What Is “Benefit-Focused” Web Copy?

In the world of copywriting (selling with words) we talk about benefits vs. features.

Here’s an example, Steve Jobs sold the iPod by describing it as “It’s 1000 songs in your pocket” vs. “it’s a piece of portable technology that plays music.”

The “1000 songs in your pocket” is more powerful because it sums up exactly what the technology does for you in seven short words.

Why does this matter to you?

When a visitor lands on your website, they have one question:

Do you have the solution to my problem?

Let’s look at an example. Which do you think is more effective?

A. Welcome! You’ve arrived at ABC real estate

B. Will your fire damage insurance cover a malfunctioning appliance fire?

The first is completely “me” focused rather than customer centric. It also has no language people use to find a realtor or a new home.

The second has research behind it and addresses a question.

Let’s look at the first.

“Welcome! You’ve arrived at ABC real estate.”

Yawn.

“Welcome” is the most overused and useless word on the Internet. The reason is because your visitor doesn’t care.

They’ve gone to Google with the intention of finding the solution to a problem.

To solve that problem they type their question into the search box.

“How to choose a realtor,” “How to choose a real estate agent” are just a couple of the terms that pop up when I start typing in the search box.

If you’re a real estate company looking for home buyers in the Philadelphia area, do you think you’ll get further with using “How to Choose a Realtor in the Philadelphia Area” Or, “Welcome…”

“How to Choose…” will get you further. You’ll see why in a moment.

Let’s look at the second option.

“Will your fire damage insurance cover a malfunctioning appliance fire?”

The second starts with research.

Use the words your customers use. Copyright: / 123RF Stock Photo

We uncover the fact that 38,882 people a month search for “fire damage.”

Also, from a conversation with the business owner (in this case, a public adjuster) I know the bulk of his business comes from small accidents such as a malfunctioning oven that melted the front of the kitchen cupboards.

That means, I want to talk about smaller types of home fires in the copy… Space heater fires for example rather than whole house fires.

So, we included a picture of a burned carpet caused by a space heater with larger text at the top of the page to capture the attention of the reader. We also use a term people search for — “fire damage.”

When you do this throughout your web copy, you show that you have the solution to your prospect’s problem. You use the language they’re already using which tells Google you have what they’re looking for.

Ideally, you use a benefit focused headline, copy and call to action on each page. Done well, your website gets more traffic and you make more sales but it takes planning.

Are you ready to plan your 2015 website refresh? You can get started with a 60 minute consultation where we dive into your overall marketing–what’s working and what’s not and layout a plan to get your website focused on benefits so it brings you floods of new customers.

What Is “Benefit-Focused” Web Copy?