Writing Online In Two Syllables or Less
About once a month I fly off somewhere to give a one-day workshop on writing for the web. For part of the day, I invite the group to take part in a series of short tasks. In one of these I ask people to write or rewrite a web page headline, using words of two syllables or less. What's the point? Well, the idea is to make people think. It's often tempting to write with long, complex words. Perhaps it has to do with how we were taught at school. And sometimes we use long words simply to sound clever. Before you know it, you end up with something like this, which I found on a CRM site: "Our Internet support infrastructure automatically collects information from the user's system, facilitates effective communication between support personnel and users, and enables self-healing and automated problem resolution." Do you know what they are trying to say? I don't. Two things happen here. First, the use of long words makes it harder for the reader to process the meaning of what you are saying. This is an issue with all writing, but even more so online, because we have to read on a screen. Beyond that, I think the use of long words is a symptom. It's a symptom of a writer being lazy. It's a symptom of someone in a rush, someone who won't take the time to sit back and think through what it is they are really trying to say. Once you are clear in your own mind, and really know what you want to say, it becomes a great deal simpler to express yourself in short, simple words. And when you do that, you'll write in a way that people can grasp very quickly. Should you always write with short words? Of course not. But try it from time to time. Above all, try it when you find yourself writing in a way that goes on and one, with one long word tripping over the next. And yes, in case you haven't noticed, except for the word 'syllables', I wrote this entire piece in words of two syllables or less. (The purpose was not show that it's a simple thing to do, or that I'm so very clever. The idea is to show how easy it is to read a block of text when the words are short and simple.) Nick Usborne is a copywriter, author, speaker and advocat of good writing. You can access all his archived newsletter articles on copywriting and writing for the web at his Excess Voice site. You'll find more articles and resources on how to make money as a freelance writer at his Freelance Writing Success site. |
Other Articles
Subtle Emotion - The Key To Copy That Works Say the word "emotion" to a man, and he'll immediately jump out of his seat and run from the room! Utter the word "emotion" to a woman, and she begins to conjure up thoughts of romantic, long talks centered around feelings. However, speak the word "emotion" to a copywriter and s/he should see dollar signs. Why? Because a good command of subt ...How Crucial Is the Role of Copywriting Copywriting plays a crucial role in promotion and advertisement of any business. No matter what business you are involved in, if you think that simply having a good product or service, is enough to get you the sales then you are wrong. In fact, promotion and advertisement play a major role in getting sales for any business.Any good advert ...Has This Happened To You? You're surfing along, or reading an ezine and click through to a website, and lo and behold there are YOUR WORDS on their webpage!Not just a paraphrased version of your own words, but YOUR WORDS down to the last letter, punctuation and all! Appearing for all the world to see as if it were THEIR OWN doing.Now, one might consider thi ...Internet Marketing 102: Copy What Works Internet Marketing- Forget the experts, latest software program or even that book that someone is selling to get on the "best seller list" and the 200 free ebooks they are offering you. Here is what REALLY works, and it's something that you learned in kindergarden.Although less than 2% of you reading this will ever "get it", every once i ...Copywriting Secrets Of India's Mystics Hi everyone,Been ruminating on this one for a little while now but it’s probably one of the most profound discoveries of my life. It all began with a little book about music and it’s had such a deep influence on my copywriting and small business, indeed my whole outlook on life, I'd like to share it with you all now.Here’s what hap ...Article Writing: 5 Tips on How to Pull and Hold the Reader Okay, so you're getting a feel for this article marketing thing. Cool. Now you must write articles that will engage your reader and hold their attention all the way through, as opposed to "click and flee." Have you ever clicked and fled? This is what happens when your eyes are weary of the internet information overload. You click on an article t ...How to Price a Job Correctly Even When You're Totally Stumped For many copywriters, correctly pricing their work is a constant struggle. When it’s time to offer a price, a myriad of negative influences — both internal and external — descends upon them. Sometimes the result is disastrous.I know this from personal experience. At the beginning of my freelance career, some 20 years ago, I charged Stash ...Answer The Most Important Brand Positioning Question First Too many companies seek to model themselves after a successful company in their industry, paint a red target on them and say, “Let’s go get ‘em!” Then, the sales and marketing team gets to work, figuring out why the competitor is successful, and even set out to emulate their competitor in the marketplace. I’ve seen it happen. It never ends well, ...Writing For The Web: How Good Copy Becomes Bad Marketing When it comes to writing websites, what is good for the search engines is often not good marketing.Why? Because almost inevitably, when you write to please the search engines, you write about the features of your service. But you should be writing about the benefits for your customers.This is a problem you have to take ...Freelance Copywriter Secrets: Nine Ways Newsletters Pull In New Business It’s hard to imagine any business, organization or professional practice that couldn’t realize dramatic results from publishing a well-written newsletter (either in electronic or paper form). As a freelance copywriter, one of my favorite projects is writing a newsletter for a client that wants to generate new profits and new exposure.Her ...Writing Web Content Professional writers find it hard to read web content. Not because web content lacks quality, but because it lacks literary style. Obviously writing for the printed media and writing for the web are two different matters. There are not too many people ready to give up the morning newspaper for the, let’s say, “morning e-zine”, but more and more ...How to Write a Super Sales Letter On the Internet you don't have the benefit of face-to-face contact. So asking people to hand over their credit card is challenging to say the least. Even if you have loads of regularly traffic due to effective and consistent marketing it still won't do any good if you haven't properly developed your sales pitch.It's a good idea to prepare ...Four Score and Seven Years Ago: Copywriting Lessons From Our 16th President It is a crisp, clear autumn afternoon. About 1:30. A full sun hangs in a bright blue sky. A large crowd mills about.The date is November 19th. The year is 1863. And the place is Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.Imagine, for a moment, that you are there. You jostle for position. You strain your neck to get a glimpse. And you cup your hand b ...Copy Writing Services - Profiting from Words! Before you start looking for outside copy writing services you'll need to know what copywriting is. Basically copywriting services are those that turn words into marketing products for your firm. Copywriting services can encompass using text to promote a person, a business, an idea, a product or a service.Many entreprene ...Progressive Headlines Guide Customers To Buy Headlines are, without a doubt, one of the most important elements in copywriting. As has been said countless times before, if you don't get your readers’ attention with the headline, the chance of them reading your copy is virtually none. But headlines (and sub-headlines) play a vital part in the copywriting process for other reasons, too. ...Why Most Top Online Writers For Hire Don't Know What They Are Doing Many so called top online writers for hire actually don't know what they are doing. In other words they will generate very well written articles for a client which will greatly help to enhance the image of any web site. Some of the content may even be keyword rich based on randomly selected keyword phrases. Most clients will be happy and satisfi ...The Right Way... And The Wrong Way... To Start Your Sales Letters! Most people really struggle with figuring out how to start their sales letters. Today I'm going to show you the right way... and the wrong way to start your sales letters so you don't mix things up and wind up losing any sales, O.K.?We're going to start ripping apart that direct-respone ad I found right here in little old Lutz, in my l ...9 Copywriting Strategies for Network Marketers Have you ever struggled to write an ad to promote your products or recruit new distributors? Coming up with creative advertising copy can be overwhelming for many network marketers.As much as you love promoting your products and opportunity, it may be difficult to come up with new creative ads.But never fear. Here are nine copy wri ...Five Tips for Writing Eyeball-Grabbing Headlines If you made it this far, the headline for this story has caught your attention. Hot headlines are a hit with readers because they stick out, grab attention and urge them to read the rest of the story.We're all experiencing information overload and have made it a habit to skim pages. According to David Ogilvy, a successful advertising writ ...A News Release Is Not An Ad You sent out a news release. Then a newspaper or a magazine (or both, oh happy day) published an article about you based on the release. Whoopee! Break out the Dom Perignon!It's true, an article about your business does wonders for your business. Not only do you get an increase in business, but you can leverage the article in many ways. Y ...Nonprofit Copywriting – Expert Tips 1. Cut the jargon.Avoid industry jargon and buzzwords -- stick to the facts and the benefits. Skip "capacity building" and "technical assistance."An easy way to weed out jargon is to think of your mother reading your copy. Would she get it? If not, clarify and simplify.The exception? When you're reaching oth ...SEO Copywriter - Finding The Website Writer You Really Need Search engines and the way they work are constantly evolving. What works today is ineffective or even illegal tomorrow. Writing for search engines is a skill that involves specialist and up-to-date knowledge. Here’s what to look out for if you need someone adept at search engine copywriting.Have they written websites before?It may ...Copywriter Wanted - 7 Traits to Look For... You need a copywriter who specializes in your area of business. Why? Because copywriting for complex subjects requires a deeper level of knowledge than writing for simpler or broader areas. Knowledge a generalist may not have.Whom would you rather write the help files for your new software product? Or develop your marketing materials? A c ...How To Get Copywriting Clients I often say that if you can write a coherent email message you can write copy, but this doesn't mean that you should take the requirements of this kind of writing lightly.The more you strive to develop yourself and your skills, the better you'll get at writing copy. And the better you get at writing copy, and the more you market, the more ...Do You Know What You Are Really Selling? Before you sit down to write that killer sales letter for your product just ask yourself these magic words“What Am I Really Selling?”I hope you’ve got a really good answer to this question because if you haven’t then you are going to have the same amount of success with your sales letter as you will if you’re trying to dry f ...Effective Titles Get People To Read Before They Leave I admit it. I've got an axe to grind.I spent some time a few years ago as a newspaper editor. I learned that a good headline can really sell newspapers. It can get people read. I came up with some real doozies.One of my favorite headlines to write was "Train Derails, Spills The Soybeans." Any idea what that story was about?I ...
|