Write For the Web

Having a visually arresting, well-designed website is ultimately of no use if the product its promoting isn't selling - and one of the most common causes of low sales for a web-based business is badly written text (or 'copy' as its known in the industry).

This article will give you a few valuable pointers to enable you to write effective copy, and thus enhance your sales success.

Go Au Naturel

The most important thing is to be natural and sincere. If you don't sound as if you have faith in your product, how can you expect your customers to believe in it? Avoid the following: cliches; corporate speak; excessive punctuation; fancy words; and long sentences.

Location, Location, Location

Remember where you are - you're on the internet. This means potential customers will be likely to come to your site through a search engine - so make sure popular search terms are included in the copy. If you're an on-line bakery, it's no good if you don't mention bread, but you'd be surprised by how many businesses make this sort of mistake.

Waffles are for Breakfast, Not Websites

Get to the point. Nobody has hours to waste reading extremely lengthy, waffling copy. Your customers want a relevant, sharp account of what you do, why they should invest in it, and how they do that. Some background detail is fine, but make sure it always leads directly back to the product or service being offered. Remember, the essential purpose of your business is to sell, and copy that isn't making you money is bad copy. So if you want to mention qualifying in grade 8 on the flute, you can - just make sure you emphasise why this is relevant to your service, and how it's going to benefit your customers.

Know-It-Alls

Another frequent error new businesses make is assuming their customers have the same level of specialised knowledge or interest they do - so it's crucial to remember that they may not. Businesses are typically so deeply invested in what they do, that they find it difficult to take an outside perspective. Remember that your website is trying to sell a product - not conduct an in-depth corporate analysis - and keep this at the forefront of your mind when writing copy.