Five great websites that use copy to stand out

Our previous blog post – How to stop long-scrolling websites looking too samey – gave you the key to differentiating your brand: copy. But getting it right takes more than just a cheeky colloquialism. We’ve picked out five brands whose web copy puts them a cut above.

Evernote

https://evernote.com/

Evernote is a great little app that functions as a kind of collaborative to-do list. Its copy is razor sharp. As soon as you land on the page, you’re hit with the key benefit – Remember Everything. Instead of bombarding you with features and bells and whistles, it simply paints a picture of a world with Evernote. And in just 15 words, the subheader establishes the need for the product, the solution to that need and how the product will provide that solution. All in all: concise and compelling.

Airbnb 

https://www.airbnb.co.uk

Good copy is tight. Airbnb manages to do a lot in just two words. First-time users might be hesitant to stray from the quality of service guaranteed by traditional hotels. ‘Welcome Home’ does two things:

• Solves this objection by connecting its service to the safe environment of the user’s home
• Differentiates itself from traditional hotels unable to offer the same degree of personal service

And while bonus points are awarded for the mesmerising silent videos playing in the background, the design itself is functionally equivalent to every other long-scrolling website. It’s the copy that makes the difference.

Deliveroo 

www.deliveroo.co.uk

Featuring just one button emblazoned with the words ‘FIND FOOD’, Deliveroo doesn’t mess about. Avoiding the obvious ‘Click here’, they’ve found copy that visualises the experience of using the product. This website demonstrates one of the underappreciated truths of brand tone of voice – it doesn’t have to be outlandish to work. Keeping the header copy simple and to-the-point, Deliveroo conveys a great benefit without making a song and dance about it.

Honest Brew 

http://honestbrew.co.uk/

Craft beer retailer Honest Brew have worked hard to cultivate the kind of straight-talking, upfront tone that befits the ‘honesty’ their brand promises. Again, the standout element here is the button copy. ‘Sign me up’ and ‘Still not sold’ inject some personality using the same colloquial, conversational tone found on the rest of the site. Other brands might trot out the standard ‘Sign up’ and ‘Find out more’. It may sound trivial, but it’s these subtle changes that bring a brand’s copy to life.

Unbounce 

http://unbounce.com/

As you might expect from a company that makes a living building landing pages, Unbounce has got this one spot on. The site can be navigated using nothing but the scroll bar, but why even do that if the copy isn’t compelling? So it’s a pleasure to find the copy tight, to the point and full of active language – Build, publish, test, optimize. By the time you’re halfway down the page, you know the benefits of the service, who it’s aimed at and how it works. Good stuff.