Five copy mistakes that make you look like a beginner

Executive overview

New copywriters consistently make the same five errors that signal inexperience before a reader even processes the message. Left unchecked, they undercut credibility and hurt conversion — regardless of years of experience.

The fixes are fast. Each requires a deliberate habit, not more skill.

Intentionality separates amateur copy from professional copy — on every element, every time.

Don't centre body copy

• Centre headlines, crossheads, and button copy only — never running body text.
• Centred body copy forces the eye to hunt for the left margin on every line, causing fatigue.
• Left-aligned text with a ragged right edge is optimised for readability (newspapers use this deliberately).
• Justified columns — where both edges are flush — also hurt readability despite looking neat.
• Exception: short centred body copy (two to three lines max) is acceptable when constrained inside a narrow intentional column and the layout requires it.
• Think in columns, not in full-page width. Narrow the copy block; don't fill the page.

Write intentional button copy

• The button is the site of conversion. Every click is a decision — reinforce that it's the right one.
• "Sign up now", "Get free trial", "Shop now" are throwaways. Use them only if you can explain why they're right for that moment.
• Example: "Shop the Aurora Organic Bed" outperforms "Shop now" because it reinforces what the user is actually choosing and why.
• "Add to cart" is acceptable — if you've decided it's the clearest signal for where the user is in the journey.
• The test: if a client asks "why that button copy?" and you have no answer, it's a throwaway.

Use personality sparingly

• Most copywriters over-index on personality early in their careers, mistaking creativity for persuasion.
• Copywriting is a sales discipline that uses words — not a creative outlet.
• When starting out, use personality only in headlines and crossheads. Nowhere else.
• Even then, less is almost always more. Apple's web copy is the benchmark: a word or two of emotional texture, then straight into the technical.
• Maximalist personality writing exists, but it requires a deliberate brief and client alignment — not a default.

Lead with "you", not the brand or "we"

• If a sentence starts with the brand name, product name, feature name, or "we" — rewrite it.
• Customers see themselves in copy that starts with them. They disengage from copy that starts with the company.
• Audit every sentence: if the subject is the company, flip it to the customer.
• Example: "You don't like to be limited" instead of "We don't want to limit you."
• The rule applies to crossheads and body copy equally. The product is not the hero — the customer is.

Never write new copy live in front of a client

• Trying to generate alternatives on the spot when a client objects signals that copy is made up rather than researched.
• It destroys confidence in your process immediately.
• If copy is challenged, the response is to return with revised options — not to improvise.
• Your value is in a disciplined process: research, drafting, rationale. Protect that framing.