How do you write for a web site?

Text trumps design on the web

There are roughly 40 million web sites globally. How can you differentiate your web site from so many others?

There are only two things that can make your web site stand out: your graphic design and your writing. Other elements, such as your prices and glitzy web technology, can be easily copied by your competitors.

Although visual design is very important, words have more power on the web.

Why? Words rule, because the search engines play a dominant role on the web. And because so far, search engines can't index the content of images.

Anyone can write for the web, right?

Sure, everyone has been writing on the web.

But that doesn't mean that all writing on the web is equally effective.

In the article on web site success, I said that most web sites don't succeed. Ineffective writing is a major cause of this widespread failure.

The truth is that you need good writing just to get visitors to click to the next page of your web site.

Anyone who can write well could probably learn to write effective copy for internet marketing—with adequate training and practice.

But let's be honest: most people do not write well.

And writing for the web is different from other kinds of writing.

What's different about writing for the web?

The web is an active medium

The web is not like TV. When you go online, you're active. That's why we talk about "users" rather than "viewers." You don't sit in front of your screen passively. You select, write, click, comment, vote, and buy.

Visitors to your site can end the relationship at any moment—and be gone forever. So your writing has to motivate them to stay with you.

The web is both anonymous and personal

Many have noted the anonymity of the web. If we want to, we can hide our identities online.

Often overlooked is the fact that this anonymity lets us express very personal aspects of ourselves. The anonymity of the web has encouraged us to celebrate our individuality.

Your web site has to respect both the individuality and the anonymity or privacy of your visitors.

Businesses on the web walk a tightrope

The very early web was built for military and scientific purposes.

Then the general public took to the web to do email, participate in discussion lists, and create web sites. This turned the web into a very intimate, personal environment.

The early web was largely noncommercial. Information and services were almost totally free. It's no wonder the public associates the web with "free."

Businesses didn't try to make money on the web until late in the web's development. In fact, many people are still leery of the role of business on the web.

Because of this resistance, businesses must adopt a less aggressive tone on the web.

The idea of "selling" is out of sync with people's basic idea of the web. If you're not sensitive to your audience's attitudes about business on the web, you'll lose their trust.

Instead of selling, aim at helping your visitors become customers. You can do this by providing your visitors with the information they'll need to make an informed decision. This kind of help builds trust and will result in sales.

The first step is understanding and addressing the needs of your audience. The customers' needs come first, and only after that will they want to hear about you.

Good web writing shows personality

Most business web sites have written content that sounds like generic corporate speak. Do you think anyone reads that stuff? Of course not. It's boring and it doesn't touch us personally. To succeed, web writing must be engaging and motivating.

The style of good web marketing copy is similar to the way people write email: personal, informal, and often humorous.

How informal should your writing be? How personal? That depends on the kind of business you have and the way you choose to position it.

Once you choose a voice, write with a consistent personality throughout your web site.

Be a traffic cop: wave them on to the next step

Every web site should be designed to meet two distinct objectives. You, as the owner of a professional web site, will probably have a goal of having qualified visitors contact you. Your visitors, on the other hand, may be looking for information or a solution to a particular problem.

A web site is successful only if it meets both your objectives and those of your visitors.

To help your customers, you have to know their objectives. What are their specific stated needs as well as their unacknowledged emotional desires?

Then, even if you know what they want and you've got it on your site, your visitors have to be able to find it.

When you're visiting a new web site, don't you hate it when you're uncertain about what to click on next? web sites are all a little different and web pages present users more options than you'd face in a magazine ad. That's why you have to guide users toward the objective.

So, make it easy for your visitors. Help them move through the site. Tell them what to do next—both in words and in the visual design of the site. The flow from step to step should be so obvious or natural that visitors don't have to think about what to do next.

The web is a two-way medium

Visitors to your site will expect you to be available to communicate personally with them. They will contact you using email, instant messaging, phone, or the contact form on your site. If you wait just 24 hours, you might lose the sale.

You have to respond quickly to take advantage of the immediacy of the internet. Fulfilling the interactive potential of the web isn't easy. Decide in advance who will be checking the site's email and responding to potential customers. Commit to checking frequently and replying quickly.

Unlike audiences of broadcast and print media, your web audience will feel free to tell you how you're doing. If they can't find something, if a feature isn't working, or if they want you to carry a new product, someone is likely to let you know. Feedback is good. Use it to improve your marketing.

Before we move on, let me share with you some keys to writing for a web site.

Seven principles for writing web marketing copy

1. Most of your visitors will find you by doing a search, so your writing has to meet the needs of the search engines.
2. Most visitors are looking for quality information about a topic. They'll hit the back button if your site only lists your services or product specifications or is overly self-promotional.
3. Visitors often scan pages quickly for relevant information, so the writing and page layout must make this easy for them.
4. Reading on a monitor is more difficult than reading on paper, so your writing should be clean and lean.
5. Visitors respond much more positively to text that touches them personally and emotionally.
6. Choose a personality or voice for your writing which represents your business accurately and maintain that tone throughout your web site.
7. Guide your visitor. Use the copy and design to make it obvious what they should do next.

Does that sound like a lot to keep in mind? It is. This work requires intelligence, attention to detail, and in-depth knowledge.

That's why you should have a professional help you write your web site. Or at the very least, have a professional review your text to be sure it is as good as it can be.

Do you need help writing the content for your web site? I've been writing for successful web sites since the late 1990s. Contact me now for a free consultation.

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