Marketing Defined

Blog Copywriting Tips

10 tips on How to Write With a Passion

Writing and producing “riveting” copy for the “living” web is an area of internet marketing that presents many a stumbling block for new web marketers.

Alistapart is a web site I frequent in my passionate attempt to master web design. Although Alistapart is a leading “authority” web site primarily for those who are involved in the art of web design and designing with valid html code, today I found therein… a gem of an article on copy writing, that defines what it takes to produce riveting copy for the web.

An article Writing For The Living Web that definitely warrants sharing and passing around!

I have briefly covered the 10 tips on Writing For the Living Web, so as to whet one’s appetite for the topic so you are transported directly at the end to read this crucial facet of internet marketing in its entirety…

The points below give new internet marketers the essential ingredients for effective copywriting for a website/blog, so it truly becomes a “living” and “breathing” web site. To attempt anything more than giving you a “snippet” or headstart on each point, would be a tragic insult to Mark’s precious words.

10 Tips on How To Write For the Word Wide Web

1.  Write For A Reason

Whether you write a new article today, or upate all the old posts made to your blog (as I am laboriously but lovingly doing this week — after moving from Blogger to Wordpress, whilst correcting all the Blogger post slugs/url’s that WP has accidentally lengthened), or simply write about the hobbies in your life - do so with a passion and inform your audience about things that matter and make a difference in their life. You see people are enthralled with passion….

2. Write Often

Writing for the web, means writing consistently. If you choose to update your blog only twice a week, then do that consistently (not to be confused with “constantly”). Speed up the consistency on occasion, but if you fall back to long periods of silence (like the awful mistake I made end 2005/earlier this year, when committing to full time nursing my son back to health - with no explanation for the silence to my subscribers) you might be percieved as lazy and uncommited — culminating in a decline in the numbers of loyal visitors to your web site — oouch!

3. Write Tight

Omit unnecessary words. It is essential to edit articles at least one time. Each time I sit down to write the next new blog post, I have made it a habit to do a further re-edit of the previous blog post. The sense of horror that struck when I read the first “naive” posts I made to this, my first weblog, has certainly propelled me to write tighter, with better researched material… well, I do try! ;-)

4. Make Good Friends on the Web

When you write, take care to acknowledge the good work and ideas of others. Do try to show them at their best, and be graceful should you have a difference of opinion. Most of all, be generous to good ideas, from those who are less well known, less powerful, and less influential than you… it is so important to encourage the work of new authors, without just highlighting the work of those who are already in the limelight.

Do also be generous enough to help when a newcomer writes asking a legitimate question or two… Quite simply; fuelling the passion of new online marketers, with the knowledge you already possess, is another crucial legacy to leave behind for our children.

5. Make good enemies

Who doesn’t love a bit of controversy and debate. The good Lord knows on many an occasion I have been so misunderstood when submitting a point of view. But do know when to learn from another’s opinion, back down graciously when necessary, let go - and - pass on what you have learned from the debate. If you are not sufficiently resilient to take the knocks when pursing an online career, might I politely suggest a more soothing career, like gardening.

6. Learn How to Let a Story Unfold

Learn the art of story-telling by observing how a story unfolds - for example, when you read a good novel. Hinting at future events and expected interests like the next post in a riveting series in your blog — or perhaps the details of midnight hours at work in the days before the new product ships.

Add the element of suprise with an unexpected flash of humor or a sudden change of direction (for example posts I have written on the humour of Basil Cleese or Where and Where The Next Giant Tsunami Will Hit, are examples of non-themed posts that, pleasingly, have proved to be extremely popular

Using links within your work to build depth, helps in the optimization of your website, thus leading to good search engine rankings and more targeted website visitors. [EXAMPLE: Being sure to wisely insert a keyphrase in the "anchor" text of the link leading to a relevant article on another page of your web site is not only an extremely useful SEO technique, but useful link bait to lead the SE spiders - and your visitors - deeper into your Blog to discover relevant posts that might have otherwise been overlooked].

7. Stand Up and Speak Out

Research and know your facts, and never waffle, whine or berate other webmasters. Do not bore your audience with uninformed, hesitant information. If unsure, there is nothing wrong with asking visitors for their opinion. For instance, let your visitors know you value their opinion by creating a variety of Surveys in the sidebar of your Blog.  Wordpress in particular, has free plug-ins to allow one-click creation of such surveys.

It is also a form of publicity of your blog, to seek clarification of a topic via the comments field on the weblog of another publisher [but do so without fawning]. It is natural human nature, to be flattered when others seek your advice.

8. Be Sexy

Being sexy is interesting and oh! so very natural. [My partner's hobby is restoring old cars. He goes about the restoration of his 25 year old Ford Utility Van with a passion and gusto, constantly proclaiming the new exhaust in that blob of metal is so very sexy -- well, it's not really a blob, and I really do love that ute.. but see what I mean]

What matters is the gradual growth of intimacy and knowledge between you and your audience. Not to be confused with using profanities in your writing, that will sadly only show a glaring shortage in your vocabulary. It takes a copywriter with the unique talents of a Gary Halbert  to get away with such vulgarities. [update 2008: Gary has since passed away - his unique talents are sorely missed... may he rest in peace - in copywriting heaven]

9. Utilize Archives Effectively

Organise your Archives into “categories” and provide a site map to all these permalinks.  One more reason to love the CMS capabilities of Wordpress is that it allows the automatic inclusion of categories. Once archived, do not alter the location of such articles without using a WP Permalink Redirect Plug-In. You have invited others to link to your work, and as such you have promised to keep these words online, indefinitely. If you change the location for any reason, be sure to do either use a Redirect Plug-In or for a static website do a permanent redirect via the control panel on your web server. Googling for one of the many free online tools to do a monthly check that all your links are intact is a good idea.

10. Relax, Relax, Relax

Most of all, please do relax. We are human and make errors - a quality that endears us to others. Errors in punctuation and grammar will be forgiven… I know this to be true. Apart from the errors in grammar and “typos” all of us occasionally commit, with the limited time available as work-at-home parents, another perfect example is that of Manolo the Shoe Blog - written in the third person, in delightful quirky English, with a wit that leaves one feeling refreshed, yearning to return for more.

Most writers naturally possess a sense of great accomplishment and passion in their published works [our personal labours of love] — but one of the most important lessons I have learned that has blessed me with much peace in life is; not to take myself too seriously.

Thank you Mark Bernstein [who is chief scientist at Eastgate Systems - the publishers of Tinderbox, a personal content management assistant for personal web work][ , for sharing his exceptional skills at copywriting via 10 Tips On Writing For The Living Web.