http://tc.eserver.org/authors/Usborne,_Nick A bibliography of works by Usborne, Nick in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Usborne,_Nick http://tc.eserver.org/31130.html http://tc.eserver.org/31130.html This 24-page e-book is a compilation of six articles, all focused on starting and growing a successful freelance copywriting business. In addition to the articles, there is also a resource page with suggestions for courses and further reading. http://tc.eserver.org/31132.html http://tc.eserver.org/31132.html This free 35-page guide outlines seven challenges every writer and copywriter faces when writing for the Web. http://tc.eserver.org/28845.html http://tc.eserver.org/28845.html Optimizing an offer page to maximize the number of people who make a purchase or pay for a subscription is a delicate process. You need to get the balance just right. http://tc.eserver.org/28839.html http://tc.eserver.org/28839.html Every self-appointed pundit on the planet is saying that users are the new 'owners' of the online medium. http://tc.eserver.org/28840.html http://tc.eserver.org/28840.html If you do business online, there are times when you send your customers, prospects and subscribers an email or two. The emails you send tend to fall within one of three categories. Each of these three types of emails requires a slightly different approach. Their purposes are different, and each should be optimized to perform their respective tasks. http://tc.eserver.org/28844.html http://tc.eserver.org/28844.html All too often web pages, even home pages, provide readers with a variety of choices, but don't really provide a clear way forward. This is particularly true when a site has multiple products or services to sell. But this lack of direction is also evident on some sites which have just a single offering. http://tc.eserver.org/28841.html http://tc.eserver.org/28841.html You do need to make each page appear unique, even if the basic design and typography remain the same. http://tc.eserver.org/28833.html http://tc.eserver.org/28833.html Try rewriting your pages with just the benefits or offer amplified. Then try a draft with a much better price or guarantee. http://tc.eserver.org/28842.html http://tc.eserver.org/28842.html Ask print direct response copywriters if they are held accountable, and they'll say yes. That was my own life for 15 years. I wrote direct mail packages and was judged not on my past reputation, but on the performance of each piece I wrote, one mailing at a time. http://tc.eserver.org/28834.html http://tc.eserver.org/28834.html Even if you're selling furniture or herbal supplements, the addition of a large number of articles to your site offers several benefits. http://tc.eserver.org/28836.html http://tc.eserver.org/28836.html It took me a while to realize this about my own approach to web page writing, but I have two different ways of writing. http://tc.eserver.org/28838.html http://tc.eserver.org/28838.html When you have written a few pages that came out easily, and are all in the same confident, relaxed tone, that's the time to sit back and see what you have done. Re-read those pages. Become intimately familiar with the tone and style you have adopted. And then...at least this is what I did...go back and edit your earlier pages, particularly those which no longer seem to ring true, or feel quite right. http://tc.eserver.org/28837.html http://tc.eserver.org/28837.html Acting in your capacity as a friend, as well as an expert, you would probably ask a few questions first, just to be sure you really understand the problem. And when you did start offering some advice, you would want to be helpful. You would want to offer some genuine guidance. And if you did have some services you could offer, you would recommend only those services that were directly relevant to the problem. http://tc.eserver.org/28843.html http://tc.eserver.org/28843.html I don't recall the last time I received a commercial email that made me take notice or smile. http://tc.eserver.org/28835.html http://tc.eserver.org/28835.html I am amazed by the number of places you can find content for your newsletter. Some of it takes the form of free articles. Some of it you pay for, and can request any kind of content you like. One way or another, whatever your industry and the focus of your e-newsletter, there are plenty of places to get good content for every issue you send. http://tc.eserver.org/28832.html http://tc.eserver.org/28832.html The best buddy approach works within specific product and service sectors, where readers can easily be tripped into a state of dissociation...because they have problems that the writer promises to solve. http://tc.eserver.org/28296.html http://tc.eserver.org/28296.html Find out how to avoid sneaky marketing practices that users can see through. Instead, provide honest and useful content and watch the number of repeat site visitors soar. http://tc.eserver.org/28149.html http://tc.eserver.org/28149.html Sometimes copywriters and content writers write in clichés. To a reader, the line has barely any meaning, and certainly no impact. Why not? Because it is too familiar. Because he or she has read the same phrase so many times before, in too many other places. http://tc.eserver.org/28147.html http://tc.eserver.org/28147.html For a long time I have been an advocate of quality content on web sites. And now I am conducting an experiment that pitches quality content against immediate gratification. http://tc.eserver.org/28143.html http://tc.eserver.org/28143.html Home pages can be tricky, simply because your page not only has its own job to do, but also has to support a group of second level pages. Here's how I approach writing home pages...whether a site has a total of ten pages or a thousand pages. http://tc.eserver.org/28144.html http://tc.eserver.org/28144.html If you are presenting a risk-free trial of something...get that message into your headline. This may sound obvious, but while we were testing various offer pages, it became clear that the winning pages all had headlines which were focused on the offer, and were very much reader and benefit centered. http://tc.eserver.org/28150.html http://tc.eserver.org/28150.html I think that the people who give the testimonials do so for the additional exposure they receive for their own names, sites and businesses. I also think they do some mutual back-scratching, and hype each other's products and services. In other words, the testimonials are just additional sales text. They have no credibility as outside, third-party endorsements. http://tc.eserver.org/28148.html http://tc.eserver.org/28148.html A great many changes are taking place online right now. This is particularly true when you are trying to reach and sell to potential customers who are up-to-date with new technologies and ways of using the web. I'm thinking of the people who download podcasts to their iPods. http://tc.eserver.org/28142.html http://tc.eserver.org/28142.html Simplicity is probably the most important underlying factor when it comes to the performance of any web page...whether it be your home page, an interior page, a sales page or a landing page. Here are six ways to keep your pages simple, and increase conversions. http://tc.eserver.org/28151.html http://tc.eserver.org/28151.html When someone signs up for my newsletter, I list some other newsletters they might be interested in on my site's thank-you page. People can simply check a box next to the other newsletters they want to receive, click one button, and they're done. The publishers I partner with do the same for me, listing the Excess Voice newsletter on their sign-up thank-you pages. http://tc.eserver.org/28146.html http://tc.eserver.org/28146.html Much has been said and written about how to optimize individual landing pages. However, when you want a web site visitor to take an action, if often takes more than one page. So how much work do you put into optimizing not just the primary landing page, but also the pages that follow? Here are some tips to keep in mind as you write and optimize a landing page sequence. http://tc.eserver.org/28145.html http://tc.eserver.org/28145.html I am quite surprised by what I have learned about the effectiveness of product names as organic search keywords. http://tc.eserver.org/27606.html http://tc.eserver.org/27606.html Find out how to become a trusted expert on your website and watch your online credibility soar! http://tc.eserver.org/27607.html http://tc.eserver.org/27607.html Never underestimate the importance of the page title and meta description - they're used by both search engines and people to judge your website. http://tc.eserver.org/27107.html http://tc.eserver.org/27107.html Remember your site visitors won't find your website as easy to use as you do. Change your state of mind and you'll improve the user experience for all visitors. http://tc.eserver.org/26800.html http://tc.eserver.org/26800.html Whatever the purpose of the sites you work on, their success depends on visitors doing something. We want our visitors to sign up, or buy, or donate, or download, or apply, or post opinions, or pick up the phone and call us. One way or another if we are to judge our sites as being successful, they have to result in some kind of action on the reader's part. http://tc.eserver.org/26484.html http://tc.eserver.org/26484.html If you’ve been working with keyword optimization for a while, you know there are times when some great keywords drive tons of traffic to your site, but the resulting conversion rate is terrible. http://tc.eserver.org/26472.html http://tc.eserver.org/26472.html However compelling the message, however great the copy, however strong the sales argument… the way a page is designed will have a dramatic impact on conversion rates, for better or for worse. http://tc.eserver.org/25537.html http://tc.eserver.org/25537.html One bright, sunny day, the Bad Internet Fairy closed down every company and organization site on the web. But even though all those company and organization sites had closed down, the internet was still ablaze with activity. http://tc.eserver.org/25523.html http://tc.eserver.org/25523.html Even the simplest website is harder to figure out than a catalog or magazine. We all know how to 'use' a catalog: start at the front cover and keep turning the pages. But with every new site we visit, we have to 'learn' how it works, how its 'pages' turn, how to find what we’re looking for. Text that takes visitors' needs into account can help guide them through the maze. http://tc.eserver.org/25402.html http://tc.eserver.org/25402.html As a writer of copy or content online, knowledge of search engine optimization is fast becoming a basic requirement. http://tc.eserver.org/25317.html http://tc.eserver.org/25317.html A sure way to find new work opportunities is to expand the range of skills you offer your employer or clients. http://tc.eserver.org/25321.html http://tc.eserver.org/25321.html Here are four things you need to keep in mind, four elements that demand your attention, four separate ‘audiences’ you need to satisfy. http://tc.eserver.org/25320.html http://tc.eserver.org/25320.html Persuading your managers to allow some testing in the tone and voice of a newsletter isn’t half as hard as persuading them to make changes to your site’s homepage. http://tc.eserver.org/25319.html http://tc.eserver.org/25319.html Your visitor hasn't completed their 'search' when they arrive at your homepage. The search is just the beginning. Part of your task is to understand how best to write the links that take people deeper into your site. And one way of maximizing that clickthrough is to use terms that are directly relevant to the visitor's continuing search. http://tc.eserver.org/25315.html http://tc.eserver.org/25315.html When visitors arrive at your site for the first time, the best outcome you can hope for is that they think, 'Excellent, I’m in exactly the right place. I can find what I’m looking for right here.' The problem is, the more you write the page to suit the needs of the reader, the less character it has. http://tc.eserver.org/25316.html http://tc.eserver.org/25316.html Back in the late nineties, the phrase ‘Content is King’ was repeated and repeated and repeated by site owners and marketers alike. The belief was that the more content you had, the greater the number of visitors you would attract. Of course, the content had to be well written, relevant and easy to find. Many sites built very successful businesses as a result. http://tc.eserver.org/25318.html http://tc.eserver.org/25318.html It's often tempting to write with long, complex words. Perhaps it has to do with how we were taught at school. And sometimes we use long words simply to sound clever. http://tc.eserver.org/25314.html http://tc.eserver.org/25314.html I have learned that nobody believes a word I say about the importance of content and copy on web sites...until their have their own personal epiphany. http://tc.eserver.org/25277.html http://tc.eserver.org/25277.html Deciding on WHAT to say sounds easy, but rarely is. When you concentrate on the 'what' of the message, it makes you start asking a lot of the right questions. http://tc.eserver.org/25276.html http://tc.eserver.org/25276.html Pick up a Sears catalog and you can flick through the pages and get pretty close to the exact product you want in less than 5 seconds. Now visit an unfamiliar e-commerce site and you'd better put aside a few minutes to figure out where to find what you want, if it's there at all. http://tc.eserver.org/25274.html http://tc.eserver.org/25274.html I have been reading a lot about how companies are enthusiastically embracing RSS as a wonderful alternative to email newsletters. I can understand their enthusiasm, in part. After all, legitimate commercial email and newsletters are being decimated by spam filters. In addition to which, consumers are growing weary of having to distinguish between what is spam and what is not. There are additional benefits to making newsletters available by RSS. RSS means your subject line never disappears below the fold of an email window. With RSS the newsletter is always there, ready and waiting for when your reader is ready to take a look. With RSS your archives can be just a click away...providing easy and immediate access to previous issues. http://tc.eserver.org/25275.html http://tc.eserver.org/25275.html There's a small problem online. An over-abundance of boring writing. Boring writing in emails. Boring writing on Web sites. Excruciatingly self-indulgent and boring writing in Web logs. Boring newsletters. You get the idea. But does it have to be this way? And do commercial emails and newsletters in particular have to be so boring? http://tc.eserver.org/25226.html http://tc.eserver.org/25226.html I have written often about the value of writing online in a personal voice. In particular, emails and newsletters lend themselves to a genuine, personal tone. http://tc.eserver.org/25228.html http://tc.eserver.org/25228.html You’ll be on a second or third-level page, well on your way towards achieving the task you have in mind, and suddenly you’ll find your attention being distracted by links, ads and offers unrelated to that task. http://tc.eserver.org/25225.html http://tc.eserver.org/25225.html This article isn’t so much about copywriting itself, but about the reasons why I choose to write for a living. http://tc.eserver.org/25224.html http://tc.eserver.org/25224.html Freelancer writers tend to develop something of a superior attitude at times. Some of us feel that we are a cut above our brothers and sisters who work as employees. http://tc.eserver.org/25227.html http://tc.eserver.org/25227.html Think back a few years, to a time when most enewsletters were text-only, packed with useful information and carrying the unmistakable voice of the writer. http://tc.eserver.org/25229.html http://tc.eserver.org/25229.html For writers who focus too intently on keywords and phrases, there is a danger. A danger in optimizing your pages for good keywords? Yes, I think so. http://tc.eserver.org/25223.html http://tc.eserver.org/25223.html The trouble with using text as a branding tool on web pages is that it gets in the way of what visitors are looking for. Visitors want and expect text to be useful and information. They are in 'active' and 'engaged' mode. They are searching. They want something. Text that isn't useful is disappointing. http://tc.eserver.org/25222.html http://tc.eserver.org/25222.html I'm no expert on the economy, but I don’t see a lot of signs of growth and smiling faces in 2005. As writers, we are in the fortunate position of being able to protect ourselves against fluctuations in the economy, to some degree. To protect your own income over the next year, here are some suggestions. http://tc.eserver.org/25218.html http://tc.eserver.org/25218.html Freelance copywriters are a strange group of people when it comes to running their own businesses. http://tc.eserver.org/25217.html http://tc.eserver.org/25217.html Forget that Google is a search engine. Just for a moment, imagine it is a style guide. A very different kind of style guide. http://tc.eserver.org/25221.html http://tc.eserver.org/25221.html There are three approaches I take to the creation of a page, and each has a significant impact on how high the listing for that page appears on Google. http://tc.eserver.org/25220.html http://tc.eserver.org/25220.html If a web page doesn’t have a clear, simple headline at the top, it should. A headline is the fastest way to help a new reader find out what the page is about. It’s a clue, it provides direction. http://tc.eserver.org/25219.html http://tc.eserver.org/25219.html Web writers are divided up into two groups: content writers and copywriters. http://tc.eserver.org/24134.html http://tc.eserver.org/24134.html Site visitors crave the sense that someone is there, within and behind your Web pages, your emails and newsletters. http://tc.eserver.org/24142.html http://tc.eserver.org/24142.html The Internet can connect people who are continents apart, in a way that is genuinely one-on-one and filled with emotion. http://tc.eserver.org/24139.html http://tc.eserver.org/24139.html Business online has invested billions of dollars in the technology that delivers its messages. The trouble is, it has invested almost nothing in the messages themselves. http://tc.eserver.org/24133.html http://tc.eserver.org/24133.html Why doesn't everyone determine copy length based on the needs and expectations of his site visitors? http://tc.eserver.org/24144.html http://tc.eserver.org/24144.html When it comes to writing emails to our customers and prospects, we pay a great deal of attention to the subject lines and the opening lines of the inside text. You also need to pay attention to your closings. http://tc.eserver.org/24132.html http://tc.eserver.org/24132.html I'd urge you to treat your readers with respect. Respect for site users or e-mail and newsletter recipients is not a way of writing, it's a state of mind. It's the belief everyone should be treated decently, be told the truth. It's a genuine discomfort with even the idea of treating people as if they were suckers to be taken advantage of. Writing with respect is about being honest, with both your audience and yourself. http://tc.eserver.org/24135.html http://tc.eserver.org/24135.html There are some simple steps you can take which, when taken in the right sequence, can improve your copy. http://tc.eserver.org/24136.html http://tc.eserver.org/24136.html The Web is interactive, whether you like it or not. And your customers are live participants in the marketing process, whether you like it or not. And as participants, they want something that most companies find hard to deliver. Your customers want you to listen. They want you to tune in and hear what is on their minds. http://tc.eserver.org/24143.html http://tc.eserver.org/24143.html As I write, and even after I have finished and am proofing my work, I have to be sure to be tuned in to a diminutive little editor who sits to one side of my mind. http://tc.eserver.org/24138.html http://tc.eserver.org/24138.html The voice of commerce grates terribly online when it is misplaced. When I'm reading someone's weblog, I do not want to be offered the opportunity to buy a t-shirt or baseball cap. http://tc.eserver.org/24140.html http://tc.eserver.org/24140.html Writing is a subject that doesn't crop up too often at conferences. Why not? ecause writing is not one of the sexy things that happens online. Programming is sexy. Online design is sexy. The technology behind e-mail and e-commerce is sexy. http://tc.eserver.org/24145.html http://tc.eserver.org/24145.html Working for yourself can be a blessing and a curse. Independent contractors ('ICs') enjoy more freedom and control over their work than employees do -- and they can earn more money, too. But they also have to contend with deadbeat clients, self-employment taxes and the higher cost of doing business on their own. http://tc.eserver.org/24141.html http://tc.eserver.org/24141.html The copy or content on a page often comes to an end without having communicated the need to move forward now. http://tc.eserver.org/24125.html http://tc.eserver.org/24125.html Focus all your energy on figuring out WHAT to say. Get that right and everything else will fall into place. http://tc.eserver.org/24124.html http://tc.eserver.org/24124.html Any online communication that takes longer than one screen asks a great deal of any visitor. This is a big factor in determining why online conversion rates are so poor. http://tc.eserver.org/24126.html http://tc.eserver.org/24126.html Here's a tip on how to achieve that in a way that grabs attention and builds credibility. Illustrate it. Don't tell it. http://tc.eserver.org/24123.html http://tc.eserver.org/24123.html There's a small problem online. An over-abundance of boring writing. Boring writing in emails. Boring writing on Web sites. Excruciatingly self- indulgent and boring writing in Web logs. Boring newsletters. But does it have to be this way? And do commercial emails and newsletters in particular have to be so boring? http://tc.eserver.org/24110.html http://tc.eserver.org/24110.html I've alternatively praised both long and short copy. In some columns, I have extolled the personal touch you can achieve through longer, more conversational text. In others I have pointed out that short, active text is your best bet for directing readers and maximizing conversion rates. There's no real contradiction here. Sometimes long copy will do the best job for you; other times you'll be better off using short copy. http://tc.eserver.org/24111.html http://tc.eserver.org/24111.html Being sensitive to the fact that the user is in control, many sites simply present as many options as possible on their home pages. The thinking apparently being that the more choices you show on page one, the more likely you are to present something that connects with as many visitors as possible. http://tc.eserver.org/24109.html http://tc.eserver.org/24109.html Individual words are simply tools. Similarly, a particular color is a tool to a painter, and a given note to a musician. To write copy while focused on power words is like painting by numbers. You achieve a recognizable outcome with absolutely no creativity or life. No passion, no originality. Copywriting 'by numbers' may be good enough for some people. But if you have aspirations to write great copy, to make your mark -- you need to think beyond that. http://tc.eserver.org/24112.html http://tc.eserver.org/24112.html Visitors don't come to our sites to 'browse' or 'surf' - they arrive with a set of questions in their minds. They have a task to achieve. They want to get something done. When a visitor's needs are that specific, you can't afford to ignore those needs and spend your first screen talking about your wonderful company or organization. You don't have time. Your visitors won't allow you the time. http://tc.eserver.org/19018.html http://tc.eserver.org/19018.html A dead fragment of text is what's left after a usability expert has had his or her way with some perfectly good copy. The process works a little like this... First, take some great text that engages the reader on a number of levels. Here are a few words from Martin Luther King, Jr.: 'I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.' Now cut that back to make it more 'usable': 'Have sons judged by character and not color.' What are you left with? A brief, but dead, fragment. The substance of the communication remains, but the soul has been ripped out of it.