Your guide to writing web copy
- 1. Your guide to writing web copy By Charl F. Mijnhardt Owner, copywriter and cat-petter-in-chief at For Our Love of Writing
- 2. 2 Charl Mijnhardt is acopywriter and content marketer who writes about copywriting and content marketing, which worked out quite nicely. He spends most of his time wondering what to write about next, but usually just ends up petting his (awesome) cat, Gizmo, instead. If you like his work, please validate his sense of self-worth by liking his Facebook page. About your humble author
- 3. 3 Foreword Writing for digital media is a world apart from writing for traditional media such as print. Many writers from the old guard who cut their teeth writing for sales brochures and magazines now find themselves feeling out of place and disillusioned in this Brave New Digital World. It’s understandable. I find myself thinking of a Latin phrase I once read in high school that has always stuck with me: omni mutantur nos et mutamur in illis. All things change and we with them. This reality is often a bitter pill to swallow, especially when it comes to adapting the craft that you’ve been practicing for many years. But fear not, fellow copywriters. In this eBook, I’ll be sharing with you some of my secrets for writing great web copy.
- 4. 4 Your audience: what you need to know When it comes to writing for the online environment, there are a couple of things you need to keep in mind regarding your audience. The same copywriting tactics and approaches that work for traditional audiences can’t necessarily be applied online, and you’ll need to keep these unique traits in mind when crafting your copy. What are the characteristics of online audiences? •They are starved for time; •They visit websites with a specific goal in mind; •If they don’t find what they’re looking for almost immediately, they’ll leave your site; •They are impatient; •Their reading behavior differs from that of a traditional audience.
- 5. 5Title of the book Keep copy concise Fact: online readers have a short attention span and it’s very easy for them to lose interest. They find huge blocks of text tedious and they definitely don’t want to scroll in order to get to the crux of the page. Try to keep paragraphs and sentences as short as possible and restrict each paragraph to one or two main ideas. The generally-accepted rule is four to five sentences of no more than 20 words per sentence.
- 6. 6 Make use of bullet points Bullet points are a great way to break up ideas, and they are generally better digested by online audiences. Especially if you intend on listing multiple items, a bulleted list is definitely the way to go and has been shown to be favored in online environments.
- 7. 7 Bold keywords and phrases Online readers tend to scan web pages for relevant information (as do search engine crawlers), and their eye will be naturally drawn to words and phrases that stand out. Bolding your key copy points is one of the simplest and yet most effective ways of drawing your readers’ attention to important information on the page.
- 8. 8Title of the book Include important information above the fold The “fold” is the location on a web page at which a reader is required to scroll in order to read the rest of the page. If a visitor to your site has to scroll to find the information they are looking for, chances are they’ll just lose interest and navigate away from your site, which is precisely what you don’t want.
- 9. 9 Ensure easy readability Online copy needs to be a lot more concise and easier to read than traditional copy. As I’ve mentioned before, readers in online environments want to be able to quickly scan the page to find what they’re looking for. The Flesch-Kincaid reading scale analyzes English text to determine its readability and is included in Yoast’s Free Content Analysis Tool. If you don’t know Yoast, I strongly suggest checking it out as it provides an excellent indication – and gratis feedback – regarding the suitability of your content for online syndication.
- 10. 10 Always write in the active voice Your main reason for wanting people to visit your website in the first place is to get them to do something, to take some action. This could be to make a purchase, sign up for a newsletter or fill out a contact form. I therefore encourage writers to always write in the active instead of the passive voice. Check out the two example sentences below and then decide for yourself which one is the most compelling: Passive voice My eBook can be downloaded at the following link. Active voice Download my ebook at the following link. It’s a no-brainer, right?
- 11. 11 Use headings and sub-headings Employing this tried and true tactic makes your copy skimmable; in other words, it makes it easy for the reader to find the section of interest within the larger text. For example, say you are writing copy for a web page about a specific breed of dog. Instead of lumping all the information together in one huge, impenetrable block of text, you could break it up into the following sub-headings: •Appearance •Behavior •Common ailments and injuries •Personality •History
- 12. 12Title of the book Adjust your tone and give your writing some rhythm Another fundamental way in which web copy differs from traditional copy is that it’s generally more friendly and conversational. It should feel like a genuine dialogue and not just a one-sided delivery of content. Get a nice rhythm going in your writing. Your reader should feel like you’re right there with them, chatting over a cup of coffee.
- 13. 13 Use simple language The purpose of your writing isn’t to show off your extensive vocabulary, penchant for fancy wordplay and other linguistic gymnastics. Create a textual environment in which your reader feels engaged yet relaxed. Avoid using unnecessary jargon and bureaucratese unless the context really calls for it. Finally, remember this rule and stick to it wherever possible: don’t say in ten words what can be said just as effectively in five.
- 14. 14 Use positive statements It’s no secret that marketing involves a fair amount of psychology. I’m not talking about intermittently flashing suggestive images to movie audiences to make them want to buy a particular soft drink. But readers do respond to copy that involves positive statements and language that makes them feel empowered. Consider the following examples: Negative Never miss out on a great deal. Positive Get all the greatest deals daily!
- 15. 15 Include a call-to-action If your copy is the symphony, then your call-to-action is the crescendo to which it builds. You can write the most compelling and eloquent copy, the kind of stuff that would make Don Draper weep tears of sheer amazement, but it’s all for naught unless there’s a clear call-to-action to take the reader to the next step. Make your CTA button stand out from the rest of the copy, and make it clear what clicking on it will lead to: Some examples are: •Sign up for free •Download your eBook •Get more sales •Click here to subscribe •Take a tour •Act now •Join our mailing list •Like us on Facebook •Follow us on Twitter
- 16. 16 Bonus: Web copy infographic