Master the art of writing for web

Writing for web is remarkably different than writing for print, as the attention span of people on the web is pretty short. You need to write using bullet points, headings, subheadings, images, etc.

Master the art of writing headline

A headline is very important in increasing the open rate of your content. You may get the best ranking for all the keywords, but if you do not have an attractive headline, your article will not get read. You should know how to write killer headlines.

Learn a bit about keywords and SEO

A little knowledge of SEO and keywords is required for all online writers, as keywords are the basis on which the entire web is organized. You should educate yourself on these two.

Prepare a portfolio

Writing is an art, and you are an artist. And an artist who does not have anything to show cannot support his claim of producing a fantastic piece of art. You should, therefore, prepare a portfolio keeping everything that I talked above. This will be your asset that you will need to show your clients.

Write a cover letter

A cover letter is like a direct sales letter. It either persuades your prospective clients to see your portfolio, or it can bore them to death. Many a freelancing assignments are made or broken at this level only. So spend good deal of time in creating a killer cover letter that can literally pull your clients with hands and make them read your sample articles.

You should follow the above given suggestions to start a freelance career. You can add some more items to your preparation, but you should not remove any. Each one of them is important. Very important!

An effective advertisement copy is the one which successfully draws attention of its target audience, creates a favorable attitude towards the product and induces action. A good copy should have the following basic requisites.

It should be brief

Most important criteria for copywriting is the ability to craft short, crisp yet extremely interesting lines. That’s one major quality that copywriters often boast upon the content writers. Since our attention span is getting shorter day by day and readers prefer short, crisp advertisements it’s always recommended to keep the copy short and compact.

It should be simple and clear

Advertisements are means of communication and not means of confusion. So avoid the temptation of writing big, mouthful heavy words for the sake of showing your words prowess. Advertisements should be easily comprehensible, self-explanatory. Avoid ambiguous, incorrect words.

It should be apt

Copy should never be irrelevant to the target audience or the product category. Often the copywriter overlooks consumers or the product and get obsessed with the ambition of crafting award winning lines. An effective ad carries copy which matches with its consumers’ insight, product features and adds panache of creativity. Objective of the advertisement is not to be forgotten.

It should be personal

An effective ad is the one which portrays that it’s just talking to you. It carries personal touch. Words like ‘you’, ‘yours’ instead of a general message addressing all definitely works better.

It should be honest

Often advertising is accused of being manipulative and deceptive. But to remain in the business for a long run companies should always put forth honest and truthful communication. Communication can be wise and playful but not deceptive. It should not leave consumers with a false or wrong idea.

It should conform to the norms

All advertisements are supposed to conform to the standards, rules and regulations set by the advertising council of the country. Morally offending, community or religion humiliating, distasteful advertisement copies are banned all over.

An effective and nicely crafted copy is the backbone of any advertising communication.

It will not be wrong to say that the online media is more or less an action media from where we gather information and put to our day to day use.  Therefore, the content produced for this media should be different from the content produced for any other media.

Nature of online content

• Instead of reading each word people tend to scan through the material they see on the screen. Hence, the article should be easily scanable. We need to break an article into sub-headings and supply bullet points to make the article easy to read.
• Do not use impersonal pronouns like one, someone, they etc. Use ‘you’ instead of he, she, or one.
• Use conversational language, and do not beat around the bush. Be direct.
• The attention span of individuals surfing net is quite divided; therefore, supply images, tables, and lists to make the article easy to read.
• Holding readers’ attention is the key. And the lighter the article will be to the readers’ eyes the more time they will spend scanning the article.
• You just have ten to fifteen seconds to grab the readers’ attention. So the opening sequence should be powerful.
• The title of your article should build curiosity, which the content of your article should satiate.
• Do not use close- ended assertive questions in your titles which could be answered in ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

The web is a participatory medium. And your article is a way to start a conversation. Do not provide all the answers, leave scope for discussion. The more people will interact with you, the more involved they will become. This is how we build community on the web.