Your web copywriting doesn't describe reality, it creates it.

In fact, every word you feature on your website has the ability to build - or damage - how prospects perceive you. What you say and how you write it directly impacts whether an online visitor:

• Sees value in your product or service
• Trusts your business
• Decides to invest in your offerings

Untapped opportunities on the Web

While many business owners are beginning to understand information is the currency of the Internet, few act on it. This is despite the fact that the Web allows smaller businesses to go toe-to-toe with larger, more established companies.

Points to consider:

• The popularity of the Internet has made it possible to close the gap between small and large companies' reach and ability to communicate. Massive titans no longer have the power to hoard information to maintain a competitive edge.
  
  
• Today's entrepreneur no longer has to deal in an industrial economy, when tools were huge, expensive and difficult to acquire. A laptop is small, affordable and easy to operate and can take a good idea a long way.
  
  
• Plus, thanks to the Internet, small businesses have been granted open passages to the global stage. Your website has the potential to provide your business a borderless marketplace.

Indeed, opportunities are vast in the online world. Regrettably, most business websites continue to be incapacitated due to ill-defined, irrelevant and self-centered content.

Gain trust online

While more than 875 million Internet users have shopped online (Nielsen), people are still wary of the Web. With every click and new page, they look for red flags or clues they're being mislead.

That's because every sale is built on trust. But gaining trust is not achieved with a single step in the sales process. The entire website has to be confidence-inspiring. Winning trust is the fundamental in winning online customers.

Ways to win trust on the Web:

1.   Ensure your site navigation is user driven

2.   Keep your copywriting and design simple and consistent

3.   Feature quality content that's concise, clear and objective

4.   Ensure your copywriting is customer-centric  

5.   Provide references and links to sources

6.   Offer a detailed "About Us" page

7.   Respect visitors' privacy (ask only for information required)

8.   Provide multiple ways to contact you (e-mail, phone, fax etc.)

9.   Maintain your web content so it's relevant and up to date

10. E-commerce sites should have digital certificates/privacy seals

11. List affiliations with any associations or organizations

12. Feature a privacy policy

13. Highlight testimonials with full names

14. Publish case studies

15. Clearly profile your guarantee

16. Maintain easy navigation and fast access

17. Find and fix broken links

18. Kill any hype

The right web content can make you concrete and credible on the abstract and sometimes slippery Internet. Do your business a favour by creating the right reality on the Web.

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