There are, as has been pointed out, different kinds of writing.
On the web, we find two main kinds:
Persuasive writing, meant to promote a company or sell products or
services, such as corporate sites, direct marketing sites, banner ads,
catalog sites
Editorial or informational, meant to inform, such as newsletters, news, and
feature stories
In any metropolitan area, it should not be difficult to find writers who
are capable of writing in one or the other of these styles. For a variety
of reasons, mostly having to do with the different mind sets between
expository prose and sell copy, few writers are good at both (though I
claim to be one who is.) Those who revere the facts tend to stick to
editorial or pr writing. Those with a flair for dramatic exaggeration, a
touch of the mercenary and a little larceny in their hearts tend toward ad
copy -- because it pays more. <g> Doing either well is a craft that one
hones over time with experience -- just like any profession.
There are other kinds of writing to be found on the web, of course,
including technical writing, but much of this is "re-purposed" from other
media and not written from scratch for the web.
Actually, the truth is, much of the copy on corporate sites is also
repurposed from brochures and press releases -- the source of the
scurrilous "brochure-ware" sites we used to hear about. But often this is
in fact the correct and appropriate solution for the client and calls not
for writing per se but rather good editing skills to condense, combine and
reorganize existing content, much as one reorganizes for the web the visual
layout of logos and product photos previously used in the client's advertising.
In fact when I do a site proposal, the cost of such editing is included.
Only if new copy is required do I charge separately, and then at a flat
rate of $300 per web page -- with adjustments (usually downward) depending
on number of pages (the more pages, the lower the per page cost) and the
amount of copy on the final pages.
The most important trick about writing for the web, of course, is to
remember that one is writing for two audiences -- the user and the search
engine. A well written web page, then, is not necessarily one that strictly
conforms to conventional rules of English grammer -- good sales copy is
written for the ear of customer and not the eye of the English teacher --
and often bends the rules of good business writing. In order to feed the
engines correctly, one usually has to employ a goodly measure of subtle
repetition, improper capitalization and redundancy. And writing for the
web also includes responsibility for a final pass after the site design is
completed that addresses meta tag, title tag and alt tag copy construction.
Properly done, optimized page copy can inform or persuade while also
providing above average fodder for the engines -- and without alienating
the user. That, in a nutshell is the job description of the Internet copy
writer.
Bob Schmidt
www.provider.com
Author of The Geek's Guide to Internet Business Success
Published by John Wiley & Sons ISBN 0471288381
The First Book to Address the Business Side of the Web Design Business
http://www.provider.com/geeksguide
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