Authoring copy for a website is very different than writing for other mediums. There are many factors to keep in mind; most importantly that content is the primary reason for a website. This is why all other aspects of a website’s design should be based around it. After all websites are browsed and visited expressly for their content, not flash and pictures.
Many people and companies take the wrong approach, focusing on the design and layout of their website, only to fill in text/copy afterwords. This is the wrong way to go about it. First you should decide the volume of content in order to properly layout pages and navigation. And not all product information should be published out-right. It should be selective and concise.
Visitors want information and they want it quickly. If they can find what there looking for in a very brief window, then its back to Google. It’s a very short time in which to grab the attention of your visitors, convey your company message, offerings, differentiating factors, and entice them to act.
There are many sources on the internet with suggestion for writing good internet content. Below are some guidelines that we have sound effective.
Content:
Each element should have its own paragraph;
- put the most important content and key phrases in headlines
- convey strongest benefits first
- answer visitors’ unspoken questions immediately
- use popular industry keywords according to your audience
- tell the visitor what you want them to do next – make it easy for visitors to take the next step with verbiage such as “Buy product”, “Contact Us”, etc.
- focus one subject per page or area
- keep content length to 200-300 characters per page; place more details on sub-pages or documentation that can be downloaded
- repeat the main idea in the last paragraph using the same keywords
Structure:
Content should be written so that it’s easily scanned.
- don’t write walls of information
- break up large amounts of content with lists, bullets, tables, sections, captions & hyperlinks where appropriate
- keep sentences short and use short, common words
The overall objective that does not change no matter how you try to reach your consumers, whether online or face-to-face, is to sell your benefits. You just need to be more concise online.
