Scott’s copy and design blog

The readability test is a great way to truly understand how a visitor (i.e. a total stranger) will see your website and copy.

Many tests have shown that visitors skim-read text. Many don’t even read past the first sentence if it doesn’t grab them. This is why headlines and sub-headlines are so important. You could put benefits into your copy which are simply missed if they’re in a block of text.

How people see your copy

When you write copy, you may see it in a very different way. You’ll be naturally more passionate about  your own product/service, understand it better than a total stranger and be more interested in what you have to say about it - compared to a stranger who has just visited your site.

In a nutshell, you could write copy which doesn’t work and doesn’t convert visitors into sales - even if you love it. Just because you find your copy compelling and interesting with the enthusiasm you have for your own business, it doesn’t mean the visitor will.

Do you want to have a glimpse into how visitors and prospects may see your text?

The readability test is a great way to understand how some visitors will see your text, So lets get started:

1). Write some sales copy now, or take a piece of text from your own site

2). Read through it once at a speedy, yet comfortable pace

3). Read through it again

4). Read through it again

By now you may notice your eyes skimming over certain words and pieces of text you’ve lost interest in.

5). Read through your copy three more times. Everytime you read through, try and read through it faster and faster.

By now you may be skimming over most of the text to get to the end, as you’re getting restless due to reading the same piece of text over and over again! This is a good example of how some visitors will read your text.

This test helps to create a realistic sense of interest which your visitor will have. They will have this level of interest naturally, and you can get close to emulating this lack of interest by getting bored of your own copy!

So, how does it fair up? Can you still pick out the features and benefits within your copy? Do sentences still make clear, concise sense, or do they just turn into an undecipherable mash-up of words? If it’s a mash-up, then you have some work to do.

Main points of your copy should still be absorbent even if a visitor skims over your copy with vague interest. A large, attention-grabbing headline works well to make people take notice. Likewise, sub-headlines throughout your copy give your visitors something to pick up on. The sub-headline should make a point clear, and also create interest, so the visitor may spend some time to read a relevant paragraph.

It’s the job of a copywriter to be impartial and unbiased about readability when writing copy. It’s imperative that copy is written with the visitor in mind, and knowledge of how the visitor will read the text. Visitors can become very interested in what you have to say (and they should), but you have to give them a reason to be first. If they see an immovable, hefty block of text with nothing which grabs their attention, then they won’t bother reading it.

If you can write your copy in a way that is easily absorbed even whilst being skim-read (and put through this test), then you’re onto a winner.

Your website doesn’t have to be either long or short. You don’t have to make a choice between a few snappy paragraphs, or a multi-thousand word sales letter.

Both formats can be combined to produce a good sales conversion rate which maximises your sales.

Here’s how:

Put the short copy in first, then the long-copy, then tie them together.

The visitor can then choose what they want to read and what they require to make the purchase. After the short copy they can click through to the next page if they’re ready, or they can be compelled to continue on through the long-copy.

This is how the copy would be laid out on the page:

Headline first

(Short copy)

• Features
• Benefits
• Bullet points
• Call-to-action

(Long-copy)

• Sub-headline
• Long-copy features and benefits
• Other (testimonials, special offers, stories etc).
• Call-to-action

Your visitors will see what they want to see in their own mind. To one person, it will be a huge page of copy with a summarised start. To another person, it will be straight-to-the-point short copy with a load of content below it which they can’t be bothered to read. Everyone’s happy.

There’s different types of visitors so don’t make any of them wait. Give them all an opportunity to buy now when they can say ‘I’m ready’. Some will only need a few features and benefits, others will need thousands of words before they’re convinced.

Getting a professional full copy re-write is always the best route to go down if you want your websites sales conversion rate as high as it can be.

However, there are some very small changes which you can do yourself to improve customer numbers.

Sales copy is very sensitive and tiny changes can make a difference to the number of sales you receive. Whilst this does make it harder to get your copy right, it also means you can capitalise on some easy changes to improve sales. They’re small, but combined they can make quite a difference, so here we go.

1). Increase your headlines font size

If you can’t increase it, make it bold. It should stand out more and be the focal point of your front page.

2). Don’t have a headline? Put one in.

Don’t use your business name. The headline should entice the visitor with a benefit or question to get them interested in reading.

3). Improve your call-to-action.

The end of your sales pages should tell the visitor what to do, and it should tell them to do it now! Use benefits and curiosity to entice visitors into clicking onto the next page.

4). Make your first paragraph stand out.

Help your headline out a bit in the battle to grab visitor interest. Your first paragraph should explain what you do and the main benefit. Make it bold, italic, larger or anything to make the headline and first paragraph easily readable.

5). Split your copy up into more paragraphs.

Big blocks of copy are daunting to read. Use fewer, shorter paragraphs. If there is a major point you must get across, it can even be in a line of text all by itself.

6). Add another benefit into your copy

No matter how your copy is at the moment, do that right now. Think of a precise benefit your product/service will give to the reader, then work this benefit into your existing copy.

7). Make sure your copy explains precisely what your product/service does.

Ask someone elses opinion if necessary. Can a completely random stranger work out EXACTLY what you’re doing from reading the first few sentences? If they need to ask any further questions to understand what you do then take another look at your copy and make sure it’s getting all the right points across, quick and straightforward.

8). Bold your major points.

When a visitor visits a webpage they often skim-read to weigh up whether the text is worth reading. This skim-read pays most attention to the headline and first few lines (hence why they are so important) as well as random points in the rest of the copy.

To improve the chance of grabbing enough interest, try and bold parts of the text which should really stand out. Any major benefits, big reasons for using you - whack some B tags around them.

Don’t go overboard though. The more text you bold, the less effective it becomes.

8 quick and easy changes you can make in ten minutes which, when combined, will increase your sales conversion rate. Not bad eh? Of course the ‘wow’ increase extra sales comes from full copy re-writes. I have a page here about why copywriting is so important for online businesses so check that out.

For good sales copy to bring in customers people have to actually read it, that’s a given. This is done by maintaining curiosity and interest throughout the copy…

However, visual readability is also a very important and often over-looked part of selling on a website or via marketing. With the right readability, text becomes much easier to read and absorb. It also makes the text less daunting and makes the points which create interest much more noticeable. 

There are three specific parts in which good formatting is essential:

• The start where the reader skims over the text to determine the content and effort required to read it (if it’s just a massive block of text it is less appealing). 
• When absorbing the benefits and points which create and maintain curiosity/interest.
• Whilst reading the copy as a whole, breaking up information into easily digestible chunks. 

Whilst a lot of copy out there isn’t as good as it could be, most websites could improve their sales conversion rate simply by improving the formatting.

This means more people read the full text instead of getting bored halfway through, or simply clicking off the page altogether. 

The best way to show the effectiveness of good formatting is by using an example. The following text is from my ‘why copywriting?’ page without formatting (this is how many business websites have their text laid out on a page):

Why you need good sales copy for a successful online business…

Whilst anyone can write some text which tells others about their business, it takes a specific crafting of words based on sales psychology and selling techniques to draw readers in and make them feel an urge to buy your product/service. There are five points which all good sales copy must follow:

Drawing the reader in immediately and creating the curiosity/interest needed for them to continue reading. Benefit driven selling to appeal to the emotional side of the reader, not just the logical side. Creating a feeling of want and need for your product/service. Making the reader trust you and have confidence in what you can do. Directing the reader correctly as to what they should do next. Miss out any of these points or avoid utilising these points effectively and your sales conversion rate will not be as high as it could be. That’s customers and sales lost.

Many people assume copywriting is only about writing text which reads, flows and sounds well. This is a big part of it but sales copywriting goes much deeper. Great sales copy turns your website into a top class sales machine which grabs every visitor and SELLS what you are offering.

What happens if you don’t have good salescopy?..Then your product/service isn’t presented to the reader to it’s highest potential. The difference between good and poor salescopy is that good copy puts across all the benefits and information the prospect needs to absorb to want what you are offering. The key is making them realise how happy they would be if they bought it. I can do this for your business and it’s products/services, just click here to pop over to the services page.

 

Bet you aren’t really in the mood to read all that are you? One of the most effective things you can do straight away is to break up the text so their are fewer large daunting blocks of text and it’s easier to read. Once we do that the text then looks like this:

Why you need good sales copy for a successful online business…

Whilst anyone can write some text which tells others about their business, it takes a specific crafting of words based on sales psychology and selling techniques to draw readers in and make them feel an urge to buy your product/service. 

There are five points which all good sales copy must follow:

Drawing the reader in immediately and creating the curiosity/interest needed for them to continue reading. Benefit driven selling to appeal to the emotional side of the reader, not just the logical side. Creating a feeling of want and need for your product/service. Making the reader trust you and have confidence in what you can do. Directing the reader correctly as to what they should do next. 

Miss out any of these points or avoid utilising these points effectively and your sales conversion rate will not be as high as it could be. That’s customers and sales lost.

Many people assume copywriting is only about writing text which reads, flows and sounds well. This is a big part of it but sales copywriting goes much deeper.  Great sales copy turns your website into a top class sales machine which grabs every visitor and SELLS what you are offering.

What happens if you don’t have good salescopy?..

Then your product/service isn’t presented to the reader to it’s highest potential. 

The difference between good and poor salescopy is that good copy puts across all the benefits and information the prospect needs to absorb to want what you are offering. The key is making them realise how happy they would be if they bought it. I can do this for your business and it’s products/services, just click here to pop over to the services page.

With a bit more space the copy is able to breathe better, much easier on the eyes too.

You may have noticed that I’ve put the main interest-building points on separate lines. That is so they are easier to focus on. However it’s best to make them stand out more as headlines. The reader is then much more likely to absorb this information when they skim-read the page. 

Bulletpoints are also a great way to break up text into easily manageable chunks. We’ll add some of those in too.

Now our copy looks like this:

Why you need good sales copy for a successful online business…

Whilst anyone can write some text which tells others about their business, it takes a specific crafting of words based on sales psychology and selling techniques to draw readers in and make them feel an urge to buy your product/service. 

There are five points which all good sales copy must follow:

• Drawing the reader in immediately and creating the curiosity/interest needed for them to continue reading. 
• Benefit driven selling to appeal to the emotional side of the reader, not just the logical side. 
• Creating a feeling of want and need for your product/service. 
• Making the reader trust you and have confidence in what you can do. 
• Directing the reader correctly as to what they should do next. 

Miss out any of these points or avoid utilising these points effectively and your sales conversion rate will not be as high as it could be. That’s customers and sales lost.

Many people assume copywriting is only about writing text which reads, flows and sounds well. This is a big part of it but sales copywriting goes much deeper.  Great sales copy turns your website into a top class sales machine which grabs every visitor and SELLS what you are offering.

What happens if you don’t have good salescopy?..

Then your product/service isn’t presented to the reader to it’s highest potential. 

The difference between good and poor salescopy is that good copy puts across all the benefits and information the prospect needs to absorb to want what you are offering. The key is making them realise how happy they would be if they bought it. I can do this for your business and it’s products/services, just click here to pop over to the services page.

Looking much better. Now we just need to add a few more minor tweaks. We’ll add a change in formatting to points which the reader should focus on most, and we’ll also add a splash of colour to make it more appealing on the eyes.

Why you need good sales copy for a successful online business…

Whilst anyone can write some text which tells others about their business, it takes a specific crafting of words based on sales psychology and selling techniques to draw readers in and make them feel an urge to buy your product/service. 

There are five points which all good sales copy must follow:

• Drawing the reader in immediately and creating the curiosity/interest needed for them to continue reading. 
• Benefit driven selling to appeal to the emotional side of the reader, not just the logical side. 
• Creating a feeling of want and need for your product/service. 
• Making the reader trust you and have confidence in what you can do. 
• Directing the reader correctly as to what they should do next. 

Miss out any of these points or avoid utilising these points effectively and your sales conversion rate will not be as high as it could be. That’s customers and sales lost.

Many people assume copywriting is only about writing text which reads, flows and sounds well. This is a big part of it but sales copywriting goes much deeper.  Great sales copy turns your website into a top class sales machine which grabs every visitor and SELLS what you are offering.

What happens if you don’t have good salescopy?..

Then your product/service isn’t presented to the reader to it’s highest potential. 

The difference between good and poor salescopy is that good copy puts across all the benefits and information the prospect needs to absorb to want what you are offering. The key is making them realise how happy they would be if they bought it. 

I can do this for your business and it’s products/services, just click here to pop over to the services page.

Voila. We’ve turned that giant lump of text at the start into a piece of web copy which hits the reader with attention grabbing headlines and is much easier to read and absorb. This is why I include precise instructions on how to format all copy I write for my clients.

So, take a look at your own website or sales material and see if there are ways to improve the formatting and readability of your web copy.