Is your website boring others to death? Does your web content seem to be taken from a newspaper? Have you been overlooking something very simple which is making your website dull, unexciting and unsuccessful?

The answer to all your questions can be found in one simple fact. Copywriting for a web site is very different from copywriting for an ad, a flyer or a newsletter. Different genres of literature are written in different formats and styles. Similarly, copywriting for a web site is a distinct form of writing. Therefore, the distinction and time-tested rules for success must be kept in mind for desired results.

How is copywriting for web site different?

Unlike reading a newsletter or an advertisement, reading web content is more about scanning the content for the specific information one is looking for. People from all spheres of life have an equal probability of visiting one's website. Thus, it is important that one keeps in mind the distinct nature of website copywriting.

• Keywords are the key:
  Search engines and internet users search for websites using key words or phrases. Hence it is important that primary and secondary keywords are judiciously peppered over the web content. However, care must be taken to ensure that this is not overdone because if keywords constitute more than 3-4% of the total text, the website can be black-listed as SPAM. This is vital when copywriting for website.

• Glancing through:
  Internet users do not always begin reading in an orderly way. They rather scan through the content and look out for the information they need. Hence, organized arguments, bulleted points and orderly structured text ensure greater effect and better results.

• Link not to sink:
  Linking your website to good-quality websites is also an important aspect of copywriting and an essential step in making your website successful. Not to mention, any such linking is non-existent in other forms of copywriting. Also, linking to sites listed as SPAM can go against you as your website can be rejected on the basis of these links.

• Structure and format:
  Copywriting for a web site also comes with certain rules for structure. All Caps, for instance is synonymous to shouting and is proven to be difficult to read comparatively and is strictly avoided whereas for other forms it may be a tool for emphasis. Similarly, underlining a phrase or word is also used to stress in other forms but on the www, underlining is for hyperlinks and hence is avoided.

• No fluff:
  While copywriting for web site, a copywriter can afford to be verbose with other forms of copywriting if he must but it is a strict no-no. For instance, if a website for wooden furniture may have 'excellent, fabulous, out-of-the world unique equipments perfect for your bed-room at a price you won't believe and excellence second to none in best wood' to impress. But these superlatives can only go against them. A user searching for "wooden baby cots" would not see this website as a good ranked one. Hence fluff has to be avoided at all costs.

• The 2 C's:
  Content and competition rule in the World Wide Web. Original, optimized, informative and result-centric content is what works. In the age of cutthroat competition, the web content has to attract both customers and popular search engines.

• Dual audience:
  Unlike flyers for promotion and newsletters which act as informers alone, the web content has to fulfill all roles and has to be totally result-oriented. It should be able to get good rankings, more visitors and eventually better sales.

• Updates:
  With thousand of websites being put up everyday, a website needs to be updated regularly for best results and keep up with the pace.