Investing in copywriting can make a real difference to your business. These statistics show the importance of getting your copy right and the gains that can be made with a few copy tweaks.
Spelling and grammar
- Three quarters (74%) of web browsers pay attention to the quality of spelling and grammar on company websites. (RealBusiness)
- More than half (59%) would avoid doing business with a company who made obvious spelling or grammar mistakes. (RealBusiness)
Summary: Ensuring your website is free from grammatical errors and spelling mistakes can help increase trust in your company.
Social media copywriting
- Shorter copy tends to perform better on Twitter, with tweets between 100 and 115 characters most likely to be retweeted. (Dan Zarrella)
- The average reading age in the UK is nine. Use common words (known as plain English) to be understood by most people.
Web copywriting
- It’s worth investing time in writing headline copy. On average, 8 out of 10 people will read headline copy, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest. (Copyblogger)
- On average, visitors only read 20% of the content on a web page (Nielson Norman Group). A good web copywriter will ensure the important points stand out on the page.
- People scan-read web pages in an F pattern. As a result, they read the third word on a line much less often than the first two words. Anticipate this and put your most important copy at the beginning of the line. (Nielson Norman Group).
Summary: People read online copy differently, writing in plain English and adjusting your copy for the web will help you get better results.
Email copywriting
- A/B test your email subject lines to see which are most effective. One company found adding the words ‘Hell yeah’ increased their open rate by 23.88%. (Content Verve)
Micro copywriting
- Schuh found that altering its product page call-to-action from ‘Buy now’ to ‘Add to bag’ led to a 17% increase in people adding products to their check-out. (Econsultancy)
- By changing the call-to-action from “Order Information and Prices” to “Get information and prices” a real estate website increased their conversions by 14.79%. (Content Verve)
- Facebook found people were twice as likely to “like” a page than “Become a fan”, so changed the buttons on pages.
Summary: Small tweaks can make a big difference. Attract and keep attention with strong headlines and well-structured copy.
Landing page copywriting
- Adding social proof to your copy can significantly increase conversions. One website added “4,500 current subscribers” to their email sign up form and saw sign ups increase by 20%. (Unbounce)
- Give people a reason why they should sign up. Simply adding the word “because” and a reason was found to increase agreement from 60% to 94% in a study. (Robert Cialdini)
Summary: Add social proof and reasons to sign up to your landing pages to best convert reading to action.
