I’m not a great writer by any means. In fact, my 7th grade English teacher told me I’d never have a future in writing. But, that’s the beauty of writing for the web. You don’t need to have an extensive vocabulary or be able to string together sentences the way poets do. Writing for the web is a learned skill and as long as you develop a basic understanding of a few simple concepts, you can turn your words into profits in no time.
Having a passion for writing, I thought it would be a breeze writing this post. As I was approaching page 5, I had to take a step back and realize that I was committing the #1 crime in writing for the web – writing too much. This leads us into the first concept…
Control Your Inner Poet
Take a chill pill, Thoreau. We’re not cooped up in a log cabin getting inspiration from the solitude of nature. Let’s face it, we are surrounded by technology and no one wants to hear your philosophical ramblings. Viewers landed on your page for a reason. They don’t want to dance around your page searching for what it is you’re actually selling. The best way to sell online is to persuade with great copy but give viewers some choices. Segmented paths work really well in allowing viewers to decide how they want to engage. It’s important to keep your content tight, avoid flowery language, long strings of sentences, and metaphors.
Keep It Simple, But Be Careful…
Besides needing a microscope to see the video, I’m not sure what service blue pixel provides at a quick glance. I can see that they are confident enough in their abilities to call themselves “Digital Rock Stars” but ahem…what are you guys doing for me? Oh, right I should read the sub-heading: we help our clients succeed with inspiring experiences and unique visual content by harnessing the power of the image in your everyday life. Say whaaaaaaaaaaaa? I still don’t know what you do. This is a classic example of the toot your own horn syndrome. If you click the “What We Do” tab, you can see exactly what they can do for you. A quick switcheroo? Make the “What We Do” tab the homepage. Problem solved, rockstars.
You need more than a little glue to mend gluepro.com. So, you guys do simple publishing? And what does that mean? Click the save time button and you’re prompted to enter your email to receive your private invite. Byebye, you lost me. Leaving all the elements the same and add a subheading: We’ll post your content to social media sites while you get a full 8 hours of sleep.
How To Write Money-Making Headlines
One of the biggest conversion killers is blowing the headline. The lifeline of a landing page is a strong headline. The most important thing is capturing the viewers attention to get them to read more. A common misconception when it comes to creating headlines? You need to encompass your whole sales pitch into one line. Looooooooooooooooooooooooooong headlines can be effective, but it is important to test both – long and short. Take a look at these money-making headlines:
Ask a question:
“Got Wrinkles? Erase Your Wrinkles Without Surgery.”
Throw in a powerful stat:
“64% of smokers die from smoking related illness”
Prove It:
“Doctors prove 2 out of 3 women can have younger-looking skin in 14 days!”
Create an opportunity:
“If you could save $359 on your home insurance this year, how would you spend that money?”
Appeal with a how-to:
“How to stop smoking in 30 days…or your money back.”
Use the 5W’s (who, what, where, when, why):
“Local Mom Makes $2,400 a Week Working Online”
To the point:
Risk of loss:
“Your credit score could be costing you thousands of dollars”
Focus on what sets the product apart:
“Voted the best anti-aging cream for 2011”
Act like you care:
“Protect yourself before you wreck: Car insurance as low as $9/week”
Guarantee:
“Make $150/day or your money back!”
Use a testimonial:
“Quite simply, the finest design software ever released.”
Make Visual Thesaurus Your New Best Friend
Forget all the rules you learned in English class and just have a conversation with your readers. Your middle school teacher probably ingrained in your head to take it easy with the adverbs and adjectives, but go ahead and spice it up! A writer’s best friend= Visual thesaurus.
Original: Weight Loss System
New: Advanced, Rapid Weight Loss System
Original: Work-at-home program
New: Easy, Profitable work-at-home program
Stop Writing And Grab A Cocktail Napkin
You walk into an office 5 days a week, sit down at your desk and write for 8 hours. Creativity can’t be on the clock, too. Some of the best ideas don’t come from inside the walls of a cubicle. Did you know that cocktail napkins are the birthplace of some of the most creative ideas.
Got a creative block? Stop writing. In fact, stop thinking. Someone once told me there’s never an original idea. I found that to be frustrating, but true. So, take a look at others work for inspiration. I didn’t say copy it, but simply refresh your creative juices. It’s easy to get into the habit of writing in a certain structure or tone. Or maybe just keep a pile of cocktail napkins on your desk. Whatever works for you. 
If you are passionate about your topic it is easier to connect to your audience. Check your facts and revise, revise, proofread, check again and then present your topic. Used to have my own column in Around the Ranch. Trick is also to not let anyone deter you – find a quiet spot and do it – don’t lose your momentum.
Interesting tips! As a writer, you have to be accurate. Every word is very precious, hence, it has to be used at a right place with right meaning…that’s all I have to say…
Very insightful post. The audience has a short attention span, especially on the web, so like you said- get to the point and be short and concise. Paragraphs upon paragraphs of text immediately turn me off. I want to know where to go, what to do, what you can do for me and be able to find this information easily. I don’t want to have to read through paragraphs to find what I’m looking for. Get specific and if you can give me a visual, even better!
Wonderful post Amy and some great headline examples. Writing attractive content is a powerful skill to have on your resume, so thanks for the ideas
Thank you for reading!
this is another great article for writing killer headlines – check it out and lemme know what you think…
http://www.tripwiremagazine.com/2011/02/power-words-and-templates-for-writing-killer-headlines.html
Good post Amy! Lots of good tips.
Another big one for me is thinking about your audience. Unless you are writing your own private journal, then you are writing with the idea that someone else (maybe lots of someones) will read what you write. If your goal is to convince them to get them to buy a product, register on a website, stay informed, be entertained, or just keep coming back to your site to read your content, then you need to write with your audience in mind.
Thank you
Before writing content for a landing page or website, it’s very important to identify your target audience and constantly remind yourself that those are the people you should be appealing to. Sometimes it’s easy to forget and start writing the way you would like to hear it. Also, I find myself getting into the habit of writing to the masses instead of the individual.
Great tips, Amy! I know I have been totally guilty of excessively long sentences filled to the brim with ramblings. I’ve heard someone else say that Twitter has helped them with this problem & I totally agree. If you can’t say it in 140 characters or less nowadays, it might not be worth saying at all!
And I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve had a “cocktail napkin” experience. I’ve woken up in the middle of the night to write something on the back of a book cover; made a note on my arm while driving; and even repeated something 649 times until I could get out of the shower to jot something down! Great ideas happen whenever, and you’ve just got to be prepared for it and expect that they will sometimes happen at the most inopportune time.
Thanks for the awesome post!
I totally agree, creativity can’t be on the clock! Sometimes I come up with the best ideas while I’m dreaming, so I keep a pen and paper by my bed. I was actually thinking about getting aqua notes…what an epic idea LOL. Now you don’t have to repeat an idea 649 times…http://www.myaquanotes.com/