Web Marketing Advice

COPYWRITING TIPS FOR THE WEB

Many of my clients are excellent writers, and quite a few have several books under their belts. However, very few have experience in writing for the Web.

Writing for the Web is different than other types of writing. People tend to have a short attention span while surfing, and reading large blocks of text on a screen is tiresome.

Here are 7 tips that will improve your copywriting:

• Use compelling, descriptive headlines; this may also help with search engine optimization.
• Use keywords in your copy to help you get a higher ranking in the search engines. (Don't guess at keywords, do your research for best results.)
• People love bullet points; chances are you skipped right to these 7 tips, didn't you?
• Keep the focus on your visitor, not yourself. Don't talk about your services and products, but about their needs (and then how you can help them)...use the word "you" in your copy, not "we".
• Break copy into bite-sized pieces; short paragraphs that cover only one idea work best. White space will help improve comprehension.
• Use ellipses...they help the reader's eye quickly scan the copy...(elipses are these dots...)
• Less is more; 'nuff said?

Bonus Tip: Consider hiring a professional copywriter to write your copy or edit existing copy. It will be one of the best investments you make in your Web site.

Props to Liz Harvey who helped with the copyediting of this issue, since my Mom is on vacation.

--Rich Brooks
President, flyte new media