The Complete Guide to Writing Web-Based Advertising Copy to Get the Sale: What You Need to Know Explained Simply [Paperback]

Vickie Taylor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 3, 2008

Since the advent of the Internet and since more and more people are making purchases online, writers have had to adapt to composing copy for the Web. Contrary to what many people think, writing for the Web and writing for print are not the same and involve very different skill sets. Instead of struggling to find the right words, copywriters should read this new book from cover to cover to discover how to write sales-generating copy. The Complete Guide to Writing Web-based Advertising Copy to Get the Sale will teach you how to make your copy readable and compelling, how to reach your target audience, how to structure the copy, how to visually format the copy, how to forget everything you ever learned about writing, how to pull in visitors, how to convince visitors to buy, how to outline and achieve your goals, how to create a customer profile, how to create a unique selling position, how to include searchable keywords in the copy, how to convert prospects to paying customers, and how to compose eye-catching headlines. In addition, you will learn about the trends in Web-based advertising; the categories of advertising; the important information that needs to be included in your copy, such as what you are selling, what sets your product apart from the competition s, where you are located, what makes your product affordable, and why you yourself would buy the product; writing in the inverted pyramid style; the do s and don ts of Web-based advertising; and key phrases to incorporate in your copy. We will also provide you with some common mistakes to avoid and tips for writing, revising, and proofreading. By incorporating the principles in this book, you will take your Web-based advertising copy from boring to brilliant, while boosting your sales and increasing your customer traffic.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Atlantic Publishing Company (FL) (July 3, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1601382324
• ISBN-13: 978-1601382320
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,522,913 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Copywriting gem, December 10, 2008

By 

Colin C. Mccandless (Franklin, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Complete Guide to Writing Web-Based Advertising Copy to Get the Sale: What You Need to Know Explained Simply (Paperback)

Vickie Taylor emphasizes repeatedly in her book "The Complete Guide to Writing Web-based Advertising Copy to get the Sale: Everything you Need to Know Explained Simply," that the keys to writing effective web-based advertising copy are brevity and clarity.
She provides the role model for her recommended approach in this "How to Guide" geared towards freelance copywriters and business owners. Taylor writes in a straightforward and conversational style that is both concise and informative.
Her purpose is to provide suggestions and advice on basic design guidelines for improving copy appearance and developing quality web content so one can increase sales, and she does so in a clear, efficient manner.
Taylor shares tricks of the copywriting trade from successful professionals in the business, which provide not only real-world examples, but practical advice and tips from experts who have been through the growing pains and know what works and what doesn't.
However, Taylor doesn't sugarcoat the copywriting business and is up front with her readers concerning its challenges. "The creative world of advertising is tough stuff," Taylor writes, which she follows later with, "writing copy is not as easy as it may seem."
You can tell from the myriad quotes she incorporates into her work from other literary minds that Taylor has a writer's sensibility: her wide-ranging references to authors include Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Truman Capote, Sun Tzu, George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Johnson and others.
She dispenses good advice throughout, emphasizing a diverse background and diverse experiences to help inform copywriting and reminding copywriting novices that being effective ("words drive the sale") is more important than being creative.
Taylor includes helpful sections such as a "Day in the Life," a contrived, but pragmatic scenario where you imagine a day in the life of a typical consumer in your target market so you can learn how they operate and how to best reach them.
Also useful is a sample creative brief she develops for a fictional company called "Guac-n-Rock" guacamole which presents a relevant example to business owners seeking to reach their target audience.
Although her focus is writing advertising copy for Internet media, she explains how to write for different types of media and various types of ad web copy such as e-mail marketing.
Taylor even includes a section on blogging and new media that describes how incorporating blogs into a business allows you to have an interactive site that connects with consumers on a more personal level.
While the book does contain some extraneous material (the section on "Creative Aerobics" can probably be jettisoned) her overall message is consistent and novice copywriters or small business owners should find it valuable.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not about copywriting, not by a copywriter, but not horrible, August 26, 2009

By 

ReaderDiva (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Guide to Writing Web-Based Advertising Copy to Get the Sale: What You Need to Know Explained Simply (Kindle Edition)

This is not a horrible book, if you look at it as an introductory marketing book.

It's not about copywriting. The writer doesn't even know what copywriting is (it's sales copy, not blogging or editorial). That's not an opinion. THAT IS WHAT COPYWRITING IS.

This author is a graphic designer who has written some content.

If you're looking for a basic marketing book, it's passable.

If you're looking for a book on COPYWRITING, you should look for something by Bob Bly, Hershel Gordon Lewis or another copywriter.

This is a common mistake, but it is very frustrating to buy a book and find out it's not even about what the title says.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't buy! This book is really poor!, December 11, 2009

By 

L. Fassbender "leonfassbender" (Holland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Complete Guide to Writing Web-Based Advertising Copy to Get the Sale: What You Need to Know Explained Simply (Paperback)

This book is really useless. It has not been written by a real copywriter and its content is very superficial. Here are some suggestions from the author:

- Use a telephone number on your website so that customers can call you back
- People don't like websites with lots of text
- Some facts about men as a demographic; they make quick judgements, they like sex, they like sports and technology

And she continues her useless generalizations about gays, hispanics and other groups. Then, there are some real grammar errors in this book and in no way it gives you any advise on copywriting, other then some general talk that any serious copywriter cannot relate to or learn anything from.

It's a shame that I had to pay any money for this crap. I wouldn't have taken it, even if it had been offered for free!

To summarize the poor quality of this book: on page 285 there is a picture of the author which is upside down! I mean , does she know anything about quality control or proofreading????????

To finalize it; this book is full of so called "expert advise" of some so called "copywriters" that give their advise. I guess they put it in just to fill the pages, because it has no value at all.

What do I care about a copywriter telling me how his first job was and if he was excited? Come on! Tell me something about copywriting!! I bought this book to get some advise on how to write content for my website but now I have to shop for another book, since this book (if it can be called a book) lacked in ALL departments.

Please spend your cash on other books. Don't buy this!