Writing Marketing Text: Advice for Veteran Webmasters
Every webmaster faces the daunting task of writing marketing text. An Internet web page has all the graphics necessary for visual stimulation; but, to complete the site, you have to talk to the surfer. Webmasters who have been in the industry for longer than a minute know how important text is. Words give a web page added dimension and its own distinctive flavor. Text completes the site and is essential for any chance of earning revenue.
Search engines cannot help but spider text. No matter what the dance is for the day, no matter how often the algorithms change, words get spidered. The utilization of keyword rich, emotion evoking sentences, or phrases can mean the difference between selling and not selling.
Each and every niche demands usage of certain words and a style of language, which, if successfully executed, will attract and entice the surfer. The ultimate goal of every web site, whether it be free or member based, is to lure the surfer in, manipulate their senses, and get them to spend money.
Link lists and TGPs are now determining which words they dont want, such as young and teen. Its only a matter of time before Visa begins its witch hunt for terms they deem inappropriate. There are influences present in todays society, making it a higher risk when describing that succulent young teen model, while, at the same time, making sure the world knows shes over the age of consent for US audiences.
It sounds pretty easy. Its not. The ability to talk blindly to a target audience, whose age is only surmised, but necessarily known, is difficult on the best of days. When youre in a bar, youve got body language and facial expressions to convey what you mean. When youre cranking out hundreds of sites a day, creativity with words becomes tedious. Marketing text has to speak to the specific surfer, which means you, the webmaster, must learn the vernacular of that particular group. If the niche is for those in the forty and up crowd, gangsta Ebonics is going to be a turn off. Smack talk doesnt always work, either. There is a growing group of people who are tired of cunt talk, that harsh fuck language, which is designed to shock.
Its imperative to research your niche. Use the phrases which trigger a buying response from your surfer, which means calling a BBW a humongous whale will not get your audience in the mood.
Believe it or not, I read personal ads. Its amazing what youll find written by surfers for surfers. I also surf the message boards. Just type in a keyword and add the word forum and you can find all kinds of message boards where ordinary people hang out. As you sift through their messages, you can get a feel for what turns them on, what makes them horny.
When writing a bio for a chick, dont try to sound like the girl, if youre a guy. Youre a guy. You cant be a girl. It takes a special kind of talent to be multi-gendered when writing advertising copy. Its difficult to write; its impossible to be someone youre not. Just talk. Tell the surfer what you want him to know. Pretend youre standing in front of a group, describing this really cool site you found. Talk out loud, as youre typing. Youll be able to hear the inflection in your own voice, which will give you the areas necessary for punctuation, such as commas and periods.
Shouting tends to turn off surfers, so be careful with capitalization and exclamation points. Font size does not have to be huge; it takes up too much space and even new surfers will find where you want them to click. Conversely, small fonts may just lose an important segment of the population. Those who are far sighted need glasses to read. Font size one is too tiny for anyone. Remember. We want to give the surfer a hard on, not a headache.
Visit chat rooms to see how people talk to each other. Ive picked up many great text ideas from AOL chat rooms.
Playboy, Penthouse and Hustler used to be great sources for text. I dont use them much anymore because they are all beginning to sound the same.
I think the most important factor in writing marketable text is the relationship your words form with the surfer. Appeal to his desires and youve increased your chances of selling. Make sure youre using the language which will provoke or evoke the response. Otherwise, youre just publishing another web site, indistinguishable from all the others.
