Fixing Bad Web Site Copy

Written by Jon Wuebben


Let’s face it – a lot of web pages and web sites out there could use a little improvement inrepparttar copywriting department!

From boring prose to bad sentence structure, from poor logic to inadequate copy optimization, I’ve seen it all. And this is what your customers are reading as they jump on to your site! If they have to sludge through bad writing, they will get a negative feeling about your product or service. Is thisrepparttar 139400 impression that you want them to have? Definitely not.

The bottom line is that bad copy means fewer sales. That’s how important it is. Don’t discount it. And one other point - an impressive site design can never rescue poor copy.

So what’srepparttar 139401 process that a copywriter goes through when they are re-writing a site? Good question. There are lots of different methods and approaches, but here’s what I look at when I first set my eyes on those broken letters and words:

1.The Copy Itself - What’s written? 2.The Copy and how it relates torepparttar 139402 design - How does it look onrepparttar 139403 page? 3.Search Engine Friendly – Isrepparttar 139404 copy optimized?

The Copy Itself – What’s Written?

The first thing that I look at when I’m analyzing a page of copy isrepparttar 139405 copy itself. In this day and age, there really are two fundamental things that most people do when they are reading copy on a web site: First, they “scan” read – they don’t read every word. And second, it’s better comprehended whenrepparttar 139406 copy is writtenrepparttar 139407 way people speak. Here arerepparttar 139408 other things to look for when you’re analyzingrepparttar 139409 copy:

Are bullets and lists utilized? The copy can’t be in standard block paragraphs like you see in books and magazines. Remember, you’re competing for their time. If they don’t getrepparttar 139410 info they need fast, they’ll jump torepparttar 139411 next web site.

Is there too much copy onrepparttar 139412 page? If you have more than 450 words per page, you have too much. How many times have you seenrepparttar 139413 never-ending Home Page as you scroll forever to find where it ends? This technique only works for those cheesy direct sales letters you see on certain sites. And they only work sometimes.

Doesrepparttar 139414 copy grab you? Is it interesting and informative? Does it address your needs? And doesrepparttar 139415 copy have a rhythm to it? It should.

Is there variety inrepparttar 139416 writing? Are allrepparttar 139417 sentences long with multiple adjectives and adverbs? The goal is to combine short sentences with a few long ones. The trick is to makerepparttar 139418 copy flow. Using fragments is not a bad thing. Quiterepparttar 139419 contrary actually. The occasional fragment or sentence that starts with “But” or “And” can re-capture reader interest and keep it lively. Try it out. You’ll like it. And your customers will too! (See how effective it is?)

Are Headings and Sub headings utilized? If not, get them in there fast. You gotta have them there to break uprepparttar 139420 page into digestible parts. It also helpsrepparttar 139421 eye focus. There are a ton of sites out there that have absolutely NO headings or sub headings. That’s a bad thing.

Are you using AIDA? Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. I’m sure you’ve heard it before: Grabrepparttar 139422 reader’s attention, build interest, and create a desire so they will take action. Are you closingrepparttar 139423 deal with your customer? This isrepparttar 139424 ultimate goal of any copy. Makerepparttar 139425 reader do something. Fill out a survey, submit a request, sign up for a service, or buyrepparttar 139426 product. Whatever it is, you must have a call to action inrepparttar 139427 copy.

The Copy and How it Relates torepparttar 139428 Design - How Does it look onrepparttar 139429 page?

What good wouldrepparttar 139430 copy be if it was placed onrepparttar 139431 page in long lines and block paragraphs?

Not too good.

Recently, I was working on a Home Page re-write for a financial services company who was having a conversion problem. They had no issue getting people torepparttar 139432 site. They just couldn’t make them buy once they got there.

After taking a look at their site, I was struck with one startling reaction –repparttar 139433 copy was placed onrepparttar 139434 page like it was a college essay with no variation or eye catching design elements integrated. Clearly, it was a web site template and no customization was used at all.

Their competitors Home Pages were very different. They all employed easy to read charts, testimonials, and other design elements. And my client had none of these. Obviously, something had to change, or his conversion rate would continue to suffer. Here are some ofrepparttar 139435 things you want to look for when you considerrepparttar 139436 copy and how it relates torepparttar 139437 design:

Is there contrast inrepparttar 139438 type of fonts,repparttar 139439 size of fonts, andrepparttar 139440 colors that are used? Some ofrepparttar 139441 most eye-catching web sites use lots of contrasting fonts, with various sizes, and complimentary colors. This can only helprepparttar 139442 copy, as it wraps it up in a great looking package and truly brings it to life. Here are three examples of great copy wrapped up in brilliant design: http://www.omniture.com/s2/index.html http://www.6smarketing.com/ http://www.zephoria.com/

Isrepparttar 139443 copy broken up into readable/scanable sections? …or is it simply placed onrepparttar 139444 page haphazardly without regard forrepparttar 139445 needs of your customer? Like my example above, you need to ensurerepparttar 139446 web page can be scanned in 30 seconds or less. Remember, we’re dealing with short attention spans.

Copywriting Makeover: Search Engine-Friendly Can Also Mean Visitor-Friendly

Written by Karon Thackston


by Karon Thackston © 2005 http://www.copywritingcourse.com

When it comes to search engine optimization, copywriting plays a big role. You want to have excellent copy that appeals to both your visitors andrepparttar engines in order to create pages that will rank highly. However, sometimes there can be potential problems with fitting copy into certain types of sites. Due to space constraints, page layout requirements or other issues, some site owners hesitate to include SEO copy thinking it will detract fromrepparttar 139256 visitor's experience. It won't if you do it right!

Gigmasters.com is a database site that allows visitors to search for any number of entertainment options then book them directly fromrepparttar 139257 site. They segmented their target audience byrepparttar 139258 events visitors would book entertainment for (i.e., wedding entertainment, birthday party entertainment, etc.) Pages were then created for each entertainment type.

The Problems

Gigmasters.com wasn't ranking highly for its keyphrases on a number of pages. In fact, forrepparttar 139259 page we're focusing on in this article (seerepparttar 139260 original copy here: http://www.copywritingcourse.com/gigmasters-original-wedding.pdf), Gigmasters.com wasn't ranking inrepparttar 139261 top 50.

The page desperately needed more copy. The concern was that visitors would be distracted byrepparttar 139262 addition of more text. After all, customers who come to a site to book entertainment are going to focus onrepparttar 139263 information in each performer's bio… notrepparttar 139264 copy onrepparttar 139265 category page, right? As we found out, this was not at all true.

In addition to quantity (word count),repparttar 139266 page also needed quality. The one paragraph of copy that was onrepparttar 139267 page was rough and sounded awkward.

The Solutions

Writing copy that appeals torepparttar 139268 site visitors andrepparttar 139269 search engines should berepparttar 139270 goal of every SEO copywriter. You never want to sacrifice one forrepparttar 139271 other. However, I knew that adding a long block of copy right inrepparttar 139272 middle ofrepparttar 139273 page would not be using good judgment. Good thing nobody ever said all your copy had to be in one place!

By breakingrepparttar 139274 copy up and adding short blips under each section ofrepparttar 139275 page, we were able to include enough text to supportrepparttar 139276 chosen keyphrases. Atrepparttar 139277 same time, we were able to help visitors makerepparttar 139278 best choices for their wedding entertainment.

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