Empty Copy

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Content on the internet is still, for the majority, is being created in circumstances that are not ideal, by people who do not write content for a living and don't have much time to do so. However, this problem is not going to be solved in the next couple of years, and more and more people and being forced to do even more with much less.

However, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Anyone that deals with copy can make a big difference in the quality by insuring that each and every piece of text on a website is doing something substantial and concrete. Selling a product, which is very important, however this doesn't count, you need to set out more distinct goals to achieve this, writing good copy. Lets have a look at an example product page designed to sell a product / service.

I'm not one of the most organised people, and by judging from my appearances you may have picked up on that! Anyways, I'm still busy studying so a few weeks ago I started searching for online reviews of productivity and reference management applications. An ad for academictoolkit.com appeared in one of Googles Adwords, it sounded pretty much like what I needed at the time and was hopeful in finding. After clicking and waiting for the page to load completely, I wondered for a few moments as to how I had managed to get there, and then spent some time reading the copy only to realise that this website offered me nothing.

This might have not been the worst-case scenario, as I was obviously not the target audience. However, what if I had been, I found the copy completely exasperating and enough to drive anyone away regardless of whether they were the perfect audience or not. What really happened was, the company had thrown money away on a very vague add, hoping to get click throughs while at the same time keeping their copy just equally as vague not getting to the point, and as a result loosing countless sales.

I've copied the text here lest the copy is edited. These are the first two paragraphs that appear on the page academictoolkit.com, after bypassing the superfluous flash video headling right at the top of the page.

Academia Solutions

And that's where FAST can be a valuable asset … turning data into intelligence in near real-time. Capturing and reporting in real-time can improve operational intelligence and provide insight that enables more effective strategic, tactical and effective decision-making. With GeoAge mobility software, research is FASTER.

Upon seeing the words "academia solutions", I should have left immediately. The word solutions is vague enough on its own.

Another thing is the jargon used, there is a time and place for it. Only use industry specific jargon when you know you are speaking directly to that industry, and completely forget about it if you attracting visitors with vague Adwords campaigns. When you are speaking outside these "jargon" circles, it comes off as you communicating ineffectively, unclear, and dishonestly.

However jargon isn't the real problem with this copy though. The problem with this sales page and countless outhers, is that they are not saying anything! Keeping it vague to broaden your sales will never bring in the sales. Buzzwords, marketing hype, and all other types of misplaced padding don't add and value to the copy you right, none of it has meaning and just creates an empty void around your product or service you are offering.

If you came across this page in the same manner that I did, you may too be completely confused by the lack of insight into the product. On top of that the copy doesn't say what exactly the product is, whilst visitors are reading your copy they are continuously asking questions, hoping that they will be answered in the next sentence. If they don't get the answers they need, they are going to head for the exit.