There comes a time in every copywriters life when someone else tells him or her that while the copy sounds really nice, it really isn’t getting the message across. Sounds familiar? With the digital age we can truly judge the effectiveness of a piece of copy with the kind of click-through rates you get. No longer is there a debate about which half of the money spent on advertising is working or not. In the online sphere, everything is accountable and can be broken down to the numbers. If something is working you have higher click-throughs, lower bounce rates and more time spent engaged with your creative. Its as simple as that. Or is it?

What makes writing for the online space so challenging is not only the accountability of the copy, but the technical limitations of it as well. There are limited character spaces and limited attention spans to go with it as well. As a budding writer one constantly faces an urge to get creative and flowery with the copy. Yet what works online is sometimes the plainest of copies. This is copy that gets the message across and seals the deal with a call to action. So remember to use action words while crafting that next creative, whether it’s a banner or a Stamp Ad for Facebook.

5 little steps to more effective online copy

• Keep it short, concise and crisp
• Have a definite call to action that induces a click
• Start with an action word if it’s a banner or an emailer
• Avoid using long words
• Say the most important thing first

While these seem so obvious, these are the mistakes we make most often.