FIVE IMPORTANT RULES OF WEB COPY-EDITING
The #1 way to keep your web customers coming back for more is by making sure your website is ALWAYS free of grammatical errors, punctuation errors and spelling errors. There is nothing worse than Googling a keyword that you are hoping to find a lot more information on, running into a site that suits your exact needs but then finding misspelled words, bad web copy and horrible punctuation.
But by adhering to these five important rules of web copy-editing, your site has a lot better chance of succeeding in the near future.
1) READ THROUGH YOUR NEW WEB COPY TWICE BEFORE ADDING IT TO YOUR SITE
Since most people tend to miss a few badly spelled words or incorrect punctuation in large blocks of
copy, it's always a good idea to read through any text at least twice before adding it to your site.
When reading through your copy the second time, chances are you will see the errors.
2) HIRE A PROFESSIONAL COPY-EDITOR ONCE PER MONTH TO CHECK SITE FOR ERRORS
Even if my main occupation was not as a web copy-editor, I would still recommend that any web
that makes his living with his website hire a professional web copy-editor to check all of his new
web copy. Someone who makes his living checking websites for grammatical errors, too much
'keyword stuffing' and plain boring web copy is worth a LOT more than you pay him. This is because
a new set of eyes always finds errors with web copy when you cannot and most people cannot
write web copy with the correct amount of flair that will bring in new customers to your site.
3) WRITE ANY NEW WEB COPY WITH WORD PROCESSING SOFTWARE FIRST
Any decent word processing software comes equipped with a Spell Check and Grammar Check
feature which is instrumental in making you very aware of any spelling errors you might have
before hitting the 'SAVE' button. This saves you a lot of time and heartache and is a 'must' when
writing any web copy.
4) COME UP WITH COMPELLING HEADLINES FOR YOUR ARTICLES OR BLOGS
One of the most important ways to keep your readers coming back for more information regarding
new DVD's, video games or any other product you are selling them is by coming up with catchy
headlines for your blog or articles/product descriptions. How do you expect to compel your web
visitors to click on one of your article titles or product descriptions if the headlines are boring? It's
not unusual for me to spend more time on coming up with a catchy headline for one of my DVD
reviews than for my actual review! Remember, you need to grab your potential customers by the
horns and drag them to your product selection area by any means necessary!
5) WRITE YOUR WEB COPY WITH A REAL PERSONALITY
I'll bet you have visited plenty of websites that feature a writing style that is drier than the Sahara
Desert. Don't fall prey to this type of writing style. Always try to write your new ad copy or website
text like you are talking to your best friend, not the President of the United States. Use your own
distinct personality when you are trying to describe a new horror DVD or action video game that
just came out that you want your customers to purchase. This one tip will definitely help discourage
any feelings your customers might have regarding being 'hard sold' on any of your site's products.
