Copywriting for the Web Does Differ

Copywriting as an art differs from medium to medium and writing for websites could be arguably described as the toughest of them all. A lot of people do the mistake of hiring a normal copywriter with some experience in writing flyers, brochures, newspapers, magazines, and other marketing collaterals to write for the web. But little do they know that copywriting for web is a different entity in itself.

Difference between reading a magazine and a webpage

Magazines, newspapers, or any other form of print medium can be brought home and read in the cool confines of our home. But in case of the internet, only few have the privilege of surfing from their personal computer and a large majority still depends on the browsing centers. The alien environment, cold screen, and the fact that they pay for the time they spend in front of the computer make them impatient and they tend to spend little time on a webpage. So, the attention span is way lesser when compared to traditional print medium.

The availability of enormous choice

Another important aspect about the internet is the vast source of information it has. In other words, if your website doesn't impress the reader, he has another million waiting for him. Even better, he can reach all of them in a single click. Sure you do have choices in the print medium, but you can hardly see someone flipping through scores of magazines to get the information he wants. Usually, the reader has a choice when it comes to the print medium. He selects one, buys it, and then goes through the content, in which case the possibility of him reading through the magazine are fairly high.

Short attention span

Studies show that an average reader spends only around 20 seconds to scan a webpage. In other words, you have to impress him within 20 seconds to make him read your page. This is probably the biggest difference between web and other mediums, as readers have a much bigger attention span when it comes to the print medium.

The deadly combination of headline and the opening salvo

Thanks to the relatively short attention span, a web copywriter has to come up with the best possible headline he can think of in order to grab the reader's attention. The headline is what grabs the reader and makes him stay on the webpage. The catchier the headline, the more attention you get. Secondly, the opening salvo has to be as good as the headline to keep the reader interested. If you have a brilliant headline and an interesting opening sentence, chances are that the reader might be tempted to read the entire material.

The modular concept

Unlike a magazine or a newspaper, which the reader tends to read from cover to cover, your website doesn't have a single entry point. The reader might get into your website through a link which might take him to any page in your website. What this means to a copywriter is that he has to treat every page in the website as an entity unto itself. The copy in the first page has to be as grabbing and compelling as the one in the last page, for you never know which page the reader might end up entering.

Keeping all these things in mind, a web copywriter can come up with a gripping copy which will attract a lot of readers. As they say, "content is the king." It has never sounded so true.