What I’m about to say will sound obvious, but there’s a bit more to it than you may think: when it comes to web copy, the most important thing is clarity.
In other words, you must make sure what you’re saying is crystal clear to your reader.
All too often, we get too clever with words for our own good, use jargon, or simply forget our audience doesn’t know as much as we do.
When you're too close to your own stuff, what's obvious to you is never obvious to others.
But if someone doesn't get what you're saying instantly - they'll bounce.
I had a major face-palm moment with this recently while updating my homepage copy.
As an agency or service provider, you know that your homepage must spell out your value proposition—what you do, who you do it for, and what outcome you give them.
I thought I’d nailed this with mine, but I wanted to validate it with a quick 5-second test on the Lyssna usability testing platform.
This test is simple and cheap. I paid about £50 and had results within 30-minutes.
The idea is that you show your homepage to people for five seconds and ask them what it’s about. If it’s clear, they should be able to answer correctly, and you’ll know you’ve hit the mark.
I’ve uploaded a video above and pasted a short tutorial below if you want to try this.
I highly recommend you do, and here’s why.
I had 50 people look at a screenshot of my headline, and although almost everyone knew what Inkspiller was about, not one could say who this site was aimed at.
Was my copy too clever? Had I used too much jargon? Were they just not my target audience?
None of the above.
I’m almost embarrassed to share this but I had actually deleted the words ‘for your agency’ from the headline.
I had included it in a previous version, so my brain told me it was still there.
Talk about a blindspot.
It was yet another reminder of how hard it is to write about the things you’re closest to. Even when you write for a living!
On the one hand, it was an inexpensive way to validate and improve my copy… on the other, it was quite an expensive bit of proofreading.
Here’s how to run a 5-minute copy validation test
Set up the test:
- Go to Lyssna.com and select a 5-second test
- Use a screenshot of the copy, or a URL
Build the test:
- Click on all devices for the test
- Use the standard welcome screen
Ask two questions
- What is this webpage about?
- Who is this webpage for?
Recruit testers
- You can recruit from their panel for a general audience
- You can pay more to set more filters and target ideal clients
- You can also invite past clients or colleagues to test if desired
Review results
- Analyse responses - ideally, the majority will answer right
- Tweak your copy as needed
If you try this, let me know, and I'm very happy to proofread for you beforehand if you need it!
