How to Write Great Copy for the Web: eBook Review

You’ve got a problem. What has started out as a straight forward design and development job has hit a sudden snag. While the client originally promised to take care of all their content, they’ve come to realize that it is actually pretty hard to write about their services. Now they’ve come to you to bail them out.

What do you do?

While you may initially think of running for the hills or waving your contract in the clients face, refusing to be involved in helping with a website’s content may be leaving money on the table. And while you may not think of yourself a great writer, eBook author Donna Spencer shows you how to get the job done in Rockable Press’ book, How to Write Great Copy for the Web.

Who needs to read this book?

This eBook is not for current copywriters. While you may pick up a few tips from Donna’s processes, this book is written with the designer and developer in mind. It is written to help designers who have had the content burden dropped in their laps figure out how to move forward and provide the best results possible for their clients.

Will this make me into a copywriter?

The simple answer is no. While this may serve as a starting point along a path to eventually offering copywriting services, the eBook doesn’t promise to equip you to write the great American novel. What it does do is break down exactly what web copy is and how to make it the most effective you can.

The good news, as Donna describes, is that web copy is much different than written copy, and while it has to persuade and inform like written copy, it doesn’t have to be long. And the truth is, anyone can do it well if they follow the principles laid out in this eBook.

What’s inside?

The mini-book begins with a great description of how the web differs from print. As anyone who has surfed the web for any amount of time will know, we don’t really read web pages in as much as we scan them. That means you need to write in a way that helps the user breeze through the content.

Donna defines what makes copy easy to skim and scan and the best ways to make important information stand out.

Further chapters discuss how to write interesting, persuasive and usable copy with a focus on finding the best way to make users care about what they’re reading.

Before the reader does what you want them to, you’ll need to meet their needs first. In most cases you can do this by answering a crude but fundamental question every reader will have: why should I care?

Donna teaches you how to know your readers with simple trick she calls “the 5 whys.” I won’t spoil the secret for you, but by the end of it you should have much better understanding of what the objective of your copy should be.

Also included is a section on how well written copy has the added benefit to being search engine friendly by teaching you how to use keywords in your content in a way that is visually appealing and above all sounds natural.

Conclusion

I was pretty happy when I heard that Rockable Press was going to be coming out with a copywriting guide as it’s something I struggle getting started with. And while I won’t be adding ‘copywriter’ to my list of services yet, I feel like I’m in much better position to help my clients put together their web content.

As an added bonus, the eBook may also help you re-examine the objectives and the effectiveness of the copy on your own web site. As Donna mentions, we web designers tend to go on and on about our elite knowledge of code, color, and typography but don’t really draw attention to the most important factor of how we can make the client money: the content.

The eBook is 95 pages long and is available from Rockable Press $15 as a PDF or $19 in printed form.

Disclosure: FreelanceSwitch is a sponsor of Rockable Press and their publications. However, this article, while compensated under our general terms for all submissions, was written unsolicited and unbiased by a third-party contractor.