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Copywriting is the presentation, in a clear and concise way, specific business entities through advertising, sales copy, press releases and articles. You can see examples of copywriting everywhere on the Internet adapted for the online arena.

Web copywriting follow certain guidelines:

1. Keyword phrasing. Keywords are specific words that describe the service or product presented on the webpage. Designed to attract search engine spiders, keywords allow search engines to categorize and list the website acurately. Keywords and keyword phrases are vitally important to good search engine optimization. There is also tons of information on the web to help you get on top of this important aspect of website promotion.

2. Write a fantastic title. Your title should have your keyword phrase in the beginning, and it should be short, no more than six to eight words. It should both clearly describe your article and also be original and catchy.

3. You will then want to write a short, great description for your description metatag. The description is what the search engine lists in the small paragraph accompanying the link and title. A clear, concise description is necessary to get a prospective visitor to click, so you really need to consider carefully and write clearly. Your metatag description should contain your keyword phrase as close to the beginning as you can possibly manage, and keep it short like 20 words or less or about two text lines. This is the introduction of your article.

4. Clarity in writing is necessary. Short paragraphs with clear, concise sentences is vital for a good web presentation. Jakob Nielsen, the usability guru, stated a long time ago that looking at computer screens can be maintained by people for short periods of time. It is not like reading a book. He suggested that paragraphs be kept to about three or four sentences and that sentences be simple in structure. Bullet lists are very popular on the web.

If you find yourself writing long paragraphs, shorten them, or break them up. Same with sentences.

People want facts. Don't be artsy or write a bunch of fluff. Get to the point, and omit needless words.

Come to think of it, S&W is a perfect reference for style in web copywriting. Read it. You can find a free copy at Bartleby.com.

6. Standard rules of grammar and spelling apply. No kittehspeak, no hacker, no text shorthand. Proofread everything, preferably reading backward line by line to catch all your errors, and for goodness sakes spellcheck. You'll probably have an occasional mistake, but minimize them by editing well.

7. Use the inverted pyramid structure popular with journalists and newspapers. Just like with newspapers, people seldom read all the way to the end unless it is very, very interesting. Get your facts in upfront. They will be skimming the rest which is why bullet and number lists are so popular - they are very skimmable. If you start with your most important fact first and work downward to the least important, you will be successful in communicating the most essential before the person starts skimming.

8. With sales copy, start with a compelling question that will encourage the person to keep reading. Get the benefits of continuing out there first, because you must capture their attention in about 30 seconds maximum. Fiction writers employ the teaser - asking a question that they don't answer until the very end. It works. Present a problem, then write to lead up to the conclusion which solves it. Remember, though, to get the problem and enough facts in before the skimming starts. Many visitors will read the beginning, skim a bit and go to the end.

Learn tips for marketing an online business, or how to start a home based internet business. Visit the website marketing tips blog at http://www.nitromarketing.com/blog