Why some professionals can’t write web copy

Many professionals are trained in a style of writing specific to their field. Lawyers, for example, practice a dense, formal, and technical style of writing known as legalese. This is because a misplaced word or a missing comma could misconstrue meaning and lose a case.

In law, everything is written out in long-form to avoid misinterpretation, which makes it challenging for legal professionals to write captivating sales copy on their websites. This may explain why so many websites in the legal profession contain copy that is overwritten, lavishly formal, and robotic.

TRANSLATE INTO PLAIN ENGLISH

Professionals in healthcare and medicine face the same challenge, evidenced by industry jargon and acronyms on their websites that confuse and disengage readers.

Accountants, realtors, business consultants, engineers, designers, creative agencies, and many others in the “knowledge economy” occupy saturated markets. Their websites tend to look and sound the same using formulaic copy.

In the next few years, emerging AI technologies will redefine or replace specific jobs and industries. This is unavoidable according to AI expert, Danillo McGarry, who claims that lawyers and accountants may be replaced by AI within five years.

To stay relevant and noteworthy, service-based professionals must present a case for themselves based on the value of human experience and diligence. Harnessing the power of human-generated, high-quality website copy is one way to stay relevant.

All website visitors are constantly bombarded with drab reading materials—such as terms and conditions, policies and procedures, and banking literature—and have no patience for this language when shopping around on websites.

The simple workaround is to use plain English and well-organized website copy that people want to consume with genuine interest.