Online Copywriting - A Guide

Wiliam receives constant requests for online copywriting services, and so I thought I’d jot down a few things to consider when thinking about the content of your site, blog or tweets.

The tone or “voice” of a business is critical in defining it’s brand. It defines what sort of relationship a business has with it’s customers.

The tone of all material should be consistent and appropriate – but more importantly, it should be pitched at the target audience. From an online perspective, it is necessary to consider the  variety of platforms available and their specific requirements.

A common approach by businesses when populating a new website is to develop the content in-house. What that means is that each section of the business generates its own content, and then an executive group performs a review and editing function. This almost always results in a site which is pitched to the employees of the business rather than it’s potential customers. Instead, consider what the audience’s goals are; they may not know or care about the technical aspects of a business (why), but they may well want to know what steps they have to take to access the businesses services (how).

• Websites can have lengthy pages – but only in circumstances where they are used as a technical reference (most likely the page will be printed or saved for later anyway). Most content should be written a light and direct manner – don’t be afraid of short paragraphs and bullet points. Each page should have a key focus; avoid multiple points per page. This increases the page count of a site and therefore its SEO performance. Websites are still a step down from printed material in the amount of copy that should be used.
• Blogs are a step down again – with an emphasis on accessible prose, links and information in point form where possible.
• The smallest medium for online copy are social mediums like Twitter. These require more thought than simply making short statements – the focus should be on building a conversation with an eye to frequent linked posts. They should have a clear point easily communicated per post. Links should feature heavily.