These 5 Tips Will Make Your Writing Shine

Posted on 21. Apr, 2009 by Krista in Business Tips, Writing Tips

It’s been a whirlwind of a week for me. I had a pile of stuff to work on but I still took time out to join some gal pals in an amazing treasure hunt for charity last Saturday. Surprisingly, we even took home a few good prizes! (Anyone wants to buy a Dell printer off me?)

Anyway, in the office, we’re still caught up with back-to-back web projects. Thank God we have extra pairs of hands from Moey and Janice. (And Andrea Bocelli crooning in the background to help us work better! Can’t live without music right?)

This week, I thought it would be great to blog about web copywriting.

Web copywriting is often overlooked when it comes to revamping or designing a website. I was super pleased when I met up with someone last Thursday (a prospective client who will remain unnamed as it is not yet time to reveal details) who told me that she believed in a content-driven website.

I was almost jumping out of my seat with glee.

In my years of meeting people/clients/prospects, most of them have been clueless about websites.

Poor old ‘copy’ or content/text/copywriting (which irks me to no end when someone writes ‘copyrighting’ – hello, get your facts right please. It’s just like ‘deadline’ and ‘dateline’. Both are totally different OK?) is relegated to positions of such unimportance on the website.

Actually copy is very important. In fact, far more important than the spiffy visuals or graphics on the website.

Words do matter and words do make or break your website. The right words help you persuade. The right words break down resistance. The wrong words turn away visitors.

If you cannot write a sentence to save your life and if you are going to revamp your website, please pay a copywriter to help you get the content in order.

Because if someone visits your website, you’d better make it worth their while.

You have less than 10 seconds to prove to them your website is worth a read (and worth hanging about).

So here are some ideas if you are stuck for ideas for content on your website. Failing that, turn the job over to a real copywriter.

1. Details, please
Whenever you can, go for specifics and details. Specific words target emotions. For instance, which conjures better in your mind? “A lot of people” versus “3,241 people”? Also, if you are bolstering an argument, a specific fact always wins hands down compared to some generality.

Detail-infused writing helps your customers imagine and ’see’ it in their mind.

Example: “Gorgeous fuchsia-coloured bouganvilleas, fragrant frangipanis and other tropical shrubs attract chirping birds in the evenings giving you a closer look at our Langkawi wildlife! Beyond the pool are golden paddy fields (when the paddy is ready to be harvested) and a small hill of the deepest jade.”

2. Put your customer first
The ‘you’ rule rules, especially online. (Actually it rules offline too. I want an advertisement, a brochure or a flyer to speak to me direct.) Tell your customer/reader what’s in it for him. Talk to him direct.

Example: “If you’re inexperienced or new to horses, we’ll help you enjoy your horseback experience. If you’re an expert, we have some breathtaking and challenging riding trails for you too.”

3. Use active over passive
Remember your high school grammar? Active and passive voice? It’s time to revisit and remember that active voice rules. The active voice is a major component of attractive and emotional copy. This gets the reader involved and of course, invokes a reaction.

4. Your tenses matter
The correct selection of tenses (ah, now’s the time to revisit your grammar books!) makes a lot of difference in copy. Present tense has the power of immediacy compared to past tense (about past happenings). Sometimes though you will need to decide judiciously which tenses to use.

For example, present perfect tense in this case — “Her writing has had a profound effect on us” is much better compared to “Her writing had a profound effect on us”. “Has had” in this case is far more dynamic.

5. Boot out cliches
Everyone’s done it before. Even I have sometimes used cliches (my bad!). While cliches are useful, they can suck the colour right out of your words and make them lose impact.

If you catch yourself using a cliche, remove it and replace with something original. In case you want a quick refresher, cliches are over-used expressions which are easy to pick up and use but really aren’t helpful at all. Much like junk food I’d say. Examples of cliches: saved by the bell, deader than a doornail, right as rain, time and time again.

Part 2 of this is coming right up….do YOU have any interesting copy or writing tip to share?

Tags: active voice, content tips, copywriting cliche, grammar tenses, how to write for websites, web site copywriting, what is cliche, Writing Tips