Ten Tips To Writing Web Copy
June 30th, 2009 // 4:07 pm @ Fox
- Web copy should be left-aligned. Indenting the first word of a paragraph is often used in print material but is not correct for Web copy. This has become a standard with Web writing and also with modern business letters.
- Do not use underlines. On a Web page, underlined words often represent links. It confuses a reader if a word has an underline but is not a link.
- Do not colour-code words to highlight them. Many websites use a colour theme for links so a coloured word may lead the reader to think it is a link. Headings can have a colour theme.
- Use bolded words or italics where appropriate. Highlight a word or sentence with bolded or italic font. Don’t overdo it.
- Use semantic headings. Depending on how your page is set up, use H1, H2 or H3 headings where appropriate. The use of semantic headings is like letting search engines know the importance of a heading and is better house-keeping from a styling perspective.
- Do not use long sentences. Long sentences are for print material. Online copy should use short sentences which are to the point. Break up your long sentences into two sentences.
- Break up large blocks of text. It is difficult for the reader to absorb large blocks of text when reading online. Try to keep blocks of text to a minimum and break the page up with images, headings, bullet lists, words in bold or white space.
- Reference material used from elsewhere. If you are quoting someone else, using their information or thoughts, always cite the reference whether it is a link to their site, or a mention in the copy, or in references at the end of the copy. Plagiarism and copyright infringement are serious issues.
- Have a clear call-to-action. If the purpose of your page is to encourage a sale, or provide information on a product or a service, always make it clear to the reader what the next step is. A simple call-to-action such as ‘Order U-Beaut Now!’ or ‘Contact us today for a quote!’ with a link to the relevant page would suffice.
- Have interesting content. If your site is a business site, write in a general, neutral and professional tone, but don’t get too bogged down in trivial detail. Keep the content fresh and appealing. More intricate detail can be offered in a PDF or over several pages, giving the reader the choice of reading more.
Can You Have Too Much Web Content?
February 9th, 2009 // 11:24 am @ Fox
Time and again it is instilled upon us that ‘content is king’ when it comes to a website. The experts all say to write as much copy as you can on your product or service, add a blog, write reviews, FAQ’s, articles and so on. Is it possible to have too much content?
The benefits of having a ton of copy on your website include:
- Plenty of information for customers researching your product or service
- A full and comprehensive site seen as an authority
- Loads of long-tail keywords or phrases for people searching
- The more opportunities for people wishing to link to one of the pages
There is a big ‘however’ here. HOWEVER, there are two ways that you can have too much content.
- If the content is not meaningful, there is no point in having lots of content. Meaningless dribble will not give customers much information on your product or service or encourage people to link to it. It is very easy to write a few hundred words on a particular topic, but boring and trivial will result in a high bounce rate.
The content needs to be informative, compelling and easy to read. Put yourself in the shoes of the audience and think about what information they need, or what copy would interest them.
- It is not recommended to have too much copy on one page, particularly if it is just massive blocks of text. This is not how people read online. Many websites, particularly corporate sites, make the mistake of treating the online environment in the same way as the offline environment. Where offline you can read a book, magazine or article with lots of block paragraphs, online it does not work this way.
Online readers tend to scan web pages looking for something that will attract their interest. The use of headings, bolded text, bullet points, images, links and plenty of white space is much easier to read than just text.
It is fine to have a few hundred words per page providing it is broken up into easy to read and manageable chunks.