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Writing For The Internet |
Inspiring Your Website Visitors With Words that Work |
Creating Content that Converts Writing’s not easy. Ask any writer. And content created specifically for websites is often even harder to write. Because then you have to craft copy that:
And on top of all that, surveys show that people get eyestrain from reading big “blocks” of text on a computer screen: You know what it’s like, everything just blurs together. So you have to keep your sentences short. And leave gaps. Eeks! That’s putting a lot of limitations on my writing style, you say. But don’t despair. Web copy writing has matured as a craft. It has developed into a discipline with specific rules: With clear guidelines for form and structure. Unfortunately, those rules aren’t systematically recorded anywhere. Well, not the best ones anyhow. So here a few inside secrets from our professional writers. Secrets that will enable you to craft copy that inspires, informs and also pays the bills by converting your virtual visitors to customers. Virtual Copy Writing Tips Before you start writing for your site, get one of those “yellow stickies” and print: “Creating bricks and mortar credibility in Cyberspace” and put it on your screen. Because you need to visualize your website as your virtual store and your e-visitor as a person sitting opposite you. That helps. It really does. It helps you to write in a personal way: To say “you” instead of writing in the third person all the time. You wouldn’t greet a potential client to your bricks and mortar store with the pronouncement, “XYZ Inc was founded in 1877 and carries a complete range of bridal gowns blah, blah, blah” would you? You’d be trying to find out why the person was in the store. You'd want to get to know them a little better: Respond to their needs. It’s the same with your virtual visitor. What inspired that person to come to your site? What are they looking for? How did they find you? And the reality is you know a lot of this from the search DNA of your visitor. You know what terms were used to find you. Particularly if you are using Pay Per Click (PPC) to drive traffic to your site. You’ll know the “adwords” your potential customer responded to. You know the keywords they used. You actually know more about your visitors than you think. Making it Personal, Making it Work So talk to them like they were sitting opposite you. Tell them how your products or services will meet their needs. Don’t just talk features. Make the benefits come alive. Use dynamic verbs and talk directly to them. Say to your visitor: “You’ll bring tears of joy to your fiancé’s eyes and look resplendent on your day of days in an elegant XYZ gown” instead of “ XYZ Inc was founded in 1877 etc., etc.” OK, we’re exaggerating to make the point. But you get the idea. Go on, try it. You’ll soon get the hang of it. And your online profits will rocket when you do. But if you are too busy running a business to spend years perfecting these specialist communication skills, contact us and have our professional writers add the sizzle needed to turn your e-visitors into clients.
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