
The secret of good copy is doing it for the customers not yourself. It might be a way to promote your business but it also has to make people willing to have faith in what you do. To know you?ve made everything as easy for them as you can.
By the straightest way possible. If you insist on going round the houses you?ll be on your own. Everyone else will have given up and gone home long ago.
