Companies spend great sums of money designing their websites each year in hopes of increased revenue and brand influence. Exclusive designers are contracted to create gorgeous interfaces. Vast numbers of engineers are hoarded to code scalable enterprise solutions. Marketers are called upon to create promotion roadmaps. But who’s writing the copy? If content is King, why is it treated like a second-class citizen?

If I had to put my thumb on just one lacking aspect of copy on the web, I would pick clarity. Every word written must be interpreted by the reader, and clarity is lost through interpretation. I believe that every writer should strive towards clarity in their work, because without clarity your words are just pixels on a screen.

Let’s get down to it: This time of the year is electric for us ad folks. It’s the SuperBowl (can I say that without paying fees?). This year, I’ve got to be honest–I was a bit disappointed. There were a few good ads, but in general a lot of mediocre and poorly planned ads. Overall, I’m giving it a 6/10 year for SuperBowl ads. Luckily, there were still quite a few gems in the bunch. If you missed the commercials, head on over to Google’s archive of all the ads, man I love technology sometimes. So let’s get into the details.

One of the greatest aspects of copywriting is that many times you don’t need to actually sell your words in dollars and cents, but rather in opinions and ideas. Just because your writing sells doesn’t mean it needs to sell a product. The best copy sells an idea, an opinion–not a product. Unfortunately while copy strives to sell itself, often it ends up lackluster and dull. The words turn out describing the idea, not selling the idea. What’s the difference between selling the idea and describing it? Passion.

I browse the web all day long, and I’m a person who actually reads the copy on most sites. And well, I have to tell you—it sucks. Big time. I find it a shame that so many site owners put such little stakes in copywriting. All across the web, you can hear the webmasters chanting: Content is King! King I tell you!

Goddamnit Anderson! I need that copy on my desk by 5pm or you’re out!

You’d suspect the previous line to come out of some kind of newspaper editor in a cheesy B-movie while sitting behind a giant desk full of paper. But seriously, what the hell is copy? Maybe copywriting is that thing where you own the material? No, no no–that’s copyrighting. We’re talking about writing copy.