Ten online copywriting tips

To help find your web writing feet, I've jotted down 10 things that I hope will help:

1. Communicate the purpose of your site through a unique “tagline”. This will tell users what your site is all about the minute they land on it. Not only does this benefit you but also your user.

2. Publish content about what you know about the most and focus on this. This will result in your website becoming an authority for your niche area of interest or expertise.

3. Write about what your target audience is interested in, and take into account how they'd go about trying to find a site like yours through search engines. You can do this by asking select target audience members and doing some research into user search patterns. Then build your site up with this content.

4. Write with “focused conversion” in mind; that is, with one or two clear actions you'd like the user to take. Include calls to actions too – think “nothing asked, nothing done.”

5. Good copywriting style means writing for “lower-literacy users” – people who want plain, simple English and take time to grasp ideas, which will help your readers understand the topic. It's about making anyone from your grandmother to boss understand your content.

6. Write in an “inverted pyramid style” with your most important content in the first one or two paragraphs. Good journalists do this, starting a piece with a conclusion. Remember, too, to be flexible with your writing style and adjust it according to your audience and/or topic being covered.

7. Split long posts with either subheadings or bullet points. It can sometimes also help to also highlight important points or keywords by making them bold.

8. Use strong page titles and make each page's different. This is very important because it's often the displayed text for your site's listing in search engines, bookmarking services, etc.

9. Put your main points at the beginning of sentences. This helps with scanning and saves time – users won't have to read every sentence to understand what you're writing about.

10. Include links within the content and make them relevant to the surrounding content. Not only does this help users navigate your site but it also brings context to any particular point.
    

Which content and copywriting tips have you found useful?