Top 12 tips to writing engaging web copy
The content and structure of your content will define whether or not it is engaging to the reader. People who visit your pages are invariably looking for information quickly – most internet users prefer to scan pages for the information that is pertinent to them before heading off to another page to either compare the information they have found or to look at something new.
This means that the time you have to engage with someone on-line is very short. Here are some top tips for ensuring that your copy captures the visitor and also how to ensure a call to action where relevant:
1. Make sure content is easy to read
In the online world, less is nearly always more. Write your copy for the impatient, online reader. Here are some guidelines for the length of your content:
Headings: 8 words or less
Sentences: 15 – 20 words
Paragraphs: 40 – 70 words
Page word count: 200-300 words
We must obviously follow the University guidelines when it comes to the tone of our copy, however try and eliminate pompous words and fancy phrases. Effective online writing is not about impressing the reader with your extensive vocabulary. It’s about communicating. Use short, simple words. Get to the point. And then stop.
2. Write from me to you
The most powerful word in the English language is “YOU”. Write for your reader, in a conversational tone, not for your ego. This is particularly important when writing for the undergraduate audience. The conversational tone is one they have grown up with and the increase in the use of social media ensures that this is the most engaging tone for this particular audience.
Make sure that every word you use is guiding your reader towards an end result – this could be call to action i.e. sign up or it could be that they quickly find an important piece of information contained within the webpage.
3. Drive actions with content
Content is about getting the reader’s attention and keeping it. Content is about selling. Make sure your content is driving your customer’s actions. If people are visiting your course pages, the chances are they are interested in studying on that course – our aim is to get them to apply so all your copy should be geared up to making sure they choose the University of Huddersfield.
4. Write for how people search
If you want your site to be found when people search the web, use words your target readers use. Before you begin to write, sit down and think carefully about the keywords you’re going to use. Then carefully weave those words and phrases into your copy.
We are going to be running more detailed sessions on Search Engine Optimisation(SEO) copywriting, however for the purpose of this session, it is still important to consider SEO when writing copy. Guidance notes are included at the end so please read through these and think about implementing some of the tips when writing your copy.
5. Create effective headings
The heading is the most important piece of content you’ll write.
That’s because:
- Internet users scan read and the first thing they read is your heading. If it doesn’t grab their attention, they’ll leave.
- An effective heading can be used in title tags (more about this later).
- The heading can be placed on your home page as a link to content.
When writing headings:
- Keep them to eight words or less
- Include important keywords
- Avoid the use of adjectives and prepositions (and, a, the, of).
- Be clear and concise. Avoid wordy, wishy-washy phrases.
6. Write keyword-rich titles and headlines
Because search engines use title tags to gather information about your website you need to think carefully about what words you put in the title tag.
Ensure you put specific keywords relating to your school/service. For example, if you are trying to rank highly with information about a specific course e.g. Accounting and Finance, it makes sense to include these words within the title tag. You may also be targeting a more specific audience so may wish to include words such as ‘undergraduate’ or ‘postgraduate’ depending on the target audience.
7. Provide links and connections
The web is about linking information. Make sure your site links your reader to other information and other sites link to you. Some search engines, including Google, are based, in part, on their ability to find you from links on other sites. Linking to copy within the University website is great – if someone wants to read more information, they can clearly see from the link that there is more out there.
Make sure you title tag any links so people know where they will be directed if they click on the link. This can also help with SEO. If you are linking to an external website, make sure you click the ‘no follow’ box within T4 as this will ensure that we maximise the SEO of our own webpage rather than generating better SEO for the site we are linking to.
If you are linking to copy, never use ‘Click here’ or ‘View now’ as the linking text. This has a negative effect on our own SEO so please link the keywords you are linking the copy to.
Example:
Not only do you get a top class education studying at UCB, you also get an education at a fair fee. The University of Huddersfield is debt free, meaning every penny you spend on your education is re-invested in you. This includes state-of-the-art facilities, first-class teaching and fantastic facilities. Find out more about our tuition fees for 2012.
This example is keyword rich. If students are interested in finding out about student fees, they are likely to search for terms such as, ‘debt’ ‘fee’, ‘tuition fees’ ‘education’ etc. Also included is the University of Huddersfield and details of our facilities etc. These are powerful words that have an impact on the reader.
8. Write effective summaries, sentences and paragraphs
An effective summary is who, what, when, where, how. It’s about getting the information across in 50 words or less. Keep your summaries short and factual. Make sure they encourage your reader keep reading.
Remember, keep sentences to between 15-20 words. Paragraphs between 40-70 words. Make your first sentence grabs your reader’s attention or they’ll move on. Use a similar keyword rich paragraph to summarise your content at the end of your copy as well as the start.
9. Sell benefits not features
If you want your webpage to sell your course or service you must write about benefits and not about features. A feature describes a product or service. A benefit is what the user gains from using that product or service. Don’t say, ” We have links with experts from leading accountancy firms” say “We provide you with access to experts from leading accounting firms.” Focus on making sure every line of your copy is dedicated to what’s in it for the reader.
10. Edit. Edit. Edit. Then edit again
Mistakes in online copy are temporary and easily fixed, but by the time you’ve noticed your errors so have thousands of other people. Have two or three people proofread your text. Check it yourself for consistency in grammar, punctuation, capitalisation, abbreviations etc. And finally, read it backwards-you’ll be surprised how many errors you’ll spot.
11. Breaking up your copy
One good way to make your content more engaging to the reader is to break up the copy by using images, videos or even lists. Nobody wants to read pages and pages of content and even sticking to the 150-400 word guideline does not always ensure that a user will not take one look at the copy and decide there is too much to take in.
By breaking the copy up with photos or in particular, a video clip to highlight a point within your copy, you are giving the user’s eyes a break from the copy and also providing them with a point of interest and hopefully something that is engaging.
Lists are a great way of a) breaking up a large amount of copy and b) giving the user’s eyes a rest as they can scan a list far more easily. If you do have a lot of copy which would still make sense if it was converted to list format then do it. This will immediately improve the content and make it a lot easier for the user to scan read the information.
12. Be bold
Another good way to break up copy and also highlight keywords within your content is to be bold. This again is a good way of giving the user’s eyes a rest as well as making it easier for them to scan for keywords within the copy.
If you are writing copy for IPP that will then filter through to course finder, you can make keywords bold by doing the following:
- insert [b] at the beginning of the text you want to appear bold, and [\b] at the end (with no spaces in-between) i.e.: [b]keyword[\b]