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The web is a unique medium with its own rules and contraints.

Visitors arrive from different places and they don't stay for long. Because the web is interactive, users tend to glance at pages or skim through copy rather than read the text like they would in a magazine or book.

Unless content speaks directly to your audience with clarity and purpose, visitors will not stick. It pays to consider your audience carefully and to deliver content that is relevant, clear and to the point. It helps to format it concisely. It also helps to write it with a personal voice - Visitors dislike web writing that is bland or insincere.

Consider specialists who are familiar with writing for the web. Most designers and programmers are not web copy writers. Neither are the marketing staff with only printed material exposure. Web writers are skilled practicioners with effective knowledge and experience in this medium.

Components of good web copy:

• Short to-the-point text
• Skimmable or "scannable" text
• Embedded links that are relevant
• Chunked paragraphs
• Bullet-pointed text
• Effective titles and subtitles
• Concise and consistent format
• Personal voice

Consider specialists like AgileInteraction who are experienced web writers and enjoy guiding others to prepare great web copy!