Copywriting should be easy-to-read, concise and formatted with headings. The Internet should also follow these basic rules for hard copy – and even have some extra guidelines for better viewing on computer screens.

  Here are some tips from Furia Rubel's Vice President of Marketing and design guru Laura Powers:

• Use a light or neutral background, with a dark, serif 12-point font and proper spacing for texts that have a lot of important information. If you have a more creative document, play up the fonts, but keep it legible. If you are going to incorporate a background color, make sure it is harmonious with the font color. Neon backgrounds with colorful text can distract the reader.

• Make proper headings, especially for a longer document. Your first heading should be bold, underlined or a larger font from the rest of the text. You can check out a number of formatting styles sheets within Microsoft Word. Adding bullets can also help the reader decipher information. ...eh hem...

• Use shorter sentences and focus on the emotional impact of the text. Break up paragraphs to 2 or 3 sentences to make visual impact on the reader. Try to be as concise as possible.