You need to understand right from the start that copywriting on the internet is totally different to what you see in print.
Copy writing is an art when it comes to any business, but take it to the internet, and you’re in a different market that is saturated with the same competition.
There are many businesses who hire copywriters who are experienced in writing sales letters, brochures, radio ads, magazines and more, but little do they know that they should be hiring someone who really knows about web copywriting.
There is a big difference between writing for the internet versus offline.
Understanding The Difference Between Online And Offline Copywriting
A business may have ads written for them in magazines but the difference between magazine and web copy writing is huge. With magazines and any print material, you purchase them to read from front to back. You have the comfort of bringing it home and reading the magazine at your convenience.
With the internet, most can only surf for a limited amount of time from their own laptop to the computer at work.
Many spend little time on a web page and have shorter attention spans online versus reading something in print material.
The internet is known for its vast information. With so much information to choose from, it can be difficult for people surfing the net to know where to find you. There is just too much available information for one person with just one click.
Compared to a magazine or print material such as newspapers, the internet is much faster and easier for someone who wants to get information right away.
The information may be found right at your fingertips when it comes to the internet, whereas a magazine is at a leisure pace.
Your Copywriting Needs To Be Compelling To Hold Your Site Visitors
If you have an online presence with your business, you have less than a minute to impress a site visitor. This is where the best copywriting is needed for your website. Without a good headline and connection to catch a potential client’s interest, you will lose that visitor very quickly.
With so much other competition online, you need to stand out. A visitor must know what they can gain from your website right off the bat, before they make the decision to move to the next one.
Most people read a magazine from cover to back. With a website, a reader will be brought to any one of the websites through a search engine or another website. This means that your copywriter must create the most brilliant copy for each page entry. The copywriting on your home page must be as compelling as the one on the next page.
Depending on what your visitor lands on, you have to tempt them long enough to click on your home page or to go to your sales page. Make sure when writing any copy for your website that you have everything your potential customer needs to know. There is nothing worse than having only half the information, and he or she having to find contact information because they wish to know more.
It wastes time and you can lose a customer for life just like that. With a magazine or newspaper, everything a reader needs to know is in one advertisement.
By keeping all of these differences in mind between copywriting for the internet and print material, you would think that a professional copywriter is essential, however with a little research and a complete understanding of your product or service you to can be writing compelling web copy in no time at all.
An as you become more proficient at it you will probably be able to rank your sites for multiple keywords with your copywriting.
Elin says
Yes, Internet copywriting is underestimated today. Aside from the things you pointed out there’s another factor that I would like to point out: time effectivity. The writer just can’t take too long writing an article or it won’t be cost effective. Because the attention span is shorter, quality doesn’t have to be top notch (not New York Times perfect anyway).