I browse the web all day long, and I’m a person who actually reads the copy on most sites. And well, I have to tell you—it sucks. Big time. I find it a shame that so many site owners put such little stakes in copywriting. All across the web, you can hear the webmasters chanting:
Content is King! King I tell you!
Yet rarely do they execute on their proclamations. It’s sad for me to see this, because they all seem to know what they should be doing, but rarely do they actually do what they should be doing.
The web is a unique place
Many people think that writing for the web is just like writing for print, but they’re wrong. A web site has a whole lot less time to prove itself than a piece of printed copy does. Most of the time when someone is browsing the web, they are surrounded by a circus of distractions.
Just think about it: you’re sitting on the computer researching Home Audio systems. Meanwhile, you may be casually chatting with a few friends via Instant Messenger. Of course, you’ve got dinner in the oven and the TV’s on as well. Every few minutes you take a break from the computer and watch Battlestar Galactica from your TiVo. So, you finally find time to search for home audio equipment on Google, and lo and behold, there’s around 45 million results. You click on the first result and are immediately assaulted with ads. Your eyes can’t focus on any content you actually want, let alone any copy explaining just what this site is. So, you click the back button and try the next result.
The bottom line is: You can’t assume print copywriting principles will transfer directly to the web. You have to take into account the landscape your copy will be resting in. It’s a lot easier to click the back button than it is to throw away a magazine.
Spelling, grammar, what?
This is an all too common mistake I find on the web. Web sites, even professional ones, are riddled with simple spelling and gramatical mistakes. If there’s anything to ruin credibility–it’s misspelling simple words like “the” four times on the home page. Any webmasters out there looking for a quick way to improve bounce rates and stickyness–this is it. Run your site through a spell checker and grammar checker, like Microsoft Word. Chances are you’ll find a great deal of mistakes that are easily corrected.
I’m falling asleep over here
Which brings me to my next point: most copy on the web is boring. The web is littered with simple little phrases, dull paragraphs and words that make me feel like I’m back in High School struggling to stay awake during 7am class. I guess someone missed the memo about it being alright to be a little bit daring with your copy. It might even be okay to drop in a little bit of humor now and then. Who’da thought.
It’s not all that bad
No! It’s not. There has been a great revolution going on in the web recently and a lot of it has been simplifying web sites. Improving copy. Companies like Apple and 37Signals are doing it right. I think as more companies’s websites fail in the coming years they will learn to spend the extra few pennies (relatively) to hire a decent copywriter to go over their site.
I think the copywriting revolution is coming. If you ever wondered if the time was right for copywriters—it definitely is. I can see copywriting bursting in demand in the coming year. Here’s to the year of the copywriter!
Interesting. I’ve always wondered about what I have to do with copyrighting when it comes to blogs and internet content publishing.
Heh, my question is, why do you read these boring websites that are “littered with simple little phrases” and “dull paragraphs,” and complain about them?
I’m sorry, I haven’t read the previous entry. This is embarrassing, now I see what you mean when you say copyrighting… x(
I’ve done some copywriting for several companies and online services to boot and while it seems challenging to actually simplify language to the point where long-winded introductory text becomes more streamlined and to the point, it actually isn’t.
That said, I’m not entirely convinced by those who suggest that the writer, or copywriter for example, should write at a 5th grade level. For one, there are a lot of intelligent people out there who can appreciate smart writing, writing that allows the reader to actually think about the words they are currently digesting.
Not only that but the mishmash of technical jarble (which is comparable to legalese in most cases) that exists on most sites today is just flat out boring to read, as you pointed out. In most instances it doesn’t really explain the function or purpose of the service or company, instead focusing on, hey look, we own a thesaurus!
I completely agree with you on this and applaud you for bringing it up (I had meant to) and believe, like you, that a new take on copywriting has begun. It’s here and it’s starting to spread, but instead of like wildfire, for the time being it’s more like a constant flicker that’s growing everyday.
You have some very interesting ideas here. I wonder, does anyone know, is there a good styleguide out there for web writing? I can find all sorts of resources about how to write good code, or how to make an effective presentation. Even though there is all the cahnting you mentioned about content being king, I can’t seem to find a useful style guide anywhere. I wonder if there is a book like “The Elements of Style” for the web.
Dylan,
I think there’s a large gap here, to be perfectly honest. I’ve read some great books about copywriting. And some great studies on how people read on the web. But I haven’t yet found a resource that combines the two.
Hopefully with this site I’ll be able to delve into that a little more detailed
[…] Yet rarely do they execute on their proclamations. It’s sad for me to see this, because they all seem to know what they should be doing, but rarely do they actually do what they should be doing. ~ source: goodcopywriting.com found (unsurprisingly) via Kyle of Warpspire (as Kyle is guy who’s behind both sites). […]
[…] My pre-dinner surfing took me to Good Copywriting, where Kyle Neath says what I alluded to here in a more detailed and relevant manner. […]
I write for a large corporate company, we follow a style guide based on AP style with some deviation for specific corporate guidelines. It becomes a challenge to keep the copy fresh, interesting and pertinent–while still short for web readers. Much of my job is educating subject matter experts in providing terse information that provides the most impact, rather than fluff or long-winded paragraphs repeating the same thing over and again. I’ve become an information wrangler, a copy-editor and a copy-writer all in one.
Intersting blog. Keep up the good dialog.
For some really bad writing check out http://busterlangs.com
(Just switched to Hemingway theme, so post type layouts are a bit sloppy.) But the writing still is badly.
[…] Good Copywriting. By Kyle Neath. […]
I’ve written TTL copy for a few years and I also found that there certainly is a certain lack of creative flair when it comes to web copy. And, when you try doing something copy driven on the web client usually backs down.
When was the last time you visited a site and felt inspired by words online?
Maybe it’s due to the misconception that copy is just not as important as design on the internet.
The biggest problem is that client usually provides a 40 page word document with a note reading:
“here is the basic info, please just chack spelling and grammer etc…i did it in a rush so is prob very messy”
Who has time in the development timeline to proof and rewrite all copy? It’s just not economical or practical for anyone. Web developers and agencies should take control of the creative development of copy in the same way as they would with an ATL account.
Sure the price will increase, but so too will creativity.
It’s about time that a groundswell of creative and interesting copy starts getting on the net. I’m going to start Monday morning.
[…] Kyle at Good Copywriting bemoans the state of copywriting and the web and I’d say I agree, at least in part. Frankly I think most writing in most places is bad, so there’s nothing special about the Web. Like everything else in life, the Web requires effort to find what’s good. […]
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