Tom Colicchio: Writing Web Copy That Converts
Unsolicited redesign of Tom Colicchio’s website by Desirel Lawrence
Part 1: The Challenge
Background
Tom Colicchio’s an internationally renowned, multi-Michelin starred chef with several restaurants, courses and TV shows. His website is the hub for all of these businesses.
Problem
Even though Chef Tom Colicchio owns several award-winning restaurants, teaches two Masterclasses, offers in-person classes at his restaurants, has written several bestselling books, stars in four top-rated TV shows and has lots of mouth-watering recipes - none of these offerings are featured in the header of his website. As a result, the copy doesn't appear to solve any user pain points, doesn't provide an attractive offer and is all about Tom–– not his website visitors.
Scope
While I did the entire redesign myself, I've only detailed my process for writing the copy.
Roles
Wrote the web copy
Created the visual design
Tools
Dropbox Paper
Sketch
Copyright
The photo of Tom Colicchio is a copyright of Crafted Hospitality.
Part 2: The Process
First, I created a user story to help me understand who I was writing for and what they wanted to accomplish:
“As a foodie, I want to learn about Tom’s techniques so that I can become a better cook.”
Then, I created a copy doc to house all of the project’s copy. This included a value proposition in the header, user benefits in the sub-header and a secondary CTA (Find Recipes) to build middle-of-the-funnel interest and help users discover Tom’s cooking style and techniques.
Though not detailed herein, the user story also provided direction for completing the visual design.
Part 3: The Solution
The copy, combined with the high-fidelity mockup fulfills the user goal to learn about Tom's cooking techniques, has a business goal to increase Masterclass enrollment and is framed around helping the user succeed.
Final Thoughts
If a copywriter or UX writer had been involved in designing Chef Tom Colicchio's website from the very beginning, the writing problems would've also revealed the design problems. The copy and microcopy shouldn't be an afterthought, but part of the design strategy.
