A Simple Blueprint for Writing Web Content that Gets Results

The rules haven't changed, but it's surprising how many people start writing on the web without regard for the basics. Many people focus on the medium, the latest shiny tool: the blog, the Twitter tweets, and Facebook updates, without regard for the basic rules of writing copy for the Web.

Content marketing is a buzz word because marketing people like new buzzes, and it sure beats writing advertisements that get ignored. But smart marketers know the rules and never forget them. Even if the Internet changes at lightening speed, the writing basics for copy are the same.

I'm a newbie, I've only been writing marketing copy for ten years. Before that, I was a journalist and a psychologist so I wrote feature articles and academic papers. Writing content for marketing is different. It's designed to produce an action, most often sales.

Every once in a while, I go back to the basics. A standard learning tool for many copywriters is Maria Veloso's Web Copy that Sells, originally published in 2004. The 2nd edition is now out and I've been reviewing and re-reading it. Good stuff.

Here's a recap of some really key nuggets from this book:

Before you write one word of copy, you must first:

• Know your objective
• Know your target audience
• Know your product or service

I know this seems so common sense it's not worth spending time on, but the time you take to write down a few notes on each of these things will be well worth it.

For example, writing on the web can have several objectives, besides making a sale. What is it you'd like readers to do? Contact you for more information? Sign up for a digital report? Leave a comment, watch a video, fill out a survey?

It's okay if you're a teacher and enjoy educating people without any sales objective in mind. However, if you're not asking readers to think, ask, remember, or act, then you're not really teaching, are you? Don't let readers leave saying, "That's nice, so what, bye-bye..."

Who are you trying to write to and reach? The more you know about your audience of readers, the easier it will be to "speak their language." You can't really connect if you don't know to whom, can you?

And of course you know your products and services, especially if it's your own business and you've been working in it for a while. But how well do you know what the benefits are to your end users? How well do you know your customers' challenges and problems?

Example: one of my dear clients is a talented artist who sells original painted greeting cards for various occasions, online through her website. When I asked her what problems does she solve with her cards, she said she provided a thoughtful way of connecting with someone on a special occasion. She hadn't thought out all the other ways she helped her customers:

• Her cards were unique, and therefore said much more than a store-bought card from a large company
• Her cards were original art work which recipients were more likely to keep
• Her cards saved people time from having to go to a store to browse through hundreds of inappropriate cards
• Her cards saved people the hassles of getting into a car and driving
• Her cards offered a large selection of messages, including many blank

The more you can dig deeper into all the challenges your customers face, and the more content you can create that addresses solutions, the better your writing will resonate with readers. The stronger your online writing will be. Readers will subscribe, keep coming back, sign up for more, and become loyal fans.

I want to give you this simple 5-step blueprint for writing web copy that sells, as explained in the Velosa book, but I've run out of time for now. Come back tomorrow. If you want to be sure to get an email notice when I publish this next post, use the subscription form in the upper right hand corner to subscribe.

Catch ya later...

Comments

[DeneneWrites]

Thanks for the book reference. I'm going to check it out!

[TheCluelessCrafter]

Interesting that you aren't really teaching anything unless you end with a question. I never thought about it that way. The question is the tool that gets readers to synthesize what they've read and truly build from it.

So, even if you're not trying to sell anything and just be altruistic and teach, you can't be as good of a teacher until you engage through questions.

Is that the logic?

[Patsi aka The Blog Squad]

Yes, Lydia. a good teacher always engages peoples thinking by asking questions. Remember Socrates? Oops, there I go again, asking questions. A good writer does the same thing, gets people to think! Thanks for stopping by...

[Jenny Pilley]

Exactly right.Targeting your audience means getting on their level. All writing is different when marketing online as every consumer base is different. When you know how to differentiate between your different consumers you will find you have a greater response.