What is the big difference between Online Copywriting and Offline Copywriting?
When it comes to writing copy one thing you need to understand that there are some big differences between online and offline copywriting.
The first big difference is who will be reading it.
Offline copy is presented in different mediums as well as printed on various materials. It is often viewed as something that is read just to pass the time, with no real expectations in mind. Because offline readers are just reading for enjoyment they tend to be more patient and forgiving.
Online copy doesn’t have that advantage. More often than not, Internet users have a very specific reason for visiting a website and they most certainly have expectations when it comes to reading through online copy. Since they are fully aware of what they are looking for, they are much more likely to become impatient and waste no time moving on to a different article if what they are currently looking at turns out to be less than helpful.
Another big difference is that in certain situations the offline copy gives the reader no opportunity to be selective. For instance, reading from a magazine limits them to the contents of just that magazine. If there aren’t any other magazines to choose from and they want to obtain certain information or they are trying to pass the time, they have little option other than to read the magazine from beginning to end.
With online copy second chances tend to be very uncommon, so you must make each and every word powerful and significant from beginning to end, starting with your headline and ending with a final call to action.
Flipping from one website to another is extremely easy for online readers, especially with search engines like Google more than willing to provide them with the next best link if your content turns out to be less than what they hoped for. The only solution to this problem is to keep their attention by making every word well worth their time.
Yet another big difference is the cost involved with publishing. Offline copywriters have to occasionally have to consider the costs of printing their work in a particular format. The amount of words, paragraphs, font sizes and the medium that they print on will make the price of printing and publishing go up quickly. For this reason, they are pressured to make changes, which are not necessarily beneficial to the readers.
On the other hand online copywriters don’t have to worry about such things because text is presented in terms of bytes, formatting hardly ever makes a substantial impact on their work. Therefore, they are able to use more words and paragraphs if they need to or keep it short if that is the way their online readers like it. As a matter of fact they can use different fonts in different sizes and they can even change the color of the text to suit their needs and not have to worry about an additional cost.
Skimming is yet another big difference between online and offline copy. Online readers are in the habit of skimming through page content looking for something that catches their attention, while their offline counterparts tend to read the text more thoroughly not as much regard to how it is formatted.
As you can see there are some very big differences between writing online and offline copy. By knowing and understanding these differences can make to job of creating effective copy much easier for you in the long run.
