There's only important rule you need to remember when you're writing Web copy...
Write how you talk.
Forget all the rules your English teacher told you about. It's okay to end your sentences in a preposition... or start them with "And" or "But." On the Web, people read differently.
A formal style of writing actually STOPS people from reading... and if they're not reading, they're not buying.
Let's take a look at four writing myths you can toss out the window when you write your next content article or salesletter...
Myth #1: Sentence structure
Reality: Simple sentences rule online.
Online, people want information - and they want it fast! And they DON'T want to have to work at deciphering it.
Keep your sentences short. They're ALWAYS easier to read than longer ones. Avoid complex sentence constructions. On the Web, "ing" words are the enemy!
Don't say, "By following this program carefully, taking supplements religiously, and drinking lots of water every day, you will lose weight."...
... say "Follow this program carefully. Take supplements religiously. And drink lots of water every day. You WILL lose weight."
Remember, you're writing to short attention spans.
Myth #2: Formal writing should be used to show credibility
Reality Check: Keep it real.
Readers respond best when they feel you're talking to them personally. So write as if you're talking to someone you really CARE about and...
Use a casual and friendly tone. Imagine that you're talking to a friend or family member. To help your readers identify with your words on a personal level, use "you" as often as possible.
Mimic the irregular cadence of speech. Go ahead and write in sentence fragments. Feel free to start sentences with "and," "but," and "or." It's how we speak.
Use contractions whenever possible. "It's" sounds way more natural and informal than "it is".
It's okay to use slang. Just make sure the slang you use is appropriate for YOUR target market.
Myth #3: Use proper punctuation
Reality Check: Use informal punctuation to mimic speech.
You know how your teachers always warned you against using dashes, ellipses, and bullet points, because they displayed lazy writing?
When you write for the a Web audience, you are writing for the LAZY READER. (Not so much "lazy" as "bombarded by a relentless onslaught of information, and constantly pressed for time.")
Make their job easy by breaking up long sentences. Dashes - like these - create white space between your phrases so each phrase stands out more.
Ellipses are a great for separating items in a list. Create a sense of time passing within the sentence... Or build anticipation before getting to the "big reveal."
Use ALL CAPS to highlight the words you'd emphasize while speaking. Putting lists in bullet points so they're easy to read. Bullets say "Hey look, here's a list!"
Myth #4: Readers will read every word
Reality Check: People scan for the most important information.
Ever noticed how a single word can make your ears perk up when you're half listening to a conversation?
Certain words jump out at you to let you know when to pay closer attention. Format your text so your most important content leaps off your pages:
* Use "choppy" structures to mix up paragraphs of different lengths.
* Your most dramatic ideas should be stand-alone one-sentence paragraphs.
* Use subheads to pique curiosity and drive eyes down the page.
* Bolding highlights your most important ideas.
* Place your MOST important idea at the beginning or end of the paragraph where they'll be noticed most.
Hear the words in your head as you write. to keep yourself from stiff formal writing! Then, read your work out loud when you're done. Any stumbling blocks will become immediately obvious.
If you write the way you talk readers will "listen.
How To Write Website
When you're doing article marketing, the articles you write will be on the topic of your website--you're trying to attract targeted readers who will read your article and then be interested in clicking through to your website.
But what if your website sells products, and lots of different products at that?
What if you have a section of your website that sells electronics, and then another section that sells children's clothing, and then another section that sells gardening tools?
With such diverse topics on one website, you may find it confusing trying to figure out what to write about, but writing for a website that sells many different types of products is not all that different than writing for a website that just represents one thing.
What you need to do is think of your website as being a collection of niches--while another author might write on one topic all the time, you will be writing on several different niches (all the niches on your website).
For example, if you were writing articles to drive traffic back to the gardening part of your website, you could write an article called "The Top 10 Gift Ideas For Gardeners".
Then in your article you would write about 10 types of products that you have at your site (rather than specific products), such as gardening tools, gardening clothing, gardening pots, etc.
I know that whenever you're writing for a product based website that it's tempting to write about a specific product and then say "go to my website to get it!", but that's not the way you want to go with article marketing.
The only place where you can mention your own website is your resource box, and in the article body it's best to keep things as general and educational (not sales oriented) as possible.
So, you could say in your article "I've seen gardening pots that are so beautiful they look like jewelry for your yard--any gardener would enjoy receiving one as a gift!".
Then in your resource box you would say something like, "If you're in search of the perfect gift for the gardener in your life, visit here => [insert your URL]"
See how easy that is?
That's a very intelligent way to write for a product based website, and when you have several types of products on your site you would simply write other articles that addressed the other departments on your site.
And what part of your website should your resource box link to?
You can vary it--you may wish to link directly to the main page of your website sometimes. If you've written about a certain type of product, you will likely have a listing of your various departments on the front page of your site (and you'll probably have a search box as well).
So, it's fine to link to the main page of your site from your resource box, but you may wish to mix things up a bit by having some articles link to the department page, and still others that link directly to a product page.
Remember, there are just a few points to keep in mind:
*It's best if you don't mention specific products in your article.
If you do mention specific products in your article and you then link back to a sales page for that item, then the article will appear to be promotional, and many publishers routinely decline what they consider to be promotional or self-serving articles (articles that try to sell things).
*Write about a particular area of your site--think of your site as collection of niches and write articles for each niche.
That's not that hard, is it?
So many times business owners who own websites that sell lots of different products get stumped when trying to figure out what to write about when they're doing article marketing because they don't have just one topic to write about.
But if you just tweak your thinking a bit, you'll see that if you do own one of these websites that sells several different types of products that you actually have a bountiful selection of writing topics--you'll probably never run out of ideas for articles!
Both Derek Gehl & Steve Shaw are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Derek Gehl has sinced written about articles on various topics from Your Online Business, Entrepreneurship and Search Engine Marketing. , CEO of Internet Marketing Center, helps people create income online. You'll find more articles on Internet Business. Derek Gehl's top article generates over 18100 views. to your Favourites.
Steve Shaw has sinced written about articles on various topics from Article Writing, SEO Articles and Build Online Business. Getting your article to as many publishers as possible can have a positive impact on your product sales, so it pays to . To find out ho. Steve Shaw's top article generates over 14800 views. to your Favourites.
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