BEST Website Content Writing Advice
Online visitors to your site are impatient. In fact, you have 3 – 5 seconds to get their attention or they move on.
Good site design is key to instantly communicating your value. Who you are. What you do. And why. A well-designed site gets to the point by instantly creating interest by arousing curiosity. Keep the message simple. The content needs to be complemented with relevant photos, images or infographics. The site must act as a roadmap beginning with a good Call to Action which directs traffic of where you want the viewer to go. Make your offer easy to understand and concise. Then provide them the quickest way to get your offer, whether it’s a Buy Now button or a Subscribe Now Newsletter option.
Users like control. They want to be able to control their browser and rely on the consistent data presented throughout the site. Users don’t want new windows popping up unexpectedly and they love to be able to go “back” to a former page. Make it easy for them to do that.
As the web differs from print, it’s necessary to adjust the writing style to your specific customer’s preferences and browsing habits. Promotional writing and exaggerated marketing hype will be ignored. Long text blocks without images and keywords marked in bold or italics will be skipped. However, it’s important to write with “keywords” in the content so as to attract a prospect when they are hunting in Google Search for an offer you provide. Writing for SEO is vital to good web content.
Keep the message simple. I avoid marketing-induced names, company specific names, and unfamiliar technical names. If you describe a service and want users to create an account, “sign up” is better than “start now!” which is again better than “explore our services.” Get to the point. Viewers appreciate directness – as well as being really clear about your offer and presenting it quickly. Don’t waste their time.
To summarize
– use short and concise phrases – get to the point quickly
– use scannable layout (categorize the content, use multiple heading levels, use visual elements like bulleted lists. line separators and coloured block text boxes which break the flow of uniform text blocks
– use plain and objective language to build trust (a promotion doesn’t need to sound like an ad; give your users some reasonable and objective reason why they should use your service or stay on your website)
To learn more, give us a call!
Laurie, Creative Director | Outside-the-Box Graphics
1-778-839-3755