Tiffani Jones explains how she started writing copy for the web

Tiffani Jones is a web writer from Seattle, Washington in the United States. When she was working for Blue Flavor she developed a taste for producing writing for the web while working on an application by the name of 97 Bottles. Tiffani originally graduated from Psychology and Religious Studies from Indiana University but later went on to study her Masters of Philosophy from University of Chicago. She doesn’t attribute learning to write professionally with her education but her schooling did allow her to relate and communicate more effectively. When I started to discuss what a web writer does she had some tips to give about writing good copy for your website so read on and visit Tiffani’s website for more information about web writing.

1. Tiffani, what does a web copy writer do exactly?

A web writer does lots of things, depending on the project.  But generally speaking, my job involves writing text for websites and applications.  This might include slogans & taglines, intro messages and paragraphs, calls to action, interactive text, legal writing, product & service descriptions, case studies, about pages & bios, etc.  Basically, anything you might see on a website.

In addition to the writing itself, I do a lot of strategy.  I help determine a voice & tone for the writing, generate high-level “messages” for each type of content, do competitor analyses and site audits, and help clients think about what writing to include on their site, and why.

2. How do you clients approach you for work?

They usually just get in touch through my contact form, which is huge and on the front page of my site.  Otherwise, they ring me direct.

Clients usually have a rough idea of what they want to communicate when they get in touch: “I want you to write stuff on my website that helps my business sound professional and clear—but still really cool.”

From here, we go about determining what assets they already have (Wireframes?  Page-level content requirements? A full-on website? Nothing?) and figure out a plan of attack: what I’ll be writing, how much it’ll cost, etc.

3. How did you first get started doing this sort of work?

I used to work at Blue Flavor (a great design agency here in Seattle).  They were very nice and let me try all kinds of new things, including web writing, blogging, etc.

I wrote content for 97Bottles, an application for sharing and reviewing beer that we built, and loved it.  Blue Flavor also paid for me to take a class at the School of Visual Concepts.  After that I started writing on the side, and voila.

4. Do you have any tips for people looking to write their own web copy for their websites?

Hmm.  I’d say start with some content templates (see Erin Kissane’s article in A List Apart).  Make sure you know what types of content are going on each page, what you want to communicate with those content types, and how the content serves your business and project goals.

Then, as you begin to write, make sure every piece of content you write has a job to do.  If you find something that is questionable or unnecessary, cut it out and start over.

From there, focus on the writing itself.  Does everything make sense?  Is your tone roughly consistent from page to page?  Do you sound like a human? Are there any glaring grammar or structure errors?

And of course, make sure you have someone look over everything you write before you publish.

Your web writing won’t be perfect on the first (or second or third) draft, but if you’re willing to put in the time & effort, you can probably get by DIY-ing.

5. Where and what have you studied in college/university? How, if at all, has it allowed you to become an expert in your profession?

I got undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Religious Studies from Indiana University, and a Master’s degree in Philosophy from University of Chicago.

So, uh, I didn’t go to school for writing.  But studying Philosophy has an extreme way of making you think (and work) really hard to communicate an idea, and I think it has helped me immensely with critical thinking, clear writing, and even business negotiation.  I highly recommend the humanities.

I’ve also always written on the side, since I can remember. I took creative writing, journalism, and English classes all through undergrad and grad school.  Kind of just playing around, but it paid off.