Online Copywriter Explained

An online copywriter is a copywriter that mostly writes for websites. Is there a big difference between an offline copywriter (no such term exists and I’m only using the term for reference: a copywriter that mostly rights for print advertisements and, maybe TV commercials) and an online copywriter? Well, yes and no. First of all, a copywriter should be able to write well, convincingly, and he or she should be able to strike up a conversation with the readers so that they immediately trust what they are reading. This is the most important criteria and it applies to both kinds of copywriters. Given below are a few things that distinguish an online copywriter from an offline copywriter.

An online copywriter writes action-oriented copy

In the online copywriter’s case the action is from the word go. On websites decisions are taken on the spot; a visitor comes to your website looking for something, reads your copy and assimilates the information provided there, and then executes the business transaction there and then. Even if there is no transaction at that moment, the copy of your website should be convincing enough to make the person make a mental note of your website and then return to it whenever he or she wants to purchase the product or the service you are offering.

An online copywriter has little time to waste

Since there is so much competition on the Internet the online copywriter has to make his or her point as soon as possible — there is no time to lose. Many Internet experts attribute this to the small attention span of an average Internet user but I don’t think so; the Internet users have got lots of focus when they are doing something that they really want to do. Actually it is so easy to go to another website — you can visit scores of websites from the comfort of your desk without even having to move an inch and this is why you lose attention if you cannot grab it. Within the first paragraph, or even through the first headline, the online copywriter has to grab the attention of the reader and force him or her to read further by keeping the copy engaging. This takes lots of practice and this is a trait that is sometimes missing in offline copywriters.

An online copywriter should be familiar with the SEO need of the website

When you write for a website, and it matters to the website that it gets ample targeted traffic from the search engines, your copy should not only sound interesting to your human readers it should also help the search engines index it and rank it for the relevant keywords. This means sticking to important keywords and key expressions without sounding "spammy". This requires lots of practice and a great writing skill. If your web copy is not optimized for the right keywords, no matter how great it is, the conversion rate is going to be extremely low because it will never be able to draw the right people from the search engines.

This doesn’t imply that an online copywriter should be an SEO expert; he or she should just be able to organize the text in such a manner that the important keywords and key expressions are quickly noticed by the search engine crawlers as soon as they start crawling your web pages in order to index them.

An online copywriter should be comfortable with the new media

The Internet is constantly evolving and newer technologies emerge almost on a daily basis. An online copywriter, instead of getting overwhelmed with these great communication technologies, should embrace them to communicate more fruitfully. There are many online copywriters for instance, including yours truly, who write regular blogs and social media website content for their clients.