12 Explosive Keys to Master Online Copywriting
Tired of struggling with how to write good copy for your website? I’m going to share 12 explosive key concepts that will help you master online copywriting, increase your search engine efficiency, and engage your website readers at a higher level through clearer copy and better presentation.
1. Danger: Not Knowing Your Audience Can Be Deadly
Writing for the web is different than writing for the printed page. Many techniques will carry over, but there are some subtle differences of which you should take note. The web is an interactive medium and your users are generally looking for specific types of information rather than passively consuming a story or an article.
Audience attention span is much shorter online than it is for printed media and that means that your readers are less likely to make a time commitment if you don’t capture their attention immediately and then hold it through out your piece. Readers are also far more likely to skim through any lengthy amount of writing and so your titles and headings have an increased importance online. The stakes are extremely high because if you fail to keep a reader’s attention at any point, they will leave and use a search engine to find a more relevant website.
2. Outlines Hold Your Writing Together
Starting is often the most difficult part of writing. After selecting a general topic, I try to put myself in the mind of my readers. What are their biggest questions or concerns regarding that topic? How can those questions and concerns be addressed?
If you’re writing sales copy, what are your potential buyer’s main objections or hurdles preventing them from purchasing? In what ways will the buyer benefit from a purchase? Why can the buyer not afford to leave without purchasing?
Make a list of the main items and then use that list as an outline for your website copy. I often make bullet-point sub-lists under each of my main topics to further fill in the outline. At this point in the writing process, it’s easier to rearrange your points and sub-points in a logical order than it will be later on. Break down your outline into easily digestible steps. Pay special attention to how one idea might transition into another and eliminate anything that strays off-topic.
Not everyone uses an outline, but I find that having one decreases the chances of getting stuck and it also helps keep me focused and on topic. You should take special care to craft an appropriate introduction and conclusion (more on that topic later). Once you have an outline, it’s time to move on to filling it out.
3. Call Attention To Yourself And Then Keep It
There are two different types of titles on a webpage. The first is the title heading that appears on your webpage above your content. Not every page will have this kind of title, but most content pages will have it in one form or another. The second type of title is the text that goes in your title tag in the head of your (X)HTML document. This title text will appear at the top of your browser window and search engines also use it as the link text for your search engine listing for that page.
How search engines use a page's title and meta description.
The text in your title heading and your title tag should be almost identical because it provides continuity for your readers as they move from the search engine results page to your webpage. Don’t break the expectations of your visitors or you will lose them instantly. If you use your company name in your title tag, put it at the end if there is room.
Google only indexes 10 words or 65 characters, whichever is smallest, so keep your titles under that limit. If you go over, an ellipsis (…) will be added. The ellipsis will reduce your click-through-rate by making your site look less authoritative in the search engine listing. An added benefit to keeping your titles within that limit is that it makes them easier to share because it will fit within the confines of a tweet on Twitter.
Don’t be subtle or boring in your titles. Think in terms of what you would shout through a megaphone on a street corner to get people to come over and view your webpage. The sole purpose of your title is to interest someone enough to click on it, no matter if it’s on a search engine results page or a link from another website.
"Don’t be subtle or boring in your titles. Think in terms of what you would shout through a megaphone on a street corner to get people to come over and view your webpage."
You'll hear the term "linkbait" bandied about far too often, but there is a lot of truth to it. Your title should reflect the content and the keyword phrases of your webpage, but if you can make it intriguing, controversial, and informative; all the better. A good way to practice writing titles is to look at newspaper headlines, popular posts on social bookmarking sites, and popular tweets on Twitter and mimic the same practices.
Your meta description is another part of the head in your (X)HTML document. Forget trying to stuff it with keywords for the search engines, make it human-readable instead. Search engines will generally use the meta description as the text beneath your title link. It has a character limit of 150 characters and also introduces an ellipsis for anything over that limit. View it as an advertisement for which its only purpose is to get someone to click on the title link.
Break up content webpages longer than a screen-length with sub-headings. Some readers on the web will read every word you write, others will only skim the headlines. You need to write for both. Apply the same techniques you use for titles to sub-headings. Each sub-heading has the dual purpose of getting the reader to keep reading while also summarizing information in a concise, attention-grabbing manner.
| Element | Purpose | Recommended Length |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Capture the imagination, entice a reader click, summarize page content | 10 words or 65 characters, whichever is less |
| Meta-Description | An advertisement to get a searcher to click the title link | 150 characters or less |
| Sub-headings | Summarize content section, keep reader engaged | No actual limit but shorter is better |
It’s absolutely vital that your title, meta-description, and your sub-headings accurately reflect your content. If you misrepresent your content, you will break your readers expectations and leave them feeling emotionally dissatisfied. That is not a feeling you want associated with your website.
4. Aren’t You Going To Introduce Me?
Your introduction should begin with a hook, a way to draw your readers into your content. A hook can be a question, a bold statement, a story, or an interesting fact related to the rest of your page. The hook should instantly provoke some sort of emotional reaction in your reader, making them emotionally invested and interested in your piece. Your word choice is especially important when crafting your hook.
"The hook should instantly provoke some sort of emotional reaction in your reader, making them emotionally invested and interested in your piece."
Hooks should be scattered throughout your writing to keep your readers engaged. If you introduce a new section or idea, a hook is especially appropriate.
Once your hook has drawn a reader in, clearly and concisely state what you’re going to write about, what the reader will learn, and how they will benefit from it. At some point in your introduction, you should repeat your title almost verbatim to reinforce what the reader is about to read.
Don’t waste too much time setting up your hook and introduction, a paragraph or two is usually enough. Launch as quickly as you can into what the reader really wants, your content.
5. Say What You Mean And Nothing More
Stay on topic, both at the macro-level and at the paragraph-level. Straying from your topic confuses your message and you run the risk of losing your readers.
Avoid unnecessary adjectives. Adjectives are any descriptive words and too many of them cheapen your writing and slow down the reader. However, too few adjectives and your writing becomes boring. As a general rule, keep an adjective only if it adds a vital piece of information. Write no more than you must, no less than is understandable.
When you do use adjectives, make them interesting. Refrain from using weak words that are used so often that they no longer have meaning. Choose the lively, unusual, and powerful, not the limp, common, and impotent.
Be cautious when using clauses. A clause is an add-on to a sentence, usually separated by punctuation. Having some clauses is inevitable, but too many clauses will cloud the clarity of your message.
6. Don’t Use That Tone Of Voice With Me
Be direct. Write with an active voice rather than a passive voice. Consider the following two sentences:
- A home run was hit by John.
- John hit a home run.
Can you guess which sentence is active and which is passive? Both sentences convey the same information, but which is more interesting?
The first sentence is passive; the second is active. In the first sentence, the subject is a home run while the subject in the second sentence is John. The difference between active and passive voice sentences is that in passive sentences, the subject is the recipient of the action, whereas in active sentences, the subject is the instigator of the action.
Use an active voice in your writing and your website copy will immediately become more interesting and immediate to your readers.
7. Size Matters, Appearance Counts
Shorter sentences convey urgency. Use them for a faster read. For directness. Action. Tension. Excitement.
Longer sentences are more conversational and can put the reader at ease. They represent a slower pace, but are equally appropriate. Try to vary your sentence length unless you are intentionally trying to achieve a pacing effect.
Paragraph length should also be varied. Readers will tend to skim over paragraphs that are too long or that are all uniform in size. Large blocks of unbroken text tend to tire the eye. By varying your paragraph length, you are providing visual breaks that will give the eye something interesting to see and a chance to rest.
For many of the same reasons, you should also use images, videos, lists, and blockquotes to make your webpages more interesting visually and more readable. A general rule that I try to follow is to provide some sort of visual break for each page scroll, whether it’s an image, a heading, a list, or a blockquote.
You should also be aware of usability issues concerning the design of your site. For large quantities of text, dark text on a light background is most easily read. Take care that your font-size can be adjusted so that users with visual impairments can adjust the text to suit their needs.
8. This Is The Web, Be Interactive
Don’t be stingy with providing links to other websites. It won’t kill you in the search engines and your users will be more likely to return to your website because they will come to view you as a trusted source of information. An information broker is a powerful position online.
"Every way that you can keep your users engaged makes your content more valuable."
If you have a tutorial, provide a demo or a download to a working example. Provide ways for your readers to share your content through social bookmarking sites. Allow for feedback and respond to it regularly. Every way that you can keep your users engaged makes your content more valuable.
9. Give Your Users What They Want
When you write for your users and not for the search engines, it benefits your website in multiple ways. Give your users what they want in terms of information and writing style. Visitors will be more likely to explore your site and return to it if they receive valuable information. They will also be more willing to share your website through social media if they find something useful, interesting, or entertaining.
You will often hear that you need to use keywords in a certain percentage of your writing in order for your webpages to show up for certain attractive searches. This is called keyword density and it is largely hogwash.
There is no magic percentage that you need to mention your keyword phrases. You need to use them and more than once, but artificially overusing them will kill your readability and readers will abandon your page. Vary your word choice as often as you can while still writing coherently and naturally. If you need to, use a thesaurus.
Another benefit to catering to your users over search engines comes from the search engines themselves. Search engines deliver a lot of traffic through “long-tail” searches, a term used to describe searches that will only be performed a small number of times. The long-tail visitors will often arrive from a search query for words that are included on your webpage, but that you would never have thought to use in a search. In fact, Google has stated in the past that approximately 50% of daily searches are unique (PDF) and 20-25% of them are brand new. In aggregate, long-tail visitors will comprise a large amount of traffic for your website.
10. Show Ads At Your Own Risk
Keep your users in mind when placing your advertising. Advertising should never subvert the main purpose of your page, nor should it ever interfere with your user’s ability to use it. If you’re using a contextual ad provider like Google AdSense, also take care that the ads don’t draw your visitors away to competing websites.
If your plan is to make a sustainable business online solely by displaying ads on your site, statistical chances are that you’re going to fail. It can be done and, if done properly, it can be incredibly profitable. However, there are so many made-for-AdSense websites that offer no real-world value and make no money that it’s better not to go down that road unless you have high quantities of traffic. Offer a product or service instead.
11. Perfecting the Sales Pitch
If you’re selling something, more writing is always better than less on your sales page. Sound counterintuitive? Ask yourself this, when was the last time you had too much information before you made a purchase?
"Ask yourself this, when was the last time you had too much information before you made a purchase?"
Of course, your sales copy needs to be the right information and not a bunch of fluff. Why should your purchase be bought over the competition? What unique benefits does it have? What problems does it solve? Your sales copy should anticipate and answer or remove every single objection or hurdle a potential buyer may have. It should make both a logical and an emotional appeal to the point where it doesn’t make sense for someone NOT to buy it.
Video or audio in conjunction with sales copy almost always increase conversions. Everyone has their favorite way of consuming information. By providing multiple ways for each customer to experience your pitch, you increase the odds that they will respond favorably.
12. Finish with a Bang
Your conclusion should always finish by recapping the rest of the webpage. Again, repeat most of the title almost verbatim to reinforce what the reader read and as a way to tie everything together. Finally, each writing piece should end by asking your reader to do something, a call to action.
- Make a purchase
- Apply knowledge
- Make a personal improvement and then share the results
- Comment
- Tell a friend
- Subscribe to a feed or email list
- Join a group
Your primary call to action should be clear, direct, and prominent. If you have a secondary call to action, it should be complementary to your primary call, but less prominently placed and it should represent less of a commitment. Tell your reader exactly what you want them to do and then make it easy for them to do so.
"If you have a secondary call to action, it should be complementary to your primary call, but...represent less of a commitment."
Always tie your call to action back into your business or website so that the reader will have personally invested something into it. If they invest in it once, they’ll be more likely to return and do it again.
End your writing piece strong, on a high note, with a bang. It leaves the reader emotionally satisfied and energized. A good ending will increase the chances of a successful call to action.
So This Is How It All Ends
Congratulations. You just survived a crash course in writing for your website. If you apply these 12 explosive key concepts, I have no doubt that you will begin writing masterful web copy right away by applying even just a few of the concepts covered. Your readers, your search engine rankings, and your website should all benefit as you practice and master what you learned today.
If you read carefully, you’re probably wondering what my call to action is going to be at the end of this article. If I may be so bold, I’m actually going to ask you to do 3 things, but only if you found this article useful.
First, if you’re on Twitter, I’d like to have you follow @virtuosimedia. We send out daily updates about things that you’re probably interested in: business, marketing, social media, SEO, design, and programming – pretty much anything that has to do with business and websites.
Second, especially if this article has helped improve your writing, please share it with your friends by submitting it and voting for it on any and every social bookmarking site or forum that you’re a part of. We’re on quite a few of them ourselves, but it always helps to have friends.
Third and finally, we’d love to have you come back. We’ll be releasing more articles about online business, more tutorials, and more resources in the future. We’ll also be continually upgrading our site to provide new ways for you to interact with us and other users.
And remember, always finish with a BANG!