Writing an advertisement for the Web One of the things you'll be doing, once you've established a presence on the web, is writing advertisements for your site. Each time you list your site on a Free For All Links page, a Free Classifieds site or with a search engine, you'll be required to enter what is, in fact, an ad. What's in it for me? As with all advertising, this is what people are interested in - how your gizmo can improve their life. Your opening words, then, must tell people how they will benefit from visiting your site. You must also give people a brief idea about the nature of your site - what specific product or service is it selling / what free product or service is it offering / what can people expect to find at your site? The heading On the web, there isn't time for cute headings - people want information and they want it now! Your heading should be no more than four or five words - the fewer the better. e.g. Free Software; Improve Your Writing Personal pronouns We're all most interested in ourselves, so direct all your comments to you, the reader. Use you, your, yours wherever possible. Include we, our, ours throughout your ad, but use I, me, mine very sparingly. Give us the facts Don't tell us that we'll make "thousands of dollars" with this scheme, tell us we'll "see a 20% increase in sales within the first year" - and we'll be more likely to believe you. Use numbers if possible - "101 Uses for Plastic Shopping Bags" is more likely to gain our attention, than "Things to do with plastic shopping bags." Don't use adjectives and adverbs in your ads. An ad should contain plenty of verbs - you need to convey a sense of action and urgency if you want people to buy from you. Don't be clever if it means some of your readers won't understand your ad. Organization of ideas You should always start with the greatest benefit to the reader: Expected improvements Removing worry Introducing new experiences to overcome boredom End with an Appeal for Action Always finish your ad by telling your readers what you want them to do: Click here for more information Only ten remaining vacancies, don't miss out - reply now Go to our secure order form Proof read Before you launch your ad onto the net, re-read it and check for basic mistakes in spelling, punctuation and expression. Then re-read your ad and check that you've used words, which convey benefits to your readers. Source: Article adopted from Jennifer Stewart. Jennifer Stewart is a freelance writer who offers copy writing, editing and proof reading services to her clients from around the globe. Browse over 600 pages of articles on all aspects of writing and subscribe to free, weekly writing tips.