23 December 2009
Copywriting tips and tricks. Simple, but highly effective. Need to write good copy for your website or promotional material. Sometimes it can be hard, but focusing on subjects that you are passionate about is a great starting point.

Having established that you are more than qualified to advise others on your chosen subject and have enough interest in it to apply yourself to the time consuming task of writing accurately about it, all I can really do is give you a few pointers and tips on converting your knowledge into something which others can benefit from and in doing so raise the profile and credibility of your website. To avoid taking up too much of your time, I’ll keep it brief:

1. Provide original content.

Whether you’re writing the content for your homepage or an article explaining the finer points of your industry and associated benefits, you must ensure that what you’re saying isn’t said elsewhere. Inevitably there will be others who have said something vaguely similar, but focus upon being better and different. You will get no credit from search engines for duplicating someone else’s work and gain no customers by rehashing a competitor’s article.

2. Research tone and style.

We all write differently depending on the context. A blog on celebrity gossip will read very differently to a governmental department’s homepage and the way you construct a text message to a friend will differ to the structure of an email you send to a business associate. It’s well worth researching the homepage content of similar websites when writing your own in order to judge which style you find most effective, relevant and credible. It is more than likely that the style you find most suitable will be the style your prospective visitors will find most suitable: so copy it (NOT THE CONTENT...just the tone and style). Once you’ve established this starting point then write in a way you find comfortable but adhering loosely to the tone you’ve chosen to emulate. The words should come naturally, don’t worry if it doesn’t sound quite right you can always come back and edit the text.

3. Double check grammar and spelling.

Having spent hours crafting your text, there is nothing more irritating than publishing the piece to discover an abundance of easily avoided errors. Get others to read your copy with a critical eye before making it live, they may well spot something you’ve missed. Having taken on board any amendments: read it again...and again before committing it to the archives of internet history.

4. Enjoy it.

I know, I know...easier said than done, but if you care about the subject matter and the benefits the content will have for your business then I’m sure you won’t find it that hard.