The Five Caveats of Writing Great Web Copy
March 24th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comThere is an abundance of articles on the Internet. Some are good, a few are inspired, and the rest belong in a junk heap.
Whether you’re writing to sell, or just to be read, keep these points in mind before you sit down and start typing.
1. Have a keyword-rich title and talk to the search engines in your copy.
The sheer number of words on the Internet means that people must rely more heavily on search engines to find valuable content than ever before. That trend won’t end anytime soon, which is why you must optimize your text so the search engines can find you quickly.
The first thing to optimize is your article’s headline. Search engines often check headlines first for relevant keywords before moving on to your body copy. Forego the desire to be witty when creating your headlines and opt instead to use keywords that will increase your chances for being seen. If you’ve got wordplay on the brain, never fear; that’s what the subhead is for.
Pay close attention to what words you use in your body copy. Speak to your readers in an easy and conversational tone, but also be mindful of keywords. While there are those who advocate a certain keyword density, I’d suggest that you don’t put too much effort into hitting a specific number. The rule to follow is to use your keywords and phrases only so much as it makes sense to do so. Don’t ever sacrifice readability for search engine rankings.
2. Break long articles into multiples.
While there’s still debate raging as to whether long copy is preferred over short copy, you should always shoot for brevity over being long winded.
Your writing should be like a good steak - nutritious and virtually fat free.
However, there are times when you really need a lot of words to get your point across. In these cases it’s better to split your article up into multiple parts and post them on separate pages of your site. This not only increases the amount of content you have on your site - which looks good to the search engines - but makes it more appealing for your readers. Most would rather read two, or three, short posts as opposed to one long one.
3. Avoid the urge to use filler copy.
Remember the steak? Lean and meaty is how you want your articles to appear. Don’t offer your readers an encyclopedia’s worth of words when a leaflet’s worth will do. Believe me, they’re not going to feel cheated if they’re being fed the good meat.
4. Don’t repeat ideas.
When some people write, they tend to repeat the same idea over a number of sentences in order to get their point across. This stems from not trusting their writing skills, and not trusting the reader to get the message.
It’s better to drive your message home via two example-rich sentences than blather on for an entire paragraph that just reiterates the same thing in numerous ways.
5. Always employ a strong close.
In sales copy, a strong close is usually called the Call to Action. This asks the reader to do something specific like order a product, call a toll free number, or enter their e-mail address.
Even if your copy isn’t the hard-sell variety, that still doesn’t leave you off the hook from closing your article strongly.
Bloggers should use their closing lines to invite people to subscribe to their RSS feed, or ask people to click a link to read another post on their website.
Whatever you do, keep the reader engaged for as long as you can. Make their visit worthwhile and they’ll likely put your site at the top of their list to visit.
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March 24th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Good rules to abide by.
The Masked Millionaire
March 26th, 2008 at 9:58 am
Thanks, Masked Mill!