I love clever website design. Bells and whistles are cool, too. But the fact is, without solid content, a website fails at its most basic level: attracting and converting customers.
Here are half-dozen ways to ensure your writing has what it takes to engage online readers.
Make your point–pronto
You have mere seconds to convey what your company does or sells. Flowery language, long-winded mission statements and technical jargon send customers clicking onto the next site faster than you can say, “Bye!”
Make online copy half the length the same material would be in print form. Half. Befriend your delete button.
Speak your readers’ language
Hable el idioma de su mercado objetivo, o esta hundido/a.
Or, let me put it this way: If you don’t speak the language of your target market, you’re sunk.
Using words or a tone of voice that doesn’t resonate with your readers is as off-putting as speaking a foreign language. Online surfers are famous for their impatience. Learn their language to keep their attention.
Write at an eighth grade level or lower
Keep your reading level low to keep your readers. Write short sentences. Choose short words, too, preferably under three syllables. (It pains me to write that, because I’m a dork who likes big words.)
You can check the reading level of your content easily in Word.
- On the Word menu, click Preferences, and then click Spelling and Grammar.
- Select the Check grammar with spelling check box.
- Select the Show readability statistics check box, and then click OK.
- On the Tools menu, click Spelling and Grammar.
When Microsoft Word finishes checking spelling and grammar, it displays information about the reading level of the document.
Provide a call to action
People read your website for information. Once you’ve made clear what you have to offer, invite your prospect to take the next step with a call to action. Be sure it’s simple, clear and concise.
- Call our 800 number for more information
- Click here!
- Add to cart
- Sign up today
Keep the design clean
Studies show that readers ignore content that looks like a big fat promo, such as words with ALL CAPS and LOTS OF !!!! placed in a red banner. Plus, it’s annoying and hacks people off. Bad idea.
Proofread
This section contains 3 misspelled words. Can you find them? Ready, set, go!
Write amazing content but load it up with errors, and your credibility tanks.
So proofread, and proofread well. Use your spell-check, but use your eyes, too. (We’ve all seen what spell-check does running amok down a page. A “pair of shoes,” might end up a “pare of shoes” or worse, a “pear of shoes.”)
Read your content backwards, which forces you to slow down and see each word. You can also team up with a buddy and proofread one another’s copy.
Oh, and I lied. There are no errors. But guess what? You were proofreading, not merely reading. Nicely done (and kudos to Copyblogger.com for this idea).
Photo credit: Marcio Eugenio
