No Matter How Much You Suck at Writing - Write Your Own Website Copy

by Guest Blogger, Lena West, Chief Social Media Strategist at xynoMedia Technology

Perhaps businesses have lost their way in all the Web 2.0 hoopla.

Sometimes I see them in my mind's eye as groping around in the dark, dank, cobweb-y corners of the Internet.

Perhaps they don't care anymore.

I'm just as enamored as the next person - perhaps more so - about the advances in web-based technology...hell, I have a business devoted to helping companies figure it out but, something needs to be said about how companies continue to use buzzwords and filler language to maximize the strategic synergies with multi-channel verticals or...how companies continue to succeed at alienating every potential client from here to Mars with the copy on their website.

Take this bit of copy (if you want to call it that) which I found on another company's web site. (No link love to protect the guilty.)

"[Company name] provides innovative IT enabled end-to-end business solutions and IT staffing services across multiple industries. We assist our clients by a combination of domain expertise, technology competency and our cost effective approach with the support of our global offices. We help our clients develop and implement globalization strategies in order to optimize operational productivity and fuel expansion and growth."

I'm sure this company is splendiferous! They probably are really good at what they do and they might even have very high levels of customer satisfaction, but the copy on their website makes me wonder:

1)  what in the hell they actually do (!)

2) if, perchance I decide to pick up the phone and call them, I will have to listen to this nonsense on the phone, too?

Now, I don't know exactly what happened here but, my guess is they decided to let some slick ad agency write their web copy because they didn't trust themselves to tell their own story. I don't believe in wasting time doing something that you're not good at - those are the tasks that you're supposed to delegate, but you shouldn't just turn a blind eye to what's written and allow technobabble like this to end up on your web site either.

The power of the written word is awesome. That's why my guest blogging on this blog has been so well-received. I get feedback all the time - even from people who don't agree with me - that I present technology in a way that's really easy to understand. And, that's largely because I trust myself to tell technology's story. I don't need verbal acrobatics and stunts.

I've written before about how important it is to use real words and not jibber jabber when marketing your business online - and how dumb your company looks when you don't do this.

Even if your company does offer best-of-breed, scalable marketing solutions for global verticals, please come up with a more approachable and less sucky way to communicate that. Please?

Bottomline: No matter how much you suck at writing, write your own website copy and have a professional edit it.

Comments

[Sana Ahmed]

Hi Lena,

I think your article is brilliant! I am trying to write my own copy as well.

However, I lack confidence in my grammar skills. No, I don't mean my spelling or simple sentence structures. Rather, I was not taught professional grammar in a NYC public school. I acknowledge that I won't be able to write competitively well enough until I teach myself grammar and practice my writing.

My suggestions to those who have the same dilemma as me is to go and read a grammar book (such as "The Elements of Style" by E.G. White).

Hopefully, one day none of us will have to rely too much on professiona copywriters if we can develop our writing skills!

[Yvonne DiVita]

But Lena, I know too, too many folks who did not pass 4th grade English. They CAN'T write anything, let alone their own story. I get your point, though. The story-teller is the BEST person to tell the story. I agree. And, today, they can tell it out loud, tape it, and let a competent copy writer do the writing. Now... heaven help us when a bad story-teller meets a bad copy writer! Oh my!

[Lena L. West]

I want to make two things perfectly clear here:

1) I'm not talking about only tech companies.

2) If anyone reads what I wrote and gets from it that I think companies - in any industry - should write their own copy, then you didn't read what I wrote.

I said it in my blog post AND in my reply comments that I think companies should write their own copy so that they can get the core of their story on paper - and read the following very carefully now - AND THEN GET A COMPETENT COPYWRITER TO EDIT/REWRITE THE COPY.

I'm not sure what's getting lost in translation here but I can't write in more plain English than this.

Thanks for everyone's comments!

-Lena

[Yvonne DiVita]

This is a great discussion. I, personally, don't think very many tech companies are competent enough to write their own copy. They are, however, competent enough to read the copy from whatever copywriter they hired to write the copy. (too many 'copys' in this note!)

I got my start writing web copy - without using confusing buzz words that didn't really mean anything. But, I was often overruled by the powers to be - and the bad copy they wrote went up on the web, and it made me burning mad...because it made me look bad. Folks who knew I was the writer on that job, had to wonder what I was thinking!

Meanwhile, in a bloggy world like this one, using a conversational tone is encouraged - however, too many people take that so far the other way, their writing is confusing and incomprehensible. Often, when we 'talk' we infer understanding of the subject by our tone of voice, or by expecting the listener to remember what we said three paragraphs ago. On the net, a new visitor to your blog or website was not part of that conversation so... you need to remind them of what you're talking about.

There's a very fine line here. Lena, I agree with the principle of what you're saying, but I disagree with your advice: I do not think most website owners should write their own copy. Dictate it, maybe. And then let a professional (who knows better than to write "type by numbers copy" as Mary says), do the rest.

[Mary Schmidt]

Bonnie,

Having "edited" (re-written from scratch) large chunks of blah-blah in my time - I agree that some people probably shouldn't even try - but then again...if they at least try then: A. They'll feel like they contributed; B. They'll have a greater appreciation for a professional's work...and it'll get them to thinking about what needs to be said.

I believe the reason so many people "wig out" re writing is that they don't do much of it - and it reminds them of all that English homework they so hated. (I was a real geek, I loved English...and history...and all those useless "thinking" classes ;-)

[Lena West]

Bonnie:

I agree, I don't want people to write it themselves and then not have someone edit it, hence my recommendation that they get someone to spruce it up and edit it once they're done.

I don't think anyone can tell your story quite like you can and again, even if your writing is bad - somethings you just can't outsource totally...web copy is one of those things. Financial management is another.

If you care about your brand, it requires you to be hands-on from the start...and, in my professional opinion, that means taking a stab at the copy on your own and then calling in the pros.

I don't think that everyone who writes their own copy will not have the money to pay someone to edit it. Maybe some people might want to save money but I don't write my posts for people like that - I write my posts for people who want to invest in the growth of their business the right way.

I love what you have to say about people writing how they talk. Our clients often tell me that they can hear me saying the words I type in my email communication to them, so I must be doing something right. :)

Why people tend to 'wig out' when they have to write something, I don't know. I guess they figure that if you write something - especially nowadays - it's a good chance that it'll be around for posterity. Then I guess they think, if you say saomthing, there's a good chance no one will remember it after 5 minutes.

Thanks for chiming in!

-Lena

[Bonnie]

Or... this could be a horrible example of what you're suggesting people do... writing their own copy (but without having anyone edit it!).

I suspect that if people are going to write their own copy vs hiring a copywriter, they're NOT likely to hire an editor, either. (They're writing it themselves to save money and/or because they think they can write... hiring an editor wouldn't make sense to these dilusional souls.)

Personally, I think they'd have better results hiring a copywriter (a good one) right from that start, rather than trying to write it on their own, getting feedback that it sucks, and then hiring someone to "edit" (fix) it.

In an ideal world, people would write like they talk. (I've been trying to get people where I work to do that for a LONG time.) But when they go from talking to writing, it's like they become possessed by some frightening cross between a lawyer and an engineer, and they feel the need to "impress" people instead of simply communicate with them.

It's enough to give you nightmares. :-)

[Lena West]

Mary:

Absolutely!

I can't stress enough that it does NOT matter whether you can write or not. The world wouldn't have editors if everyone was an Ernest Hemingway for Pete's sake!

Write what you can and get help with the rest. As Marcus Buckingham would say: don't waste time trying to improve weaknesses.

As for the companies that are hired and then write this junk? I just don't know what to say for them. It's sad that some people are so desperate for a check that they produce business drivel and pass it off to an unsuspecting client as quality content. Ugh!

Thanks for commenting...

-Lena

[Mary Schmidt]

Lena,

Hear! Hear! And, it's okay if your writing sucks, if you can say why somebody should care - a professional marketer can do the rest.

I've worked with a number of clients who couldn't write well (to put it mildly) but they were great once you got them talking.

P.S. And shame on all those so-called marketing communications experts out there that take good money to write sucky, type by numbers copy!