Kathy Henning on Copywriting for the Web

Copywriting for the web: it ain’t for the fainthearted

by Kathy Henning

A few years ago I wondered why any self-respecting writer would ever want to write for the web. Words on the web seemed so impermanent, so forgettable, so unsophisticated. Like words on a chalkboard. Why would it matter whether the writing was good or bad? Why would anyone give a rip about standards?

But somewhere along the way – I don’t remember the exact moment, but it was sometime in early 1997 – I fell in love with the web.

What I’d come to realize was that writing for the web was not at all like writing on a chalkboard. For one thing, pages can be archived indefinitely. Or printed out and saved forever.

For another thing, there’s nothing inherently unsophisticated about words on the web – any more than there’s anything inherently sophisticated about words in a magazine or novel. It all depends on the writing. Good writing is good writing whatever the medium.

It matters as much online as it does in print, if not more.

And though words on the web tend to be less formal than words in print, standards matter every bit as much online as they do on paper, if not more. Users give a rip. Why else would so many people have such a gut-level reaction when Wired decided to put the hyphen back in email?

Copywriting on the web, I came to realize, is more like writing lyrics to songs. On the web, the words and the design compliment each other to deliver a good user experience – the way lyrics and melody compliment each other to create a good song. Too many words, or the wrong words, or even words with too many syllables, spoil both.

Web copywriting is harder – not easier – than print copywriting.

Thomas Mann once said, "A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than for other people."

It’s strange but true – the more serious you become about writing, the more difficult it becomes. "I spent all morning putting in a comma," claimed Oscar Wilde, "and all afternoon taking it out again." Most of us aren’t quite that hard on ourselves, but we can certainly agonize for hours over a word, or lose sleep over a sentence.

And I believe that web copywriters have the most difficult lot of all copywriters. What’s more, I believe it’s growing more difficult every day. Here’s why:

As the internet matures, ever-stiffer competition is driving up the quality of the user experience, and with it users’ expectations. What was good enough to keep users on a site a year ago doesn’t cut it today.

Users now are in a bigger hurry than ever, and they’re usually task-driven when they visit a site. With far too much to read, far too many sites competing for their attention and far too many other demands on their time, they’re hell-bent on getting in and out fast. Anything that slows them down will likely send them away. Forever.

Copywriting for the web is a collaborative, iterative process that requires you to work closely with other members of the web team, especially the information architect and designer, every step of the way. The solitary scrivener must either get used to working in tandem or stick with print.

You never know where users will enter your site. They may never even see your homepage, let alone start there. Every page, therefore, should be able to stand alone. That means that sometimes you’ll have to find several ways to write the same thing, without sounding repetitive, when in print you could write it once and be done.

However well you understand your target audience (and it’s critical you understand your target audience), your actual users could be anyone anywhere in the world: children in Australia, businesspeople in Asia, retirees; high-school dropouts, college graduates. Your words need to be clear to all users.

Seven qualities of good web copywriting

Good web copywriting is utterly clear

No matter how clear your words seem to you, never assume they’re clear to the user. Always test them.

Here’s a simple illustration. The web design firm where I work recently threw a party to celebrate the launch of its new site. The email invitation contained a link to an online RSVP form with these fields:

First name

Last name

Email address

Number of guests

To me it was perfectly clear that "Number of guests" meant "number of guests I’m bringing." But when we tested the invitation, some people weren’t sure whether it meant "number I’m bringing" or "total number in my party." So we changed it to "Total attending" and tested it again. Everyone understood it, so we went with it. Had we left it the way it was, it would have been impossible to get an accurate number of people attending the party.

The stakes in this case weren’t high, but they often are. And one of the biggest dangers inherent in web copy that’s not utterly clear is an increase in the abandonment rate: if users don’t immediately understand what you mean, if they have to say "Huh?" just once, they’ll bail.

Good web copywriting is relevant and engaging

Users have come to expect relevant content. If they don’t find it in the first few moments on a site, they probably won’t waste their time looking for it. They’ll go looking for it on a competitor’s site.

"The Web is not a mass-market medium," says Michael Borum, VP of Creative for Circle.com. "Copywriting should always – ALWAYS – be customer-driven. Write for your audience, not for yourself. Customers are quick to turn sour if content isn’t relevant."

To write for your audience, you must first know your audience. Talk to people who represent your target users. Read emails users send to customer service. Listen in on customer service calls. You’ll be amazed how much more relevant your writing will become when you know your audience.

Users also expect to be engaged., and they hate "marketese," Jacob Nielsen found in a 1998 study.

But if you’re selling a product or service, how do you avoid marketese and still persuade the user to buy your stuff?

ClickZ’s own Nick Usborne says, "Don’t write about the thing you’re selling. Write about the people to whom you’re selling it."

"Look for the emotional lever in whatever you’re trying to communicate," says Larry Asher, president of the School of Visual Concepts in Seattle. "People don’t buy beer, elect candidates, order stock photos, or download pornography for rational reasons. I’m not sure we humans do anything for purely rational reasons. So, whether the topic is fine French perfume or used dumptrucks, figure out what emotional fuse your product lights and talk about that."

One way to be engaging is with humor, but beware: humor can backfire. And humor never justifies sacrificing clarity. Always test humor on target users. If it doesn’t test well, kill it.

Good web copywriting is concise

Writing on the web, all else being equal, should have about half as many words as writing in print.

But it’s important to keep in mind that though it’s critical that writing on the web have no unnecessary words and that sentences be kept as short as possible, shorter isn’t always better. Writing succinctly is a juggling act: you must juggle clarity with word count. Never sacrifice clarity for fewer words. It’s easy to cut text. It’s not so easy to cut wisely. Don’t forget to test the copy after you’ve made the final cuts.

4. Good web copywriting is well integrated with the design and architecture

When you’ve finished writing the text, don’t assume you’ve finished writing the text. As I mentioned earlier, designing web pages is a collaborative, iterative process. This is where web copywriting differs greatly from print copywriting. On the web, design can have a huge impact on text. What looks and sounds great in a text file might be all wrong in design.

That means you need to work closely with the designer throughout the process. Cultivate a collaborative, even symbiotic, relationship. Both the copy and the design will be the better for it.

5. Good web copywriting is scannable and easy to read

Readers tend to scan web text, so what you need to do is break up text by headers, bullets and newspaper-style paragraph breaks after every sentence or two, so that scanners can get the gist of the message.

Headlines should be, as Jacob Nielsen has said, "pearls of clarity," able to stand alone and convey what the body copy is about.

Bullets help cut down on the number of words and break up sentences to make them easier to read.
Frequent paragraph breaks make text easier to read. Try not to go over five lines, or 50 words, in a paragraph.

6. Good web copywriting is consistent

Not only should navigation be consistent throughout, but so should terminology, voice, tone and style. Inconsistency on a site can be confusing, and usually has a negative impact on the user experience.

Terminology, voice, tone and style should be driven by the personalities of both the site and the target audience. Be sure you thoroughly understand both, and never lose site of either of them.

Choose a style guide, such as The Chicago Manual of Style, and stick with it. Or write your own.

7. Good web copywriting is grammatically correct, and free of typos and misspellings

For many readers, grammatical mistakes, typos and misspellings spoil the delivery of the copy online as surely as spinach between the teeth spoils the delivery face to face. Not all users notice, but plenty do.

If you haven’t looked at a grammar book in a while, it wouldn’t hurt to spend a few hours with one (Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style is still one of the best). Make sure you have such stumbling blocks as "it’s" and "its," "lie" and "lay," and "to" and "too" straight (look them up!).

Never be the sole proofreader of your work. Ideally, a professional proofreader should proof every word that goes on a site, both before and after it’s coded. Proofing your text file isn’t enough – text can get dropped or put in the wrong place, or be mistyped or miscoded, and ruin the user experience.

The bottom line

Users demand and expect the best. If your copy doesn’t deliver it, even if the design and navigation are topnotch, they’ll go looking for a site with copy that does.