Warm & personal copy works

Have you noticed that while surfing the web, some websites make you feel warm, cozy and welcome while others just feel cold enough to freeze a brass monkey?

Wouldn’t you love it if your website (or any piece of copy you’re working on) could have that warm and touchy feeling on command?

Here are 3 quick tricks that can instantly add warmth and personality to your copy:

Be personal.
The best copywriting is the one that gets the reader involved. To achieve that involvement, you need to write in a conversational style – the more friendly and approachable, the better it will be. Your copy should have the word “you” at least twice as much as the words “I”, “us” or “we”.

Use contractions.
Using contractions like “don’t” instead of “do not” or “you’ll” instead of “you will”, can make your copy feel warmer… like one person talks to another. It feels that way because that’s how people talk.

Use colloquialisms.
A colloquialism is an informal way of saying things, whether it’s a word or a phrase that people use while talking. Using colloquialisms, you’ll draw your reader closer to you, and you’ll sound more familiar and personal. However, be careful… only use colloquialisms that are anyone can understand – else you risk distracting your readers. Here’s a few of them:

Say “cash” or “dough”, instead of money.
Say “bummed”, instead of “depressed”.
Say “Blown away”, instead of “very impressed”.
You get the picture, right? (Yup, that was another one).