subject: How To Write Excellent Copy To Get More Visitors To Your Site [print this page] How To Write Excellent Copy To Get More Visitors To Your Site
How To Write Excellent Copy To Get Visitors To Your
Website
By Fintan Duggan
Introduction
Many people think that writing effective copy for the web is easy, it isn't .So if you want to ensure that your readers and your customers understand how yourwebsite worksand what it does for them, you need to produce good copywriting for it.
In this article, we will look at the basics of producing good copyright for the web.
First, people do not read a website in the same way that they would read printed material. In fact there are three very important characteristics which affect how a web user will react to the online content of a site.
1. Web users are active, not passive so if they dont find a good reason to stay on your site, they will leave it. This can happen within as little as 15 seconds after finding your site.
2. If your text or message is too long, they are less likely to read it. If you want a web user to believe what you have to say, you must be able to back up your message. In order for any web copy to be effective , it must take into account the above characteristics.
3. What is most important of all when looking a copywriting for the web , is not to underestimate the importance of the basics. Don't jump straight in or you may find yourself in trouble, your website may not be as effective as it should be.
The Mindset Of The Website Visitor
Most web pages will be found via a search engine, the person enters a search term relating to your niche product via google , yahoo, msn or other search engines. This puts the website visitor in control , they will be focused on finding a particular product, service or information.
Remember your website has maybe 15 seconds or more to get the interest of your web page visitor. The visitor usually has 3 questions in mind.
"Have I come to the right place" also "Will I find what I'm looking for at this page or site". Finally they would be asking themselves "Can I complete the task at this point".
It is critical that you answer these 3 questions in both the headline, and any sub-headlines you may have. It is critical that your web page is able to provoke a response from your visitor immediately.
For this to happen, your writing needs to provide answers so that your website visitors find exactly what they are looking for. Your writing needs to reassure your visitors that they are in the right place, and that they must continue to read on.
Visitors to your site are CRITICAL!
If you fail to plan, you are going to find the going tough.If you wish to achieve all your goals, it is important to gather all the facts.
What are your website visitors thinking?
1. What am I doing here?
2. How do I do it?
3. What is in it for me?
4. Where do I go from here.?
If your site's design and navigation doesn't provide an obvious answer to these questions , then you should look at copy to explain it to them. The answers to all of these questions should be easy to understand to all users of your site, both first time users and returning users of your site.
Remember, half of the visitors to your site will not bother working things out for themselves, and the other half may not even succeed.
When planning a site you must focus on your core audience. Remember, you may not be able to reach out to everyone, so make sure that the copy you produce addresses your site's most important visitors directly. Spend time explaining what your site can do for them in particular.
However, if you are targeting more than one type of visitor to your site, make sure that you can direct them to different pages. Remember, that a visitor will go somewhere else if they do not feel that your site has something of value to offer to them. It is important to make your description compelling, although not excessive. Many site visitors will leave a site if they feel that it is full of hype, (however some hype is necessary to get them excited!).
Plan For Success
To be successful, you must understand what it is you hope to accomplish.
You have already determined what you need to increase direct sales, build a subscriber base, circulate information, as well as provide technical support. Remember, you must make sure that your web copy can help you achieve these goals.
It is important to decide who your ideal customer is and what it is they really want. Then find and craft the words that will most effectively bring these people to your site.
It is important to remember that without a detailed plan, it will become impossible to know who you are targeting. Without a target, you are likely to miss out on those people who are willing to pay for your help and expertise.
Targeting is used to figure out which customers will have a problem that can be solved by using your particular product. It is critical that you become an expert in relation to every single benefit that your product offers.
At last, you have found your target audience now you must develop a strategy for writing your copy , in order to do this the best way is the following:
Write exactly what the customer wants
The tone is how your writing sounds to those you are targeting
Present your idea to your customer in an easy to understand way.
What is most important is that you must think about all three in equal amounts, do not allow any of them to overshadow the others.
How To Write Web Friendly Copy
To write effective copy for the web, there are two primary areas to focus on. The first is the page title, the second is the meta descriptions. Both of these are usually the first two things a person will see when searching the web for a particular product or service.
However, this does not actually apply to all search engines or directories as some will not show the META description at all. In some cases they will show a snippet from your site.
1. Page Title- this is the first thing any visitor will see when carrying out a search of the web.
2. META description- usually the second thing a visitor when carrying out a web search.
(It is important to remember that both of these are likely to be produced on the Search Engine results pages)
3. Heading Tags- these will relate to specific subjects within your site.
4. Visible Content- You should focus on this area of importance in order to produce effective copywriting for the web.
a. Hyperlinked Text and Title Attribute- This is frequently displayed as "tool tip". Which is a short message that will appear when the pointing device (cursor) pauses over a particular subject.
B .Alternative Text Tags this should be an image and is not to be used for stuffing with keywords that do not apply to it.
c. Meta Keyword Tags- sadly, due to severe abuse by unethical marketers and uneducated consumers these are not as strong as they used to be. In fact, most search engines will no longer be looking at these for relevancy factors during the search. Remember, make sure the keywords you use in this this tag are to be found in the visible content for the page.
In conclusion, effective copywriting can be achieved if you carefully research your keywords and keyword phrases. What is the point of writing any copy, if you do not know what it is that your target audience is searching for? By targeting the correct keywords and keyword phrases you are taking the one of the most important steps in writing effective copy.
