Title:

Copywriting For An Online Audience

Word Count:
798

Summary:
No matter what medium you are using, all copywriting should have one prime
objective - create an effective message that appeals to the audience it is intended
to influence. This golden rule applies to websites, brochures, and sales letters,
even adding a nice message to Grandma�s little pink birthday card. However, the
Internet presents a number of unique challenges for a copywriter, even if the
people reading your sales letters are the same ones reading your website.

Keywords:
freelance copywriter, copywriting, simon hillier, get there, webcopy, website
copywriting, online audience, internet, sales letter

Article Body:
So what�s the big deal about copywriting for the Internet? It�s the same as any
other form of copywriting isn�t it? In a word, yes. But in another word, no.
Confused? Sick of all these questions? I had better myself explain then.

No matter what medium you are using, all copywriting should have one prime
objective - create an effective message that appeals to the audience it is intended
to influence. This golden rule applies to websites, brochures, and sales letters,
even adding a nice message to Grandma�s little pink birthday card. However, the
Internet presents a number of unique challenges for a copywriter, even if the
people reading your sales letters are the same ones reading your website.

Think about it for a minute. Do you read on the Internet the same way you read on
paper? Not for long. First of all, there are comfort factors such as the monitor
resolution, colours, glare, and a reading surface that doesn�t move. Secondly, we
are conditioned to read websites in a different manner. Online, we are quite
comfortable scanning sub-headings, clicking on hyperlinks, and jumping between
pages.

Thirdly, the majority of people looking at your business website are there because
they seek a service that you provide. After all, they made the effort to visit you
didn�t they? The online reader can be impatient and demanding, and they usually
know what they want before they click through he door. If your business doesn�t
impress them straight away, it�s a quick tap on the keyboard to find someone who
will. Even if you do provide the product or service they need, it doesn�t take much
effort to duck into your competitors store for a browse around. Website copywriting
is a bit like speed dating � you have to make a big first impression and leave them
thinking �I bet we�d be good together".

Readers of hard copy sales material don�t have the luxury to pick and choose, so
they become somewhat of a captive audience. After all, it takes a lot more effort
to call or visit your competitors business in the real world. In addition, a
brochure could sit on a potential customers desk for months, staring at them with
puppy dog eyes, day in day out, until one day the customer decides to make some
enquiries.

With these unique challenges in mind, here are a few copywriting pointers to help
make your website a lean, mean, highly effective, sales machine:
<b>1. Snatch their attention from the first paragraph</b>
Most visitors spent less than one minute summing up a website before they decide
whether to stay or go. There is no time for waffling paragraphs about who you are,
where you live, and how your wife makes the best apple pie. You have to get to the
point as fast as you can. If you don�t convey your key message in the first few
lines, don�t expect many people to be around to read them further on.

<b>2. Short paragraphs</b>

If you want people to read your website, forget the long descriptive, romantic
prose about the salubrious ambience of your pulchritudinous offer. They will only
think you are stercorous (take my word for it, you really don�t want to be). Short
paragraphs are most effective on the web because they can be differentiated and
skimmed at a glance. Visual layout is the key.

<b>3. Make sure your copy flows</b>

Reading online is straining enough. Flowing on from the point above, using jargon,
formal language and/or trying to impress your audience with your knowledge of words
containing more than ten letters will only make the reader irritated, frustrated
and start to think about places or sites they�d rather be.

<b>4. KISS</b>
Remember the old adage Keep It Simple Stupid? Write as though your audience is a
bunch of twelve year olds. Don�t sound patronising, but don�t assume they know
anything about your business or what you do. They have arrived laden with buring
questions, �What are you selling?" �Why should I choose you?" �Where are you?" �How
can I get some of this?" �How much is it?"

<b>5. Appropriately tempt your audience</b>

A lot of hot and personal activity goes down on the Internet, but lets face it, the
technology itself isn�t causing readers monitors to fog up. The content is what
makes things exciting. The Internet itself is just an impersonal two-dimensional
screen. Good copywriting might not always be intended to get the heart racing, but
it must connect with your intended audience to break through this impersonal
barrier. Maybe you need a little humor, sophistication, cold corporate speak,
personal touch, or yes, even something racy.