PWS Ltd web editorial services

Writing effective web copy

30 July 2008 (amended and updated January 2010)

Summary

When writing for the web it is important to bear in mind that:

typically, your target audience is looking for information with which to solve a particular problem
readers expect to find information quickly and easily
they are likely to go elsewhere the moment you fail to hold their attention

Below are ten techniques for writing and structuring effective web copy – copy that conveys the message "we can solve your problem because … ", copy that is findable and that holds readers' attention.

Front load your copy

Most readers will give your pages only a few seconds before deciding whether to read on or go elsewhere. It is therefore vital to start with a conclusion or summary which will tell them immediately whether they have come to the right place or not. This means avoiding opening with an "introduction" or "background" section: these seldom answer people's questions or solve their problems – solutions are much more likely to be found in conclusions or summaries.

The conclusion or summary should be followed by the broad detail and then the fine detail (but the latter only if really necessary, as short and snappy nearly always equates with effective web copy).

Similarly, online biographies should never be written in chronological order. What you do now is what will solve people's problems, not where you went to school.

This technique is known as "front loading" copy. It is standard practice for journalists but still surprisingly rare on the web.

Use headings liberally

People typically scan web pages looking for interesting snippets rather than reading whole pages. To make content easily scannable, use plenty of headings (note: a piece of text simply made bold and with an increased font size is not a heading – always use proper structural headings). Headings should be organised in a logical hierarchy, with a heading 1 as the main page heading, headings 2 for sub-headings and headings 3 for sub- sub-headings, and so on.

Use keyword-rich headings

Headings should be carefully crafted to include keyword phrases. These are the most important phrases from or describing the section(s) they relate to. Not only do keyword-rich headings show at a glance what each section is about, they are also helpful in achieving good search engine rankings.

Be objective

Be factual and avoid exaggeration or fluffy marketing language. Everyone knows corporate-speak when they see or hear it, and filtering it out to get to the useful content is time consuming and annoying.

Be concise

Cut, edit and cut again. And again. Consider the following from Strunk and White's classic The Elements of Style:

"Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts."

Include a clear call to action

Every page should have a clear and obvious call to action. This can range from a simple "call us for more information" to a "buy now with one click" button. The goal is to persuade readers to take a particular course of action: to buy something; to complete a questionnaire or to sign up for a newsletter. If you don't ask people to act, the chances are, they won't.

Make pages findable

In order that the search engine queries of potential clients or customers have the best chance of being directed to your site rather than to those of your competitors, your copy needs to include keyword phrases that correspond to users' search terms. It is particularly effective to build these into structural elements – headings, links and bullet lists, as well as the body copy. However, don't overdo it. Writing for search engines (keyword stuffing) rather than for a human audience almost always produces poor results.

Selecting keyword phrases

Use keyword phrases rather than single keywords. Single words are usually too general and will have you competing against too many other pages to allow you to stand out from the crowd. There are exceptions of course, such as brand names. But if people know your brand name they will probably find you anyway. The real value lies in reaching people who don't already know who you are.
Put yourself in your target audience's shoes. What search terms would you use to find a site like yours?
Test your ideas in the major search engines. What kind of sites do various search terms return? Study these sites to determine what they have done to achieve their high rankings. Craft your keyword phrases accordingly.

Active or passive voice?

Many English style guides advise against using the passive voice. This is generally good advice. However, when writing headings and link text the passive voice can be more effective as people often read only the first two or three words of headings and links. Using the passive voice, keyword phrases can be placed at the beginning of headings and links where they are more likely to catch readers' attention. This is another aspect of front loading copy.

Example: "Prince Charles bitten by stray dog" (passive voice) has greater impact than "Stray dog bites Prince Charles" (active voice). And the keyword phrase comes first.

HTML title attribute

The HTML title attribute is the most important piece of content on the whole page as far as search engines are concerned (although humans seldom notice it). It appears in the blue bar at the very top of the browser window. It should contain a unique top level description of the page's content in no more than 100 characters. All of the above advice on keywords, front loading and passive voice applies.

Although it is built into the HTML code behind the scenes, writing the text for an HTML title is very much an editorial function rather than a technical one. It's part of the page content.