Essentially, copywriting is the art of salesmanship. A client hires you to sell something for him in print, on radio/ TV or on the Web.

One of the challenges of Web copywriting is that often the client is blinkered when it comes to looking at his own product. We called it "kennel blindness" in the days when I was involved in showing and breeding dogs. Breeders were blind to the faults of their own animals. Web copywriting clients are often blind when it comes to keywords... and so are copywriters.

As a Web copywriter, you need to take keywords into consideration, and that's the primary difference when you're writing for the Web. You must know what keywords Web surfers are using when they search for your client's products.

Keyword Research Is Essential When You Write For The Web

If you're new to Web writing, you need to become familiar with keywords. The keywords for a product or a service are those which people type into a Web search engine to find the product or service.

You can't get creative when it comes to keywords. You have to know which keywords are actually being used, and your client is often not helpful. In fact, your client may stridently insist on his own keywords. It takes some tact to point out that the keywords he prefers are never used by his customers, so he has zero chance of getting traffic from them.

So before you accept a Web copywriting gig, ask the client whether he's done some research on keywords people are using. If the answer's "No", factor your research into the fee you quote him. Even if he has done the research however, you'll still want to make sure that the keywords are effective.

Keywords Are Often Non-Intuitive

The keywords YOU would use for a product or service are often wrong. This is a humbling realization. Here's an example from my own experience. I managed to develop one of my own sites - and the site was successful enough in its way - without tapping into a primary market. This happened because I "knew" my customers, and the keywords they used. I was wrong, wrong, wrong, and missed out on a lot of traffic as a result because I used the wrong keywords.

Don't let it happen to you - check out the keywords you're using.

In conclusion, when you're copywriting for the Web, keywords are essential, as is keyword research. Once you get the knack of keywords, you'll find the research is fun, and your clients will thank you for all the traffic their sites get.