Working at a content marketing agency, where the bulk of our business has shifted toward Interactive work, I’ve come across several simple, handy ways to make our Web copywriting more effective. Some I’ve gleaned from the ‘Net, others I’ve made up myself. Whether or not they’re any good…well, I’ll let you be the judge of that.
Here are my first five tips, in no particular order of importance:
#1 – Give ‘em what they want & skip the fluff
Most Web-bound marketing copy is geared toward getting the reader to do something: click a link, download a file, read an email, sign up for something, leave a comment, etc. Other times, you may want to change readers’ perceptions of a product or service, solicit their feedback about something, or get them to remember key information.
So whatever it is you want your reader to do, make it accessible early in your copy. Rather than making them sift through four paragraphs to get the goods (remember the average Web surfer has the attention span of a hyperactive toddler), get them what they want in the first paragraph. If it’s a link, put it in the first sentence. If it’s valuable information, break convention: put your main point first, and save the puff & fluffery for the later paragraphs.
#2 – Don’t underline stuff that’s not a link
This one shouldn’t need explaining. If it’s not a link, and you want to emphasize it, use bold or italics. People see something underlined on the Web and they want a link, period. Same goes for emails.
#3 – Avoid “click here”
Saying “click here” is redundant. Underlined means hyperlinked, so saying “click here” is almost insulting. Instead, try writing your link copy with an appropriate action (note: I realize I violate #2 in my examples below. It’s just for illustration purposes, gosh!).
BAD: Click here to view prices in your area.
GOOD: View prices in your area.
Not only does this practice reinforce the solution you are trying to get them to (“view prices”), but it also makes your copy shorter. Sweet.
#4 – Multiple ways to get to the same place is not a bad thing
Several links to the same page within your copy doesn’t hurt anything. In fact, Web surfers will appreciate multiple opportunities to navigate. It is an admittedly brute-force approach, but it works: the more links there are, the better chances that your reader will at least click one of them!
#5 – Avoid target=_blank
In case you’re not a nerd like me, target=_blank is the HTML parameter that tells a link to open in a new window. Some people take a carte blanche approach to this, having every single link open in a new window. This is annoying, and worse, it violates a fundamental principle of user interface design: users should always be in control of the interface they are interacting with.1 Plus, let’s face it: browsers have back buttons for a reason.
Bonus tip – Never, ever, under any circumstance, use emoticons
If you do, I will hunt you down and kill you. 
So there you have it…short and sweet (anything else would be hypocritical). Check back soon for part 2!
1Should Links Open In New Windows?, Smashing Magazine, 7/1/2008
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/07/01/should-links-open-in-new-windows/