Written by Ben Hunt from web design agency Scratchmedia. For more information about his agency visit scratchmedia.co.uk

Copywriting for the Web

Writing effective copy is the art of creating meaning through words. We're constantly surrounded by messages, but it isn't until you try to create a clear, powerful or compelling message that you realise there is a lot more to copywriting than at first appears.

This section aims to demistify the art of writing good copy.

Basically, content written for the web should be as short as possible and as simple as possible.

This will make sure that it can be quickly understood by people in all kinds of situations:

  • people scanning for something they want
  • people who've just arrived deep in your site from a search engine link
  • and visitors from round the world whose first language is different to the language your site's written in

Tutorials and Articles on Writing Copy for the Web

Writing for the Web
Writing for the web 101
Copywriting case study: Bytecon
In this case study, I compressed a multi-page site into a single-pager that delivers a clean, concise message.
Case study: Business Improvement Network
Refreshing the site of this business networking organisation involved a new clean design and improvements to copy and information architecture
Case study: Foruse
A new clean look and a simpler tone of voice for the site of a usabilty engineering company

Other resources

"Learn to Write!"
Introuductory article on A List Apart.
A Guide to Writing Well
Josh Sowin's extensive article on Fire & Knowledge is well compiled and contains some useful information for web writing.
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