“Copy (or text, or words) used in design is a very particular type of creative writing that requires the inspiration of an artist and the control of a craftsman or craftswoman.”
—Mark Shaw, Copywriting: Successful writing for design, advertising and marketing

We don’t really think of business writing as creative writing, in part because the aims of business writing—to sell a service or a product—seem so different than those of creative writing—to express one’s self, to move an audience, to make some kind of social commentary, and so on. But they do have similar challenges for writers, the most important of which is creating just the right tone.

What is tone?
Tone is huge in any kind of writing. Finding a tone is like finding something to wear to an event; your choice to wear jeans, a cocktail dress, or a suit depends on where you’re going. You wouldn’t wear a cocktail dress to a football game, and you wouldn’t wear jeans to a job interview. Hopefully.

The same goes for tone in writing. More than being about a command of language, writing copy for websites (or any kind of business marketing) is about having a command of tone.

Why does tone matter?
How you set the tone for a website will determine how well you engage customers and ultimately help a client sell its products or services. It’s the job of the copywriter to understand a company’s brand and goals well enough to find the appropriate tone to communicate their offerings. If you’re writing copy for a legal firm, you probably want to go with a balanced, professional tone that conveys strength, intelligence, and reliability. If you’re writing copy for a bakery, you probably want something more casual—something more welcoming and accessible.

How do you find it?
While intuition is a big part of finding the right tone, you can break the method down into some logical components. Here are some things I think about when I’m trying to find the right pitch:

• Who is the company? How do they want or need to portray themselves?
• Who is the audience for the website? Are they young? Old? Traditional? Creative?
• What does the overall design of the site look like? Is it professional and polished or hip and casual?
• What words would you associate with the company? When you look at those words, what kind of overall impression do you get of the service or products?
• If you were buying something from this site, what tone of voice would hold your interest?

One more word on tone: Whatever tone you go with, make sure you’re consistent. You don’t want to button up your content on one page and let it all hang out in another. Just like you wouldn’t slip into denim cut-offs halfway through a wedding ceremony. That would just be … confusing.