Tips for Writing Persuasive Web Copy

When writing your web copy, remember that is it is totally different from print copy. Web copy is scanned. Or glanced at. Not read. Web visitors are hunting for information or products and want to make quick decisions. Here are ways to write persuasive copy for them:

Put your most important information first

Your customers want to know the big picture first.

Basically: What do you do? Or what can you do for them?

Don’t try to be overly clever or creative

A reader won’t hang on to every word you write. They don’t have time.

Simple statements that get to the point work best.

Write for scanners

How many people read web pages? Hardly anybody! Most people scan. So, use this checklist:

·         Does your headline communicate what you’re about?

·         Does your image caption communicate a sales message?

·         Do your sub headlines summarise your key points?

·         Use bullet points – they reduce wordiness?

Use familiar copy

Your reader is looking for familiar words with a scent trail that tells them they in the right place – that is all! They don’t want to make an effort to read your text, so make your copy easy to read using:

·         Short paragraphs

·         Short sentences

·         No unnecessary words

·         No jargon

·         No needless repetition

Expect people to arrive anywhere on your website

Most web visitors will not start reading at your home page. They may arrive on any page. So each page should:

·         Be easy to scan

·         Clarify to people where they are & and what your site is about

·         Have a call to action telling people where to go next.

Make a visual impression

Web copy and web design should work together. The visual appeal of your website influences whether web visitors can quickly understand what you’re about.

Does your website offer what they’re looking for? And can they find it easily?

I’d love to tell you that writing persuasive web copy is easy, but the truth is that writing simple, useful copy is hard. Don’t be wordy and show off your extensive vocabulary. Know who you are and what you do. If your positioning is clear, it’s much easier to stand out on the web and to be found.

Be clear. Be specific. Be bold.

“Can” versus “May”

This is a tough one!

Ability or Permission?

There was once a time in the land of Strict Grammar Rules when “can” suggested physical or mental ability and “may” denoted permission or authorisation.

It WAS NOT acceptable to use “can” if you were talking about permission. You could hear citizens of this land saying, “May I accompany you to the ball, Miss Ruby?” and “Why of course you may, my dear.” This young lady would perhaps ask her suitor about his dancing ability: “Can you do the cha-cha?” and he would answer that he did have the ability: “Why of course I can, Miss Ruby.”

 “Can” Instead of Traditional “May”

Nowadays, the rules aren’t so cut and dried! Since the second half of the 19th century, “can” has been used in informal contexts to denote permission.

You’ve probably heard someone ask, “Can I go to the party?” If we lived in strict-grammar land, the authorities would complain about this usage, but these days it is acceptable to use “can” in this manner if you’re speaking informally.

If you’re a teacher of young children, you probably often hear “Can I go to the bathroom?” Parents probably hear their children whining, “Can I have a cell phone?” So are the kids to blame for using “can” instead of “may”? Well, they just repeat what grown-ups say, and grown-ups are apparently moving away from the sometimes prissy-sounding “may.”

“May” Is OK

Nowadays, “may” does have its rare place. If formality and politeness are of utmost importance, you should use “may” to denote permission. So it would be better to say to the waiter at a fancy restaurant, “May I have more water, please?” than “Can I have more water, please?” If you’ve just knocked on a door, you should probably say, “May I come in?”

Hope this clears the confusion.

How to use the Hyphen!

A short video teaching us the basic rules of using a hyphen. Watch here!

What is Word Stress?

In English, we do not say each syllable with the same force or strength. In one word, we accentuate ONE syllable. We say one syllable very loudly (big, strong, important) and all the other syllables very quietly.

Let's take 3 words: photograph, photographer and photographic. Do they sound the same when spoken? No. Because we accentuate (stress) ONE syllable in each word. And it is not always the same syllable. So the shape of each word is different.

click word to hear	shape	total syllables	stressed syllable
PHO TO GRAPH		3	#1
PHO TO GRAPH ER		4	#2
PHO TO GRAPH IC		4	#3

This happens in ALL words with 2 or more syllables: TEACHer, JaPAN, CHINa, aBOVE, converSAtion, INteresting, imPORtant, deMAND, etCETera, etCETera, etCETera

The syllables that are not stressed are weak or small or quiet. Native speakers of English listen for the STRESSED syllables, not the weak syllables. If you use word stress in your speech, you will instantly and automatically improve your pronunciation and your comprehension.

Try to hear the stress in individual words each time you listen to English - on the radio, or in films for example. Your first step is to HEAR and recognise it. After that, you can USE it!

There are two very important rules about word stress:

1. One word, one stress. (One word cannot have two stresses. So if you hear two stresses, you have heard two words, not one word.)
2. The stress is always on a vowel.