Marketing copy, or promotional text, is crafted to persuade the reader, listener or viewer to act — for example, to buy a product or subscribe to a certain viewpoint. Alternatively, copy might also be intended to dissuade a reader.

Copywriting is basically the the process of using words to promote a person, product, opinion or idea. It’s all around us, on the web, in magazines, on the TV. It’s everywhere. When done properly, copy will address a readers queries, alert their interests and then provide a ‘call-to-action’. Freelancers often choose to write their own portfolio copy, which is fine, providing you follow certain conventions and take your time over it. But the amount of sites out there with a brilliant design, that’s obviously had a lot of time spent on it, only to have below standard copy are too many to count. Clients do want to see your design skills, but at the end of the day they don’t read the design, do they? Design should deliver information in an effective way. Copy should be the message that is delivered. The important stuff. So, today, we’ll look at 5 key points to address to help convert a curious visitor into a paying client. This post is not about how to write copy, for that you should pick up a book like “How to Write Great Web Copy” by Rockable Press.

Skills

Matias Gallipoli offers up his skills prominently

First up in our no-particular order list is skills. You need to demonstrate you have skills. A client wants to know you have the ability to cope with the project’s various technical demands, because this is something they don’t want to deal with. So make sure to list your specific skills. Consider doing this on portfolio page, under each relevant sample of work. For example, PHP Developers could write a short list like:

• Use of MVC PHP Framework
• Following OOP programming concepts
• PHP 5
• Custom-built CMS

You get the idea. The amount of detail you go into depends on your audience. You’ll need to do a little research into the type of people who are checking you out online. Is it clued-up IT Directors? Or ‘moms-and-pops’ start-ups who only just know how to use the PC they were bought last Christmas. How can you find this information out? Checking your logs, via Google Analytics for a start. Find out how people find you, or more explicitly, the keywords they use when searching you out. An I.T Director knows what he wants and he knows all the lingo. He’d probably search for ‘PHP Developer, Missouri” or “OOP PHP Development, Texas“.  The lay-person might search depending on what they are looking to have made “Web site maker, Rhode Island“, “Shopping Cart Builder“. Extreme examples but you’ll know based upon the people contacting you, who your clients are. In the above mentioned example, you may decide to the use more non-techie friendly language, or mix them both together to cater for multiple audiences:

Use of MVC PHP Framework. MVC is a way of build organized, fast and efficient websites.

Following OOP programming concepts, OOP stands for Object Orientated Programming and this makes your website….

PHP 5 – PHP is a powerful, popular language, that is well supported by developers everywhere.

Custom-built CMS, a Content Management system allows you to…

You may have noticed that in this case, the explanation always conveys a benefit for the user, the reader. This is a great technique to use, because it’s subtle and means you can turn your skills into a selling point – and yet be understood by everyone at the same time.

Displaying your skills is a great idea, because it shows you know your stuff. But that’s no good if people can’t find your contact details!

(Prominent) Contact methods

Justin Edelson offers up his contact details on the homepage of his site.

Have you ever tried to sell a car or large household item via a Local paper or similar? There’s a certain convention of elements to include in your ad. A title, an honest description, a price and, contact details! Would you ever write something like this:

1999 Land Rover Defender in white, wonderful truck, low mileage at 55,000 miles, 2.5 TD5 engine, very clean and sound. Asking $10k.

Not a chance! There’s no way for the reader to get in touch. It would be a pointless exercise. And yet, you wouldn’t believe the amount of portfolios where the contact details are hidden, or not even present. As a rule of thumb, you should include at least one set of contact details on each page. Prominently of-course. Don’t just resign these to been on your contact page. Think about where your funnel leads to. Marketeers often use the word ‘funnel’ because at the top, you have a broad opening that catches a wide range of debris, and then brings it down into the delivery point. You can optimize this concept by supplying a quick easy way to contact you wherever possible. For example, you may well have services page that has the follow listing:

We offer completely bespoke design solutions for corporate clients. We have experience in designing for non-profits and our specialty lies in create beautiful, yet user-friendly designs.

Not a bad paragraph, it conveys what you do and talks your services up a bit. But what if we make this change:

We offer completely bespoke design solutions for corporate clients. We have experience in designing for non-profits and our specialty lies in create beautiful, yet user-friendly designs. Contact us now for a free estimate.

A simple change, but this will no doubt increase customer contact and provides a call-to-action from what is really a static sentence. Don’t forget to include a reasonable array of details, because some clients will prefer phones, whilst others may lean towards email or IM chat instead. You need to reduce any inhibitions a client may have and including a good selection of contact details is one step towards doing so. Speaking of clients, what do your old ones think of you?

Testimonials

Cristiana Bardean displays client testimonials

An authentic, genuine testimonial can only add to your ‘credibility’. It could also lead to a large increase (possibly even double) in sales. How do you provide a properly formatted testimonial? Keep it relatively brief. You should obviously select a pretty-positive quote from a happy client. Then, include the clients name and link to the website project or similar. You may also chose to include their position within the company. This all helps to show it’s a real person and backs-up your sales message, because as humans we identify with other humans. So, to know that other people have used you and were very happy with your work means that they will be. At least psychologically. Don’t even contemplate writing your own testimonials ever! These always come over as fake, overly ‘salesy’ and just a little cheesy.

A ‘little’ about you, One-liners

Ben Fryc’s simple but effective tagline.

A client wants to know about you, but they don’t care about how much you love cats, cars or cookies. So keep information about you focused and professional. A convention has developed over the last few years, of quickly introducing yourself and your services, typically as the opening line of your site – this works well, because clients will likely be sifting through a large number of portfolios and resumes and if you get the whole “who I am, what I do” answer out there quickly, you’ll be helping your client quickly decipher whether you suit their project. These are typically known as tag lines and you should definitely include one in your new portfolio design.

Prices

I asked the question “What do potential clients look for in a web design portfolio” to a group of small business owners a while a go. One of the main points that  they wanted to see was prices. Even just ball park figures. The subject of whether to display prices on your portfolio or not is much debated. One hand, you have the fact that you’ll encourage price-orientated customers, those who know they want but at low-cost. That said, your prices might discourage such cheapskates – thus reducing back and forth in pointless email conversations. A sensible buyer will not be put off by a ‘higher’ price tag, because they know quality comes at a price. If the rest of your copy conveys your expertise and skills, clients will be able to perceive your value and will be encourage to get in touch. The majority said it would be great to see what portfolio samples cost, even just roughly, to give them an idea of what they’ll get for their money. This is a pretty unique slant, because very few freelancers do this. Doing so will offer transparency and show you have a professional, structured pricing equation.

What elements do you think work well in web copy? What do your clients frequently ask you?

Main article screenshot from the amazing site design of Matt Dempsey