A regular column by author, Simon Rose.

Can’t most people with a high school education manage to throw something together for a website? After all, there’s not much writing on a web page and the main point is just to have a website and be visible online, right? » Read the rest of this entry «

A regular column by author, Simon Rose.

On the Internet, you need to stand out as much as possible if you want to get noticed. However, just having a cool website or even a fabulous product doesn’t always do the job, You need to retain the customer’s attention for long enough to actually have a chance at doing business with them.   » Read the rest of this entry «

A regular column by author, Simon Rose.

Insider Knowledge and Consulting the Experts

As a copywriter, I’m often asked how I can compose copy and write about subjects that are not within my realm of expertise? As an author of novels, you could ask the same question about fiction. After all, how can you write about time travel, other dimensions or incredible journeys to distant alien planets without actually experiencing it? I’ve written a number of historical novels and although I’m a history major, I still always need to conduct research to get everything just right. This is also the case with my many non-fiction articles, which are not always on topics with which I’m overly familiar. Consequently, I must undergo a fair amount of reading before commencing the articles. The same principle applies to web copy, in that you have to get the facts straight in order to give your client the best possible impression and exposure on the web.

I always obtain as much information as I can from the client at the outset of the project, even down to the smallest details of their operation, which they may sometimes have overlooked. More importantly, I attempt to determine just what they are looking to promote in order to truly set themselves apart from their competitors. However, no matter how much research I undertake into various types of extremely complex surgical procedures, the processes of oil and gas exploration, the workings of car engines, real estate, animal health, landscaping, agriculture, insurance, the financial markets, or whatever the company’s business involves, it is still ultimately up to the client to perform the final review of the text before their website actually goes live. Let’s compare it to perhaps ordering some new business cards. In most cases, the printer will provide you with a proof, but if you give your approval and then later discover that your e mail address or phone number is incorrect, the error lies with you, not with the printer. Similarly, the client hires a copywriter for their expertise, but the client is the expert in their own profession and has to sign off on the website’s copy at the end of the process, ensuring that all the technical, legal and intricate details are correct.  

Words4TheWebwise – Copywriting and Website Design and Development

Making an Impression

Remember that old saying that ‘you only get one chance to make a first impression’? It could refer to you meeting someone for the first time, whether on a social level or for business. Maybe it was connected to your choice of a colour scheme for your corporate identity, your style of print advertising, your company logos on your vehicles, even your shop window displays. It could be related to your choice of clothes for a social engagement or an important business meeting, or even the type of handshake you employed when encountering new people. In the incredibly interconnected world of 2010, a good first impression is still very important and today your website is often the first place people will encounter you, your company and your products and services. You can’t simply put your brochures online, because writing for the Internet is very different than in traditional printed materials. On the web, you only have seconds to grab and hold someone’s attention, since people typically only scan pages quickly. However, your site must also provide all the relevant information, yet not get bogged down with too many details. Well-written text can also help improve your ranking with search engines and could make all the difference between success and failure. Potential clients will also appreciate being able to locate what they are looking for quickly and easily, which translates into good customer service.
Your online copy reflects on your professionalism or lack of it. You always need to take pride in what you have on the web, which is potentially visible to millions, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. If it appears that you don’t really care what your website looks like, the customer will assume that your products may be similarly slipshod. The quality of content on your site will always have a positive or negative effect on your visitors. In 2010, you still only get one chance to make a first impression, so make sure that your visitors get a positive one.

Words4TheWebwise – Copywriting and Website Design and Development

Thinking Outside the Box

Last month here on Words4TheWebwise, we talked about how the right choice of words on your website can help increase traffic. A web copywriter will help you determine what words you can use to describe your company and increase your visibility on search engines. You need to consider words, phrases and terms that are both popular and also relevant to your site. This may seem like stating the obvious, since after all, it’s your company, you run it and you know it inside out, right? Surely you can come up with words to describe your own business? In fairness, you probably can, but there may be other words, which initially, you may feel aren’t really connected to what you do. You need to think outside the box, imagining yourself to be a potential customer, looking for a company offering your type of products and services.

If you want to be ranked highly in searches, your site needs to have words that are descriptive and related to your business, plus these should ideally be words that usually generate a lot of traffic on the web. A copywriter, who isn’t connected to your business, can provide that crucial other viewpoint which can make all the difference. Because they’re looking at your business from the outside, the copywriter will be more capable than you are at imagining themselves as customers. They’re also more likely to suggest words that you may never have thought of yourself. You may even be too close to your product or service to determine what its benefits are or be unable to see any hidden potential. A copywriter may be able to suggest ways in which you might tap into a completely different market or go after an entirely new set of customers, based on how they view your business and its appeal. Don’t worry if at first a word, phrase or term doesn’t seem relevant to what you really want to achieve. The longer the list you make, the more words you have to choose from and in the end, the ones you do choose may help set you apart from your competitors.

Words4TheWebwise – Copywriting and Website Design and Development
In the last couple of editions of Words4theWebwise, we looked at the frequent use of meaningless phrases and empty slogans on websites. Such text on your site does you little good, but on the other side of the coin, choosing the right words can truly work wonders. The Internet is a vast marketplace, crammed with almost unimaginable opportunity, but no one is going to find you by accident. You need to show them the way, give them specific instructions and provide clear directions. A good professional copywriter will help you to do that, every time. When your website pages are created, your copywriter will include the best online search keywords, in order to match your company, market segment, products and services to those customers on the web who match them. The key is to select as many words as possible that might be related to your business.

When I was creating my website at www.simon-rose.com, I worked under the assumption that as a writer, both readers and potential readers would be interested in me and my work, so included all kinds of things on my online pages – about my novels, non-fiction books, copywriting and editing services, school programs, online workshops and so on, as well as biographical information. However, all search engines look for certain words, so the most appropriate words and phrases which are related to what are trying to market to the outside world need to be carefully incorporated into the text on your home page. Words such as author, writer, copywriting, books, novels, literature, story, literature, Canada, USA, UK, schools, libraries and many more are included in the text of my own web pages. If just about anything even remotely connected to what you are all about is an integral part of your web page copy, your site will usually be ranked higher in directory queries, receive potentially greater traffic and consequently increase awareness of what you have to offer.

Words4TheWebwise – Copywriting and Website Design and Development

Banishing the fluff – Empty phrases and meaningless slogans

Last time here at Words4TheWebwise, we looked at some of the meaningless phrases that so often appear on websites. Here are a few other examples seen all too often online.

‘A reputation for quality.’ This makes me curious as to where this reputation of yours originates from and what you did to earn it.

‘We stand behind our product and/or service.’ I know what this is supposed to mean, but it always makes me think that the person is standing behind the counter and refusing to come out and serve me or answer my questions.

‘We will beat any other offer.’ Really? You will beat any deal I have been offered, no matter how ridiculous it is or how low the price is? This is one promise that any company has difficulty keeping.

‘We pride ourselves on our attention to detail’. This might mean that they will check over the small print in any contract you sign with them, but it remains unclear as to how they might deal with other aspects of the transaction.

‘We are fully committed to your success.’ This is an interesting statement since they haven’t met you yet, so you have to wonder what form this commitment might actually take.

‘We are a people oriented company’. This is normally what I would expect, unless you were running a pet store, perhaps?

‘Now even better.’ This makes me wonder just how bad the company was before and if there is perhaps something they’re not telling me about how much they still need to improve.

‘You can expect great things from us’. I suppose if you were thinking of doing business with these people, you would expect great, or at least reasonably good, things, but you have wonder if they can actually deliver.

‘Everything you love and more’. This is a very nice thing to promise, but it does suggest that the ‘more’ part is really composed of things that I don’t want or need at all.

You need to banish the fluff of meaningless phrases and a good copywriter will ensure that your site is free of things like this. To help drive traffic to your site, you need to make effective use of keywords, which we will examine in Words4TheWebwise next month.

A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

This famous line from Macbeth by William Shakespeare, who never actually composed any copy for the web, could nonetheless apply to so much of the text we all come across from time to time when surfing the internet. How many times have you encountered the meaningless phrase ‘second to none’, which kind of implies that you are second to zero, something which isn’t all that impressive in any setting. Maybe you work in a very technical field in science or medicine and you insist on telling people that your personnel are ‘highly trained and fully qualified’? Let’s be honest, wouldn’t you expect such expertise if you are looking for someone who is a specialist in a certain type of surgery, intricate medical or scientific procedure? Many websites advertise that the company employs not only the right staff, but that they have ‘the very latest technology’ or ‘up to date equipment’. Again, wouldn’t you be expected to have that if you were claiming to be one of the leading experts in your particular field? Perhaps your website also uses the infamous phrase inviting people to ‘visit us for all your (insert industry sector here) needs’? While this no doubt represents a very pleasant invitation, it doesn’t really say much about you. Nor does a claim to offer ‘the very best in customer service’ or to posses anything that is ‘state of the art’. If the home page on your website includes such words as ‘our 80,000 square foot facility is state of the art’, what does that actually mean and more importantly, why would your customers care? What benefits does the size of your building actually provide the customer with? Size may matter to you, but what matters most to your client is whether, for example, you can provide difficult to obtain, fully warranted parts, that can be shipped overnight at 20% less than your competitors. This is the sort of thing people want to know in order to buy from you and pointless buzzwords and catchphrases will do nothing to inspire ongoing customer loyalty.

Many companies make the mistake of simply putting their brochure online when they have a website created. After all, they already have all the information aimed at potential customers in printed form, so why not put it all online? The details are already in existence and have worked perfectly well so far, so why not just use the text on your website? Surely it’s the same thing, isn’t it? The truth is, you can’t simply put your brochures online, because writing for the internet is very different than writing for traditional printed materials, whether they are brochures, catalogues or even direct mail pieces. As I mentioned in the last issue of Words4TheWebwise, you only have seconds to grab and hold someone’s attention on the web, since people typically scan text very quickly. Website pages have to be created with the impatient reader in mind. The writing of website copy is a specialized area, since your site must provide all the relevant information, yet not get bogged down with too many details. Well-written, yet concise, text can also help improve your company’s ranking with search engines, which could make all the difference between success and failure. Featuring all the details from your brochures on your newly created web pages may simply encourage people to dismiss your company and its products in a matter of seconds, if your home page appears to be overloaded with text. Potential clients will always appreciate being able to locate what they are looking for quickly and easily. This they will be able to do if your pages are well written and organized properly, and that translates into good customer service.

People don’t read web copy

These days, any organization that wants to either do business, or stay in business, has to have an online presence. A website is crucial if you are going to connect with both your existing and potential customers and you need to make sure your web pages tell your clients everything they need to know about your products and services. However, despite that, you can’t include too much information, especially on your home page, the place where people will first encounter you. Readers of web copy typically scan the page very quickly, rather than actually reading every single word. Consequently, it’s vital that you have the right words and enough of them to grab and hold the visitor’s attention. Although you need to include as much information about your company as you can to entice the reader, you also have to make sure the copy easy to read. Killer headlines and text broken up into manageable chunks will make your web pages easy on the eye. There are no hard and fast rules, but as a guideline, headings should be eight words or less, sentences up to a maximum of twenty words, paragraphs no more than seventy words, with a total page count of around two hundred and fifty words. In the online world, less is nearly always more.

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