Ten tips for online copywriting

Online copywriting is totally different from print or any other medium. Remember another site is just one click away. Here are a few tips that are pretty standard but often hard to follow as we all fall back into our old habits.

  1. focus on the end-user benefits (what’s there for them, solve their problem?)
  2. shorter sentences, words and paragraphs (be concise - half the words you’d use for print)
  3. meaningful headlines and subheads, avoid cute or clever lines
  4. spend as much time on your headline as you do the remainder of the page (first two words rule)
  5. put the most important point first
  6. push details to deeper pages via links
  7. use bulleted lists
  8. use objective language to foster credibility, don’t make exaggerated claims or use overly promotional words like "fantastic", "tremendous" etc.
  9. be helpful and share some of your knowledge right up front
  10. use the “active voice” where possible

and a bonus point:

  • avoid grammatical errors – proof read.

 

Check out some of my blog posts with more on copywriting for the web:

Website development: A content strategy process

Back to basic persuasive writing techniques

Put in context: connecting and engaging users