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(This is Part VI of a continuing series. Click here to read past columns.)
Even in this "electronic age," the written word continues to play an increasingly important role in communications. New technologies and economics make communication more flexible and cost-effective than ever before in informing, persuading and motivating. However, those same technologies actually impede our ability to use words to sell. Copywriting for the web means walking a fine line between "writing for the customer" and "writing for the search engines."

An organization opting for outside, professional writing help can look forward to several benefits seldom obtained when writing is done internally.

• No strain on resources. Good writing is labor intensive and time-consuming. There are no shortcuts. Developing copy internally often requires assigning the task to an employee who either gives it low priority, or whose regular work suffers.
• Tighter control. It's always easier to assign tough deadlines, be honestly critical and make changes to work done outside, than to work done in-house. There are no personal sensitivities, office politics or organizational bureaucracies to consider.
• True objectivity. It is difficult, if not impossible, to uncover unique characteristics and write objectively about anything familiar. Only an outsider will be impartial, feel free to probe, ask "dumb questions" and play the devil's advocate - all necessary to the development of powerful, persuasive copy.
• More relevant experience. Intimate knowledge of a product or service is not required to write knowledgeably about it. A good, smart writer can learn more than enough in a few meetings. Much more important is that an outside writer will bring to an assignment a freshness and perspective that can only come from the diverse experience of meeting a variety of communication challenges.
• Better results. Unlike other forms of creativity, most everyone can write. Many individuals even write well. But few can write as well - as quickly and persuasively - as a professional who makes his or her living at it. Practice does, indeed, make (close to) perfect.
• Writing for the search engines. This requires a skilled professional who is adept at writing the same text for the customer and the software that the respective search engines utilize to check and index the content of each site.

Whenever possible, the project should be developed by a team - writer, SEO expert and graphic designer working together.

• Fact gathering. Writing about a product or service usually requires more interviews, facts and detail than does design. When a writer is involved early on and shares information, it eliminates the need for some designer/client meetings, saving both time and cost.
• Organization and outlining. For most copy-heavy projects (such as web sites, brochures, annual reports, etc.) it is difficult to do good design without first having a copy structure. An outline of the story to be told, including web site sections, headlines and major breaks, makes designing easier and enhances any layout's effectiveness.
• Detail checking. By training, writers are sensitive to different details than designers. Having a pair of eyes looking for bad copy breaks, and dropped heads after layout reduces the possibility of embarrassing errors.
• Small additional cost. Except for the very smallest of jobs, creative fees are always a small fraction of total costs. The incremental difference between having a professional is minimal when considering the total cost of the entire project. And for all of the reasons listed, hiring a professional copywriter makes economic sense.

The optimum procedure when considering contracting a professional writer for your web site project is to select one who knows how to write for your target audience and the search engines. Keyword research and proper text integration increase your chances of ranking well on the search engines. Search engine optimization copywriting, a more technical procedure, can actually seem to go against the rules of marketing/sales writing.

This is where balance, know-how, and experience come into play. Getting potential customers to your site, and then successfully calling them to action is the core of the copywriting game.