Writing good copy is hard. Writing great copy is VERY hard – no impossible. And yet the success of your website is not only going to depend upon great design (accessible, maintainable and scalable), a touch of creative marketing, good visual design – but also effective and punchy copy. But how can YOU do it?

Nothing is less inspiring than staring at a blank page – trust me! Writing for the web, or infact any digital media requires a particular style and talent. You need to be professional but friendly, concise and contemporary – and ON BRAND. But if writing great copy is vary hard then writing a killer strap line really is rocket science. In fact only a small subset of good digital copy writers (and as a firm that regularly hires them trust me when I tell you hens teeth are easier to find), only a handful will devise killer strap lines and amazing copy shot.

Beanz Meanz Heinz – simple isn’t it – NO!

I have often thought that there must be a formulaic way of creating these strap lines. For instance use the magical power of three, keep it short (but how short?). Has luck would have it someone else has done the hard work for me (and now for you too).

This someone takes the form of the incredibly talented Nick Padmore who just published a brilliant article. You should read it!

Nick summarises that great copy shot should be:

1. Be five words in length.
2. Not mention the brand name.
3. Be declarative.
4. Be grammatically complete.
5. Be otherwise standard.
6. Contain alliteration, metaphor, or rhyme.

However how he gets to this well qualified list is fascinating, enlightening and hugely valuable.

If you do words or you don’t do words – it really doesn’t matter you will still benefit from the article.