Offer Something Right Away

If you have something to offer to your readers, something they need and in exchange for what you’re going to ask them to do, make it immediately clear with your headline. When people start reading something online and they aren’t actively seeking information, they want to know what they’re going to get if they continue reading and they want to know what it is right away.

Make It Urgent

People are generally prone to take action if they know they’re running against time. Create a sense of urgency with your headline by telling your readers that your offer only stands up to a certain date or that you’re fast running out of stocks. You can also make it a do-or-die offer; if they let this opportunity slip them by, it’s gone forever.

Take care, however, when using this type of headline as it comes with certain responsibilities. Make sure you withdraw your offer at the stated time. If you’re going to extend the deadline, you better have a good explanation ready so as not to lose your credibility.

Keep It Simple and Powerful

Online copies have to be simple and as headlines are a part of the copy, it stands to reason that they have to be simple as well.

Don’t bother using long and difficult words. They won’t make a difference if no one comprehends them. Aim for powerful words instead. These words inspire action and call strong images immediately to mind. “Make Your Business Live Longer” as a copy headline can be improved, for instance, if you replace passive-sounding words with forceful ones. “Make Your Business Survive” has greater impact compared to the previous headline, don’t you think?

Keep It Short

Yet another requirement for online copies is brevity and naturally, headlines must follow the same rule. As a rule, online readers scan what they read and consequently, they’ll be able to understand a five-word-headline more quickly than a ten-word one.

For a good copy headline, try to lessen the use of particles, prepositions, linking verbs, and other words that won’t make a difference to your readers.

Don’t Try Too Hard

Naturally, funny and witty headlines are better but trying too hard could backfire on you. If there’s no way to make a headline funny or clever then leave it simple. If you manage to get your message across then you’ve done your job.

Use Numbers

They’re easier to recall and they sound more impressive. Instead of simply headlining a copy with “Tips for Gardening”, you can substantially improve it just by adding a digit. “6 Tips for Gardening” encourage people to read more because they know they have six (more than one’s many!) tips to look forward to in a single article.

Review and Revise

You may think you’ve made a perfect headline upon typing the last word, but give it a minute or two and you’ll be able to view it more objectively. Good luck on writing those headlines!

When you are writing copy, you need to speak your reader’s language. This requires knowledge of both tone and structure. In terms of structure, you need to follow your reader’s thoughts: your reader is thinking in terms of ideas, so present them quickly and in palatable shots. Have all your salient points ready and available in subheadings or bullet points. This can make it easier for your reader to skim through your copy and find what he or she needs. This also makes it more inviting for your reader to actually go through the work: by providing white space, you also give your readers’ eyes the chance to rest once in a while.

Now that you have drawn your readers in and made them stay, it’s time for you to speak their language. Now this is a rather tricky deal: a lot of different parts of the population speak language differently, and every single person has his or her own native language that he or she is most fluent in or most comfortable using. You will need to tap into the most general of these languages: this means research on your part, say by doing a marketing study by looking at how people talk in different forums and mailing lists. You need to look at how people talk and find a way for you to sound like them, but not too much: remember, if you try too hard, your writing will show it.

Here are a few more tips on how to make your readers hear themselves in you:

- You need to make your visitors excited about your products and services, so excited that they will shell out some of their hard-earned money to buy them. This means that you need to keep your copy excited: be upbeat and enthusiastic, and avoid language that is depressing or dull, or that is bland and commonplace. Avoid going for negative statements: say what a thing is, not what it is not; better yet, say what a thing can offer. Give statements of potential and promise, and entice your reader.

However, be careful, as being too exciting can actually make you look desperate and hard selling. Desperation shows up easily online, so don’t be too uppity-up. Upbeat does not mean hyperactive, and neither does it mean reckless excitement.

- Grab attention at the beginning of your copy and do not beat around the bush. You will reinforce this at the end, but start your copy so that people know the point of it immediately. The best content, therefore, should be at the start and end of your web page, in order to grab attention, and then keep it and allow your visitors to take something home. Moreover, keep your ending memorable and upbeat, as this is what your visitors will remember about you.

- Keep it short and simple. If you are able to get the ideas out in a few words without your website visitors having to scroll ever so many times to get what you mean, then you have it made.

The online arena is different: you do not know who visits your website, and you do not even know if the person claiming to be part of your target market is truly part of it, or is in need of free samples and is in another demographic altogether. The online arena offers a blanket of anonymity that affects even you: trust is so low online, so that when presented with information, people tend to shy away and be even more cautious. This can make for even more challenging copywriting, but if you are able to talk to people and show your readers that the copy is for them and intends to help them meet their goals, then you will have an easier time with your marketing efforts.

Why should you show your readers how important they are? For one, the online arena also offers the illusion of being part of an often large crowd, and it is this membership which, if saturated with too much togetherness, can make your website visitors and prospective clients feel alienated from you. In other words, you need to personalize your copy; but how can you personalize something when you have thousands of different tastes and inclinations out there? You therefore need to target your market: you need to talk to people as though you knew every single need that they have.

You will also need to answer four main questions when you are creating a web copy. If you are able to answer these questions, then you will be able to show your readers that they are important to you; if you show them that they are important to you, then there is a greater likelihood that they will buy something from you. After all, if you care about them, then you can better be trusted, right?

First, answer why your visitor has stumbled upon that site. Has that person looked for something that could augment his or her family income? Does that person belong to a certain demographic? Does that person enjoy a certain show or have fun in a certain hobby? This serves to identify the person, not to label him or her, so be careful about being too hard selling in this area, or you risk turning off your reader immediately.

Second, when you have started endorsing your product or service, be sure to tell your customer what to do. It makes no sense for you to have a load of marketing hoopla, only to leave your customer wondering what he or she needs to do. However, you are not here to control the customer: you are here as a guide, so avoid being too pushy.

Third, answer why the customer should do it. This is where you conjure up your persuasive powers, so be prudent. Why should your customer buy the product? Provide evidence that your product or service is the best and will meet that person’s needs and wants.

Lastly, tell your customer what he or she should expect from you, the product or service, or from the company, if updates should be made.

In particular, you need to answer four basic questions when writing web copy. First, why are your visitors at that website and why should they be there? Are they in need of a product or service? Do they fit a particular demographic that needs your help? Second, what should they do? Should they buy your product or service? Should they call you? Provide your visitors with a road on which to travel instead of telling them that they should get to a destination by their own terms.

Third, answer why your visitors should even do anything. Should they buy a product or service to get themselves out of a financial rut? Should they buy something from you so that they can enjoy life better? Finally, what should they do next? Should they go out and buy things, save money, ask for more help? What should they expect from you?

Remember these four basic questions when you set up your copy. You will need maintain consistency in your look and tone, moreover, so that when people read through your copy, they will feel comfortable and not have their brains scattering all over the place, what with the multitude of ideas that you present.

When setting up your copy, remember that you need to keep it from looking like a sea of text. Break up your pages and format information your information into smaller pieces of text. If you have a well-formatted page in a single font that is easy to read, it can be more inviting, and can actually beckon potential customers to start reading. Moreover, provide some white space: don’t have very large paragraphs so that your customers’ eyes can be soothed and relaxed as they skim over the page.

When formatting between paragraphs, leave two empty lines beneath the paragraph, as well as after every title and heading, in order to mark off and delineate ideas. This can provide white space, as well as a logical division of information that can tell your customers what to think and how to organize their thoughts. If you must use large amounts of text, keep them in narrow columns so that your customers do not have to read from one end of their computer screens to the other.

Subheadings can help you out and make your work more interesting and accommodating. In fact, they can aid visitors in scanning through the text and knowing what ideas to expect and where to find something that they are looking for. Have attractive titles, too, so that you can better catch your visitors’ attention.

These are only a few tips that you may want to use in setting up your copy. For more tips, look through effective web copies and see what makes them tick. Moreover, practice so that you can produce better copies every time.

First, you need to remember that you need to shed the skin of the writer and put on the fur of the reader. You, the Internet reader, are not interested in every single word of the copy: you need to get the information at one click, at one go, and get a lot of this information without having to go through every single word, but by looking quickly through the copy. In order to test this, you may need to have a few friends on hand. Skim the copy and see if you get the information immediately. Does the copy interest you at first glance? Don’t read into the sentences too much: see if the copy stands out and if it entices you to start at the beginning and read more.

Remember, a copy is your magic ticket to getting a casual reader to start reading your work and going through your website. It could well be your magic ticket turning that same casual reader into a buyer! So be careful with your review. Ask yourself: if I had only five minutes to spare, would I read this? Is it too long and daunting? Is it too short and careless? There’s nothing wrong with a moderately-sized copy: it shows that you have a lot to say, but you know your stuff well enough so that you don’t need a lot of flowery words to get your point across.

Do you have all your facts straight, and all of them written into your copy in a concise manner? This means that you need to deliver your key points through a single line or two, at the most, of text. If you keep on going for far longer, you may as well write a blog entry about your day and all your feelings: the longer you go, the easier it will be for you to lose your visitor.

Is the copy written with the right grammar and syntax? You might be surprised: people will communicate via text shortcuts on your local forum or mailing list, but they will demand that they be written to in proper English. The right grammar and syntax will also show how professional you are: if you can’t take care of something as basic as grammar, then how can your customers trust you to take care of their needs and wants? How can customers trust you to have a product or service that actually will help them?

Is the copy formatted well, with a lot of white space? White space will give your readers’ eyes some respite from the text, and it will actually invite people to read your copy. Moreover, avoid putting text in daunting, big seas of paragraphs: break these paragraphs down. Put text in narrow columns so that your customers do not strain their eyes. Not only should your copy be suited to match a certain professional tone, it should also have the appearance of being something that should be read at all.

These are only a few tips that you should remember when reviewing your copy. If you have a well-written copy, you will find it easier to get more customers and catch people’s attention.

Therefore, you need to plan your website content so that it catches your prospective visitors’ eyes. In particular, you need to plan your copy: this is what will meet your visitors when they get onto your website, and you need to hook them at first glance.

You may be raring to put pencil to paper or start typing your website away. However, the problem with writing for the web is that it is built for people who do not read word for word: web writing must be done with the thought in mind that the target audience will skim through the sea of words and look for something interesting. You must be of the mindset, therefore, to attract your customers’ attention.

When you are starting off your plans, you also need to remember that you are after a certain segment of the market, or your target audience. This member of the target audience is going to be far more focused than any ordinary person hopping onto your website out of curiosity: this member of the target audience is expecting something, and has specific questions that need answering. You are to provide those answers.

When planning your copy, you need to practice targeting: this means that you have to fashion your statement so that visitors of a specific demographic and with specific needs can have these same needs filled by the products and services that you provide. You need to have this target market in mind: when you know what your target market is like, you will better know how to fashion your statement. How is this so? When you know your target market, you can step into its shoes better. You will know where to look for it online. This includes going to the proper online forums and mailing lists in order to see what your target market wants, how much money it’s willing to spend for certain products and services, and the language that it speaks.

It is this language and attitude that is especially important for you. You need this information in order to get a profile of your market, and know what your prospective customers should be like. When you have this profile, you can better make web copy that is targeted toward the needs and tastes of this target market. So now that you have the target, you can start sharpening weapons: you can outline your plan for making that precious web copy.

Remember: you need to catch attention within seconds, so get straight to the point. Keep your tone even, and make sure that it adheres to the tastes of your target market. This will make you appear as though you are engaging them in convincing, enlightening conversation. Moreover, don’t beat around the bush: be straightforward and easy to understand. The key is to talk to your target market and meet its needs, and to be in this specific mindset at the very beginning.

If you plan your copy right, you will be able to come up with great content that will not only get you visitors, but have you keep them coming back to your home online.

Being able to personalize your copy means that what you will produce is unique – a testament to your skills and talent. If you want to personalize your copy, here are 4 ways you can use your one-of-a-kind style to write copy that truly stands out:

Know who you are

Psychologists, writers and marketers from Hippocrates to Brian Tracy have created labels to categorize each person’s personality. That’s why you get words such as Sanguine, Choleric, Melancholic and Phlegmatic and the more recent Driver, Analytical, Amiable and Expressive. What about you? Are you upbeat? Assertive? Aggressive? Optimistic? Laid Back?

Find out which personality type you are if it’s still unclear to you. Taking tests or asking close friends for their opinions will help. You could also check your writings in the past so you can compare how you have progressed over time.

Be who you are

One common mistake among writers is that they try to be something they are not, thinking that readers will appreciate the effort. Wrong. Readers can be quite clever at spotting fakes so the tone and manner of your writing will tell them whether you’re bluffing or not.

Instead of pretending to be someone else, use your own quirks and personal ways of expression to write your copy. You’ll find that it will be easier to write and the flow of the copy will be looser and more effortless.

Speak to your readers through your writing

Writing is a means of expression, so it has the same function as speech – to communicate and reach out. Instead of agonizing over how to personalize your copy, try to speak to your readers through your writing but use the tone and style that you would use if you were speaking.

Try using the first and second person when writing. If you want to personalize your copy when writing about organic vegetable planting, for example, avoid using third person nouns such as ‘the gardener’, ‘they’ or ‘them’.  Use ‘I’, ‘my’, ‘you’ or ‘your’ to make it sound as if you’re talking directly to the person.

Imagine that you and your reader are engaged in a real discussion. How would you talk? How would you present your ideas? What words would you use?  By writing an article that sounds as if you were speaking to the reader directly, you will be able to produce a highly personalized copy. The flow of ideas will be much more natural and easy to relate to.

Personalize your copy but be useful

There is a point in a writer’s work where he or she must compromise. After all, the end user of a write-up is not the writer but his readers. If your readers cannot relate to or understand what you have to say, then all your efforts would be in vain.

Try to write copy that your readers will find interesting and useful, something that will allow your personality to shine through at the same time. Personalize your copy by making sure that readers equate you to quality write-ups and information that they can truly make use of and value.

Introduce Yourself

If yours is a new company, your teaser copy could do with a bit more information about your business. If you have certain facts or figures to make your company more memorable, like having a product that’s the first of its kind in the market, or being the industry leader in a specific region, so much the better!

Remember: if you’re going to use a teaser copy to introduce your business, be sure to do so with a bang!

Be Entertaining

It’s hard to be funny, witty, or clever when you’re limited to just one sentence, and that’s often the case with headlines. You have greater leeway, however, with teaser copies so take advantage of it if you dare.

If you’re going to use humor, make sure that it’s in the sense that your target market – and not just you – stands to appreciate.

What? There’s More?

If you think that your products or services are very attractive to your target market and they just need that extra push to make a purchase, your teaser copy can give them just that. For this purpose, your teaser copy must include details that will not just complement but enhance what your headline said about your product.

If it’s a headline’s job to state the main benefit of your product, let your teaser be responsible for stating the additional but much-wanted benefits that only your product can offer and your target market is sure to desire.

Make a Connection

Headlines make people pay attention and teasers build on that by making a connection with the readers. Teasers can be used to create relationships between readers and the products or services you’re promoting.

If this is what you want a teaser for, it’s important to see the bigger picture. Imagine how a person’s life can change – gradually or maybe even instantly – simply by taking you up on your offer. Whatever it is, that’s what your teaser should contain!

Explain the Image

If a particular image is accompanying your online copy and it’s critical to what you’re offering, use the teaser to further explain what that image is about. Pictures may speak a thousand words, but these words can be used to create different meanings. Use your teaser to ensure you’re getting the right image across.

Tease

Last but not the least, use the teaser copy to tease. Give them a taste, but don’t give them all. Let them have a peek, but don’t let them see everything. Use the teaser to give readers tantalizing snippets of information, making it very clear all the while that the only way to get more is by reading the rest of your copy.

Teasers, like every other aspect of online copywriting, adhere to the same guidelines. As such, you need to keep it short, simple, but powerful. Do that and your teaser copy is sure to convince your readers to heed your call to action in the end.

Don’t assume

When writing copy, avoid wrapping your content in a veil of secrecy and mystery. Being mysterious is fine for puzzle makers and fortune tellers but it doesn’t always work with writers. Use an unassuming tone in writing instead.  Avoid being dictatorial or condescending. Just write clearly and use an easy, undemanding tone.

Use humor

Humor is very nearly a universal language, which means that with the right words, you can affect the way people see things and even cause them to break into a smile or even laughter.

To make your copy upbeat and fun, inject humor into your writing. Be lively and write with enthusiasm. If you’re bored, it will be reflected in your finished copy.  Don’t be afraid to make people laugh because it’s often the most easygoing way to show them what you have in mind.

Don’t overdo the words

Some of the most honorable and well-loved writers of the past and present centuries utilised simple, easy to understand language. Anne Rice, Stephen King, Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Paulo Coelho and Isabel Allende are the kind of writers that did not require their readers to read their works with a dictionary next to them. As a consequence, their readers find it easier to understand and appreciate their efforts.

To keep the mood of your copy upbeat and fun, don’t try to exercise too much effort to move your readers. They want to be entertained and to be informed – not bewildered or confused. Don’t make it too hard for them. Use long, perplexed words only when essential or as a requisite in the article you’re writing.

Lighten up the language

Very often, to make your copy upbeat and fun, you might have to use colloquial terms or slang.  This is often the case when the term you’re considering is too technical for your readers to appreciate.

Do not use offensive words

Sometimes, in an attempt to make writing upbeat and fun, some writers make the mistake of using words that are entertaining only to a few but highly offensive to the majority.  Words that reflect bigotry, hatred or prejudice can seem upbeat but may not be effective in the context of the whole write-up.  Avoid these words.

Don’t try to please everyone.
There is no way your writing will be able to appeal to every reader. Not even the finest and brightest writers have been able to do that. This is why authors have target audiences or niches and why write-ups are characterized by genre.

Can you imagine if horror master Stephen King wrote a romance novel in the style of Harlequin books? Of course not. Writers will always have their own styles and a segment of the audience who admire them.

To keep your copy upbeat and fun, avoid trying to cover several genres or styles of writing in one article. Use one or two at most. Whether you’re writing a humorous story, a satire, a critique or are simply offering your opinion, stick to a tone of voice that is the best vehicle for the content you want to share.

Use an outline

Before you begin a writing project or an article, write a short, simple outline about the topic. Use headlines, sub-headings and a list of topics under each one. This will serve as a map to help guide you on what to write. This is also a good reference if you wish to have an overview of how the write-up will progress and be unveiled to the reader.  This will help make your copy flow just when you need it most.

The outline will also help control your writing. Sometimes you can get carried away by emotions, mood or inspiration. The result – you produce too much content that you probably won’t need to make your copy worthwhile.  With an outline, you know exactly the kind of ideas you want to use and exclude those that do not belong.

Use an idea book

Inspiration can strike from anywhere. When it does, you can’t really choose the time or the location.  It happened to Michael Jackson once, when he was on board a plane. The music and lyrics to a song came to him but since he couldn’t write music and had no recording device with him, he had to endure the long flight with the music ringing in his head.

It was only when the plane touched down and he could finally record the music that he was able to write the song. The song, titled ‘Muscles’, later on became a hit for diva Diana Ross.

Like Jackson, how often have you been touched by the Muses only to find out that you have nothing to write with because you’re in the middle of a party or putting on make-up in the bathroom?

Make sure that when you’re blessed with an idea, you’re ready. Keep a small notepad in your purse or around your work area. When an idea comes, write it down immediately. Don’t wait. Memory can be very slippery and confusing so don’t rely on it too much. Write the idea down, record it, paint it, illustrate it – anything that will help remind you later. So when it’s time to write, you can make copy flow and not have any problems producing a write-up.

Allow topics to transition

To make copy flow when writing, allow relational progression from one topic to the next.  If you have an outline, this is rather easy to do because you have a sense of which topic to write about in the next sentence or paragraph.

Don’t try to impress or worry about grammar… yet

You cannot make your copy flow if you keep getting distracted by other tasks such as editing or proofreading. Forget about these things at first. Your job is to write, so do it and stop worrying about correct grammar or spelling. If you’re using a word processor, making the corrections will be a breeze later. Write as the thoughts come to you and don’t interrupt.

Review what you’ve written

In many cases, when you’re stumped in the middle of an article, you could refresh your mind by going through what you have already written. This will help remind your brain of the message you’re trying to get across.

Write. Just write

Oftentimes, the best way to make your copy flow is to keep writing. Again, worry about the outcome later.  You can always go back and make revisions. For now, write what you know, unleash your creativity and keep writing.