Audit copywriting

Copywriting Audit

Pre-Launch Text Review — Static B2B Marketing Site

This audit does not write new copy. It detects problems in existing copy using a structured review sequence. The goal is to ensure all site text — headlines, subheadlines, body copy, CTAs, interactive element microcopy, error messages, tooltips, footer — is ready for a real visitor before launch.

Scope: all site pages (homepage, solutions/features, industry/use-case pages, process, pricing, contact) and all interactive demo or widget text.

Core principle: if you must choose between clear and creative, choose clear. Between specific and vague, choose specific. Between customer language and company language, choose the customer's.

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Severity Levels

Level	Description	Action
Critical	Copy blocks conversion or contains placeholder text	Fix before launch
High	Copy weakens trust or fails to persuade	Fix before launch
Medium	Copy is functional but suboptimal	Fix within first week
Low	Minor improvement opportunity	Fix when convenient

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Layer 1 — Page Structure Audit

Before reviewing text quality, verify that each page has the correct architecture. Well-written copy on a poorly structured page does not convert.

1.1 Homepage Structure

Above the fold:

• Headline present and classifiable into a recognized formula (see Section 5)
• Subheadline expands with specificity — maximum 2 sentences
• Primary CTA visible without scrolling — action text, not descriptive
• No more than one primary CTA competing above the fold

Page structure — minimum 5 distinct section types:

• Social proof section — logos, metrics, or testimonials with attribution
• Problem section — visitor recognizes their own situation
• Solution section connected to the problem — does not open with "[Product] is a platform that..."
• How it works — 3 to 4 steps, not 10
• At least one concrete use case per audience segment
• Objection handling — FAQ, comparison, or guarantee
• Final CTA with risk reduction element nearby

Section variety check: ❌ Weak: Hero → Feature 1 → Feature 2 → Feature 3 → CTA ✅ Strong: Hero → Social proof → Problem → How it works → Key benefits → Testimonial → Use cases → Objection handling → Final CTA

Flag any homepage that is a vertical list of features with icons.

1.2 Industry / Use-Case Pages

• Headline explicitly names the industry or role
• Problem uses terminology specific to that industry
• Use cases are concrete examples from that sector
• ROI metrics specific to that context
• CTA is specific — "See demo for [industry]", not just "See demo"

1.3 Process Page

• Process presented as numbered steps, not paragraphs
• Each step has a clear outcome, not just an action
• Total implementation timeline visible and prominent
• At least one trust signal nearby

1.4 Pricing Page

• One plan visually highlighted as recommended
• Plans answer "is this right for me?" by company type or size
• Limits in customer terms, not only technical terms
• Risk reduction signal near pricing CTA
• ROI estimate present or linked

1.5 Contact Page

• Form sets clear expectation of what happens after submission
• Response time stated
• At least one trust signal — not just a bare form
• Submit button does not say "Submit", "Send", or "Contact us"

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Layer 2 — Text Quality Audit (7 Sweeps)

Review in this order. Each sweep has a specific focus.

Sweep 1 — Clarity

Can a non-technical decision-maker understand every sentence on first read?

• No sentence exceeds 25 words unless it is a list
• Technical terms have plain-language explanation nearby
• Every "this" and "it" has a clear referent
• Primary value of each section is in the first words, not the end
• Each section has one main idea — if it splits without losing anything, split it
• Copy speaks to "you", not about "our customers"

Sweep 2 — Voice and Tone

• One consistent formality level throughout — no mid-page register shifts
• Product refers to itself consistently — "[Product]" or "we", not both randomly
• No exclamation marks anywhere (reduces B2B credibility)
• Read a random section aloud — does it sound human or generated?

Sweep 3 — So What

Does every claim connect to a concrete customer benefit?

After every claim, ask "so what?" If the copy doesn't answer with a deeper benefit, the connection is missing. ❌ "We support PDF, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX and more" ✅ "Upload your documents as they are — no conversion required" ❌ "Semantic search engine" ✅ "Answers in seconds"

• No section lists technologies without connecting to business outcome
• Every feature has "what this means for you"
• Section headlines are outcomes, not feature labels

Sweep 4 — Prove It

Is every claim supported by evidence or correctly softened?

Problematic claim	Correction
"Market leader"	Remove or specify the metric
"Thousands trust us"	Don't use if not yet true
"The best solution"	"One of the few specialized for [market]"
"Guaranteed results"	"Demonstrable ROI in [timeframe]"
"Easy to use"	"First search in under 5 minutes"

• No unearned superlatives
• Testimonials have name, title, company — or labeled as projected
• ROI metrics have methodology note or presented as "estimated"
• Case studies labeled as projected if not yet real

Sweep 5 — Specificity

Is every claim concrete enough to be credible?

Full vague-to-specific replacement tables and word lists: see references/copywriting-patterns.md

Quick reference — eliminate these words:

• Weak intensifiers: very, really, extremely, incredibly
• Filler: just, actually, basically
• Buzzwords without substance: optimize, streamline, leverage, empower, innovative, robust, cutting-edge, seamless, end-to-end, ecosystem, synergy

What to check:

• Every vague word from the list eliminated across all HTML files
• Numbers reasonably rounded — invented precision worse than honest approximation
• Timeframes concrete: "in 5 to 7 weeks" not "quickly"
• Prices visible — no "contact us for pricing" on the pricing page

Sweep 6 — Emotion

Does the copy make the reader feel something, or only inform?

Relevant B2B emotions: frustration of current state, relief of the solution, pride in the decision, confidence in implementation.

Techniques:

• Paint the "before" state vividly with specific scenarios
• Rhetorical questions that activate recognition of the pain point
• Benefits in terms of impact on customer's life, not product capabilities

What to check:

• Problem section makes visitor think "that's exactly what happens to us"
• At least one rhetorical question activating pain point recognition
• Emotion present without being manipulative — no artificial urgency

Sweep 7 — Zero Risk

Have we removed every reason not to click?

Weak CTAs to detect and replace:

Weak	Strong
Submit	Request my proposal
Sign up	Create my account
Learn more	See how it works
Get started	Talk to an expert
Contact us	Book a 30-minute demo

What to check:

• Clear expectation of what happens after clicking near every CTA
• Committed response time stated
• At least one risk reduction signal near primary conversion CTA
• All common B2B objections addressed somewhere on the site

Full objection anticipation map with 8 core B2B objections: see references/narrative-architecture.md

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Layer 3 — Narrative Architecture

Well-written copy on a poorly structured argument does not persuade. This layer verifies sales logic across the site.

Full narrative architecture reference with all checks: see references/narrative-architecture.md

3.1 Five-Stage B2B Sales Narrative

Each page must move the visitor through: Recognition → Understanding → Belief → Trust → Confidence.

Stage	What the visitor needs	Where it must appear
Recognition	"This understands my problem"	Homepage problem section, industry pages
Understanding	"I get how this works"	How it works, process page
Belief	"This delivers what it promises"	ROI cases, testimonials, metrics
Trust	"I can trust this company"	Social proof, security signals, company info
Confidence	"I know what's next and it's low risk"	CTAs, pricing, contact page

• A homepage reader passes all five stages before the final CTA
• No page starts at stage 3+ without first establishing stage 1
• Problem before solution — never reversed
• Trust signals before primary conversion CTA — not after

3.2 Message Hierarchy

After leaving the site, three things must be remembered:

Message	Must appear in
Core value proposition (one sentence)	Headlines, subheadlines, section summaries, CTA copy
Primary differentiator	Above fold, comparison section, FAQ, pricing justification
Risk reduction argument	Near CTAs, pricing page, process page, contact page

• Core proposition statable in one sentence from headlines alone
• Primary differentiator appears 3+ times in different forms across site
• Risk reduction present on every page with a conversion CTA

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Section 4 — Terminology Consistency

Build a site glossary before launch. Verify consistent usage across all pages.

Glossary structure:

Concept	Approved term	Terms to avoid
The product	[Official name]	"the platform", "the system" (use sparingly)
What it does	[Customer language description]	Generic tech terms without explanation
Customer documents	"your documentation"	"the data", "the content"
Monthly payment	[Approved local term]	Foreign finance terms if market is non-English
The customer	"your team"	"the end user"

What to check:

• Product name always correctly capitalized and spelled
• Prices match commercial documents exactly
• Technical stack terms not in main marketing pages
• Generic category terms only in comparison context

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Section 5 — Headline Formula Verification

Every headline must be classifiable into at least one recognized formula:

Formula	Example
{Outcome} without {pain}	Answer compliance questions in seconds without reviewing hundreds of pages
Never {negative} again	Never lose time searching through documents again
{Benefit} for {audience}	Instant document search for legal firms
Turn {input} into {outcome}	Turn your documentation into searchable knowledge
{Question naming pain}	How many hours does your team spend searching each day?
{Outcome} in {timeframe}	Your documentation searchable in [X] weeks
Stop {pain}. Start {benefit}.	Stop searching. Start finding.

• Homepage headline classifiable into a formula
• Industry page headlines specific to that industry
• No headline is just the product name
• Section headlines are outcomes, not labels

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Section 6 — Interactive Element Microcopy

If the project has no interactive elements, skip this section.

• Search placeholder is a real example question — not "Type your question here..."
• Selector buttons use customer terminology, not internal jargon
• Loading text is concrete — "Searching your knowledge base..." not "Loading..."
• Error message is friendly with action: "Couldn't process your query. Try again or contact us at [email]"
• Post-interaction CTA is specific: "Want to try with your documents?" not "Interested?"

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Section 7 — Placeholder Detection

Search across all HTML files for unreplaced strings:

• [COMPANY NAME], [Client name], [Your name], [Date], [Number]
• TODO:, FIXME:, PLACEHOLDER, Lorem ipsum
• XXX, 000, ???
• example.com, yourdomain.com
• Unfilled phone numbers, email addresses, prices, domain URLs
• Verify contact email exists and is active
• Verify domain is active and points to correct site

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Audit Output Format

Copywriting Audit — [Project Name]
Date: [Date]
Pages audited: [list]
Summary

Critical issues: X
High priority: X
Medium priority: X
Low priority: X
Placeholder strings found: X
Headline formula compliance: [X of Y headlines classifiable]
Narrative architecture: [Complete / Gaps found]
Overall copy readiness: [Ready / Needs work / Critical problems]

Critical Issues
[Issue title]

Layer: [Structure / Text quality / Narrative]
Sweep: [If Layer 2 — which sweep number]
Page: [page name]
Issue: [What is wrong and why it reduces conversion]
Fix: [Specific correction]

High Priority
[Same format]
Medium Priority
[Same format]
Low Priority
[Same format]
Recommended Fix Order

Placeholder text — cannot launch with unfilled strings
Headline formulas — first impression determines bounce rate
CTA copy — direct conversion impact
Specificity sweep — eliminate vague claims across all pages
Objection coverage — address unanswered buyer questions
Narrative architecture — ensure five-stage progression
Voice and tone consistency — polish pass

Full pre-launch checklist: see references/checklist.md