It never ceases to amaze me just how many websites lack a clear, well-presented message. There are literally millions of different types of websites. Whether you sell leyden jars through your website, offer advice on how to remove a hornet's nest, or are advertising your own personal services, every website – regardless of how obscure or how mainstream – must convey a message. How well you convey your message will ultimately be the factor which brings you fame or failure.

The Many Factors of a Website

Unfortunately, the Internet does not lend itself to simplicity. As with any form of communication, there are many factors that are involved in conveying a message. If you are engaged in a conversation, your body language, voice inflection, and the words you choose all impact how effective you are in relating your message. A website is not much different. Your website's layout, the colors you choose, the navigation you setup, the images you choose for your website, whether you use more images than text, and even the style of font can all help convey a message. Creating an effective website takes careful consideration of all of these factors.

Above all these factors, however, it could be argued that no factor is more important than the website copy. Website copy is the actual text used on your website that you use to deliver your message. This is the text that your visitors will read, and this is the text that you will use to deliver the heart of your message. The other factors of your website – although important – should ultimately compliment your website copy.

Unfortunately, writing for your website can be a tedious, boring, and sometimes frustrating job. Some people have a natural knack for writing, but most of us trudge along trying to defeat the next inevitable bout of writers block. Worse yet, when we finally do get some website copy up, we promise to never change it just so we can avoid the process of writing.

Writing Your Website Copy Requires a Clear Vision

Even though writing your website copy can be a painful process, it is undoubtedly a necessary (and extremely helpful) process. We have already discussed how websites are built to convey a specific message, and we have also discussed how the text on your website (the website copy) is the primary means of delivering that message. In order to assemble your website copy, you first need to know exactly what message you want to convey.

Every website owner should be able to answer the following questions:

1.What is my website about?
2.Who am I targeting with my website?
3.What is the purpose of the website?

These questions are extremely basic, but it is surprising just how many website owners cannot answer these questions in a short, succinct manner. Ask yourself these three questions right now. If you find yourself pausing to think about any of these questions, then you need to spend some time defining 'your vision'. As an example, consider the following answers I would give for Site Reference:

1.What is my website about?
a)Internet Marketing, Website Development, Search Engine Optimization, and General Website owner issues.
2.Who am I targeting with my website?
a)I am targeting website owners with a slight bias towards the newer website owner.
3.What is the purpose of the website?
a)To educate and assist website owners through articles, forum discussions, and webmaster tools

Notice how each question has a quick, clear, and concise response. Granted, if you asked me those three questions a year ago, I would not have the answers so well laid out, but over time 'my vision' has cleared as I grew to know my business.

If you are not able to answer these questions, or if the answers you gave to these questions don't seem to be quite right to you, then consider spending some time thinking about your business. You do not need to limit yourself to these three questions, the following questions can also help you define your business:

1.Why did I (or do I want to) start this website?
2.Am I focusing on selling a product, products, service, services, information, or a combination of these?
3.If I were to pick one category from DMOZ to classify my website, what would it be?
4.If I were to pick three tags to bookmark my site on del.icio.us, what would they be?
5.In one sentence, what is the mission of the website?
6.Will my website focus on a region, a nation, or will it be international?
7.Does my website introduce a new concept or idea?
8.Does my website introduce a new spin on an existing concept or idea?
9.Are there other websites offering a very similar message to my website?
10.If I were to try and sell the website, how would I describe it?

There are probably other questions you can ask yourself to help define your website's message, but before you write a single word of your website copy, be sure to have a solid understanding of just what it is you are trying to say or do.

A Quick Look at Scope

I do not want to bore you with topics such as website scope, but it is so important to the effectiveness of your website that it deserves a bit of attention. A common error, especially in website owners who are new, is to lack a focused scope on their websites. What does this mean? It means their website does not have any focus. For example, if we at Site Reference were to publish an article on the perfect golf swing, that article would be outside of the scope of our website.

Another way to explain scope is to talk about relevancy. If your website deals with two topics that are not relevant to each other, you may want to consider having two websites. Although some blogs have recently been able to get away with this successfully, as a general rule, unrelated topics should not belong on one website unless there is an extremely special circumstance and you are willing to specialize in both topics.

Should I Use a Long-Copy?

There is no doubt that long-copy is effective. If you do not know what long-copy is, take a look at SEO Elite to get an idea of what it is. You have probably seen several websites that look just like this.

The first reaction that people have when they see long-copy is that it would be very ineffective. It often looks cheap, and many times makes people afraid that the site is just a scam since most long-copies include a heavy sales pitch. But what these people don't see is the results. The results are obvious – long copy sells.

For most websites, however, long-copy is not appropriate. Long copy is good for a website that is selling a single product or service. It is good for a website that does not mind establishing a familiarity between the site owner and the site user. It is not, however, good for a site that wants to teach a user how to sew, or for a site that is selling a variety of scented candles. Most websites do not fall under a category that lends itself to long-copy, and thus need to find some other way to write their copy.

Finding a Writing Style

Whether your site has a lot of information within it (such as a blog) or has relatively little, but highly focused, information, finding a writing style is essential to your website's success.

The single most important consideration when developing the writing style for your website is to avoid boring your users. Boredom is the fastest way to get your visitors to leave your website.

Before you assume that I am advocating 'cheeziness' and ill-placed humor in a website, you should know that avoiding boring copy does not mean that you have to entertain your visitors as if they were children. What it does mean is that you need to write copy that will engage your readers.

Rember the list of questions we went over to help you determine the message of your website? You can extend the second question (Who am I targeting with this website) to ask "What are my visitors looking for?". Answering this question will guide you in determining the style of your writing.

If your users are looking to read someone else's opinion on a matter (as in a blog), then it would be acceptable to lengthen your copy. However, if your users are looking for a product that does X,Y,Z, then you need to convey to your visitors as quickly as possible that your website or product can do X,Y,Z.

Knowing your website's visitors will help you define the message, and thus the copy, of your website.

Most Importantly – Good Writing is Rewriting

Rewriting your website is not fun – but it is necessary. Good writing is rewriting, and when you have finished rewriting, spending your time to rewrite your website again. Every time you rewrite your website you will add a little more clarity to your message and offer your users more useful information up front. Rewriting will also give you the chance to develop a writing style that resonates with your users.

Finding that website copy that has the magical effect of actually delivering your message is not easy. It takes time and patience, and a lot of work. This article is just a brief look at the art of copywriting. You could spend years learning about copywriting methods and techniques, but the basics of copywriting are all the same – finding an effective way to communicate your message.

About the Author:
Mark Daoust is the owner of Site Reference.
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