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People have the concentration spans of goldfish on the internet. So to keep them interested, the copywriting on your website needs to be light, easy to read and captivating. Here are 10 tips for copywriters on how to make your writing more concise and punchy: 1. Vary your sentence lengths between long and short to give your writing a sense of rhythm. Aiming for an average sentence length of 16 words is also a good yardstick of whether you’re keeping your sentences down to a nice length. 2. Use connecting words like ‘so’, ‘and’ or ‘because’ to break up long sentences. 3. Cut out unnecessary words. Taking out superfluous adjectives, like ‘very’, is a good place to start. 4. Make sure there’s a purpose behind everything you write. Don’t waffle just to make up the word count. Directionless writing will just make readers bored and have them heading for the exit 5. Avoid using words just because they sound impressive (a common mistake with B2B copywriting). ‘Impressive’ words are now so overused they just sound like clichés and have lost any real meaning 6. Keep paragraphs to a single thought or point. Leave long paragraphs to novelists and keep yours to 2 or 3 sentences to keeping readers interested. Long blocks of text can look like a daunting challenge on a computer screen. 7. Break up the page with benefit laden subheads and bullet points. This aids skim readers and helps people find the information they want quickly 8. Use positive, inspiring language, with words like ‘can’, ‘will’ and ‘do’. Avoid negative words because they’ll just dampen the reader’s spirits 9. Write in the reader’s language and in a conversational style. Remember you are writing for people, and not a fax machine (another common mistake by B2B copywriters). Imagine you’re talking to a friend in a bar about an amazing product you’ve discovered and what you would say 10. Use power words, like ‘breakthrough’, ‘revealed’ and ‘proven’ Copywriting is often said to be salesmanship in print. With the help of these punchy copywriting tips, you’ll have a better chance of keeping them interested and listening to what you have to say. ----------------------------------------------------- Article provided by Matt Ambrose from the Copywriters Crucible - an award winning melting pot of copywriting tips and marketing ideas.
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