Online Copywriting

Hey, Look Over Here!

Online copywriting> should be clear, succinct and able to grab a reader’s attention quickly. Because many visits to a web page will come from search engines, written material should have the ability to quickly prove to readers that they have reached the correct destination. Industry statistics suggest that people seeking a particular topic or product will give a web page a mere 10 seconds to accomplish this task.

Studies also suggest that the left-hand side of a web page will get the most attention, so online copywriting efforts should focus on delivering the best information on that side of the page.

Screen Shot

Remember that reading from a screen is much different than reading from paper-based written material. Much like this page, text and content needs to be broken up in a way that is easy to read and appealing to a reader’s eye.

Online copywriting should be written in short, to-the-point paragraphs that offer compelling and useful information–and very little fluff. Online readers are typically looking for something very specific and too much text becomes burdensome to an online reader’s eyes.

The use of headings, white space, indented paragraphs, color and bullets can also help keep readers engaged. Search engines are also more apt to locate keywords if they are used in headings and sub-headings.

Create Value

How-to articles that genuinely give readers important takeaways are great strategies for online copywriting. Use headlines that make readers feel they are going to garner some benefit from reading what’s on a page, and then live up to the promise.

If a website is established to sell garden tools, offer practical how-to advice on caring for equipment or improving gardening techniques. Even more effective is the ability to deliver a quantifiable promise in a headline such as, “How-to advice for extending the life of gardening equipment up to 10 years.”

If a headline has the potential of becoming too long, consider using a sub-heading to effectively relay a point.

Optimizing Searches

Online copywriting should always include parameters for search engine optimization (SEO). This means that before anything is written for a website, research should be completed as to what words are most frequently used in searches by the audience of a particular industry. Some good sources for this type of research include WordTracker.com and Google’s keyword tool.

Once keywords have been established, build text outlines around words and phrases that will get picked by up search engines. Beware of overuse, though, as if it becomes obvious that SEO is the primary driver of how content is formatted on a page, a site will lose credibility in the eyes of readers. Use of keywords should follow the natural flow of text.

Hitting the Bullseye

When putting together a plan for online copywriting, take some time to engage in target practice. The Internet is flooded with information that potential readers and buyers are seeking, but any website’s goal is to generate the right kind of traffic.

Content should be targeted to reach “qualified” readers–those visitors who are most likely to buy the product or services a site is selling. Content marketing services can provide resources that help reach a tightly-focused group.