Copywriting is writing that asks the reader to act: buy, book, sign up, give or come back. Good copy names one reader, makes one promise, proves it with a specific detail and makes the next step obvious. The 12 copywriting samples below cover the formats copywriters are hired for most often, from a homepage and a search ad to a sales letter and the small print inside an app, and each one is followed by notes on the copy decision it makes.
The businesses and people in the samples are invented, so borrow the structures freely. None of the samples ran anywhere, so they show a copy choice, not a result, and any number in them is a placeholder a real business would have to back up. After them come the formulas they follow, how to build portfolio samples without clients, and the mistakes that make copy easy to ignore.
| Format | Sample | Its one job |
|---|---|---|
| FormatHomepage | Sample1. Clinic scheduling software | Its one jobSay what it is and who it's for before the visitor scrolls |
| FormatLanding page | Sample2. Chimney sweep | Its one jobTurn a local search into a booking |
| FormatProduct page | Sample3. Cycling rain jacket | Its one jobAnswer the shopper's doubts before checkout |
| FormatSearch ad | Sample4. Emergency locksmith | Its one jobWin the click in 30-character lines |
| FormatSocial ad | Sample5. Language school | Its one jobStop the scroll with a moment the reader recognizes |
| FormatBillboard | Sample6. Highway diner | Its one jobBe understood at highway speed |
| FormatPromotional email | Sample7. Bookshop reading | Its one jobGet one RSVP |
| FormatSales page | Sample8. Grant-writing workshop | Its one jobCarry a doubtful reader to a $295 decision |
| FormatDirect mail | Sample9. Gutter cleaning postcard | Its one jobSurvive the walk from the mailbox to the bin |
| FormatApp microcopy | Sample10. Budgeting app | Its one jobKeep people moving when something goes wrong |
| FormatFundraising appeal | Sample11. Watershed council | Its one jobMake one gift feel like it changes one thing |
| FormatJob ad | Sample12. Restaurant line cook | Its one jobAttract the right applicant and put off the wrong one |
Website copy samples
Website copy is read in the order the visitor's doubts arrive: what is this, is it for me, can I trust it, what does it cost, what do I do next. Each sample answers those questions in that order. The button at the end of each one is a call to action, and there are a hundred more, sorted by goal, in the call to action examples.
1. Homepage hero: clinic scheduling software
Headline: Fill tomorrow's cancellations before you leave tonight
Subheadline: Quayside texts the patients on your waitlist the moment someone cancels and books the first one who replies. Physical therapy clinics use it to keep their schedules full without making a single phone call.
Button: See it on your own schedule
Under the button: A 15-minute walkthrough. Bring last week's cancellations.
Proof strip: 412 clinics in 19 states · Average clinic rebooks 31 slots a month
Why it works. The headline names an expensive problem in the owner's own terms, with a deadline built in. The subheadline explains the mechanism in one plain sentence, then says who it's for, so a dentist knows at once this page isn't theirs. The button promises the visitor's own data rather than a generic demo, and the line under it answers “how long?” and turns last week's cancellations into something to bring. The proof strip is the part a real vendor would have to source: a customer count behind “412 clinics,” and a stated period for the average.
2. Landing page: a chimney sweep
Headline: Chimney sweeping in Ashgrove, booked before the first cold night
Subheadline: A two-person crew, a camera inspection of the whole flue and a written report you can keep for your insurer. $189 for one flue, inspection included.
What happens on the day
- We arrive in a two-hour window and text you 30 minutes ahead.
- Drop cloths and a sealed vacuum keep the soot inside the fireplace, not on your rug.
- You see the camera footage before we leave, and nothing gets fixed without your yes.
Review: “They showed me the crack on the screen before they quoted anything.” Dana R., Elm Hill
Button: See October openings
Why it works. The headline matches the search (service plus town) and adds the reason to book now, one the reader already feels. The price is on the page, which answers the question many service pages make people phone to ask. “What happens on the day” handles the real fears (mess, strangers in the house, an upsell on the roof) in the order they would occur. The review describes something the crew did rather than a feeling, and it has to be a real one, used with permission. The claim the sweep would most need to substantiate is “a written report you can keep for your insurer,” because it implies insurers accept the report. If the business can't show that, “a written report of what we found” is the line it can stand behind.
3. Product page: a cycling rain jacket
Headline: Arrive dry, not steamed
Description: The Wexford is a waterproof shell for people who ride to work. Zip vents under the arms and across the back let heat out on the climb, the hem drops four inches at the back to keep you covered in the saddle, and the whole jacket packs into its own chest pocket.
- Taped seams and a waterproof zip, so the rain stays out where jackets usually leak
- Reflective piping on the cuffs, shoulders and back seams
- Cut to fit over a sweater: order your usual size
- 11 oz (310 g) in a medium
Next to the price: Free returns for 60 days.
Why it works. The headline names a problem every cycling commuter knows, sweat trapped inside a rain jacket, so the right buyer recognizes it in four words. Every feature arrives with its reason. The fit line answers a common worry about buying a jacket online before the shopper has to open a size chart.
Ad copy samples
Ads are read by people who didn't ask to read them, so the copy has very little time to earn attention. The three formats below set the limits differently: a search ad by character counts, a social ad by the scroll, a billboard by the speed of the car. For broadcast spots, the commercial script template covers 30- and 60-second TV and radio.
4. Search ad: an emergency locksmith
As of November 2026, Google's responsive search ads take up to 15 headlines of 30 characters and up to 4 descriptions of 90 characters, and Google decides which ones to show together. Character counts are in brackets.
Headlines:
- Locked Out in Denver? [21]
- Locksmith in 30 Minutes [23]
- A Flat $95 Lockout Fee [22]
- Licensed, Insured Locksmiths [28]
- Open 24/7, Holidays Included [28]
- No Drilling Unless We Must [26]
Descriptions:
- Most Denver addresses reached in 30 minutes. The price is confirmed before we start. [84]
- We open the lock without drilling whenever we can. Pay by card on site. Call or book now. [89]
Path fields: denver / lockout [6, 7; up to 15 each]
Why it works. Google's help pages say up to three headlines can show in the headline position, but an ad may show as few as one headline and one description, so every line here makes sense alone and next to any other. The two numbers a locked-out person wants, time and price, each get their own headline. The descriptions answer the fears that follow (a drilled lock, a surprise bill), and each claim, such as “licensed,” has to be true wherever the ad runs. That includes “Locksmith in 30 Minutes,” which can appear without the “most addresses” qualifier in the description.
5. Social ad: a language school
Primary text: You've kept a 400-day streak in your language app. You still freeze when the waiter asks a follow-up question. Our evening classes are mostly conversation, eight people at most, and the spring term starts March 2.
Headline: Speak Spanish out loud, twice a week
Button: Sign up
Image note: A real class mid-laugh around one table. No stock photos of headsets.
Why it works. The first line describes the reader's situation so precisely, down to the streak, that the right reader recognizes it. The ad doesn't knock the app; it names the gap the app leaves and offers the thing that fills it. The proof is in the format itself (class size, how much of the time you talk), and the date gives the decision a deadline that exists.
6. Billboard: a highway diner
- Pie. Next exit. Since 1961.
- Last real coffee for 80 miles. Exit 112.
- Breakfast all day. Booths for tired kids. Exit 112.
Why it works. A driver gets a glance, so each version carries one idea and one action, the exit. The first is pure compression: product, place, proof. The second persuades with a fact the driver can check against the map, which carries more weight than an adjective. The third speaks to one carload, the family that has been on the road too long. The same rules of compression drive the slogan examples.
Email and direct response samples
Direct response copy is measured by what readers do with it: reply, register, call, order. That makes it testable: with enough readers, a weak line shows up in the replies and bookings. On a small list, one send proves little either way.
7. Promotional email: a bookshop reading
Subject: Thursday: Mara Lind reads from the new one, 7 p.m.
Preview text: 40 chairs, and she's bringing the map from the endpapers.
Mara Lind's last visit filled the shop and the stairs. This Thursday she reads from The Harbormaster's Ledger, the second Port Avery mystery, and brings the hand-drawn map that became its endpapers. She'll sign books after the questions.
We have 40 chairs. Tell us you're coming and we'll keep one for you until 6:55.
Button: Save me a chair
P.S. Can't make it? Reply with your name and we'll hold a signed copy at the counter.
Why it works. The subject line carries the day, the name and the time, which is most of what a regular needs to decide. The body opens with a detail only this event has (the map), and the reason to RSVP is a real constraint, the number of chairs. The P.S. gives readers who can't come a way to buy the book anyway.
8. Sales page: a grant-writing workshop
Headline: Write a grant proposal the program officer reads to the end
Subheadline: A two-day workshop for staff at nonprofits with budgets under $2 million. You leave with a complete draft for a funder you've chosen.
You know your program works. You've watched it work. But the proposal opens with “innovative,” “holistic” and “underserved,” the same three words as every other proposal on the program officer's desk, and the decision gets made before page two.
It isn't a talent problem. Most proposals are written at night, from last year's file, by someone who also runs the program. Nobody has time to find the one story and the one number that would make a stranger care.
In this workshop you find both. On day one, Ruth Okafor, who has read proposals for three community foundations, takes your draft apart in front of you, kindly. On day two you rebuild it: the need statement, the outcomes table, the budget narrative. You go home with the draft, her written notes and a checklist for the next one.
Price: $295, lunch included. If you finish day one and don't think your draft is better, tell us at lunch and we'll refund you in full.
Button: Reserve one of 20 seats
P.S. The workshop runs April 9 and 10 in Minneapolis. It stops at 20 seats because Ruth reads every draft herself.
Why it works. It follows problem, agitate, solve: the problem in the reader's own vocabulary, the cause they suspected but hadn't put into words, then the fix with names, days and deliverables. The guarantee sits next to the price, where the doubt is likely to be strongest. The P.S. repeats the date and explains the seat limit, for readers who skip to the end. For the document this workshop teaches, see the grant proposal example.
9. Direct mail: a gutter-cleaning postcard
Front: Leaves fall. Gutters overflow. We're on Juniper Lane October 14 to 18.
Back: We're cleaning gutters for six of your neighbors that week, so we can do yours for $119 instead of our usual $159. You get before-and-after photos of every run, so you see exactly what came out. Book by October 10: call 503-555-0142 or scan the code.
Why it works. A postcard gets the few seconds between the mailbox and the recycling bin, so the front carries the whole offer: the problem, the street, the dates. The back explains the discount (the crew is already on the street), which gives the lower price a reason instead of leaving it to look suspicious. The photos answer a doubt homeowners have about any job done where they can't see it.
Product, cause and hiring copy
Copy isn't only for selling. The same rules decide whether an app's error message calms people down, whether a donor gives twice, and whether the right cook applies for a job.
10. App microcopy: a budgeting app
Onboarding screen: Let's find out where March went. Connect one account to start. You can add the rest later.
Empty state: Nothing here yet. Transactions from the last 90 days appear a few minutes after you connect an account.
Error message: We couldn't reach First Harbor Bank. This is usually on their side and clears within an hour. Your budgets are safe, and you can keep working with what's here.
Notification: You've spent $212 of your $300 grocery budget, with 9 days left in the month.
Delete dialog: Delete the “Vacation” budget? Its history goes too, and this can't be undone. Buttons: “Delete budget” and “Keep it.”
Why it works. Microcopy is copy at the moment of friction. Each string says what happened, what it means and what to do next. The error doesn't blame the user and says how long the problem usually lasts. The buttons name the action instead of saying “OK,” so it's harder to delete a year of history by reflex.
11. Fundraising appeal: a watershed council
Last June a volunteer named Pat Ruiz spent one Saturday morning in Mill Creek and came out with a shopping cart, two tires and a refrigerator door. In September our volunteers counted steelhead at the Linden Road weir for the first time in eleven years.
The fish didn't come back because of one Saturday. They came back because of three hundred of them, and because people like you paid for the gloves, grabbers and bags that make a Saturday possible.
$40 outfits one volunteer for a full season. Will you outfit one for 2027?
Button: Give $40 to outfit a volunteer
P.S. Every gift made by December 31 is matched by the Linden Foundation, up to $25,000.
Why it works. One person, one place, one result. The letter won't credit one Saturday with the fish, but it does credit three hundred of them, and a real council would need its own monitoring to back that claim, or would write “came back after” instead. It credits donors before it asks. The gift is tied to a unit the donor can picture, and the match gives the deadline a real reason. The method is the same as a case study: a specific before and after, and evidence in between.
12. Job ad: a restaurant line cook
Title: Line cook, Marisol, $24 to $27 an hour plus tips. Four nights, no doubles.
Marisol is a 60-seat Oaxacan restaurant on Division Street. We're looking for a cook who can run the grill station on a full Friday and still talk to the person next to them.
You'll work Wednesday to Saturday, 3 p.m. to close. Friday and Saturday are our busiest nights, so if you need weekends off, this isn't the job. If you want to run your own station by spring, it is.
What you get: staff meal every shift, health insurance after 60 days, closed Sundays and Mondays, a chef who teaches.
To apply: email three sentences about the best shift you ever worked. No cover letter needed.
Why it works. The pay and the schedule are in the title because they're the first two questions most applicants have. The ad sells the job and screens for it in the same breath: putting the weekend nights up front can save both sides an interview. The application asks for something that tells the chef more than a résumé would.
The formulas behind the samples
Most copy follows one of a few old sequences. They are checklists, not recipes. The order of a reader's doubts matters more than the letters.
| Formula | The steps | Samples above |
|---|---|---|
| FormulaAIDA | The stepsAttention, interest, desire, action | Samples above1, 5, 7 |
| FormulaPAS | The stepsProblem, agitate, solve | Samples above8, 9 |
| FormulaBefore, after, bridge | The stepsLife now, life with the product, how to get there | Samples above3, 11 |
| FormulaFeatures, advantages, benefits | The stepsWhat it has, what that does, what it means for you | Samples above3, 4 |
| FormulaAnswer the doubts in order | The stepsWhat is it, is it for me, can I trust it, what does it cost, what now | Samples above2, 10, 12 |
AIDA has a documented history of more than a century. It is commonly credited to the American advertising pioneer E. St. Elmo Lewis, and the acronym itself first appeared in print in 1921, in an article by C. P. Russell in Printers' Ink. The tools inside each step, such as a specific number, a short story or an answered objection, are covered one by one in persuasive techniques.
The formulas also explain why the famous exceptions work. On Black Friday, November 25, 2011, Patagonia ran an ad in The New York Times headlined “Don't Buy This Jacket.” It asked readers to buy less and introduced the Common Threads Initiative, a pledge built on reducing, repairing, reusing, recycling and reimagining. Patagonia's own account says it wanted customers to “think twice before they buy.” The ad kept the structure (attention, an argument, an action) and reversed only the action, which is what makes it worth studying: the reversal stands out because everything around it follows the pattern.
Copywriting samples for your portfolio
If you're collecting samples to get hired, you don't need clients first. You need three or four pieces that show you can think about a reader, plus the brief that tells a hiring manager what you were solving.
- Pick the formats you want to be paid for. A homepage, an email and an ad show range. Twelve social captions show one skill twelve times.
- Write for invented brands, or label rewrites as spec. If you rewrite a real company's page, label it “spec work, not commissioned” at the top.
- Put the brief above each sample. Audience, goal, constraint, in three lines. A sample without a brief gets judged mostly on taste.
- Include one before and after. Show the original copy, your version and two sentences on what you changed and why. Editors and marketing leads hire the reasoning as much as the words.
- Make every sample readable on a phone. Whoever reviews your portfolio may open it between meetings.
The writing portfolio examples show how to present the samples once you have them.
Common copywriting mistakes
Specific to this business
- Fill tomorrow's cancellations before you leave tonight
- $189 for one flue, inspection included
- Most Denver addresses reached in 30 minutes
- Delete budget
- Give $40 to outfit a volunteer
Could be any business
- The leading scheduling solution for modern clinics
- Contact us for a quote
- Fast, reliable, professional service
- OK
- Support our mission
- Writing about the company. “We are a leading provider of…” is about the writer. Start with the reader's problem and the company can appear in the second sentence.
- Features without consequences. “Taped seams” means nothing to a shopper until it becomes “the rain stays out where jackets usually leak.”
- Claims nobody can check. “Best,” “world-class” and “revolutionary” give the reader nothing to check, so they add little. Once a claim is specific, such as “fastest in Denver,” it needs proof before it runs: the FTC's guidance says claims in advertisements must be truthful, cannot be deceptive or unfair, and must be evidence-based.
- Hiding the price or the offer. If the reader has to call to find out what something costs, some won't call.
- Several asks of equal weight. “Book a demo,” “Start a trial” and “Download the guide” side by side make the reader do the deciding you should have done.
- Clever before clear. A pun can follow a clear sentence. It can't replace one, especially in a search result or a headline read without a picture. The headline examples show where wordplay earns its place.
- The wrong voice. A sweep's page and a law firm's page shouldn't sound alike, and neither should sound like a press release. Decide the brand's tone of voice before the first draft, not after the third.
Before a draft goes to the client, list every claim on the page and what backs it up. If you write in Strokes, attach the brief and ask the Strokes Assistant to review the draft against it; it tells you which claims are unsupported and where the page says “trial” in one place and “demo” in another.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between copywriting and content writing?
Copywriting asks for an action now: buy, book, give, sign up. Content writing, such as blog posts, guides and newsletters, earns attention and trust over time and usually asks for less. The skills overlap, and many writers do both. The test is the goal of the piece, not its length.
How do I make copywriting samples with no experience?
Write spec samples: copy for invented businesses, or rewrites of real pages clearly labeled as spec work. Choose three formats you want to be hired for, such as a homepage, an email and an ad. Put a short brief above each one and add a before-and-after rewrite with a note on what you changed.
Is long copy or short copy better?
Neither by default. Copy should be as long as the reader's doubts. A billboard or a button needs a few words. A $295 workshop or a piece of business software may need a full page, because the reader has questions about cost, trust and fit that each need an answer before they act.
