But that principle doesn’t apply on the web. First impressions are central to making and keeping website visitors.

So how do you write web copy that will make that great first impression? How do you make it magnetic? Whether you’re blogging or creating static content for your website, here’s a web copy manifesto that will ensure that you don’t worry about first impressions:

1. Short sentences without extra clauses
2. One main point per sentence
3. Short paragraphs (sometimes even one sentence – breaking traditional grammar rules)
4. Chunking/segmenting – including several sub-headings. This helps your readers scan and find the pertinent information that they are looking for.
5. Bullet points – a great technique that enables scanning – it’s like reading down a list without extra verbiage in it (like phrases and all that extra stuff that make up sentences)
6. Bolding or italicizing – this makes certain phrases stand out – bold or italicize the information that you want your readers to notice while they scan
7. Hyperlinking – making sure that you have text that links your site together for a smooth user experience
8. Using keywords both in titles and subtitles on the page and throughout the text. The closer to the heading or beginning of a paragraph the better. [This technique is not for your readers but for search engines]

If you use these web writing principles, you won’t have to worry about being “judged by your cover.” You’ll be on your way to keeping and then engaging your site visitors.

Have I missed any web writing techniques? What else do you do to magnetize your web copy? Leave me a comment.

Stock Photo Courtesy of

If you liked this post, you might enjoy:

Thoughts on writing naked
Draw and keep your website audience with 4 time tested tactics
Five ways to kick start your writing
Developing web content through play

This past week, I attended a Narrative Design Lab ™, hosted by the Canadian Centre for Narrative Coaching and animated by Dr. David Drake. In this one-day intro lab, we had a ton of fun playing with new ways of imagining our businesses.

Today I’ll share a couple of creative exercises that we played with (that you can use) so you can get your creative juices flowing when thinking and writing about your business.

Only one caveat: These exercises should be done in groups.  So if you have a social learning group or another business group, inject these for a double dose of play and insight.

Warm-Up: Narrative Improv

We warmed up with a fun improvisation game. In groups of 3-4, one member of the circle started a story and talked for about 30 seconds.  David stopped each story-teller and the second person was to pick up the story “thread” from where the previous person left off.  The game continued until everyone had a turn at helping the story emerge.  Then we talked about

• How did the story evolve?
• Were you satisfied with it?
• What did this exercise tell you about narrative? About yourself?

I felt my creativity kicking in and I was opening to new and deeper insight as well.

Using Metaphor to Write About Your Business

Next we were asked to write the first word that came into our heads (concrete noun or a place) on a recipe card or two and hand them in to one person.  Then we were to select one card and write how our business is like a ___________ (whatever the word may be).  The word I selected was “bicycle.”  How was my business like a bicycle? Here’s my list:

[table id=10 /]

From this list David asked us to circle the one word/phrase that most intrigued us.  I chose “a great ride!”  Now how does that phrase transform how I look at my business?? What if that phrase was my tagline? How do I look at my business now?

My take on my business metaphor

Well, developing web content is a process.  There is a give and take – a dialogue between me and my clients.  I care a great deal about the experience that people have when they work with me so – working with me is a great ride.

What does this mean for you?

Playing in this space will give you:

1. Freshness: Use these exercises to uncover new ways to think about your business, your products or your services
2. Creativity: Flowing with your creative juices unleashes new possibilities and invigorates your work
3. Fun: You have to work but make your work fun. These exercises encourage creativity and fun with the added bonus of unearthing new insights and creating inspired business results. That’s a winning combination in my mind

What process do you use to create content? Is it working for you? If not, what would you like to try?

Photo Credit

Why don’t we do that? Seth Godin says fear and I agree.  I am afraid to say it like it is.  Often.   And sometimes I don’t have an opinion but I still want to say something.   There’s a lesson in that.

However, I think there is more.  But you be the judge.

Greek or Latin?

Writing naked is hard

It’s hard work to pare down to the naked message. It’s easier to meander through flowery language and leave it there.  Writing naked requires severe editing.

We love our writing

Writing naked means that we have to slash our beloved words.  Writing naked means no pontificating.

Writing naked requires that we know what we want to say

Sometimes we write bunches of text because we don’t know our point. If we knew, we could be to the point.

Writing Naked can upset your client

I write content for clients. My clients expect a certain amount of text.  Here is where quality trumps quantity.  I often eliminate site text that does not add information.

One last reflection on writing naked: sometimes writing naked can shut down feedback.  And if it is feedback that you want – watch your naked writing.

So do you think fear is the only reason. Or do I make a point?

Blog-Life

I’ve been in business writing for a long time. I’ve written proposals, customer communications and marketing material – among other things.  So I thought that blogging was going to be easy. But you know what? It hasn’t been for me.

I’ve tried to figure out what my problem was and I’ve realized that there are a couple. First, you have to find your voice online – or should I say, I needed to find my voice. Blogging is more casual than business writing. And less formal writing also means a little of YOU showing through.  Showing more of yourself also means having more confidence.  And I needed some of that.

Solving the lack of confidence and finding voice can be solved by doing it.

Second problem -  as a writer, I was only ever involved in the final text product.   I knew that great blogging required more than just good writing.  Blogging is about all the content – not just the words.

For years, I’ve called myself a techno-peasant because I don’t have a tech (web) background.  So when it came to blogging, I felt stuck.  Stuck because – as a blogger – you need to know how to make your blog interesting for people – giving them all round good content – not just good text.

I needed to figure out how to break the barrier into good content.  And I needed to build my confidence.  So what’s changed so that I now think of myself as an emerging blogger getting a blog-life instead of a techno-peasant?

Here’s the scoop.  I’ve been using Twitter (and writing posts) pretty unspectacularly for the last 18 months.  I took a break for a few months.  I wanted to evaluate whether I wanted to keep tweeting.  Some days, it felt like the social pressure that I have always tried to avoid.

After a hiatus from Twitter (I took the summer to check my bellybutton lint) I decided to return for one last shot.

When I came back to Twitter, I stumbled upon (pun intended) a Twitter chat every Tuesday evening #SBT10 (Start Blogging Today). I’d been following a couple of people from the chat for a long time.  I searched #sbt10 and discovered that it was a chat to help people (just like me) learn how to blog.  These folks are talking about the very things I wanted to know more about:  How can I save time blogging? How can I optimize my blog? And lots more.

Now I have only been in two chats (just discovered this awesome chat 2 weeks ago) but I’m telling you – these people are helping to change my blog-life. The chat is moderated by the folks at Start Blogging Today.  So far Grant Griffiths (Twitter handle: @Grant Griffiths) has headed the chats and they have been great – informative.

I highly recommend that you join the Twitter chat #SBT10. Or you can read my posts sharing what I’ve learned from the weeks before.  I’m planning to share what I’m learning for all of us Blog-newbies!

What are your experiences in blogging?  Any funny stories to share?  Anyone checked out #SBT10 want to share something? I’d love to hear what you have to say.

Photo Courtesy of Mexicanwave

This new interface will show both search results and ad results. The Google Analytics Blog states that “We expect Google Instant will help users find what they’re looking for faster.”  So the purpose to this new feature is to speed up searches for people looking for stuff on the web.

Take a minute to enjoy the marketing video Google produced to introduce this new feature:

This new feature will impact SEO and how we apply SEO tactics to web pages and content. The Google Analytics Blog says that “with this change, you might notice some fluctuations in AdWords impression volume and in the distribution of organic keywords. For example, you may find that certain keywords receive significantly more or fewer impressions moving forward.”

As a web writer who pays attention to SEO, I think that Google Instant will encourage better and more focused content. Google Instant will decrease the power that non-content SEO tricks have had in the past.  All text SEO will become more important. This will then, increase the value of good content as a tactic for effective SEO.

I think that the web will be abuzz about Google Instant and I will be watching for others opinions on it and keep you posted. Benefits to users for sure, benefits to Google (I imagine) and benefits to web writers that remains to be seen. What do you think about Google Instant?

If SEO was a world map, we would constantly redraw the political boundaries. Some of the great SEO techniques included: using alternative text for images (since bots can’t read images), keyword meta tags, keyword density analysis, submitting your website to directories and using keyword meta tags. I have used most of these techniques in the past believing that clients would show up well in search engine results – and they usually did.

Does that mean that you throw the baby out with the bath water? No… I still use those strategies but I use them for different reasons.

I now use alt text to comply with Creative Common Licenses. I like to promote images and photos from people who are freely sharing their art. I use Flickr and abide by the Creative Commons Guidelines. Check out  Flickr for some fantastic images. And alt text is still useful for Google Image searches if you want your site or images to show up in searches.

I still do keyword research. I find search for words and phrases that people would use to find my clients products and services. Then I write text using those terms. This helps me to keep my writing tight and focused. I still include a keyword meta tag… but I recognize that this doesn’t necessarily have a big impact on optimization… it just feels right to do it.

I never did do keyword density analysis. I strictly focused on text and content.

I confess that I still submit sites to directories. I recently submitted a sitemap to Google and within a week, the site’s ranking had jumped by two points. What does that tell you? That tells me that Google likes you to use their tools. Check out how to submit your sitemap to Google using their   Webmaster Tools.

I also submit sites to the ODP – The Open Directory Project. The ODP is “the largest, most comprehensive human-edited directory of the Web. It is constructed and maintained by a vast, global community of volunteer editors.” I love that. I love the fact that this is a volunteer community committed to editing and monitoring sites on the web. I like the human touch (although this can have its limitations, as well).

Some of the older SEO techniques are not as relevant as they were in the past but I am still using them. But I use these techniques for different reasons. What are some tried and true techniques that you still use? And for what reason are you using them? Leave a comment here and let me know.
 

Sometimes the problem with the writing is content and other times it is format (I’ll address that in another post).  Whether writing for web or for print, there are a few tried and true techniques that will ensure that your writing will be great communication every time.

Web (or Print) Writing Tips

1. Avoid unnecessary words or phrases in your sentences. Adding extra phrases makes your communication less clear.  Unnecessary words and phrases make it harder for your reader to find your main thought or point.
2. Energize your writing by selecting action verbs. Verbs provide the action in your sentences. Instead of using verb phrases, use the finite verbs.  Don’t say, “The focus of this class is writing.”  Do say “This class focuses on writing.”
3. Don’t use negatives (notice the irony of that sentence?). Instead of saying, “she didn’t go”, use, “she stayed.”  Avoiding negatives makes your writing more succinct.
4. Keep your sentences short – no longer than 2 lines. The odd long sentence is acceptable.  Too many thoughts or too many phrases modifying a sentence can cause you (the writer) to lose clarity. If you have lost it, then certainly your reader will.
5. Keep your sentences focused on one thought. Again, by focusing your sentences on one thought, you are helping your reader to stay focused.
6. Keep your paragraphs short. A one-sentence-paragraph gets the point across, but use those one-liners sparingly.  Any paragraph that is 5-6 sentences long, turn into two paragraphs.
7. Find your most compelling paragraph and move it to the beginning. Then, reorganize your other paragraphs around it. You’ll grip people’s attention.

What are your tried and true writing tips? Have I missed anything? Tell me!

Welcome to www.dawncomber.com – my new website. After many rewrites and redesigns, I am now the resident blogger for my writing and editing website.

I’m Dawn Comber – an experienced, professional writer. I provide creative, affordable writing and editing services for clients – for print and for the web.  I always begin by conversing with you to understand your needs, and then I help you to converse, communicate and connect with your customers.

Most of my clients are in Toronto, Mississauga and Oakville, but the beauty of technology and the Internet allows me to work with small businesses, non-profits and people just about anywhere.