What Is a Copy Audit (And Why Most "Reviews" Are Worthless)

What Is a Copy Audit (And Why Most "Reviews" Are Worthless)

A copy audit isn't some marketing intern with a checklist.

It's a forensic examination of your most important sales assets, conducted with the same ruthless precision David Ogilvy used to sell Rolls-Royce cars and Gary Halbert used to generate $100 million in sales.

Here's what I examine:

The Ogilvy Test: Does Your Headline Do Its Job?

• Does it stop your ideal customer cold?

• Does it promise a specific, believable benefit?

• Does it qualify your prospect in the first 5 seconds?

(If your headline just describes what you do, you're already losing 80% of your potential customers)

The Halbert Standard: Does Your Copy Tap Into Raw Human Desire?

• Are you selling the drill or the hole?

• Do your benefits connect to primal emotions?

• Is your offer a painkiller or just another vitamin?

The Sugarman Flow: Does Each Line Pull Them to the Next?

• Does your opening create an "open loop" they must close?

• Are you building momentum or killing it?

• Do your transitions feel natural or forced?

The Schwartz Sophistication Analysis: Where Is Your Market?

• Are they unaware of the problem?

• Do they know the problem but not your solution?

• Are they skeptical because they've been burned before?

(Most businesses are selling Stage 1 copy to Stage 3 customers — or vice versa. Either way, you're speaking a foreign language)

The Fix: Where Science Meets Art

An audit tells you what's broken. A fix makes you money.

I don't just point out problems. I rewrite your copy using the same principles that have generated over $2.3 billion in documented sales across industries.

Your new copy will:

• Hook prospects in the first line (using Sugarman's "slippery slide" technique)

• Build desire with Gary Halbert's "problem/agitation/solution" framework

• Handle objections before they arise (Ogilvy's "complete honesty" approach)

• Close with irresistible calls-to-action that feel natural, not pushy

What You Get (In Plain English)

The Audit Report:

• A line-by-line breakdown of what's working and what's killing your conversions

• Specific psychology principles your copy violates (and how to fix them)

• Market sophistication analysis: where your customers really are vs. where you think they are

• Competitive intelligence: what your best competitors are doing that you're not

The Fixes:

• Rewritten headlines that stop the scroll

• New opening paragraphs that create immediate engagement

• Restructured offers that feel like no-brainers

• CTAs that create urgency without sounding desperate

The SEO Bonus:

• Copy that converts humans and ranks on Google

• Natural keyword integration that doesn't sound robotic

• Search terms your competitors are missing

Who This Is For (Be Honest With Yourself)

This is perfect if:

• You're getting traffic but not conversions

• You know your product/service is good but your sales copy isn't doing it justice

• You've tried "improving" your copy but don't know the foundational principles

• You want copy that works immediately, not after months of "testing"

This is NOT for you if:

• You don't have traffic yet (fix that first)

• You're looking for the cheapest option (quality costs more than mediocrity)

• You want "creative" copy that wins awards instead of customers