1. Know Your Objective
Do you want to sell through your website? Do you want to develop a reputation for being a knowledgeable service provider? Do you want to inform and educate? When you understand what the objective of your site is, your content will reflect that objective. This applies to different section of the site. For example, if you wish to get people to download your brochures, your content should qualify visitors and incite action.

2. Make it Scannable
People scan web pages and pick out highlighted keywords, links, sub-headings and bullet points. Paragraphs should deal with one idea, and it’s a good idea to use the “Tell them what you’re going to say, say it, tell them what you’ve said” structure to pages and paragraphs. Alternatively, the “inverted pyramid” style of writing (starting with the conclusion) is a good idea for the Web. A call to action early in the content works better, as most users will not read all of the content on a page.

3. Keep it Short
In line with the above point, short copy always works best. Use (at most) half the word count that you’d use in offline writing. Edit out buffer words and phrases. Aim for economy and immediacy when writing. For a good primer on this, see “The Elements of Style” (Strunk & White) - it’s a short book, and well worth a read.

4. Direct Marketing
Certain techniques from traditional direct marketing translate well to the online arena. A good headline will guarantee a higher readership. Sub-headings, bullet points (see point 1), and bold text for emphasis is also recommended. Talking personally (”I”, “You”) is recommended - that goes for B2B as well as B2C marketing. In addition, font is important. Research has shown that a sans-serif font (such as Arial, Verdana or Tahoma) reads better on a monitor than does serif fonts such as Times New Roman.

5. Avoid Marketing-Speak
While certain terms may be bandied about regularly in your office, they may not be understood by your target market. Don’t talk about your “turnkey solution”, your “valued customers”, your “paradigm-shifting” consultancy, or how your service can “achieve our client’s objectives”. Don’t start your home page with “Welcome”. And don’t say “We believe”. Remember, you’re marketing to humans here. And most of these humans are too busy to sift through blurb and filler. Get to the point.

6. Provide Real-Life Examples
I’m on your website to book a hotel. Or get a mortgage. Or buy your software. Or enquire about your services. I’m a human being. And I want to see what you’re doing for other human beings! So hit me with the testimonials. Hit me with the case studies. The more specific, the better. I want to know how your hotel inspired people, how your mortgage helped make dreams come true, how your software increased revenues by 22%. This is what matters to your target market. Credibility is important on the Web, so testimonials and case studies are a really good way of strengthening your position.

7. Use the Call To Action
I’ve read your copy, and I’m impressed. But…what should I do? Sometimes, it helps to spell out the next step to users. What is the next step?

- For a free brochure, send an email to freebrochure@ourcompany.com.
- To speak with one of our travel consultants, call 1800-XXX-XXXX now.
- Clicking this link will take you directly to our order page.
- To read the rest of this article, click here to become a subscriber.

It’s the call to action that will cause users to make a conscious decision. Do I want to email/call/click? Some will, and some won’t. But excluding a call to action will mean that most of these users will leave your site, never to return. Ask for the order.

Ultimately, copywriting for the Web is not all that different from offline copywriting. Good copy need not be floral and boastful, but it does need to do the job of selling.

Your new website has just gone live. You’ve invested quite a bit in it - money, hours, sweat, etc. It’s been project-managed perfectly; the brief has been adhered to perfectly.

And it’s been worth it. Beautiful Flash design, swirling animations, all the bleeding-edge technologies that your designers advocated, a shimmering Java applet of your office’s reflection on the Liffey…beautiful. Just beautiful.

You sit back and wait for the enquiries.

Nothing.

Three months later, you’re wondering where it all went wrong. Where has your target market disappeared to?

The likely answer is they’ve gone down the road to a competitor with a website that they can use.

If you’re planning a web project, these tips will give you a bit of a background to usabililty. Your website needs to CONVERT visitors to customers and qualified sales leads. Usability is the science of doing this.

A recent study found that users decide whether they like a website or not within half a second. Yours needs to appeal from the start. So read these tips and use them.

TIP #1: Visit the following websites: Google, Yahoo, Amazon, Ireland.com, DAFT.ie and RTE.ie Spend a few minutes on them. This is the Internet to millions of people, and these people want all websites to work like this. The more your site is like these websites, the better your site will convert. Simplicity is key.

TIP #2: If you want visitors to do business with you, make it as simple as possible to do business with you. If Dunnes Stores made you run an obstacle course with shopping basket in hand, would you keep shopping there? People don’t have much time these days - make it easy for them. Don’t make them have to open an account before they can purchase anything. Don’t make them have to click six times to get to their product. Don’t use long, unwieldy forms to collect personal data. This is an extension of TIP #1. Keep it simple!

TIP #3: “Speak to the dog, about what matters to the dog, in the language of the dog” (Jeff Eisenberg, ‘Call to Action‘. Your copy needs to be geared towards your target market. People don’t want to know that:

- they’re welcome to your website.
- you are a total solutions provider.
- you empower global communications providers with real-time data.
- they are visitor number 538.People do want to know that:

- there’s a 40% discount on blue widgets until Friday.
- your site is on a secure server.
- you offer free delivery.
- you guarantee the cheapest widgets in Ireland.Remember, unless the first impression is favourable, visitors will leave your site and never return. A few simple changes can make a big difference. And if you’re planning a re-design, make sure you take these tips on board.

Have you seen any of the above design mistakes? Leave a comment below.

The Times has an interesting article on what can happen when SEO goes too far. Although BMW.de has been exonerated, the story has caught on like wildfire. The problem was that BMW (or whoever was working on their search engine rankings) had crowded a ‘doorway page’ with the German equivalent of “used cars” - “gebrauchtwagen”, I’m told.

Now ‘doorway pages’ are a lazy way of increasing rankings in the first place, and many agencies have used them simply as an extra service to charge for. But it’s interesting that Google has taken umbrage at this being done by such a large brand.

At least BMW are trying, albeit by unethical means. Too many Irish sites these days just aren’t appearing for what the terms that they should. It’s pretty simple to get started - some good page Titles, text on your homepage, and go looking for links from suppliers, partners, customers, etc. There are too many Irish sites who seem to be living in a pre-Internet world where search engines is an encyclopaedia of locomotives. Or something.

According to ENN, Ireland has yet again been slated for its low take-up on broadband, while Ireland’s broadband companies have been slated for their poor customer service. All this slating could roof the country, no? Then we could forget about the weather, focus on the real issues.

Which is, why are broadband companies so slow in getting back to you? I won’t name the company I dealt with (they’d be a good client, and in any case probably have a bigger legal warchestt than we do), but it took about 4 months for them to respond to an email I sent. When will companies? It’s certainly taken ****** (name omitted) enough time! Oh wait, I still haven’t received an email from them and it’s been…ooh…7 years?

Now on to football. The big event of the weekend. We are playing Sunderland. Away. Now, whatever your feelings on the McCarthy - Roy Keane spat, poor old Mick’s got it tough oop north. They’re pretty much relegated, and his job could be on the line. Meanwhile old Keano’s just got his first goal in a Celtic shirt, and Celtic are ten points ahead. Now Spurs’ grip on reality away from home is tenuous to put it mildly, but I think we’re a good bet for tomorrow. What do you think, Robbie?

This is the first post on the new Clientwell blog. We’ll be writing a weekly article, and will talk about issues that are relevant to online marketing. There are lots of definitions of (and names for) online marketing, but it basically boils down to:

1. Bringing visitors to your website
2. Converting these visitors to customers/clients/advocates/enquiries/repeat visitors/whatever
3. Connect with these people on an ongoing basis

The ways that you do this are:

1. Search engine marketing, Pay per click, online advertising, sponsorship, and so on
2. Website usability, tracking, measurement and good web design
3. Email marketing, mobile marketing, eCRM, loyalty programs, etc.

All online marketing should be focused on results and growing brand awareness. An integrated online marketing strategy is a crucial part of any organisation’s marketing strategy.

Okay, now that’s the lists and bullet points out of the way. Now let’s talk about us.

Clientwell Online Marketing has been in business since 2002, and provides all of the above services, with a strong focus on return on investment and brand.

This blog will focus on the above issues, and how they are evolving on an almost daily basis, with an emphasis on Ireland, which is where we are based. Links to the best articles on these topics will be posted, and I hope that you can bring your own ideas to the table!