Fancy a Quickie? Business Tips for Web Writing!
Time is of the essence
When it comes to writing for a web audience you have to envisage a tired, hungry and impatient animal who already has an idea of what they want but needs you to feed it to them, now! Most people on the web glance, and scan. They don’t read.
Consider the last time you searched for something on the internet. Did you look beyond the first page of the search list? If so you have looked further than 75% of internet users on the hunt.
So tempt your reader with a concise title, and let them know the important stuff first. Using what writers refer to as an Inverted Pyramid gives first the information that’s most important to your visitors. This basically answers the question, what do you do? Once the visitor knows this and it matches with what they are looking for, they might then want details. The question here is what can you do for them? The final phase in this pyramid is background information. This way, even if the visitor only reads the first line, they know the fundamentals of what you’re about.
So make your content self-evident, in the face, glaringly obvious. Summarise, keep concise, communicate the essentials, reduce wordiness and have a Call-To-Action(CTA). Keep to familiar words. Rather than trying to sound clever, basic words are always the best. It’s what most people use when they search.
Each page on your website should clarify where the visitor is and what your business is about. Calls-to-action give interested viewers the chance to take the next step. This is the goal for almost all businesses so ensure you have a visible shopping cart, contact information or way to convert those precious viewers into customers.
Act to enhance the visual appeal of your content:
Use photos or videos in the place of text
Use different fonts, bold, italics or colour in your copy
Use short sentences and paragraphs
Use headlines, sub-headings and bullet points
Adding white noise to your web copy makes it easier to find information and is nicer on the eye.
So, keep it short, simple and to the point. Write honestly, be who you really are and your audience will be sure to respond.
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