Copywriting – Writing For The Web

Web copywriting experts have continually cautioned the beginners: writing for the web must be undertaken with approaches specifically tailored for the online market. Offline (real world) advertising systems and methods will not work in the internet world (online). These experts, through years of actual experimentation with thousands of internet transactions claim to have been able to identify the methodologies that work online.
The following rules-of-thumb in writing for the web and website creation are the general tenets endorsed by web copywriting experts.
Beware the Ad-looking Website
Exclude ads from your site’s index page (your site’s portal webpage)– which appears when a visitor keys-in your domain name. Online visitors “tune-out” commercial messages. This is precisely why your index page should be devoid of any advertisements. And (your index page) should definitely not look like an ad. But instead come across as legitimate web content which inform, entertain and teach your visitors. Your main criterion is to give your website an editorial feel to it–where your message is given as solid content.
Create Compelling Pages
Attention span is a rare commodity over the net. Web visitors have been described as engaging in one main activity: they scan web content. They do not read. That is until they have established that your site is a worthy source of the information or data they are looking for. Therefore, the impetus in writing for the web under this heading is to be in congruence with the scan criterion. Websites should also be more than an online brochure–which is the common mistake of many business sites.
Integrate List Generation
Because site visitors are a valuable commodity, a mechanism must be put in place to give visitors a reason to come back to your site. Effective websites assure that a site visit generates a response–where visitors are given enough reason to oblige with their name and email address. Without an effective system, 95% of site visitors are likely never to return; unless they become part of your mailing list. The use of autoresponders has been around for several years. It is now a must-have for all effective websites.
Use AIDA online tenets
The time-proven four-step dictum for generating sales is known as the AIDA Formula. First, you capture your prospect’s Attention (A). Second, you develop Interest (I) about your offer. Third, you intensify Desire (D) for the purchase of your product or service. And fourth, you induce the prospect to Action (A)- to buy from you. AIDA has its roots in the advertising world, and has been imported into the internet realm and modified to respond to the unique qualities of the online audience. Writing for the web necessitates the integration of the online version of AIDA in the creation of the sales components of a website.