The copy is correct, the spelling is spot-on, the grammar good, the punctuation perfect, and the keywords are all where they should be. That's all you could ask for in web site copywriting, isn't it? Not necessarily. This article shows you how to use creative copywriting to make your website really stand out from the crowd – and impress both potential customers and the search engines.
The copy is correct, the spelling is spot-on, the grammar good, the punctuation perfect, and the keywords are all where they should be. That's all you could ask for in web site copywriting, isn't it?
Not necessarily. You see, as well as being your shop window or even the whole shop, your website is also an advertisement for you, your products or services. And like all advertisements, it should aim to stand out from the crowd.
A search engine may take potential customers to your site, but it’s up to the site itself to keep them there. Eye-catching, effective design can certainly help – but dull copy will definitely hinder.
You wouldn't dream of running a boring advertisement, and you've probably paid a designer a lot of money to produce an eye-catching, effective design for your site. So how about adding some creative website copy?
How do you make a creative website?
For instance, I wrote half a dozen different short stories as introductions to a Scotch whisky distillery site. You can read them by going to www.edradour.com and refreshing the front page a few times. I also spiced up the main body of the site with some facts and anecdotes about whisky in general.
But there are plenty of other ways to liven up a site. Like Do’s and Don’ts. Or Top 10 lists. They’re just little extras, but they don’t need to be frivolous. A financial services site could list the most common mistakes or misconceptions of new investors in the
Creativity breeds traffic.
To keep your website up the rankings nowadays, it can’t just stay as it is. Content truly is king. Adding lists, anecdotes and so on is a good way of generating extra content. (If appropriate, you can even optimise them with a few keywords while you’re at it.) You’ll soon find that the search engines appreciate it as much as your visitors.
Even better, if the extra content is good enough and sufficiently original, you can turn it into articles. You can then submit these articles to some of the many free article sites around the web. Once published, you start to build up a reputation as a source of expertise. You also generate more links back to your site, not just from the article sites, but from other sites which find and reprint your articles. And the more links you have, the higher the search engines are likely to rank your site.
So next time you're considering revising your website (and if you really want to stay in favour with the search engines you need to do it often), why not consider adding a little creative copywriting around the edges?
© Peter Wise
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