Online copywriting

Our monthly Industry Insight session we focused on the importance of great online copy: for engagement, search engine optimisation and usability. Below we have included a summary of the main areas covered during our whistle-stop tour of tip-top copywriting.

So why is digital copywriting different?

Your audience is having to read from a flickering screen not paper
Hypertext allows linking of related material
The sheer speed of publishing and revision
Absolutely everything is measurable
The importance of ‘hidden’ text
There are many variations in users’ hardware, software, bandwidth etc, whereas every Direct Mail pack tends to look the same

Hitting the right tone of voice…

The internet consists of conversations between human-beings, not demographic sectors
Conversations between people sound human. They are conducted in a human voice. This voice is typically open and natural in tone
Tone of voice guidelines should be part of your online style guide (although this rarely occurs)
A tone of voice comes from visualising your audience: their online skills and characteristics

General copywriting tips…

Aid scanning: Users ‘skim’ text looking for key messages, so highlight phrases, use meaningful subheads and bullet points to break up text.
Be succinct: reading online is up to 25 per cent slower than offline; thus focus on one idea per paragraph and use half the word count of print.
Invert the pyramid: begin with the most important information and work backwards to ensure visitors don’t leave without absorbing your main message.
Be consistent: create a house style guide for all editors and writers to work from. This ensures consistency in language, spelling and grammar.

Search engine optimisation (SEO)…

Search engines are now the most important source of traffic online. Improving your natural search engine results involves numerous tactics.

Get your keyphrase density in body copy right to avoid over-repetition: using synonyms can assist keyphrase density
Include keyphrases in the page titles, all hyperlinks, subheads and ALT tags
Use keyphrases in your hidden copy, i.e. TITLE tags, META tags, URL-strings
Attract links from good quality, high PageRank sites thereby increasing your own Google PageRank

Choosing your SEO keyphrases

Identify keyphrase that you’d like to be performing better on in search engines
Use a tool to generate variations based on your original list
Choose keyphrases which are both specific and general (e.g. language schools) rather than vague (cheap) or obscure (product codes)

Be remarkable to attract links

Original, newsworthy content is vital to stimulate links from other sites and bloggers
Make sure you syndicate your content to other sites and use RSS to spread the word
Google uses its own PageRank system when generating search results: seeing each link to your site as a vote of confidence in the content. Links from websites with their own high PageRanks are more valuable.

Create an editorial strategy…

Publishing schedule: set realistic targets as to how many articles you can write each week or month. Consider what is achievable given time and resources.
Emergency strategy: be prepared for likely PR scenarios. Create ‘black pages’ (unpublished content areas which can be published swiftly should scenarios occur).
Content strategy: broadly plan your content for the year. Identify seasonal opportunities (Father’s Day, Valentine’s, Christmas) and offline link-ups to create an integrated campaign story (i.e. reflect a Direct Mail campaign on site and in PPC adverts).

Other important factors to remember…

Clear calls to action
Make sure your copy leads to an action through text, buttons or promotions. What do you want your user to do - buy, register, download, enquire, view, comment, read more?

Involving your users
Create sites that encourage reaction or comment: letting users guide editorial content and you gauge opinion. Blogging sites rely on user participation to grow in popularity and content. Sites like the BBC and Sky use commenting on articles and audience photos to introduce a human aspect.

Get promotions right
A balance between external advertising and clarity in user experience must be sought. Advertising revenue is good but don’t let ads detract from what your content is trying to achieve. Internal promotions should be carefully designed and sit within the Web Editor’s remit to ensure consistency and accuracy.

Evolving your content
You’ve created your content but don’t rest on your laurels. Keep on refining and improving your copy. Use Google Analytics to see what content is and isn’t popular, then you can replicate your successes and improve weak areas. User feedback is also vital in guiding future editorial policy either via forms or surveys.