How can you write web copy that stands out from print?

Before you start writing, clarify the purpose of your web copy. Is it to inform, persuade, or entertain? Understanding your objective will help you structure your content effectively and ensure it aligns with the goals of your website or business.

Copywriting is more thinking than writing! Know and understand your purpose: Is it brand awareness, is it launching a product/ service, is it to generate leads. Make a note of your purpose, what your competitors are doing and what can you do differently to achieve that!

Copywriting is a unique continually evolving skill. The best writers are connecting "individually' with audiences. "Generalizations and "broad strokes" no longer create an emotional connection. Know your audience and connect with them.

Objetividade e Clareza: Use frases curtas e parágrafos concisos. Na web, o leitor tende a "escanear" o conteúdo, ent?o facilite a leitura com blocos de texto bem definidos e subtítulos atraentes. Interatividade e Engajamento: Diferente da cópia impressa, a cópia da web deve ser interativa. Inclua chamadas à a??o (CTAs) claras e diretas, e links internos para manter o usuário engajado com o conteúdo. SEO: A otimiza??o para motores de busca (SEO) é crucial. Use palavras-chave relevantes nos títulos, subtítulos e ao longo do texto para melhorar a visibilidade nas buscas.

To create compelling web copy, it's essential to know your target audience. Conduct thorough research to identify their preferences, needs, and pain points. Tailor your language, tone, and messaging accordingly, ensuring that your copy resonates with your audience and addresses their specific concerns.

Know your audience but sell only to one! Create an Ideal Client Persona, Understand their pain points, keep in mind each coloured personality and then curate content accordingly that would trigger and evoke their emotions.

These are all important considerations for any writing. I would also consider how they might be reading, for example, on a mobile phone. Then text needs to be shorter, broken up with bullet points etc.

Sometimes you have to produce a new way of thinking. You have to create a 'need' in the audience, something that the audience would embrace even though it is new and questionable. You have to design a new version of what they are looking for. Also you have to take a risk and offer to the audience what they need even though they are not looking for it

Web copy should be optimized for online platforms. Unlike print, web content needs to be scannable, easily digestible, and visually appealing. Use shorter paragraphs, subheadings, bullet points, and engaging visuals to enhance readability and capture attention in the digital landscape.

Knowing which keywords you most want to rank for can also help you deliver a better user experience. How? By breaking your text out into smaller pieces and leveraging your keywords as your headings (H1 and H2s). This will both help you rank higher for the keywords and will make it easier for the website visitor to find what they're looking for when they land on your page.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) plays a crucial role in web copywriting. Conduct keyword research to identify relevant terms and phrases that your target audience is likely to search for. Integrate these keywords naturally into your copy, including in titles, headings, and meta descriptions, to improve your website's visibility in search engine results.

Writing content with SEO in mind is very different than writing content to be published in a format other than online. I am the Senior Editor of SEO at Tandem.Buzz. I know first-hand how vital SEO is to the online experience. If you don't know how to incorporate SEO tactics, many free resources are available to help. Look up "SEO Training" and add "Semrush," "Moz," and "Ahrefs" to the end. These are all reputable sources that can help you quickly and efficiently learn the basics of properly using SEO. From keywords to headers to anchor text to linking and more, you should familiarize yourself with many aspects of SEO writing. Once you do, your online copy will be more powerful than you ever thought possible.

A compelling Call-to-Action (CTA) is essential to guide your readers towards the desired action. Clearly state what you want them to do, whether it's signing up for a newsletter, making a purchase, or sharing your content. Make your CTA prominent, concise, and action-oriented, encouraging users to take the next step.

Web copy usually requires adding more CTAs throughout the page. These should be in keeping with the brand voice, E.g. if the voice is humorous, the CTA might be ‘give me my stuff.’

The simplest CTAs are usually the most effective. By not being too aggressive or heavy-handed with your request, you're giving the reader a choice instead of an "order". Potential customers don't like to be put in a corner. The more you're able to respect their freedom of choice and autonomy as a person when crafting your CTA, the better!

Voice in any kind of writing comes down to the feelings your audience will experience as they read your content. Brand voice is no exception. When your audience reads about your brand, what are the pictures that will come to mind? Word choice is the key to this. "Just get it done" would have had largely the same meaning as Nike's iconic "Just do it" campaign, but the feeling would have been completely different.

A consistent brand voice is a handy tool for all marketers. It adds authority to your brand and makes your content receptive to your audience. Words can evoke feelings and associations, which is what we want to convey to our readers. A great example of this is Soap and Glory, which uses a witty and memorable tone of voice in all of its campaigns. Blended with its retro imagery the choice of words make the brand "pop" quite literally.

You are more likely to make real connections on the web. I once had a conversation with my friend about copywriting. He said, "You can be successful if you know [your audience, platform, SEO, etc]. And you have to understand the psychology.” That sounds manipulative. If you could pull strings. If you want to be good, you have to be qeniune. You’re on the same level as your audience. You're talking to them, not at them. The web blurs the lines between the creator and the consumer. Print creates them. You can know all the tricks to make your copy stand out. Follow the trends and adapt to the golden formula for success. Understand: You are a citizen of the web. So they are. You just happen to be good at writing.

When writing web copy, it's also important to understand user experience and user behavior. This can help you leverage the natural sequence of how people read to maximize the effectiveness of your copy and CTAs. For example, there's a reason that most CTA buttons are on the top right side of a website...as that's where people's eyes tend to go first. Understanding these nuances helps you structure your website copy so it flows with the intuitive reader experience.

Readers’ attention span for web copy is significantly shorter than it is for print. Always try to find the shortest way to say something. If you can combine two (or six!) sentences into one without losing any meaning, in the words of Palpatine, “Do it.”

Do not write in the perspective of the brand. Messages shouldn’t be about the product, how awesome it is and how it will dramatically change one’s life. It should be about the consumer and its “unsolved demand”. How can the product/service help? How will improve its life, make it easier? For example, if it’s a skin product, the message shouldn’t be “our product has this and that ingredient that combined make a powerful formula that will make your skin as smooth as a baby”. Instead, it should address what do people who suffer from skin problems are looking for? How do they feel when they look in the mirror or how does affect them ? Messages should solve problems and appeal to personal emotions.