How to write new copy for your website

If you're like me, then you probably use Dreamweaver when you're building a new web page because its easy to switch between the code and design view. We'll this can cause all sorts of trouble when you're trying to write marketing copy.

Here's my experience, one day I found myself needing to write some new copy for a web page, so I opened up Dreamweaver and started typing.

First I created my page heading, which of course I thought should be wrapped in a <h1> tag, to be consistent with the rest of the website. I then started writing some of the copy for the web page and realised that I needed to create my content <div> tag as well as my <p> tag.

This went on for quite some time, before I realised that I wasn't really making any progress with the message I was actually trying to convey. The problem as I'm sure you can probably see by now is that I was so occupied with the design that I couldn't focus properly on the actual copy of the new web page.

The lesson I learnt from this experience is that if you're creating a new web page you should always open up a basic text editor and start typing in there. That way you're not distracted by the design or layout of the page.

It's important to make sure that you don't lose the message you're trying to convey by being a jack of all trades.

Here's another great blog post on this topic, which also explains why it's important to have separation between a designer and marketer. Wear more than one hat and eventually they'll all come crashing down