Business Writing for the Web. Dan Furman

       International Self-Counsel Press

       All rights reserved.

      Introduction

      Okay, it’s time to discuss website writing. Or writing for the web. Or writing website copy…

      Whichever name you prefer (and I’ll generally be calling it web copy from here on out), it’s probably THE most important part of your website. In my opinion, it’s even more important than design. Of course, me being a writer, one would expect me to think that, but think about this: Some of the most successful websites out there are those long sales letter pages that have almost no design at all. Some are just blank white pages with tons of words. And many of them convert very nicely.

      Think about that: almost no design at all.

      Now I don’t want web designers getting upset. I’m not advocating that design isn’t needed (don’t come to my house with torches or anything). For almost all business sites, design is entirely necessary. In fact, it’s VERY necessary. Bad design will drive people away before they even start reading. Throw up green text on a yellow background with orange spots (heh — it was completely unintentional that I chose the words “throw up” for that description) and people will probably leave rather quickly (and the one guy who stays is a perpetually stoned 60-year-old hippie who isn’t buying anything, but really likes your colors).

      So yes, design matters; it pulls (the right) people in. But, I AM saying that when it comes to conversion, the words matter more.

      Website copywriting is definitely the main part of my business, so I’m going to spend some time on this. Thus, to make things simpler, I have broken the topic up into 11 rules. This makes things far more manageable, and easier to read.

      Since I am doing it that way, some of the advice may be repeated in several sections, and some of it might even seem to contradict other parts (this is because writing web copy is NOT an exact science). What works for one type of website might not work quite as well for another, and the only way to find this out is to test. So (as usual), I am expecting you to take these rules and tweak them to your situation (and test the results). In addition, these rules are basic rules, and meant to generally be followed no matter what page (Home, About Us, etc.) or type of website for which you are writing.

      Before we start, let’s discuss persuasive writing and action words. They are misunderstood concepts, and I see them in every book about writing.

       I don’t have a rule that says, “Here’s how you write persuasively.” That’s because, taken collectively, my 10 (well, 11) rules will result in persuasive writing all on their own. Believe me, I have never once sat down to write and said, “Okay, let me turn on the persuasion.” Yes, I advertise my writing as persuasive, because that’s naturally what it is. And it’s naturally that way because of my rules. Follow my rules and you’ll be persuasive.

       I also do not believe that there is a mystical set of action words that will magically transform your writing. I know this isn’t conventional thinking; every “marketing writing” book I have ever read says to use action words. Well, I’m not going to tell you to do that. Instead, I will give you some very effective “confidence” words and phrases in Rule 7. But these are to be used in addition to your writing, not in place of anything. I do not believe in forcing you to do anything in regards to writing. So instead, fit these 11 rules into your current writing.

       In other words, I’m not here to change your writing. I’m here to help make your writing (and your web copy) better. There’s a big difference.

      Rule 1: Web Copy Must Be Scan-able

      The most important rule of writing great web copy is that web copy must be scan-able. You can be an average writer and still write effective web copy if you follow this one rule.

      What I mean by “scan-able” is a visitor should be able to glance at the page and know what it’s generally about, and also understand the salient points. This is important because people read websites differently than they read other things (like newspapers, books, or other print media). They don’t read word for word from the start; instead they “scan” the page to see if it’s something that they want to invest the effort in reading. And if something catches their eye, they’ll start reading right then and there, and not at the beginning.

      Notice that I also said “invest the effort.” There’s a reason for that.

      See, we don’t realize it, but reading on a computer is harder than reading a book, magazine, or newspaper. Computer eye strain is very real. In fact, I personally need glasses when working on the computer, but don’t need them for anything else (the upside here is my wife thinks I look cute in them … although I’m not sure I want to look cute). The thing is, we really don’t realize the extra effort online reading takes while we are doing it, so it’s generally unnoticeable. But the bottom line is it’s harder to read online content, so without even realizing it, we scan webpages before we start reading them.

      Now, we scan other places too. After all, we choose which newspaper stories to read based on the headline, right? But my point is we do this even MORE so online, so your web copy must be scan-able over the entire page. If it isn’t, you will have a very hard time converting visitors the way you want to.

      So how do you get your web copy to be scan-able? You’ll use three things in general:

      Let’s look closer at these three items.

      Headlines

      Headlines lead off most pages. They capture interest and/or give the reader an idea of what to expect on a page. You don’t HAVE to have a headline, but I use them on most pages I write because it just helps lead things off. When people scan a page, they see the headline first.

      Now, there are a lot of opinions regarding headlines. Generally the strongest opinions come from “long sales letter” copywriters and the like — these types of sales pages need a compelling, benefit-laden headline that typically asks a question or makes some kind of outrageous proclamation designed to spur certain feelings of need. In fact, there have been entire books written on the subtle subconscious effects of “sales letter” headlines, and how they draw people in to a page:

      “See for yourself how this lazy slug of a man who smells like mothballs makes $6,000 a day, while lying in satin sheets and being served ice cream by a supermodel! ”

      Okay, so maybe the subconscious effect isn’t all that subtle.

      Anyway, while hype is useful, and has its place, I personally prefer (and use) more fact-based headlines than hype-filled ones. And for most businesses, you will find truth to be better and hopefully do the same.

      Hype versus fact

      I need to mention hype versus fact because every single book I have ever seen on headlines subscribes to the hype method. They talk about the subconscious effect I mentioned, they talk about “hypnotic writing,” they talk about how “people want benefits, so give them benefits,” etc. And they tell you how to persuade people by selling them stuff they don’t need with a few strong words!

      You