Kill The Troll: Copy That Simply Doesn't Work

So I've been absent for a bit - within a month I started working in communications for another law firm (which I'm loving) and I've made plans to move out of my beloved Minneapolis neighborhood (I confess that I was hook-line-and-sinker for a place with underground parking; the less I have to use an ice scraper on my windshield, the happier I am).

I just read a clever article that inspired me to make time to post: "The #1 Conversion Killer in Your Copy(And How to Beat It)."

It's a big promise, but this is what Sonia Simone writes:

"What makes people almost buy? What makes them get most of the way there, then drop out of your shopping cart at the last second? What makes them stare at your landing page, wanting what you have to offer, and yet, ultimately, close the page and move on to something else?
It turns out there’s a hideous troll hiding under the bridge. Every time you get close to making a sale, the troll springs out and scares your prospect away. Get rid of the troll and your copy will start converting better than it ever has before."

Although you might not even sell a single product that can be put into a "shopping cart" on the Web, it's good to know that it's a widespread belief that the average Web surfer can tell the difference between copy that 'sounds good' and copy that is good.

The unfortunate (or fortunate) side of that statement is with good copy, people don't even notice it's copy: it's a company.