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Copywriting TipsBattling Cyberspace ADHD: Ten Tips for Writers
by:
David Beveridge
Write for a reason
Get to the point. One of the basic references for Web design is Steve Krug's, Don't Do Me Think. My book for Web writers (not yet accessible in stores) wish be called, Don't Do Me Yawn. The Great Democracy that is the Web has spawned far more spam and yammer than thoughtful prose. Don't fall in love with your own voice. Do sure every word supports the message.
Write for “scanners”
The five-second rule applies, only do it shorter.
Visitors look at a Web page, then they see it. Think of your page as the cover of a magazine. A traveller
wish 1st absorb the total picture, then kick into reading mode and skip tra-la from headline to headline until they find, a) what they're looking for, or, b) thing
better. Don't lose the scanners with immortal
prose.
Get engaged
Lively writing wish draw visitors to your message.
I cognize you're trying to be precise. I cognize you're trying to be complete. I cognize you need to get the whole message across. I know. Believe me. I'm reading it and trying to...zzzz.
Compartmentalize
Give long content a nice home.
Okay, sometimes content gets long. Sometimes it is supposed to be long. Sometimes it even as has to be long. Understood. Once
that is the case, tease it up front, and put the long content wherever
the long content goes. Folk who want to see it wish follow the trail, and the rest of us wish be spared.
Above the fold
Sorry, guys, page length matters.
Newspaper page, Web site, or on the street, real estate is real estate. And in real estate, location rules. If I have to scroll down the page to find your content, I cognize it's not the nice stuff, because you told me so. Most of the time, I won't even as bother. So support your key messages Top, Center.
Grammar kind of counts
Complete thoughts...less important...key words...phrases. Simply kidding, ha ha. The point is, this may not be advertising writing, it may not be headline writing, and it had better not be bad writing. But in most cases it as well is not pure narrative. Sentences, loaded with subordinate clauses, clogged with engrossing but extra detail, need not begin slowly, gain traction, and rise to a crescendo before a graceful, gradual, inevitable descent to a complete, satisfying end.
Just say it, and get out.
Hyper just about links
Use them as aids to navigation, but do not overuse.
Hyperlinks are the fundaments of the Web, after all. They are the codex, why it's a web, so that you can follow links from place to place to place to place, all interwoven. Okay. Simply don't do it. Too many a links are like too more caffeine. You get the jitters, it's hard to support your mind on point, and all that bouncing does your stomach a little woozy. Use links to enhance, not scatter, the experience.
Smooth or Extra Chunky
Just enough information does visitors feel refreshed!
Chunk your content into easily comestible portions. My brother-in-law-the-restaurateur talks just about "plate coverage," fashioning sure the beans and the catfish and the French fries be
in harmony and balance. Portion control for your visitors comes from teasers and intro paragraphs and "Learn more…" and "Read article…". Configuration your content gives visitors a taste, rather than a force-feeding.
Think with your eyes
Use visual cues and graphical elements to strengthen content. Graphics happen. White space happens. It's okay. Activity with your designers to bring (even more) life to your words. And as important, do sure that your words fit with the different elements of the page. You're not writing your novel here. A Web page is a cooperative
effort.
Tighten it up
When I was in grade school, my newspaper editor father reviewed my papers for me. He ne'er
understood why I cried once
my three-page report on Chile became a two-paragraph brief under the knife slash of his red pencil. But he was right. I didn't need that word. I didn't need that paragraph. I had aforementioned the same thing on the previous page. I did need to revise and rewrite and cut and cut several more. I did, and I still do, and so do you. Writer, edit thyself.
Simply just about the author:
David Economist is a Project Manager at Brook Group, a Web site design firm near Washington, DC. For more articles by this author, visit http://www.brookgroup.comor http://www.usabilityandbranding.com.
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