Writing effective web copy begins with an understanding of what the goals of your web site are. Are you trying to get your visitors to purchase something or have them sign up for your newsletter? Remember you are trying to get someone you can't see and have never met take a step towards building a relationship with you or your company.
1. Create a customer profile ? try to find out what are the needs and desires of your visitors. Here are some examples of questions you could ask:
Are they young, middle aged or senior?
Are they primarily male or female?
Are they financially secure or budget-minded?
What gets him or her excited?
What are his or her most pressing concerns?
Try to brainstorm a list of topics that might interest your target audience.
2. Create a Unique Selling Position (USP) ? This is a statement of 2-3 sentences that explains why you are different from everybody else. This is the unique factor that sets you apart from your competition. Make this the first thing your visitor sees when they arrive on your home page.
3. Focus on benefits ? most web users want to find the information about the product or service they need as fast as possible. If they land on your site, they want to know how they will benefit from buying your product or subscribing to your ezine. You will need to answer that question as clearly and concisely as possible or you will lose that visitor.
4. Use the inverted pyramid style ? provide a summary of your information by clearly communicating the direction of your discussion. Use informative headings and subheadings with a paragraph of 4 to 5 lines that supports them. You only have a few seconds to grab your visitors attention. Most will simply scan for the information they are seeking.
Use bulleted or numbered lists, boldface or colored font to emphasize the points you wish to make. Include links at the end of your paragraph (or within the text) to direct visitors to other pages of your site for more in-depth information.
5. Write in an informal or personal style ? write in a unique way that differentiates you from other small businesses in a similar business or niche. It doesn't have to be elaborate or super-creative. You simply provide a style that gets the attention of your visitors.
6. Keep your sentences simple ? you are not writing to impress. You are writing to communicate. You want to pre-sell your product or service, therefore write as if you are talking to a 13 year old.
Don't use large words but opt for strong verbs over weak ones. Use the active voice instead of a passive one. i.e. Instead of "a good score was achieved by the team"?say "the team scored a season high". Speak "to" but not "at" your visitor. Keep your sentences short and snappy.
7. Include searchable keywords ? use targeted keywords in your web copy that will allow the search engines to find your site. Include these keywords in your meta tags, links and file names also.
8. Eliminate the fluff - don't waffle on in your writing. You will only bore your visitors and they will click elsewhere. Try to remove filler sentences that contain phrases like "for those of you" and "all of you".
9. Proof read your web copy ? errors in your web copy give the impression of being unprofessional or sloppy. Read the copy aloud to yourself or get someone else to proof read it. Often they will find more errors because they are more objective.
Use the spell checker but don't rely on it. Often it doesn't pick up all incorrectly spelt words. Print a copy of your content. It's easier to find grammatical or spelling errors on a hard copy.
10. Take a break ? revise your web copy after taking a break from it for several hours or a few days. This allows you to see it from a different viewpoint. You may find a better way to say something to further improve your copy.
11. Use images sparingly ? images should only be used if they relate and support your web content. If not, they will only distract the visitor from reading your web copy. Too many images will slow down the time it takes for your visitor to load your site in their browser.
12. Use effective navigation ? your navigation bar should help visitors easily find the main sections of your site. Read: "How to Create an Effective Web Site Navigation Structure" (http://www.isitebuild.com/navigation)
Writing effective web copy is the key to converting visitors into buyers. Getting 1000s of visitors to your web site doesn't guarantee sales. Reading your web copy should pre-sell your product with the words you use. Once you achieve this, your web site will become very profitable.
Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW) owner and author of http://www.isitebuild.com - affordable web site design and web hosting
Pick up your copy of the 159 page ebook TODAY titled: "Make Your Content Pre Sell" by going to the bottom of this page : http://www.isitebuild.com - affordable web site design and web hosting
Wood Dale Chicago prom limo .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HareThe ChallengeWebSiteMarketingPlan.com was to be a companion site to the... Read More
How to improve conversion rate for your website? How to... Read More
Yes, it can be done. Here are 7 ways that... Read More
Search engine optimisation ? it's the holy grail of website... Read More
Do you have a website or are you planning on... Read More
Reading the postings in different Newsgroups it becomes clear that... Read More
So you have your website and you've done everything right... Read More
I think you all know that buying pop ups in... Read More
Driving traffic to your website can be a time consuming... Read More
Promoting your website might seem like an enormous task that... Read More
Have you even been to CNN's website? Odds are you... Read More
WEB DIRECTORIESDirectories play an important role in aiding a site's... Read More
1. Selling To Everyone Means You Sell to No OneIf... Read More
Almost anyone who has tried submitting to free-for-all sites will... Read More
Directory marketing can help boost your companies performance a great... Read More
How can one get a good ranking in the major... Read More
How many times have you been frustrated with your promotion... Read More
Description: one way of jumpstarting you link campaign is to... Read More
Repetition is the key to getting your adverts and promotion... Read More
Writing and distributing articles is fast becoming a popular method... Read More
We have dealt with the tags so the search engines... Read More
Keyword can be classified into three categories :-Single word Keyword-Multiple... Read More
Do you dream of running your own business? Well, get... Read More
Yahoo! allows you to set up your own front page... Read More
If you want to make money on the web, you... Read More
Antigo wedding limo ..In the early days of developing my home business, I... Read More
Let's face it. Getting webmasters to link to your site... Read More
DMOZ editors are supposed to be professionals in the category... Read More
When we ran the contest back in 1998 we had... Read More
I doubt that anyone reading this article hasn't at one... Read More
What do you do next! you have been working so... Read More
Let's see here... as of today Google states it has... Read More
If your website is not generating a lot of sales... Read More
Joe Nogood owns a small but thriving gift store. He... Read More
Virtually all website owners concentrate their efforts and energy into... Read More
There are many ways to market your web site, both... Read More
Keeping in touch with other sites like Amazon.com, Buy.com and... Read More
Creating a sense of credibility for your product and website... Read More
Measuring and understanding your Website's success is a critical process... Read More
The answer to the first question is simple, the difference... Read More
How to market your business? It needs your continual effort.... Read More
As an authorative hub a link from a DMOZ directory... Read More
(but also one of the most crucial part)It is time... Read More
Benefits of Website Localization Maximising profit today... Read More
Seeking effective affordable website promotion should begin with listing your... Read More
Here are 10 power secrets to help your website promotion... Read More
1. Ping weblogs.com and other search engines. When you ping... Read More
There are 3 basic components to capturing leads on free... Read More
1. Use reward programs to keep people revisiting your web... Read More
This author's open-source marketing plan, as announced on June 29,... Read More
Web Site Promotion |