Warmest Greetings,

Copywriting Resources Out The Gazoo  

:: Monday, May 24, 2004 ::

Writing for the web has become so specialized that the difference between a sale, or click, is often based on how well the content is written. Short attention spans and small font faces are just two hurdles web site copywriters face. Search engines are another. Persuading strangers, who find your site in a search, that you offer the best product, for the best price, is no easy task.

Enter Learn Copywriting, a new web site completely devoted to content writing by Karon Thackston. Sections presently include Online Copywriting, SEO Copywriting, Direct Mail and General Copywriting, with plans to add a Freelance Copywriting page, along with Radio and TV Copywriting. Karon has gathered a lot of resources. She even found the forum topic dedicated to the subject of search engine and web copywriting in Cre8asiteForums.

Karon Thackston has also joined the team of Tutors at the Search Engine College, where she will be teaching copywriting via an online course.

Speaking of the SEC, courses are filling up quickly. The online school has been warmly received, as you can see by the Press page here.

For those who have signed up, or those considering doing so, I can attest to the credibility and experience of everyone on the teaching team, as well as the two people running the school, Kalena and Gerald Jordan. They've been attentive to the needs of launching of a new school and their tutorial staff. Everything they've done, from setting up the technical side to communicating with tutors (of which I am also one), to setting us up with school email addresses and guiding us on how to structure our courses, has been professionally delivered and implemented. This is a side of Kalena I haven't been exposed to yet - her business savvy and approachable, friendly character. The Search Engine College will surely meet the needs of many people. I'm really pleased to be part of this venture.

Web Site Usability Hot Resources

Article: Content management: design for rule, not exception, by Gerry McGovern


     "If your website tries to be all things to all people, it will fail. It’s very easy on the Web to try to do too much. You need to relentlessly focus on what most of your readers do most of the time. Don’t let anything else get in the way."

Article: The current issue of Bryan Eisenberg's Grokdotcom ezine features a topic I've blogged about here. The value of landing pages, in search engines, and making them compelling enough to hold the searcher's interest is discussed in Missed Opportunities?. If you are in San Francisco, you can find Bryan on May 26th, where he's speaking on "Targeting User Segments on your Website To Maximize Conversion."

Forum Topic: Usability - Engagability?

Join the discussion, or just read the thoughtful contributions from some well known usability industry experts such as WebWord's John Rhodes and John Soellner of Design Crux.

     "I've been thinking about buzzwords. I'm having a hard time decided what is and what is not a buzzword. How do we define it? Some things turn from buzzwords to normal words, or simply technical words. When does that happen exactly? And, why?

     "So engageability is something that "has the qualities necessary to attract and hold peoples attention"? Hypnotists will be pleased.

     "Engagebility in web design? When you find a site that you like to pick up, and play with, and figure out, and want to return to before you even leave, you found an engagable site.

Stuff That May Interest You

Getting creative with visited links, from Sitepoint.

     "What people often forget is that there are other ways of distinguishing between visited links than simply using colour.

I read this article in my print copy of FAST Company, and loved it. It's now on the web. If you ever worked the Help Desk, or wondered how to kick some serious customer service butt, read Cuckoo For Customers

     "Here's one high-tech company where dedication to customers borders on the loony.

   We celebrate the birth of baby Emma, born to Cre8asiteForums member "byronm". He invited us in for the pre-birth saga and now she is here. Mom, baby and Dad are all doing just fine.

Finally,

So sorry to have gotten out of my groove of frequent posts. I came down rather suddenly with strep throat. I sorta ranted at the Doctor's office about it too. "How is it that I work from home and nobody in the family has strep, and I got strep?" She gave me the "You're a stressed working mom" line, which I'm not buying anymore. I'm no more stressed out than any other parent who works and has a family and a business to run. Humpf.

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 5/24/2004 08:45:58 PM

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