I’ve been a long time admirer of 37Signals roughly from when it was a Web design/consulting company to its current avatar. Naturally, I have to share Jason’s superb posts on effective writing. He calls them “writing decisions” but it eventually culminates in effectiveness because it is aimed at achieving some goal.

The first post deals with the direct impact headlines have on revenue. It measures the number of signups Highrise attracted with each headline.

Here’s how the test works. We used Google Website Optimizer to randomly rotate five different headline and subhead combinations on the signup page. We’re measuring the number of clicks on any green “Sign Up” button. We’re not measuring any specific plan, just that “someone picked a paying plan.” We ran the test for 4000 page views. Why 4000? The numbers didn’t change much after about 3000 page views, so we stopped at 4000.

Jason then gives a detailed analysis of the winning headline, which is what the Highrise product home page currently shows. The reason why this headline worked was because it

… put the emphasis on the 30-day free trial by making that the headline. The subhead let people know that signup was quick (less than 60 seconds). The second part of the subhead asked someone to “pick a plan.” This was also the only combo to feature an exclamation mark. Would be interesting to run this headline against itself — one with a period and one with an exclamation mark.

This maybe a stupid question but what the hell, I need to know it. In all the tests 37Signals ran, they don’t reveal the duration of running each headline. For example, did the winning headline run for 14 days while other headlines ran for less than 14 days? I’m assuming they all ran for equal duration but I’m not sure. I think the impact could vary if this parameter was also introduced.

I think what really made it the winning headline a hit owes a lot to the subhead. The subhead is a strong “call to positive action.” While the losing-subheads do start with action verbs, this one is compelling because everything there just drips with positivity. Compare:

• Worst Loser: Pay as you go..No Hidden fees (pretty weak)
• Worse: No long term contracts, no hidden fees, no suprises (count the number of Nos)
• Better than Worse: Ditto as “worse” but it came second because this time, the headline was stronger.

The winner combines the best of these worlds: a strong headline plus a subhead that calls for action using positive terminology.

The other post on witing decisions is an excellent demonstration of both the process and the art of effective Web writing. Jason approaches the topic primarily from a space-constraint perspective–how to convey the entire message accurately using less words. But I think it equally applies to any Web-writing scenario.

Think about what you really need to say, write it in place, figure remove what’s non-essential, pare it down, make sure you’re getting to the point without using terms that require additional explanation…

Oh but do read how he arrived at this. I seriously think if we all analyzed, in hindsight, how we wrote something that works (or sucks), our next bout of writing something will be all the better for it.

Tags: 37Signals, Effective Web Writing, Signal Vs Noise Blog, Technology, Web Writing, Writing