Copywriting For the Web

web-copywritingInternet copywriting is different from traditional copywriting for many reasons. I recently remembered a highlight about my trip to Manipal University where I was able to interact with Mr. Raviraj, who is a Journalism professor there. It was interesting to know from him that he is trying to train his students on writing for the web. I am no journalist, but I blog πŸ™‚ Here are a few key differences I noticed about web writing and print writing.

  • Web Users are active and they suffer from attention defiency syndrome. Click and poof! They are gone forever.
  • Long article? Send it to your nearest print press, Internet users are the last people you want to show it to.
  • Building up hype around something? Back it up with proof. Internet is so full of BS that people want to see proof before they buy/apply for anything!

One company that has mastered this art online is BBC. Writing for the web is in itself an art. Check out the recent BBC headlines

  • Italy buries first quake victims
  • Mass Thai protest over leadership
  • Ten arrested in UK anti-terrorism raids
  • Villagers hurt in West Bank clash

web-copywriting2Maximum of 5-6 words and they convey the whole idea about the story. Go to your blog and check how many words do you use on your titles. Incredible use of words in short concise sensible sentences.

So, what can you as a blogger or freelance internet writer can do to keep the visitors on your page?

I used to do heavy article marketing for a few of my niche sites and the following is what I learnt about writing for the netizens.

  • Write with the questions – “What, How, where next?” in mind.
  • Make it lively. Humour, Satire, fun facts.

Beyond this, the usual web writing rules like Keep it short, Posts with Lists and the usual apply. When was the last time you checked out your writing?


Comments

7 responses to “Copywriting For the Web”

  1. Recently, I started noticing the Titles of Successful authors myself. I think you should have a look at Labnol’s titles.

    One of his titles was ” Zoozoos in Vodafone TV Ads Aren’t Animated Characters”

    Watch the title:
    1. I never knew what a Zoozoo was, but the metion of Vodafone gave me the idea.

    2. It creates a lot of curiousity. Ok its not animated, then what..? If I was making the title, I would have written “Zoozoos are not Animated but real people! ”
    Then who would bother to take the time to read the article?

    This is just an example, lots of learn from Amit!

  2. He is one of the very few probloggers in India…he will definitly have loads for us to learn from πŸ™‚

    btw, not everyone would study like you from a title. good work!

  3. There are just three Pro Bloggers in India I guess,

    Amit, Mani and TheAnand πŸ˜› πŸ˜› πŸ˜›

    1. hehe…honored!! Thank you! πŸ™‚

  4. My eyes are stuck at your numbers, Amit and Mani have their numbers going up and down all the time, but your number is always going up!

    It was 2500 last day, now its 2562, omg! Maybe you should teach us the magic, there must be something more than the links on the sidebar πŸ˜›

  5. you got a point there…. I will keep that in mind for my future posts πŸ™‚

    btw even I wont mind knowing the magic Arun is talking about in his comment πŸ™‚

  6. Long posts are not necessarily a bad thing. Lots of the clients that I have ask me to write between 400-800 words for blog posts. It’s about keeping your reader’s attention, and making them read the entire post. As well, you can use formatting to highlight the main points.

    Awesome article with some useful points!

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