Online Copywriting Tip: How to be Clear and Concise

Web users are an impatient lot. Having run countless user tests, I can verify that users seldom read text the way they’d read a book. Rather, they scan through pages, looking for topics of interest. To be effective, web copy must be concise.

But how do we make our copy clear and concise? How do we know what words we can cut out?

Here are a few tricks I’ve learned over the years…

Use Strong Verbs

Too often, we’ll take a nice strong verb… then turn it into a noun and use a weaker verb. For example, instead of simply writing decide, we’ll write make a decision. What a waste of words. Other examples include:

“Perform an evaluation” vs “Evaluate”
“Conduct a survey among users” vs “Survey users”
“Makes use of” vs “Uses”
“Run a test on” vs “Test”
“Is a good explanation for” vs “Explains”
“Make an allowance for” vs “Allow for”

Use the Active Voice

Sometimes, the passive voice is better. (Especially when you need to sound objective, or you don’t want to call attention to the actors.) But mostly, the active voice is preferred: it’s easier to understand who’s doing what. Consider the following passive sentences:

Several violations were found.<l/i>

A good job was done by you.
12 subjects were tested by us.
A good time was had by all of us.

Now compare the active versions:

We found several violations.
You did a good job.
We tested 12 subjects.
We all had a good time.

Avoid Cliches and Jargon

Cliches are phrases that have been ruined by overuse. They are a waste of words… and a sure sign that the author is on autopilot.

The one I despise most is “in any way, shape or form.” Other dishonorable mentions include:

Avoid [whatever] like the plague
Thinking outside of the box
Value-added
Reinventing the wheel
Putting the cart before the horse
Tail wagging the dog
Touch base
At this particular point in time (You mean “now”?)

Cut Out Half the “Thats”

One final, simple tip: When proofing your copy, look for the thats. Ask yourself whether each is really necessary. I find [that] I can usually eliminate about half of them.

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