Tips on Good Ecommerce Copywriting

Engaging copy is the key to ecommerce success. Driving traffic to your site with effective SEO, grabbing your client's attention with dynamite headlines and then keeping them enthralled with captivating copy will encourage them to stay a while and explore your website or buy your products. Merely disseminating facts is no way to treat a new client. You have to give your copy a voice, a personality, a sense of humour while conveying all the information they need to convince them to click the 'Add to Cart' button.

1. Know your readers: market research will help you to clearly define your target audience.

2. Use language, voice and vocabulary that your target audience can relate to. If you are new at writing, pick an audience that you can relate to until you have the confidence to try your hand at other demographics. Discuss topics or information that they will find relevant and 

3. Decide on which SEO keywords you will use in the article. Keywords (and the frequency with which they are used) help search engines determine your article's relevance to the reader's search criteria. To find keywords most related to your topic or website, use Google's keyword tool.

4. Headlines, subheadings and photo captions are key. These are what people scan when they are giving your article the 'once over' to decide if it's worth reading. Choose headlines that are catchy and direct; something that makes them simply have to read on.

5. Use direct language and keep it short. Don't use 'one' or 'people', use 'you' to engage your target audience.

6. Write in active voice. Passive phrases like: "Information packs will be sent once the form has been completed" are boring when compared to the more dynamic: "Fill in the form and get your information pack today."

7. Get the results you want by clearly stating your intentions and giving your readers actionable tasks e.g. Fill in the form, or "Like" us on Facebook.

8. Integrate links smoothly, so that there is no break in the text. For example; "Shopify is a great site where you can create your own ecommerce store"  is much better than "Shopify is a great site where you can create your own ecommerce store, see their site here: http://www.shopify.com/?branded=yes&utm_nooverride=1&gclid=CKCI6d7VyK0CFSwBQAodrBGIfw"

9. Proofread it. And then proofread it again. Grammatical or spelling errors do not inspire confidence and, when you are asking people to trust you with their credit card details, you need all the confidence you can muster. If grammar is not your strong suite, hire someone to proofread for you.

Now that you have all your ducks in a row, you must check your web stats to make sure your message is getting through. If your bounce rate is high, improve your content. No visitors to your site? Use SEO to make yourself more visible on the web. Find what resonates with your target audience and adapt your style and content accordingly.