Internal vs. External Language
We've
written before about the importance of addressing your customers' needs
before talking about your product or service. It's extremely important to make sure that your website connects with your audience and meets them where they are. To determine whether or not your copy makes that connection, answer this one simple question: does your website use internal or external language?
What is Internal Language?
"Internal language" is anything that makes perfect sense to you, but may not make sense to people who land on your website. Examples include:
- Using part numbers in H1s instead of product names that people will actually recognize.
- Relying on jargon.
- Focusing on the detail of the product or service but forgetting to show how it can help solve the users' problems.
- Optimizing for keywords that don't match the search terms people actually use.
Converting to External Language
Turning your website's focus outward is actually pretty easy to do.
1. Replace part numbers in H1s to more descriptive terms. Check out this page from John Deere.
In the H1, it says 'Brooms' which accurately describes what's on the page and is a term that people search for. Scroll down and you'll see that the product numbers for each model broom are at the
bottom. If 'BA72' was the H1 instead of 'Brooms' no one would know what the page is for -- in fact, no one would find it in the first place.
2. Reduce jargon as much as possible. Use terms that your customers will actually understand.
3. Ask yourself: what are your customers most concerned about? If you're an Ecreative customer and have been interviewed by our writers, you've probably heard us ask this question. We ask because knowing what your customers' biggest problems are -- and what your product can do to solve them -- helps us write copy that is both informative and engaging.
4. Think about the words people actually use when they perform a search. For example, a home goods store may have dozens of '"window treatments" in stock, but if potential customers are plugging "curtains" into Google, the webpage needs to say "curtains" too.
Creating 'Buyer Personas'
Writing for your audience is really quite simple. Imagine that your writing for one person. Think about who that person is -- what does she want? What problems does she have? What will make her life easier? Then fill your copy with answers to those questions. Some marketing gurus call this creating 'marketing personas' and even offer persona templates. You can absolutely use these, but we understand that you may not have the time and energy to go this deep. The good news is you don't have to. As an industrial marketer, you serve a very specific niche, and you probably understand your customers' concerns, needs and wants better than anyone else. All you need to do is write in a way that showcases that.
"But our Product is Awesome!"
Your product
is great. But so is your competitor's. You won't get customers to choose your great product over all the other great products out there by talking about how great yours is. If you went to a restaurant, would you want the waiter to stand there for 20 minutes gabbing about "organically raised this" and "brick oven fired that"? No. You want him to hand you the menu. You want him to know what he's talking about when you ask him questions. You want him to be able to make educated recommendations. And that's precisely what your website should do: hand users a menu that helps them find what they're looking for, answer their questions and lead them to a smart decision. Does this mean you can't write about the awesomeness of your product? Not at all! Your site needs to have
well-written product descriptions complete with specs that show just how good the product is. It's just that the product should be
part of the conversation -- not the
whole conversation.
Professional Help
Because you spend your time innovating and honing to make your product the best it can be, it may be difficult for you to see things from the audience's perspective. If you're stuck, turn to a professional copywriter who can translate your information for your customers to make it more useful for them. At Ecreative, our copywriters are highly adept at this. If you need help changing your site's internal focus to an external one,
contact Ecreative for assistance.
Photo credit: Bergen Public Library via Foter.com / No known copyright restrictions
We've written before about the importance of addressing your customers' needs before talking about your product or service. It's extremely important to make sure that your website connects with your audience and meets them where they are. To determine whether or not your copy makes that connection, answer this one simple question: does your website use internal or external language?
In the H1, it says 'Brooms' which accurately describes what's on the page and is a term that people search for. Scroll down and you'll see that the product numbers for each model broom are at the bottom. If 'BA72' was the H1 instead of 'Brooms' no one would know what the page is for -- in fact, no one would find it in the first place. 2. Reduce jargon as much as possible. Use terms that your customers will actually understand. 3. Ask yourself: what are your customers most concerned about? If you're an Ecreative customer and have been interviewed by our writers, you've probably heard us ask this question. We ask because knowing what your customers' biggest problems are -- and what your product can do to solve them -- helps us write copy that is both informative and engaging. 4. Think about the words people actually use when they perform a search. For example, a home goods store may have dozens of '"window treatments" in stock, but if potential customers are plugging "curtains" into Google, the webpage needs to say "curtains" too.