Many web content writers create urgency in a bid to get visitors to buy products or services now. It’s often in the form of a limited time offer. The logic: visitors might not come back, so get them while you can.

However, if a web content writer is overly aggressive, it can hurt credibility, diminish trust, and backfire. So it’s best to maintain a professional, tasteful tone. That way, people don’t get their backs up against the wall, and end up with a bad taste in their mouths.

I recall a website that indicated: “This One-Time, INCREDIBLE DEAL is ONLY Available for 4 Hours and 24 Minutes!!! Act Now, Before it’s Too Late!!!”

The time ticked away. Out of curiosity, I checked back the next morning, and the clock was reset—16 hours and counting! The ‘incredible’ offer stood. Scammers! That was my perception, anyway, and they weren’t getting my money.

You can stop visitors from procrastinating without appearing like a fly-by-night con artist. For example:

Order before Dec. 15, 2009, and you’ll get a free bonus!

You can also include a “while supplies last” element. Just go easy on the exclamation marks, as using too many can get you labeled a spammer.

On the other hand, if you want to contribute to the spam-filled Web, be sure to start a long-winded letter with “Dear Friend,” and include four or five P.S.’s at the bottom of your pitch.

It’s one thing to learn about nature in a book. It’s quite another to see mother nature and its amazing creatures up close.

That’s what Webcopyplus helped Canadian tour operator Expore Travel get across with its recently overhauled web content. Through a series of stories, their web content brings to light several outdoor adventures in BC, each designed to connect with and inspire people.

In fact, well delivered stories can entice visitors to become fond of a company and ultimately prompt purchases. That’s because people make decisions emotionally and then rationalize them logically. On and off the Web, stories can be very influential communication tools.

By the way, if you’re looking for some of the best BC travel guides in the business, you should talk to Nick Gudewill or Cory Matheson. You can reach them through their adventure travel website.

The mapped story format is an interesting way to make longer news stories more reader-friendly.

Devised by the Calgary Herald’s David Hedley—a friend and former colleague—the mapped story format begins with the summary written in a classic inverted pyramid style.

The body of the story is organized into mini chapters, dealing with one news element at a time. The mini-chapters are led by informative subheads, signaling to readers what comes next.

Hedley suggests the mapped story format offers several advantages over the commonly used inverted pyramid, including improved clarity, scannability and comprehensibility.

While this guideline focuses on news, the principles apply to any field of writing. In fact, it works very well on the Web, where well-versed designers frequently utilize anchors, links, subheads and digestible chunks of layered web copy to promote positive online experiences.

Read entire report: Mapped story format helps readers

When it comes to writing for the Web, web content writers should take a pointer from journalists: never bury the lead.

Seasoned journalists write no-nonsense copy that gets to the important information at once. On the contrary, inexperienced web content writers expect online visitors to do the hard work and plow through piles of long-winded website content. This web content writer is sending the message: this will take some time — which can turn people away on the fast-paced Web.

A web content writer with experience knows investing extra time to define the key messages, get the lead to the top of the website content, and keep the information clear and concise is advantageous. It sends the message: this won’t take much of your time. And, if the website content is relevant, the visitor will quickly determine what the story is about and why he should read on.

It’s called the inverted pyramid, and it enables businesses to quickly and effectively relay why the visitor should pay attention.

When you only have a few seconds to make a point, every word counts.

When web writers get fancy, they create barriers for visitors to complete their tasks.

When web writers get out of the way, they empower visitors to navigate, gather information and get things done quicker, and with little effort. That’s why good web writers always strive for simple.

Clear, concise web copy fosters satisfaction amongst website users and promotes higher conversion rates.

To see different web writing styles, and find out which work best, check out Web Writing: The Good, Bad and Ugly.

Marketing mastermind Seth Godin noted in his blog that business cycles are far shorter these days. “More now than ever,” he wrote, “success today is no guarantee of success tomorrow.”

Few would argue that point. Yet, he points out that too often we spend more time than we should defending the old thing, instead of working to take advantage of the new thing.

The fact is people resist change when we perceive it as a threat. The true entrepreneurs, on the other hand, look at change as a big, fat opportunity. They have a positive outlook and create a productive spin.

For instance, I read about an owner of a high-end restaurant in Edmonton who insisted the downturn in the economy would create new opportunities for him. His reasoning? Well, instead of going out for four or five average meals monthly, people will go for one really nice outing each month.

Could this be true? Perhaps — or it might be far from the truth. But the key is true entrepreneurs see opportunities in everything, even during the most trying moments.

And today’s entrepreneurs need to be especially quick on the draw. As Godin pointed out, business transitions are virtually an annual event. To that point, he concluded: “The best marketing strategy is to destroy your industry before your competition does.”

Harsh, but true.

The City of Toronto website, Toronto.ca, supports businesses by providing information on local programs and services. What’s really cool about their approach is that they’re planning a web redesign and are asking Toronto businesses for input:

“We’re in the process of rebranding the City of Toronto’s website. Our refreshed home page is only a starting point. Tell us what you think of toronto.ca and how we can make the website better for you.”

Asking your market how you can serve them better can never hurt, on or off the Web. It demonstrates you’re genuinely interested in your audiences’ needs, and striving to provide them the best products or services possible.

It appears the City of Toronto has taken a page from Toronto business coaching firm Wardell.

Its founder, Mark Wardell, states: “Leading companies teach their people to question what they do, and why they do it. They challenge their people to take a fresh look at their company and to get involved in creating its future.”

No doubt, the City of Toronto is wisely reaching out in a bid to create a bright future for its business community.

When it comes to search engine optimization, web writers should target a few short, broad terms as well as several longer, more specific keyword phrases.

It makes sense when you consider an iProspect report that revealed when an initial search is unsuccessful, 82% of search engine users will re-launch their search using the same search engine, adding more keywords to refine their subsequent search.

Broad keywords can draw great numbers of visitors, however, they can be difficult to attain. To achieve high rankings for general terms in competitive markets, a web writer could require a small army of SEO analysts and programmers.

Longer, more specific search terms are less competitive, which makes it easier to attain higher rankings. Moreover, the detailed search terms — also known as long-tail keywords — often produce more qualified traffic and higher conversion rates.

That’s because searchers who type in more specific terms are deeper into the sales cycle, and are more likely to reach for their wallets.

A client in the HR field asked this week about the value of a Flash intro on a website to set themselves apart from competitors.

I explained strategic positioning and good design is what effectively differentiates a business from its competitors. In fact, if you do a really good job, you can actually make your competition look dull and unimportant.

As I recently noted on Web Designer Wall, Flash intros were tolerated in the ’90s when the Web was a novelty. People were excited about this new thing called the World Wide Web, and many of us spent countless hours surfing it. Spinning images and assorted gimmicks were tolerated, and even considered cool.

Not today. Now people just want to get the information they’re looking for, and get things done quickly and easily.

Still, some business owners think they’ll “wow” people with Flash intros. In fact,  a web designer recently told me about an architecture company that spent tens of thousands of dollars on a Flash intro.

Unfortunately, they wasted their money on something that will only get in the way of their visitors. They could have spent that money on search engine optimization, or a host of other marketing and sales tools and campaigns, which would actually generate leads and sales, and promote growth.

While it can take web designers and developers several weeks to design and develop a Flash intro, it takes visitors just a fraction of a second to click their way to the competition.