This Week’s Intriguing Web Copy Artifact

This was a nice bit of graphic and web copy intrigue this week: This Google Doodle for Fermat’s Theorem was outfitted with alt text designed to inspire curiosity and get visitors to click through. Subtle and creative. But the text is actually a translation from Fermat, who scrawled something similar in the margins of a […]

Zombie Web Copy

It walks at night. It never sleeps. It’s infested by black magic. (sorry, I’ve enjoyed a happy hour). A colleague of mine the other day mentioned that the web copy never “dies.” Which brought another to name it “zombie.”   He was referring to the fact that even if you pay no attention to your […]

People-Watching

People are more plentiful in the romance novel and sci-fi aisles in Barnes and Noble. living vicariously? searching for escape? hoping that at some future point in time their lives will satisfy as much as these unrealistic stories? Deeprak Chopra has a new book on the shelf: The Seven Spiritual Laws of Super Heroes. Considering […]

Good Writing Friday

This is how “La Vida Robot” by Joshua Davis begins: The winter rain makes a mess of West Phoenix. It turns dirt yards into mud and forms reefs of garbage in the streets. Junk food wrappers, diapers, and Spanish-language porn are swept into the gutters. On West Roosevelt Avenue, security guards, two squad cars, and […]

The Dumb and Dumber of Web Copy

For many web copy projects a requirement invariably includes reducing language to a certain grade level. Why? “People” don’t understand what we’re talking about. And according to most sources, the “average” level of comprehension is 8th grade. The lowest grade level I’ve been asked to write to so far is grade 5. “Use words with […]

Exercise: Mapping A Site’s Key Content Messages

For larger websites that incorporate various types of customer messaging, I’ve found it helpful to sketch out a high level message map. I’ve used a sitemap and a UX user flow diagram to do this, but I could just as easily have sketched something out on a paper napkin.   Identify the site’s major sections […]

You are Not a Good Client for Me If…

You are not a good client for my business if: You are looking for a cheapo web copy deal.  You can easily find dozens of “shops” online that employ armies of junior copywriters or John Q. Citizen the armchair writer willing to beat each other up for your 5 or 10 bucks. You use the […]

Replace “Lorem Ipsum” with Personalized Placeholder Copy

Lorem ipsum, the Greek or “dummy” text web developers and designers use to simulate blocks of web copy, is so…last millenium. Here is a block of much more interesting text I’ve seen used on various website and blog templates (and I have yet to find out who wrote this, so if you have info, do […]