Writing Web Copy

Writing Web Copy

writing web copy The Internet may be the great equalizer, affording everyone with an equal opportunity to spread their message, but it also makes it far more difficult to wade through the sea of sameness in order to find the most sterling of sentences. With 120 million blogs and counting, there is plenty of blah blah blogging going on.

Online authors must make sure every word counts, or they will only end up getting lost. Here are 4 essential tips to help online writers.

1) People scan when reading online. This may not thrill you, but it can’t be argued. Those writers who embrace the essential truth while writing web copy will be those writers who find themselves with the largest and most loyal audiences.

A new reader on your site will glance at the entire page before they ever string a single one of your sentences together. You must be able to clearly separate your web copy with well articulated ideas, divided by sub headings that allow for the reader to easily leap from headline to headline in search of value.

Use pictures or graphics to further engage the reader. Humans are visual creatures. Write your web copy so that each page is treated like a page in a magazine and you will always gather a wider audience than the writer of equal ability who treats their site like stationary.

2) Show enthusiasm and knowledge with crisp copy. Get in and out while providing your reader with the maximum amount of value. Be excited about what your topic and don’t carry on for one word longer than necessary. If you are bored when you are writing, your visitor has little chance of becoming a reader.

Write about things that excite you, or at the very least, find the most engaging element in your topic and then proceed to exploit it to the fullest. Divide your article into easy to swallow bites. Make sure your reader feels fully satisfied, yet willing to take one last nibble before they leave the page.

3) Page length matters. There is no difference between the front page of your morning paper and the front page of your website. As they say in real estate: location is everything. When readers have to scroll down the page to discover your content, they will automatically assume it isn’t valuable. Perhaps it isn’t fair, but it is human nature. It is amazing how many readers are lost to this simple yet necessary element.

4) Keep it clean. It doesn’t matter how often you write, or how great a writer you think you are, everyone needs an edit. In fiction it is said that the right editor makes a good writer great and a great writer immortal. Truer words might never have been spoken. Though 99.9% of web copy is far from aiming for a Pulitzer, it is still important that writers are able to edit themselves. Eliminate superfluous words when writing web copy and make sure your copy is as considerate to the reader as the layout of your page.

Writing copy for the web is different than writing in your journal, but by following a few simple rules, you can easily lay out a proper roadmap for your reader.