Old City Web Services is going back to school.

Earlier this summer, Old City Web Services partnered up with a new local program to match private businesses with public schools so that we can share career perspectives, advice and tips with students. Last month, Cecile Nusbaum (OCWS General Manager) and Bobby Jones (OCWS Art Director) were invited to Pedro Menendez High School to critique projects from a design class and offer some professional advice.

Last Friday, Shannon O’Neil (OCWS Marketing Consultant) went over to Menendez to speak with the yearbook students about the power of great copy. Though yearbook copy is different in many ways from website copy, we still felt like there were some common points we could share with the students and with our wonderful clients.

Tips for Do-It-Yourself Copywriting

1)      Be consistent. From capitalization and punctuation to titles and abbreviations, being consistent is a crucial step to successful copywriting. It avoids confusion, maintains the flow and prevents the reader from being distracted.

Decide how you will handle certain common grammatical problems from the beginning. Will you use a comma before “and” in a series? Will you sabbreviate dates (Oct. 13) or use numbers instead (10/13)? Will you write your copy in first person (I/we started this business…) or third person (Joe started this business…)?

There’s not a right or wrong answer to any of the above questions, it’s just a matter of choosing one style and sticking to it.

2)      Be conversational. For most businesses, a conversational tone is appropriate for your copy. Write as though you were describing your business to a potential customer sitting in your office. There is a delicate balance to being conversational. You don’t have to sound like a Harvard Professor, but at the same time you want to avoid using any slang or improper grammar that may turn some of your clients off.

3)       Be creative. Avoid redundancy in your copy by using synonyms and transitions where possible. No one wants to read boring, repetitive copy.

For example, if you’re writing copy for Mike’s Mechanic Shop, instead of starting every sentence with the name of the business, mix things up a little. Write something like, “Mike’s Mechanic Shop has been locally owned and operated for ten years. Winner of the 2010 Best of St. Augustine Award for car repairs, Mike’s Mechanic Shop has an excellent reputation for service and professionalism.”

Use the Thesaurus tool in your word processing software (highlight the word, right click on it and click on “Synonyms”) to find alternatives to using the same words over and over again. Mike’s Mechanic Shop might use words like fix, repair, mend, correct and adjust interchangeably to describe exactly what it is that they do.

4)      Be attractive. Catch your customer’s eye with headlines throughout your text. Break up big blocks of copy with headlines that will get your customers’ attention. Most people skim over copy on a website and often miss what they were looking for because no one drew their attention to it. Take care to create headlines that will spark someone’s interest and make them look closer at what else you’ve written.

5)      Be succinct. Though some potential customers may be interested in the entire history of your business, most people will not. Customers generally arrive at your website because they are looking for something they need, whether it’s a service or a product. Use your copy to steer them in the right direction to find what they want on your website. The faster they find what they’re looking for, the faster you convert a potential customer into a paying customer.

Once they’ve found what they’re looking for, tell your customers what they need to do next. They need to call you for an appointment, come by your store, send you an e-mail or fill out a form for information, or simply buy your product online. Whatever that last step is to converting your customers, make sure you have that call to action on every page of your website. Make it easy and obvious for them to take the next step.

Need more help? Give us a call!

If you feel overwhelmed at the notion of writing your own copy or simply think that your time would be better spent on other projects, we’re always here to help. Our team includes professional copywriters with experience in writing great text. Check out a few examples of our work on these sites: Sunshine Shop, Beamish Custom Tackle and NE Environmental Landfill.

Call us today at (904) 829-2772 or send an e-mail to letusmarketyou@oldcitywebservices.com. We’re always here to help.

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