Effective Web Copywriting Requires a Willingness to Look Outside the Box :: Online Marketing

Jul

Effective Web Copywriting Requires a Willingness to Look Outside the Box

The last place you want to look for help or advice on writing copy, for websites or anywhere else, is in “writing” books. Writing effective copy never looks like the writing you did in school or for papers or for your business. Powerful web copy looks and reads like speech.

You must view your website like it’s a member of your sales team. You aren’t “writing” to the people who visit your website. You’re communicating with them. Picture them sitting across a table from you and think about what you’d say to them if they came to you with a question because they viewed you as an expert on your subject.

In fact, thinking of your Internet market as an audience will work much more effectively for some people. How do you communicate with your audience? What do you say to them to get them excited? How do you make a connection with them so they trust you and listen to what you say?

A resource I use for web copywriting ideas is the book, ‘How To Persuade People Who Don’t Want To Be Persuaded” by Joel Bauer and Mark Levy. It’s a great source of ideas on how to use persuasive speech as a guide for writing website copy.

Here are a few tidbits of advice I picked up from the book:

“What I’ve found to be true on the trade show floor is also true in society. We want our information fast, entertaining and predigested so we can make sense of it.”
“Getting people’s attention requires a mechanism. A mechanism is anything that entertains, is memorable, flips perspective, and gives clarity.”
“Offering something for free isn’t enough. You have to fashion your free offer around something your audience finds valuable. And if they don’t fully understand the item’s value, you must make them understand.”

Bob McClain or WordsmithBob, has been a website copywriter in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, since 2000. He has focused on developing new, more effective approaches to web writing, web content, web copywriting and Search Engine Optimization. Starting with a BA in Technical Communication and a minor in Creative Writing from Metro State University in St. Paul, McClain has worked diligently to end the use of "corp-speak" and "technospeak" online. His approach is to “humanize” the Web, using real information to guide people to buy rather than turning websites into advertisements that people can easily ignore. McClain is also the creator of Cheap SEO Website Marketing, a website devoted to helping people with the best solutions to DIY SEO at an affordable cost with tips and software reviews. More at Cheap SEO Website Marketing