Do the Write Thing: Spice Up Your Website`s Copy

There's one thing that bugs me more than random Instant Messages from 11-year-olds who abuse their exclamation point privileges and caps lock key. The complete disregard for interesting, captivating, original and grammatically correct copy on web sites is what bugs me the most. Before I go on, allow me to share this brief disclaimer with you. I didn't graduate with a degree in English from an Ivy League school. In fact, I didn't graduate with a degree in English at all. I don't always use proper grammar in my own personal e-mail, IMs or blog nor do I expect others to. I'm not part of the society of people who wish we all talk like they did back in the days of Shakespeare.

What I am is a person who happens to pay attention to detail. I'm a person that spends way over 40 hours a week working with web sites, and a person who refuses to believe a company has “a reputation for excellent customer service” when the phrase isn't even spelled properly on their web site. I also refuse to believe that a company is the most creative in their field when the first few words on its home page read “Welcome to our web site.” Using the same greeting that millions of other pages do doesn't help support the argument that you're the most creative in your industry. The words “creative” and “innovative” have become business buzzwords and they're words I tend not to believe unless there's evidence to prove otherwise.

IHaul, UHaul! Print Copy Needs an Overhaul!

It's common knowledge (or at least should be common knowledge) to web designers that it's harder to read words off a computer screen than it is to read words off a sheet of paper. Most businesses invest heavily in the copy and design of their print marketing. While businesses do invest heavily into their web site, unfortunately a majority of that budget is used for design, hosting, programming and marketing -- not the development of copy. I'd think it's safe to assume that most every web development firm has encountered a situation like this: You ask the client for their content. They hand you a folder, stack of folders, overflowing crate or keys to a Uhaul truck parked out back that's full of marketing material.

In my ideal world, every web developer would then refer the client to, or have on staff, a copywriter to do an overhaul on the copy. (Copywriter as in somebody who authors copy, not somebody who protects your content and design under the law from pesky 12-year-olds with a domain name, reseller account and a copy of ‘HTML for Dummies.') I know this is probably never going to happen and have accepted that. I also know that a majority of clients aren't going to be too pleased when you tell them that the copy they had written just a few months ago for their brochures isn't the best fit for their web site.

If Only We Could Sell Water to a Fish

So what exactly do you do? Once the content has been placed into the design and the programming has been integrated, you're probably going to help this client market his or her site. While some people are so skilled in marketing that they could sell water to a fish that lives in the ocean, most of us aren't that gifted. If the client's content is awful or leaves a bad impression on the user, that in turn makes your marketing package look bad. Even if you can get your client's site to show up as the number one search result in Google; if the copy that explains products or services is awful, your client isn't going to achieve their goal as fast. What does that mean? It means you're going to get an angry phone call. Have no fear, though! There's a solution… and I'm going to tell you what it is.

You may not have noticed it, but I've been playing a mind game with you. I've kept you interested this entire time. You did click on an article about grammar a few minutes ago. Not only did you click on the article, you probably also skimmed the first page of it. How did I get you, an ordinary person without a strange fetish for the English language, to skim an article about grammar? It could be because I'm an excellent writer -- which I don't think I am. It could even be because you're e-stalking me. It's most probably because I have used a variety of different writing techniques that encourage people to keep reading and help them along the way. Anyway, I digress….

In a nutshell, the secret to writing better copy is to educate yourself. Do I mean you should go enroll in a journalism class? Of course not. Do some searches on Google. Borrow a few books from your public library. If you want, you can even continue skimming this article to learn some of the techniques I use and check out the links to other sources I've provided. Ready… set… here goes.

People Skim Stuff Other Than Milk

You may have noticed that twice already on this page I've used the word “skim” instead of “read.” There's a reason for that. People seldom read words on a web page word-for-word. According to a study conducted by useit.com, 79% of users skim new pages they come across rather than actually read all of the copy. You should make sure that your copy could be easily skimmed by following a few basic rules:

“Chunk” Your Content

Break thoughts into small paragraphs, limiting yourself to only one thought per paragraph whenever possible -- but be careful not to sacrifice quality. Make sure the transition between thoughts is smooth. You don't want to confuse users who do chose to read what you have to say word-for-word, and if they're interested enough in what you have to say, they may do just that.

Use Headlines and Sub-Headlines

Depending on what you're writing about, you'll want to make the decision on whether to use clever or straightforward headlines. I've chosen to use a majority of clever headlines in this article, which will hopefully capture your interest. Should you decide to use straightforward headlines, make sure they're not dull and that they capture the user's attention. For example, consider the two headlines below:

Visit the Web Design Library!

Web Design Library: No Card Required!

Include the key elements of your thoughts in a headline. “Web Design Library: No Card Required” may be creative, but it doesn't tell you what the Web Design Library is. A better fit would probably be something like:

Web Design Library: Your A-to-Z Resource for Designing Divine Destinations

Finally, when a headline is acting as a link, make sure you include a call-to-action:

Announcing Somecoolprogram Analytics Package
Track CTRs and ROIs with Somecoolprogram Analytics Package

Make sure you always keep your target audience in mind and be courteous. For example, if you were building out a site for a business that helps heart patients save money on their electric bill, I would strongly advise against a headline like Don't Fall Flat Over a Thick Utility Bill! The heart patients may not appreciate that. ;)

Whenever you write for the web, always make sure to use vocabulary that will be understood by your audience. If you don't think the target audience will know what a CTR or an ROI is, spell it out for them.

Hey… You! Get Out of My House!

Going back to how your client may provide you with keys to a Uhaul packed with brochures: Work with your client on revising their materials to come up with interesting copy that isn't too pushy.

Nobody likes when a hard selling or boring salesman shows up at his or her door or calls during dinner -- so why would they want one in their computer room while sitting in their bathrobe eating a pint of Haagen-Dazs? It's much easier to click an X in the top-right corner of a browser window than it is to slam the door or hang up the phone… and those tasks themselves don't require anything more advanced than the motor skills of an average iguana.

Get Hyper With Your Links

Links to related resources can dramatically increase the value and credibility of your copy and help to distribute traffic around the site. Whenever you include a link, make sure that the text you've linked would make some sense to the user if you removed all the other words in the sentence and it's obvious why you're linking to that destination.
Consider these examples:

Amazon.com is a great site to purchase discounted books, CDs and more.
What makes the phrase “great site” relevant to link? If you took all the words in the sentence surrounding “great site” out, the link wouldn't make much sense or tell the user anything other than that you think it's a great site.

Amazon.com is a great site to purchase discounted books, CDs and more.
A link that reads “Amazon.com” would make sense because the destination is obvious, but why are you linking to Amazon.com?

Amazon.com is a great site to purchase discounted books, CDs and more.

If you removed everything else in the sentence, the phrase “purchase discounted books, CDs and more” makes sense. You're telling the user why you're providing them with the link and what they can do once they get there.

Use the Tools Available to You

Cut & paste your copy into a WYSIWYG HTML editor or a word processor and run spell check. If you're writing something fairly lengthy from scratch, create it in a word processor or WYSIWYG program and worry about converting into HTML or cleaning out extra tags later.

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