Why Copywriting Is The Secret To Your Online Su

Over the last decade, the number of companies selling their products and services on the Web or sharing information online with their target market has exploded.

It's no longer frowned upon to conduct your business on the Web, and huge

numbers of people are making a healthy living doing just that. Others, however, are

not. For every great website out there that grabs its customer's attention and holds

it, there are hundreds more bad ones that don't. Despite their best efforts, many

businesses are losing money daily due to the poor performance of their company

website.

Contrary to popular myth, what constitutes a great website is not just fantastic

design, but also the quality of the online copy that accompanies it. If you pay equal

attention to both sides of this equation, you'll end up with an amazing site that

drives traffic where you need it most, bringing excellent sales or driving great

interest as a result. But if you ignore the necessity of simple, effective and clear-cut

Web copy, evidence has shown your site will suffer as a consequence.

In a 2002 Stanford University "Web Credibility" survey of over 4,500 Web users in

Europe and the US, findings are unequivocal. Whilst recognising the benefits of good

design, the report also states:

"Our data suggests that integrity of content has considerable impact on how people

evaluate the credibility of a website. Study participants gave some of their lowest

scores on credibility to sites that fail to separate advertising from editorial content,

run too many ads on a page, or display ads through pop-up windows. At the same

time, users gave strong marks to site content that identified its sources and

provided its authors' credentials."

Along with effective design and navigation, the report concludes that:

"As for writing style, (websites should) be clear, direct, and sincere."

(Source: Stanford-Makovsky Web Credibility Study 2002).

So you have to ask yourself, is the writing on your website 'clear, direct and

sincere'? If not, then you could be losing sales. Nobody wants a lame duck website

that leaves its visitors confused or disinterested, or worse still, a site that makes

inflated and unrealistic claims. What people want to find on your site is a credible

and well thought out approach to their requirements, they want answers to the

questions that drew them to your website in the first place - because it's then that

they are more likely to make a purchase. Hitting just the right tone to do this is the

job of a really good copywriter, and the time and money you take to get this right

with a professional writer will ultimately be reflected in increased business for you

and your company.

Laurence James is Copywriting Director of The Copy Box ® - Professional Copywriting

& Content. He holds a BA Honours Degree in English and a Postgraduate Diploma in

Journalism. Laurence has been writing commercially in a variety of different markets

for over seven years, and works with companies of all sizes, including marketing and

advertising agencies.