nick usborne's guide to online copywriting
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Answer Your Site Visitors’ Unspoken Questions – Immediately.
A Web Copywriting Tip by Nick Usborne
One of the best openings to a site I know of is the one at Cancer.org.
It’s home to the American Cancer Society, and the first words you read on their first screen are, “No Matter Who You Are, We Can Help”.
What have they done with this line? They have answered silent questions which will be on the minds of many people when they first arrive:
“Someone I know has cancer. I wonder if I can find help at the American Cancer Society web site?”
Or, “I want to find out about breast cancer. I wonder if I can find help at the American Cancer Society web site?”
Maybe you sell web site design services to small businesses. So you might think about a line like, “We have been designing successful sites for small business since 1998.”
I know, it breaks the “rules” of good copywriting by starting with the word “we”. But it does answer two important questions.
1. Do these guys design sites for small business?
2. Can I trust them to know what they’re doing?
Or maybe you sell copywriting services, and specialize in catalog writing.
How about, “Why over 45 catalog companies have asked us to write their copy”.
Again, it answers an important question, “Are these guys specialists in catalog writing?”
Take a few minutes to think about the key questions someone might have on his mind in the moments before finding your site for the first time. What is most important to them? What is their greatest concern? What questions are floating around in his head?
Identify the top one or two questions, and then answer them immediately on the first screen of your site.
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