Struggling to write your website copy? Feeling confused and overwhelmed because you don’t know where to start? I totally get it. When you don’t have a website copy strategy, even the simplest parts of writing website copy are stressful.
What do you say? How do you say it? And how the heck should you organize each page? If you’re asking yourself these questions or at a loss with your website copy, you’ll find relief (and answers!) in this article.
You Need Certain Website Copy Information Before Writing
One thing that makes your website copy strategy 1000x easier is having all the information you need on hand before you start, rather than coming up with it as you go.
If you were to hire a professional copywriter, they would ask you for specific information before writing a single word of your website copy. So, it only makes sense for you to do the same. And fortunately, you don’t need to be a professional copywriter or have any copywriting experience to gather and use this information.
In this post, I’m sharing 5 questions you must answer before writing a single letter of copy. You’ll save yourself time and major frustration when you go to write your copy if you have this information on hand.
Before we jump in: If you want the fastest route to writing your website copy, then get my website copywriting course. I’ve made it incredibly simple for you to write your website copy in as little as a weekend (seriously, I’ve practically written it for you). You’ll get a preparation questionnaire, and copy and paste templates for all the main pages of your website, plus some special bonuses. It covers everything in this post and SO much more.
Okay, now let’s get to the 5 pieces of information that will allow you to write better copy, faster.
1. Who Is Your Target Audience?
Your target audience is who you’re writing to on your website. You need to know them inside and out. Here are all the things you need to know:
What are their problems? (specifically the problems that you solve)
How do they talk? What words or phrases do they use to describe their problems?
What is in the way or keeping them from solving those problems?
What do they want out of life? What are their hopes and dreams?
Are they men or women?
What do they do for a living and how much do they earn?
How old are they?
Are they married or single, and do they have children?
You don’t need to have hyper-specific demographic answers to these questions, but you do need to know general answers and qualifying characteristics that put someone in your target audience or exclude them. For example, if you’re selling baby products, you’re targeting people with children and not people who don’t have children. If you’re offering a service specifically for lawyers, then you’re not targeting people who do other jobs for a living.
Where to Research Your Target Audience:
If you don’t know any of this about your target audience, my favorite way to learn this information is through reading reviews. You can read reviews on competitor products and services, or you can read reviews for products or services that your target audience is also likely to buy, but are not direct competitors.
For example, if you’re selling a versatile travel backpack, you could go on your competitor’s website or Amazon and read reviews of other travel backpacks. In the reviews, you want to keep an eye out for:
What customers love about the product
What they dislike or what could be improved
Why they bought it
How they’re going to use it
Any personal details that give you insight into their age, profession, income, education level, hobbies, etc.
If you’re selling services or information products and you can’t find detailed reviews from competitors, read reviews on Amazon for books on the subject of your offering. For example, if you’re an interior designer, read reviews on interior design books, or even interior design courses on sites like Udemy.
With target audience research, you’ll quickly learn what your clients value, what’s missing in the industry and how you can perfectly fill the gap and convince your prospects that you have what they want.
2. What’s the #1 Goal of Your Site?
Alright, this question should be really easy to answer. It’s basically the reason you created a website, which is to sell your services or products! It’s important to consciously identify the #1 goal of your site so you can keep it top of mind when writing website copy.
Is your #1 goal to sell a specific product or service? To book a call? Or is your #1 goal to get someone to subscribe to your email newsletter? Once you identify this, you can design a website and write copy that drives your target audience to take this action.
In addition to keeping a site-wide goal in mind, you’ll also want to know the goal of each page of your site.
3. How Will Your Visitor Accomplish That Goal?
Once you know your #1 goal, establish the steps it will take for your site visitor to accomplish that goal and how they’ll logistically go through those steps on your site.
For example, let’s say your #1 goal is to sell your life coaching services. What’s the process that will get someone to hire you? Do you start with a complimentary consultation call and get them to book once they’re on the phone? If that’s the case, then even though your #1 goal is to get hired, your site really needs to drive your target audience to book a call with you. That’s going to get you to your goal. See what I mean?
Once you’ve established the process, think about how it’s logistically going to work on your site. Will there be a calendar link they can book a slot on right on your site? Will they fill out a form and you’ll reach out to schedule a call? Figure this out ahead of time and creating your website will go much smoother.
If your goal is straightforward like getting someone to purchase a product right on your site, then maybe all you need to do is drive them to the product purchase page and provide compelling sales copy along the way. Basically what you’re doing is determining the sales funnel on your site.
4. What Are the Benefits of Your Product or Service?
No one knows your offering better than you, but one mistake many business owners make is focusing on the product features rather than the benefits. Why? Because your customers or clients don’t care about what your product or service can do, they only want to know what it can do for them or how it will benefit them.
And don’t worry, turning a feature info a benefit is really easy! Simply imagine the customer asking “So what?” or “Why does this matter?” about a feature to turn it into a benefit.
Let’s do an example. I’ll list the features of a high end reusable water bottle and convert them into benefits to the customer.
BPA-free plastic lid > So you can have peace of mind that drinking from this water bottle is healthy and safe
Durable steel construction > Meaning it will last for years and be resistant to dents when you drop it
See what I did there? I took a “technical” feature and turned it into something that actually means something to the person buying it.
This process is a bit more straightforward for products than it is for services, but it still applies. Here are questions you service providers out there can ask to give you tons of ideas of how your offering benefits your customers.
What does your product or service change in your customer’s life?
What happens to their problem or in their life, right after they buy your product or hire you?
What are the long-term positive effects of their purchase?
What will they say about your product or service after using it?
5. What Is Your Unique Selling Point (USP)?
There’s competition everywhere and you have to show exactly how you’re better to beat them. The way you do this is with your unique selling point. It’s what makes you different from your competitors (that they can’t replicate) and the exact reason someone will hire you or buy your products instead of a competitor’s.
Before you write your website copy you need to know:
Who your target audience is
The #1 goal of your site (and each page)
How visitors will accomplish that goal
The benefits of your product or service
Your unique selling point
I promise that taking the time to gather this information is worth it and will help you not only write your website copy, but also help you understand your business and customers better.
If you have any questions, feel free to send me an email! If you have any comments or thoughts to share, spill in the comment section!
And if you want to make the process of writing your website copy 10x easier and save valuable time, check out my website copywriting course. I made it specifically for freelancers and small business owners selling their services. It covers everything you need to write your home page, about page, contact page and services page in a flash.
If you’ve ever wondered what is the difference between copywriting and copyright, you came to the right place.
It’s the infamous copywriting question that always comes up.
When people ask me what I do for a living, so many assume that I work in the legal business when I tell them I’m a “copywriter”. Now, I just follow it up with “copywriting as in sales writing, not copyright as in giving legal license to intellectual property.”
So if you’re one of those people who didn’t know the difference until now, fret not because you are not even close to alone!
In fact, it doesn’t even make sense to say “copyrighter” because it’s not a word! Ok, rant aside…
Copywriting vs Copyright: What’s the Difference?
Copywriting and copyright are two totally different things.
The definition of copywriting is the profession of writing sales copy done by a person called a copywriter. Of course, people who are not exclusively copywriters can write copy, too—in fact, I encourage it! 😃
Examples of copywriting include text and design on advertisements, product descriptions, headlines, email subject lines, sales pages, mailer brochures, some articles and much much more.
Copyright laws protect writing, songs or musical works, movies, architecture and computer software to name a few things.
Copyright laws do not protect facts, ideas, domain names, names, slogans, or titles.
Conclusion
There you have it, folks.
When someone says they work as a copywriter, you can be confident they mean they write sales copy for a living. If someone says they work for the U.S. Copyright Office, they are likely in the business of granting copyright protection.
Do you have any funny stories about mixing up the meaning of copywriting? Let me hear ’em in the comments!
The short answer is “writing with the goal of selling”.
The Google answer from Oxford Language will tell you that copywriting is “the activity or occupation of writing the text of advertisements or publicity material”.
The famous answer coined by copywriter John E. Kennedy in 1904 is “salesmanship in print”.
I’m here to tell you that it’s so much more.
In this article, I’m going to share a simple definition of copywriting, as well as go over some of the thought processes behind it and common examples.
But first things first: if you want to learn the basics of copywriting, grab my free guide to get started immediately!👇🏼
Download the guide to learn 5 basics of copywriting.
You'll also receive my newsletter and other copywriting trainings.
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Now, on to the good-er stuff.
Why You Need to Understand What Copywriting Is
Copywriting gives you the power to turn any piece of text into a money-making machine.
Here’s a high-level example:
Effective copy in social media posts or ads will drive people to your website. Effective calls-to-action on your website will grow your email list. And effective email subject lines and email copy will create engaged customers that buy your products again and again!
It doesn’t always go in that order, but that’s a very simple explanation of how understanding how to write copy that appeals to your target audience quickly snowballs into a streamlined business model with consistent growth.
You already know a lot more about copywriting than you realize. Billboards, Facebook Ads, Instagram captions, magazine covers, product labels, emails, websites—the list goes on! Basically anywhere you see an advertisement, it’s copywriting.
So, whether you want to learn how to be a copywriter, are looking for jobs in copywriting or are looking to hire a copywriter, you need to understand what copywriting is so you can spot effective copy when you write it yourself or pay for it.
When someone asks me “what does copywriting mean?” this is what I tell them:
When someone refers to the “copy” on a page they’re referring to the text. But copy is more than any old text you read online, it’s a specific kind of text!
Copy is text that’s written with the goal of getting someone to take an action, like subscribing to your newsletter or buying your product. Effective copywriting gets people to take an action by appealing to their [often deepest] desires.
If you’re selling weight loss pills, for example, you would sell the desires behind wanting to lose weight and the outcomes of losing weight.
Think:
Feeling confident in a bikini on your beach vacation
Loving your reflection instead of dreading passing a mirror
Getting positive attention from the opposite sex
Looking great in a certain style clothing
Having the energy to keep up with your kids
You need to get inside the reader’s head and show them that you know what they’re going through and what they want the most.
Is the Definition of Copywriting the Same as Content Writing?
It’s also important to know that copywriting is different from content writing. Unlike copywriting, content writing is words written to inform, inspire or entertain with no specific action as the end goal. Think blogs, long-form articles and website content.
Copywriting technically falls under content writing because it’s a type of content, but not all content writing is copywriting because not all content has the purpose of getting someone to take an action.
Ok…But What Is Copywriting, Really?
I’ve given you a few definitions of copywriting. Now, here are a few emotional examples that you can probably relate to.
Copywriting is the ad you see that describes your problem better than you could—and points you to a solution.
It’s the killer email subject line that you can’t resist opening, even though you’ve been meaning to unsubscribe from that newsletter for weeks.
Or the phrase you read on a website that makes you immediately like the brand and feel like you know the people behind it.
And it’s the 8-page sales page you can’t stop reading because it perfectly describes everything you’re going through and calls out your deepest desires, even though you totally know it’s a salesy sales letter and there’s an outrageously expensive offer at the end.
What Makes Good Copywriting?
And by “good”, I mean effective.
The difference between effective copy and crappy copy is the emotional response it creates in the reader. You want your copy to appeal to your target audience’s deepest desires. That way, they feel something when they read your copy and take the necessary action to follow through.
When you’re selling a “proven day-trading formula to increase your income by $100k per year”, it’s much more effective to relate to the reader by pointing out their current pain points and desires backed by emotion, than it is to just talk about $100k and how it can buy them a new BMW.
“Wouldn’t it be nice to finally take your family on a vacation?”
“Imagine having the funds to get ALL your home renovation projects done, AND THEN SOME. Heck, you could pay off your house.” “Picture your kids playing in a brand new pool that you paid for in CASH.”
“No more tracking the cost of each item at the grocery store to make sure you have enough or living paycheck to paycheck…”
What Are Examples of Copywriting?
Copywriting comes in many forms—as many forms as there’s space for words on this planet! The most common examples of copywriting that you’ll run into online are
Headlines (aka blog titles, email subject lines, ad headlines)
Emails
Social Media Posts
Ads
Sales Letters
Website Copy
Landing Pages
Video Scripts
Product Descriptions
While all types of copywriting follow the same basic principles, there are a few specialties or niches that copywriters brand themselves with nowadays. Some copywriters break down their specialty to what they work on, like “Email Copywriter” or “Website Copywriter”, while others focus on a broader area of expertise, like Brand Copywriting or Direct Response Copywriting.
What Does Copywriter Do All Day?
Mainly research and procrastinate. Not much writing at all, actually. That is…if they’re one of the good ones.
Research is actually why I love working as a copywriter. I get to learn about products and industries I’d never be interested in otherwise. My favorite part of research for copywriting is doing audience research and learning what makes different target audiences tick (aka buy 😉). A ton of psychology goes into marketing and copywriting is no exception.
Step 2: Write
The second step of copywriting is pulling together all your research notes into an outline (for long-form work) or an idea bank you can begin working from.
This step is really messy. Every writer does it somewhat differently, but the goal is to put words on the damn page. My proficiency with this is directly related to how close the deadline is. 😜
For me, this is the most challenging step. The copy is not even close to the final result in this stage, but once I get the bulk of my ideas down in an organized framework, it feels like the hard part is over.
Eugene Schwartz is right. The copy itself is important, but the way it’s organized is equally as important.
The final hours, days or weeks of a project are spent rewriting and rearranging. Sometimes you get lucky and the final piece is pretty in line with your first draft, structurally. Other times, as you rewrite and rearrange, the entire piece, or at least major sections, has to be re-written because it no longer makes sense.
Step 4: Revisions
Once you have something you consider your “final draft”, it goes to your team, client, and/or copy editor for editing and revisions.
This step is crucial because you get feedback on all parts of your copy and learn what is confusing, what can be improved and what can be corrected. Revisions and edits range from picking up grammatical errors and correcting stats to overhauling the entire positioning of the project.
However, proper communication with your team throughout the project, research and drafts helps avoid the latter.
Step 5: Working With a Designer
You won’t work with a designer on every single copywriting project, but you will on most. This is where your copy gets put into its final home, like a banner ad, Facebook ad, sales page or product page, to name a few.
Working with a designer can go a few ways. They might have a design that you write copy to fit into or vice versa, they might create the design around your copy. Sometimes, you’ll collaborate along the way.
As the copywriter, you want to leave the design to the designer. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give your ideas for a project! In fact, giving the designer your vision or ideas for a piece of copy helps them get started on the creative process!
Step 6: The Fun Begins!
Eventually, (hopefully sooner than later) you have the final product. This is where the real fun happens.
You get to see your research and ideas performing (or not) out in the real world!
What Skills Do You Need to Be a Copywriter?
Now that you fully understand what copywriting is, you’re probably wondering what skills you need to be a copywriter. I’m going to go over the high-level skills you need for the many jobs in copywriting, including both freelance and agency work.
Basic Understanding of Marketing & Advertising because copywriting is selling and you have to understand what makes people buy in order to sell to them. Fortunately, anyone can learn the basics of marketing—so don’t let this hold you back!
Research because, as I mentioned above, one of the most important skills you need as a copywriter is the ability to research. Again, this is great news for everyone because research skills can be learned.
Endless Curiosity because copywriting requires constant learning. It’s one of those fields where you can always improve with neverending challenges. This is also what makes copywriting so fun!
Grit because any time you’re learning something new, doubt and imposter syndrome creep in and make you feel like giving up.
Patience because every project presents its own challenges and as a new copywriter, it takes time to see results and improvement.
How to Become a Copywriter
Now, I can only imagine that after learning so much about the definition of copywriting, you’re so intrigued you want to become one. Well, I have good news and bad news.
The good news is that learning copywriting is pretty much the same as learning anything. The bad news is that that means it takes tons of practice and patience.
Start by reading books about copywriting by the greats and taking online copywriting courses.
Create a swipe file so you get in the habit of looking for effective copywriting in your daily life. (I like to use Evernote for my swipe file—it’s free!)
Practice copywriting by mimicking the copy in your swipe file. For example, when you see a great ad or headline, try recreating it for a different product or brand. The only way to improve your copywriting skill is to write copy!
Build a portfolio of spec ads. (Spec ads are fake ads or copywriting projects that you think of and create yourself for practice and to build a portfolio that shows off your ability even though you haven’t been hired for any paid projects yet. You can create spec ads for real or fake products and brands, but a spec ad must always be labeled “Spec Ad”. Pro tip: Put a ton of work into your spec ad portfolio so it’s as convincing as a paid-work portfolio because this is how your first clients will decide if you’re worth hiring.)
Create a portfolio website and start marketing your copywriting services to everyone you know! Do your first projects for friends and family, or at low rates so you can build your portfolio quickly. You can increase your rates as your copywriting skills and portfolio improve.
Voila! Before you know it, you’re a professional copywriter with a real portfolio to back up your skills.
Conclusion
Now that you know the definition of copywriting, you’re ready to move on to learning copywriting yourself. That’s where my guide on the basics of copywriting comes in. You can download it now!
Download the guide to learn 5 basics of copywriting.
You'll also receive my newsletter and other copywriting trainings.
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How you do define copywriting? How has copywriting been defined to you before? Was my explanation different than what you’ve learned before?
Because if your customers don’t immediately know you’re better than the competition, they’re going elsewhere.
So what is a USP? It’s the Unique Selling Point, Unique Selling Proposition (USP) or Unique Value Proposition (UVP). It’s the quickest way to get your value across to your customers. Aka the elevator speech of online businesses.
So whether you’re a solopreneur writing your own website copy, a new copywriter or anyone in marketing, this post helps you write a crystal-clear unique selling proposition without stress and confusion.
What Is a USP?
Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is what makes your product better than the competition for your target audience.
In other words, your USP is the reason the customer goes with you instead of your competitors. It’s the one feature (or sometimes combo of features) that are unique to your product or service.
Maybe it’s a unique feature your product has that no competitor has thought of. Or it’s something you do way better than your competition. It might even be the reason you started your business! You saw a need no one was filling and decided to fill it yourself.
Why Your USP Is Important
A strong USP makes you stand out from your competitors and unforgettable in the minds of your target audience!
You want it to be clear, specific, compelling and memorable so it immediately grabs your target audience’s attention and sticks in their mind long after they’ve read it.
But here’s the thing: you don’t need to attract everyone out there with your USP. You just need to attract your ideal customers that like what you’ve got more than they like your competitors.
What Businesses Need to Use a Unique Selling Proposition?
Every business needs to advertise their USP, but if your business is in a heavily saturated niche, it’s especially important to nail it.
Let me give you an example. If Bob’s Bushcraft is the only business offering bushcraft classes in San Diego, it’s a lot easier to stand out because it’s the only option for anyone searching “bushcraft classes San Diego”. Bob isn’t really sweating his USP (at least not until there’s competition).
But if 4 other bushcraft businesses open up in San Diego, Bob has a problem. He now needs to differentiate his business from all the others so his ideal customers find him. Because it’s unlikely he’s the perfect fit for every bushcraft enthusiast. Some people may like Betty’s Bushcraft classes more because she’s vegan and incorporates everyone’s horoscope into the lessons (see how I just snuck Betty’s USP in there?).
So Bob needs to identify what he’s really good at and also what types of customers he wants to choose his business over all the others. Bob starts asking questions, reading reviews from his previous customers and listing off everything he does really well in his business. He determines that his happiest clients were families with young children, and those also happened to be his best experiences because he has a large family and loves kids. Bob goes ahead and rewrites his marketing materials with his new USP:
Bob’s Bushcraft | The Top Choice for Families Looking to Learn Bushcraft Together (Kids Welcome!!)
Or a shortened, catchier version: Bob’s Bushcraft: Where families learn bushcraft.
How to Identify Your USP
Are you better, faster, cheaper or stronger? Do you offer better customer service? Impressive guarantees? Do you allow returns?
The level of difficulty for writing your USP comes down to how well you know 3 things:
Your industry (the competitive landscape),
your product/service
and your customer.
Answering the questions below for your product or service will help you better understand those 3 things and identify your USP.
Get to Know the Competitive Landscape Questions:
What do my top 3 competitors do really well?
How am I different from my competitors? / How is my product different than alternatives to my product?
What is currently missing from the industry that I can offer?
What do customers dislike about my competitors that I can capitalize on? (read their reviews if possible)
What do customers love about my competitors that I can do even better? (read their reviews if possible)
Get to Know Your Product or Service Questions:
What is my business/product really good at? (If you are your business it could be something you personally do really well or have a background in. Something that sets you apart or makes you an expert.)
What do I want my product or service to be known for?
What do I offer or what can I (reasonably) offer that goes above and beyond my competitors?
Get to Know Your Customer Questions:
What are my customers’ problems? (aka what problems does your product solve?)
What questions do my customers ask?
What is standing in the way of my target audience buying my products/services? (doubt, fear, money, missing information, etc)
What do my current customers already love about my products/services?
Once you answer these questions, you should have a good idea of the 1 feature or combination of features that makes your business unique and more desirable to your target audience.
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Unique Selling Proposition Templates
Your USP needs to separate you from your competitors, accurately convey what your product or service is and does well, and do it all in a way that is irresistible to your target audience.
Unique Selling Proposition Template #1
Brand Name | [What your product or service is] for [target audience] that want [target audience desire] [how you do it differently]
Bob’s Bushcraft | [Bushcraft Classes] for [Families] That Want [to Learn Bushcraft Together (Kids Welcome!!!)]
Swell Copy | Copywriting Courses for Entrepreneurs That Want to Write Their Own Copy Without Getting Stressed or Overwhelmed
Sharp Look | The Electric Razor for Gentlemen That Want a Bump-Free Shave in 3 Minutes
Unique Selling Proposition Template #2
[Business Name] | The Top Choice for [ideal audience] looking to [verb] [product/service offering and USP]
Bob’s Bushcraft | The Top Choice for [Families With Small Children] Looking to [Learn] Bushcraft Together
Swell Copy | The Top Choice for Entrepreneurs Looking to Write Copy That Sells Without the Stress or Confusion
Sharp Look | The Top Choice for Working Men That Need a Smooth Shave in Under 3 Minutes
Unique Selling Proposition Template #3
We [solve a problem] with/without [unique benefit].
(Bob’s Bushcraft) We teach bushcraft classes to families in a way that’s fun for every age.
(Swell Copy) We teach you how to write copy for your business with plenty of examples so you’re never overwhelmed or confused.
(Sharp Look) Our electric razor gives you a smooth, bump-free shave without taking 30 minutes of your morning.
Unique Selling Proposition Template #4
What product/service is + what I’m really good at + what my customers want.
Bushcraft Classes That Are a Blast for All Ages (really good with kids and customers want it to be fun for the whole family)
Copywriting Courses that teach beginners step-by-step copywriting tactics they can implement immediately.
The Electric Razor That Gives You the Smoothest Shave in Under 3 Minutes
Examples of Value Propositions
Once you figure out your USP, you’ll repurpose it and use it in a million different ways throughout your marketing, so the templates are really only useful for narrowing down the idea and giving you a format to get started. As you’ll see below, USPs come in all shapes and sizes!
Warby Parker: “Try 5 frames at home for free”
TOMS Shoes: “One for one.” Or the longer version: “With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need.”
Costco: “low warehouse prices on name-brands products”
GEICO: “Save 15% or more on car insurance” – What is it? Car insurance! How are they different than other car insurance companies? They’ll save me money! How much much? 15% or more!
Valvoline Instant Oil Change: “Open to serve you with drive-thru, stay-in-your-car oil changes”
How to Use Your USP
A clear Unique Selling Point reminds both you and your customer why you matter. It also serves as a guide for the rest of your marketing strategy.
You want your USP front and center on your home page and reiterated throughout your website, emails and ads. It’s what you lead with whenever you’re speaking to potential customers that are researching their options. If they are in your target audience, your USP should tell them that you’re the right choice for them immediately.
What Is a USP Key Takeaways
What is a USP? Unique Sell Point, Unique Selling Proposition (USP) or Unique Value Proposition (UVP). It’s what makes your product better than the competition for your target audience.
Why is it important? It makes you stand out from your competitors and unforgettable in the minds of your target audience.
Where to use your USP? Use your USP across all your marketing materials. On your home page, about page, ads and emails.
Questions to ask to discover your USP?
What do you do really well?
What makes your product or service different from other options (competitors)?
What problems do you solve for your ideal customer?
What do you want to be known for?
What do your customers already love about your product?
USP Templates
1. Brand Name | [What your product or service is] for [target audience] that want [target audience desire] [how you do it differently]
2. [Business Name] | The Top Choice for [ideal audience] looking to [verb] [product/service offering and USP]
3. We [solve a problem] with/without [unique benefit].
4. What product/service is + what I’m really good at + what my customers want.
DISCLOSURE: Affiliate links in this post. I may get a commission if you make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my Terms of Use Policy for more info.
You’re here either because:
A: You want to learn how to write copy that sells. B: You already write copy and want to get better. C: You’re writing a blog on the best books about copywriting.
Either way, you came to the right place!
This list on the best books about copywriting has a little of everything, including books from the copywriting greats and Amazon bestsellers. These are the books that professional copywriters read again and again to rethink the way they approach copywriting.
So read on.
If You’re Learning How to Write Copy…
Take it step by step!
Delving into copywriting can quickly become overwhelming if you try to consume every copywriting blog, course and book you can get your hands on.
I strongly recommend you read one book at a time and taking time to take notes or really digest what you’re learning. Then, put your learnings to the test as soon as possible before moving on to another resource.
These books aren’t a quick fix or overnight solution to writing copy for your website. They are however reads that will reshape how you view copywriting and advertising as a whole. Plus, you get to learn copywriting from the pros for free with the PDF books available!
In the words of Jim Edwards, “Commit to getting good at it. Then do it and practice it. Before you can be great you have to be good. Before you can be good you have to be bad. Before you can be bad, you have to try.”
13 Best Books About Copywriting
Before I go on, a word: if your goal is to become a professional copywriter, these books are a great start. But the fastest way to become a copywriter (and the route I used) starts with this free training video.
10 Reasons Why People Buy From Copywriting Secrets
Chapter 3 will help you come up with tons of different ways your product benefits the customer. Edwards outlines the “10 reasons why people buy” and 10 accompanying questions you can ask to get to the most powerful value proposition for your product or service.
The following questions are taken directly from the book Copywriting Secrets:
Make Money: What are 5 ways my product/service will help them make money?
Save Money: How can I or my product/service help them save money over the next week, month or year?
Save Time: How much time can I save them and what else could they do with that time?
Avoid Effort: What is something they don’t have to do anymore once they get my product/service?
Escape Mental or Physical Pain: What physical pain do I eliminate for them & what does that mean for their life or business? How does my product/service eliminate mental pain or worry for them?
Get More Comfort: What are 3 ways I or my product can help them feel more comfortable?
Achieve Greater Cleanliness/Hygiene or Attain Better Health: How does my product/service make it easier for them to achieve greater cleanliness or hygiene? How does my product/service help them feel more healthy or more alive?
Gain Praise: What are 3 ways my product/service is going to help them be the envy or their friends?
Feel More Loved: What are 3 ways my product/service is going to help them feel more loved by their family?
Increase Popularity/Social Status: How will buying my product/service make them feel more popular and increase their social status?
Edwards recommends you try to answer each question as many times and in as many ways as you can to come up with endless value propositions for your sales copy.
I absolutely loved reading this book. Byron Perdue is a British guy with tons of wit.
One of my favorite parts of Brilliant Copywriting is the interviews with experienced copywriters from large companies, like Innocent. Each interview gives you amazing insight into how each copywriter thinks and you get many creative writing tips, like how to defeat writers block.
“Brilliant copywriting is about improvement by inches, not great leaps forward.” – Byron Perdue
Words That Sell is a reference book full of lists of powerful phrases for selling your products. It’s the kind of book you want to keep handy on your desk so it’s always accessible when you’re writing.
It starts with instructions on how to use the book and a little “crashcourse on copywriting” then you’re left with pages and pages of copy you can use word-for-word on your own offers!
Web Copy That Sells is practical, direct and relevant for anyone selling online.
In the first chapter, Veloso mentions a copywriting tactic you’ve probably heard of (or will soon).
The tactic is copying successful ads and sales pages, by hand, until you internalize the method and mindset. In the section “How to Become a Great Web Copywriter in Five Hours or Less”, she recommends you copy the sales page on MagicWordsThatMakeYouRich.com .
So, what’re you waiting for? Grab your notepad and start copying!
Eugene Schwartz is one of the most famous copywriters of the last century, with his most notable years in advertising during the 1950s and 1960s. He’s the guy who came up with the 5 stages of awareness, a tactic that every marketer on earth uses today when describing their target audience.
The 5 Stages of Awareness:
Unaware: The prospect doesn’t know they have a problem.
Problem Aware: The prospect knows they have a problem but don’t know how to fix it.
Solution Aware: The prospect knows the solutions available to them, but they haven’t found your solution yet.
Product Aware: The prospect is aware of your solution, but isn’t totally convinced it’s right for them.
Most Aware: The prospect knows all about your product and what it costs, and is ready to make a purchase.
Claude Hopkins was a no nonsense kind of guy. His book (like many on this list) may seem really old, but I can guarantee that the principles in it are just as effective today as they were back then. Hopkins talks purely about sales and advertising, which is exactly what copywriting is.
My favorite part about this book is the example of all the old ads he includes.
The Adweek Copywriting Handbook by Joseph Sugarman
“Every product has a unique personality and it is your job to find it.” – Joe Sugarman
Joseph Sugarman is an advertising legend. He’s known for many online copywriting tactics, but one that is especially popular (and important) is the idea that the goal of the headline is to get the reader to read the first sentence. And the goal of the first sentence is to get the reader to read the second sentence and, so on.
Sugarman also recommended making the first sentence of your copy very short. That way, the reader can’t help but move on to the second. 😉
In the words of the Amazon reviewer ‘dg’, “If this book is the only place you learn about copy in your life, but you master all the principles, you will be an amazing copywriter.”
Fun fact: Gary Halbert wrote the Boron letters while in prison at Boron Federal Prison Camp for mail fraud. He wrote the 25 letters to his son Bond to pass on his wisdom on life and advertising. I haven’t read all the Boron Letters myself, but it’s helpful to know the context of where and how they were written otherwise you’ll wonder “uh, where is this going?”.
Kennedy is credited with defining copywriting most accurately as “salesmanship in print”. The story of how John E. Kennedy got into advertising is something right out of a movie. You can read the full story in the opening of this PDF from Andy Owen Copy and Creative.
Many copywriters learn a ton from this book and highly recommend it. For me, it wasn’t that revolutionary. I was expecting a book that teaches you ‘reason why’ copywriting and this book doesn’t teach you it. Instead, Kennedy makes a case for ‘reason why’ copywriting with impressive stats and examples that show it’s 3x more effective than other forms of “advertising”.
The 16-Word Sales Letter gives you step-by-step instructions for writing powerful sales letters that convert even the most hesitant customer. My favorite part about this formula is “getting the reader to believe in the one belief”. You fill in this formula for your offering and it helps determine your ultimate goal.
Here’s the formula: “This new opportunity is the key to their desire and it’s only attainable through my new mechanism”.
Then, he gives amazing examples of this formula in action, like this P90-X example:
“Avoiding the plateau effect (new opportunity) is the key to building muscle (desire) and it’s attainable only through the P90-X “muscle confusion”system (new mechanism)”.
You can send the books with PDF links to your Kindle in just a few clicks!
Download the book PDF to your computer.
Go to “My Account” in your Kindle Settings and get your Send-to-Kindle email address.
Open your email and create a new draft addressed to your Kindle email address.
Make the subject line ‘Convert’ and attach the PDF download to the email.
Hit send! It will be sent right to your Kindle Library for you to read.
How to Choose the Best Books About Copywriting
There are tons of copywriting books out there, and some are definitely better than others.
Before you waste your money on a copywriting book, read the review on Amazon. You can get a really good idea of what you’re going to learn from a book by seeing what others have to say. And if you have a Kindle, send a sample to it so you can preview the book before buying!
If you’re not ready to pay a copywriter, either because:
1. You don’t have the money
2. You’re not sold on the value a professional copywriter will bring you
3. Or, the copywriters that you’ve interacted with charge SO MUCH money and you’re really not ready to commit that amount
I totally understand.
Finding a copywriter, to me, is almost like sifting through “We Promise You’ll Make 100 Million Dollars” promotions that you see advertised on FB and in your mail.
How to Write Copy Like a Copywriter
If you’re not ready to pay for a copywriter, you can try writing copy yourself. It’s going to take more of your time but you can greatly benefit from a few basic copywriting principles that you don’t have to be an expert copywriter to master.
Can Anyone Learn Copywriting? Even If They Aren’t a Good Writer?
Pump the breaks right there. I know you’re likely thinking “but I’m not a good writer” or I don’t have any writing experience – and the answer is: it doesn’t matter.
ANYONE can learn to write effective copywriting, because copywriting is like a science—it’s formulaic. Unlike novels or stories that require writing skills—or even writing gifts—copywriting just requires learning how to think like a copywriter, the fundamental copywriting methods and then lots of practice and trial and error.
Reading books about copywriting is a great place to start. Or, you can jump right in with copywriting formulas!
Once you start seeing what performs (e.g. gets you sales or subscribers or the desired action), you can replicate that.
These are two popular copywriting formulas that you can use to write your emails, your homepage or your sales letters!
Powerful but Simple Copywriting Formulas
Copywriting formulas are the tried and true techniques for writing powerful copy that converts. Sure, some execute the formula better than others, but they give you a framework when all you can think is “WHERE DO I START?!”
One of them is PAS: Problem, Agitation, Solution
PAS helps you get inside your reader’s head and makes them feel understood.
When you identify their problem, they think, “Wow, XYZ really gets it.” Then, when you agitate that problem using real-life examples your reader has experienced, it stirs up the feelings (likely negative) associated with the problem and increases their desire to solve it. Now, your reader is just dying to find a way out. You can swoop in a save the day with your solution to their problem. Let’s see an example for an imaginary electric razor company called Sharp Look:
Problem: When was the last time you had a really good shave? You know, one that didn’t take forever and leave you with nicks and bumps, or make you late for work?
Agitation: A bad shave can leave you feeling incompetent before you’re even out the door. It makes you feel like an amateur at work with little shaving cuts, or worse, you don’t shave at all and risk looking unprofessional.
Solution: If this happens to you regularly, you need to know about our new Sharp Look Electric Razor. In less than 2 minutes, it gives you a perfect shave with zero bumps or cuts. And the best part? You don’t need water or shaving cream.
Stop tolerating shaving. Start looking forward to it.
And the other is AIDA: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action
AIDA moves customers from the very beginning “awareness stage” to taking action, or the “conversion stage”. You have to truly understand the buyer to make AIDA work. Basically, if you are successful in each stage of AIDA, the reader will keep reading until they get to the final stage, Action.
Attention: Expertly shave your entire face in 2 minutes.
Interest: The average man spends 45 days of his life shaving.
But not you. You don’t have time for shaving.
You need to go to work, chop wood, heck maybe even hunt for your next meal.
Desire: That’s why we’ve created the Sharp Look Electric Razor that gives the fastest, closest shave legally allowed. Scary? Yes. Scarily efficient.
The Sharp Look’s 9 stainless steel blades and 10rpm motor keep you looking devilishly handsome, without the typical hassle that comes with shaving.
Action: Get a shave that’s man enough for you. Get a Sharp Look Electric Razor.
If Nothing Else, Leave With This
The one key takeaway I can tell you if you don’t want to hire a copywriter and you just want to try copywriting yourself is: write like you speak.
A great place to start that is literally recording yourself.
Sit down, get out your phone, find your recorder app or whatever it is. Tap the record button, but before you tap it, ask yourself the question you’re about to write for. For example:
When I’m writing my homepage, I need to tell people what I do. So I literally ask myself:
“Tara, what does Swell Copy do? What is Swell Copy?”
And then I hit record and I start talking about it as if I am answering the question for a friend or colleague.
The whole goal of this is to write like you speak. So do that for yourself, then listen to that recording and write down word-for-word what you’re saying (of course you can polish it up later) and it will convey YOU throughout the message. People want to feel like they are talking to a person, like they are talking to you.
Welcome to the World of Copywriting!
If you have any questions, email me at tara@swellcopy.com.
Hey there! I’m Tara.
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