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Dan Furman. Business Writing for the Web
Business Writing for the Web: The Easy Way
Introduction
Rule 1: Web Copy Must Be Scan-able
Headlines
“See for yourself how this lazy slug of a man who smells like mothballs makes $6,000 a day, while lying in satin sheets and being served ice cream by a supermodel! ”
Hype versus fact
(SAMPLE 1) HEADLINES
“SLEEP LATE EVERY DAY, HAVE TONS OF GREAT SEX, MAKE MILLIONS WITHOUT WORKING, AND EAT ANYTHING YOU WANT WITHOUT GAINING AN OUNCE!”
“Swimming with the dolphins is an experience that you will remember — and cherish — for the rest of your life.”
“Dependable Voice Mail and VOIP Solutions for Your Company”
“Financial Sales Professionals: Would You Like To Close More Sales, Achieve Greater Production, and Enjoy Lifelong Success?”
Subheadings. What is a subheading?
The two types of subheadings
(SAMPLE 2) SUBHEADINGS
(SAMPLE 3) STORY SUBHEADINGS EXAMPLE
(SAMPLE 4) MORE SUBHEADINGS: DAN’S HOME PAGE
How many subheadings to use on a page?
Story Subheadings instead of Informational Subheadings
Bullet points
(SAMPLE 5) BULLET POINTS
Rule 2: Use Short Paragraphs
Three to five sentences
The one-sentence paragraph
As a call to action
As an introduction
As a paragraph summary
(SAMPLE 6) ONE-SENTENCE PARAGRAPH LEADING OFF A PAGE
Rule 3: Don’t Dwell (Keep Your Pages Short)
Formatting
Content style
(SAMPLE 7) ANCHOR LINKS EXAMPLE. But what if I really need to have a long page?
Rule 4: Throw Out the English Rule Book
The way we are taught to write is wrong (for business)
How many rules does your reader know?
Write like you talk
Okay, so what rules of English do you need to know?
Commonly misspelled words and misused phrases
In closing
Rule 5: Do Not Preach to the Choir
Targeted traffic revisited
What’s your problem?
What are visitors expecting from you?
Rule 6: Keep Your Audience in Mind, but Don’t Alienate Anyone, Either
Write so your audience understands you
Don’t alienate anyone
Dancing between the two
(SAMPLE 8) EXPLAINING INSIDER JARGON
Lose the corporate jargon, again
Rule 7: Write with Confidence
Confident words and phrases
Rule 8: Use the Word “You” a Lot
How often to use the word “you”
One more “you” myth dispelled
Rule 9: Bolds, Italics, Underlines, Parentheses, Dashes, and Other Formatting Tricks
Bolds and italics
Different color fonts
Highlighting
Underlining
ALL CAPS
Dashes
Ellipses …
Overdoing punctuation
(Parentheses)
Why asides are important
In closing
Rule 10: Lots of Escape Hatches (Calls to Action)
(SAMPLE 9) NUMEROUS CALLS TO ACTION
Rule 11: Be an Oreo®
What do I mean by “Be an Oreo®?”
Thank You
Contents
Отрывок из книги
Okay, it’s time to discuss website writing. Or writing for the web. Or writing website copy…
Whichever name you prefer (and I’ll generally be calling it web copy from here on out), it’s probably THE most important part of your website. In my opinion, it’s even more important than design. Of course, me being a writer, one would expect me to think that, but think about this: Some of the most successful websites out there are those long sales letter pages that have almost no design at all. Some are just blank white pages with tons of words. And many of them convert very nicely.
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In fact, hope-based products or services are almost a reverse effect from the previous, in fact — our brains made the connection “coaching equals more success,” so we expect to see “more success” as the leadoff of the website. A lot of sports coaching is sold this way: “be a better hitter,” “tackle better,” “break the other guy’s arm in four different places,” etc.
I hope the preceding gives you a good idea of headlines and how to use them. Write them, and then TEST them. And if you’re not sure what type of headline to use (hype versus fact), test them both.
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