Read any twentieth century novel and you’re likely to find a touch of formality — even cordiality — in the way things are said.

Internet writing, on the other hand, is quite the opposite.

Web copywriting, as a result of the informal effect of the Internet, has forced several trends on the way we communicate:

• Things are promised faster. Why shouldn’t they be? Instant-order processing and overnight shipping make the old six-to-eight week shipments laughable.
• Persuasion is less polite, more bold. People are more emphatic about asking for/selling things.
• Everything needs to be validated. Even the simplest sales appeal benefits from connection to customer testimonials or a private website where a company is independently praised. Besides, we all look for that validation. We don’t take things at face value anymore.
• And, like I said earlier, everything is a little less informal. Questions, answers, testimonials, instructions, home pages, sales letters, you name it.

But, I don’t think any of these trends are bad, necessarily. If we morph into a society that abbreviates everything, teenage-texting style, then we’ll have gone too far. For now, communication (and web copywriting in particular), are just more human — and that’s a good thing.

A lot of businesses have caught onto the social media trend, but some still buck it as something that’s just passing fancy. Maybe they’re right, but chances are SUPER good they’re wrong. Worse, they’ll soon be left in the dust as backwards, old-fashioned businesses.

The thing about social media, and the reason it’s as powerful as it is, is that it gives consumers a voice. For years and years, big companies were able to control their images, right down to the phrasing of their taglines and the colors associated with their logos.

Thanks to the Internet, they’ve lost that power. The power is in the hands of the consumer, who can go onto any blog or website and eagerly praise a company’s good works … or spout off about a company’s poor product/service/customer relations.

Every company, regardless of size, needs to pay homage to the principles of good copywriting and put the customer first. True, most any company will say that’s what they already do, but they’re generally more interested in putting their own mission statement or reputation first. Now, reputations don’t mean anything without the blessing of the customers. And, social media offers an easy, quick, and effective way to deliver that blessing (or curse).

Health copywriting is powerful when the words in the copy speak directly to the innate desires of the prospect. It doesn’t matter whether you’re working on a direct mail piece or on web copywriting. The easiest way to do that is with five keywords that naturally connect with basic health desires.

These are the five most powerful words when it comes to health copy:

• Cure
• Younger
• Safe
• Works
• Cutting-edge

As with any good copy, you don’t want to overuse these words. But, a tempered sprinkling through the pages of your promotion is bound to boost response.