There is an old saying, ‘a picture paints a thousand words’. Not so online. Words rule, words are king. Apart from your header and product blocks, only add pictures and graphics if you are convinced they enhance and support your copy. That way you will see that most of the beautifully designed logos, banners and gizmos you had in mind will simply distract the ‘spiders’ (and your visitors) from the most important thing on your site – your sales message.Now let’s explore each task in turn ...

So You Reckon All This Is Beyond You?

Perhaps you’re trying to write web copy for the first time. Perhaps you don’t even consider yourself a writer. Perhaps you think it’s too late to start now.

Wrong ...

You’ve been a creative writer all of your life; when you were composing essays at school; when you are writing business letters; when you put pen to paper to produce a reasoned argument why you have fallen behind in your VAT payments.

You Are An Experienced Writer But You Don’t Give Yourself Credit For It

This time you are charged with developing content for a topic you know a great deal about: your own business. You conceived it, you built it; you know more than you think you know; you are an experienced writer, but you don’t give yourself credit for it. Writing about your business should be a pleasure, not a chore.

You just follow some basic rules and let it all hang out. Don’t get all strung up; have some fun instead ...

Techniques That Work Offline Work Equally Well Online

There is no mystique. The techniques that work offline work equally well online. You will have to make some changes, of course, to accommodate the restrictions imposed by the computer screen and the problems that navigation sometimes presents. But the successful techniques for effective web copy remain the same. And these techniques have been around for centuries.

Good web copy doesn’t attract the attention it deserves. Copy just isn’t cool because well-crafted persuasive text doesn’t attract attention to itself. It just sits there on the page delivering its message skilfully and unobtrusively; focusing attention on the product and the reader; quietly doing its job of selling.

And most of the really successful internet marketers employ excellent, uncluttered copy on their sites. That’s why they are successful.

It’s so easy and cheap to build a website these days and set up a storefront. And that’s great. There’s room for you and your online opportunity to compete alongside the big boys. And with no previous business or advertising experience you can build a 100 page super-duper animated site in minutes. But when the sales don’t come in, the answer seems to be to change the animated GIFs, Java scripts, site banners and other gizmos to grab the attention.

Meanwhile the clever marketers, the successful ones, rake in the sales with strong, professionally crafted selling copy; copy they’ve taken the time to learn to write for themselves. They know it is words that sell, not gizmos. Which words?

Words That Sell

After you have drawn up the approximate overall structure of your site, and before you design the fine details, decide what you’re going to say and who you are going to say it to.

Now Begin Writing Your Copy

Write it, rewrite it and cut out the dead wood. Crystallise your message. Hone it, polish it, and examine every single word for relevancy and maximum effect. Keep rewriting it until you’re sure it’s a winner. Don’t be tempted to ‘make do’. If it takes a week and it’s still not right – spend another week until it is right. And a third week if need be until you’re absolutely convinced you can’t improve another single word. Remember, it is your online opportunity that’s at stake.

Here’s An Excellent Tip

Print out your copy and read it out loud. If it doesn’t sound like an everyday conversation, there’s something wrong. Have a friend read it out to you. If he/she stumbles over any words, or has to reread a sentence, you’ll know it needs rewriting.

Then build the website around your copy.