• Search Engine Guide , Friday, August 1, 2008 4:15 PM

In part six of a seven-part series on building a "destination Web site," Stoney deGeyter dives into the topic of the "voice" of a site's copy. "One of the easiest ways to set yourself apart from your competitors is by creating a distinct voice through your written content," he says. "Whether you realize it or not, every website has a voice."

The problem is, most of the time the voice is that of whoever wrote the copy--which can sometimes be a number of people including a Webmaster, a copywriter, and SEO specialist, or even the marketing team. Varying inputs can give one site a jumble of different voices, or pumped full of dry, clichéd marketing-speak.

So deGeyter suggests determining what kind of voice the copy should have--be it humorous, whimsical or brutally honest--and adhering to it throughout the site. And the voice can shine through regardless of the subject matter, as he offers eight examples of voice-tinged copy about car batteries as an example.

Read the whole story at Search Engine Guide »