Want your web copy to crash and burn?
Just about all of us – from our grandmothers to our kids — have become dependent on the Internet. There are sites out there in cyberspace that address just about anything imaginable – so many in fact that if you started counting them now – as if that were even possible – you’d probably would never reach the final number, because so many more are springing up daily.
Many of these sites are excellent and do precisely what they’re meant to do. But the sad fact is that a large number of websites leave lots of room for improvement.
According to Allison Nazarian, President of Allison Media Group, Inc., a South Florida-based copywriting and marketing firm. “In general, the quality of website content is mediocre and fraught with errors – both grammatical and marketing mistakes. Because website content reveals so much about you, your product and your company, getting your site to say the right thing in the right way is critical.”
So here’s a crash course on what not to do when creating content for your website.
Flaw # 1: Senseless navigation
Your website navigation should immediately let you know:
- Where you are,
- Where you’ve been,
- Where you can go next and
- Where the home page is.
Navigation, in fact, must be so easy that visitors to your site shouldn’t even have to think about it. Some mistakes include dissimilar types of navigation on the same site, poorly worded links so your visitor has no clue about where he or she will end up and confusing links – or no links – back to the home page.
Flaw # 2: Confusing your website with your marketing strategy.
Listen up. Your website is part of your marketing strategy; it is not your entire marketing strategy. The right balance is in defining exactly how your website fits into your overall marketing program, then sticking with the whole program, making your site an integral and complementary part of it.
Flaw # 3. Believing people care about your website.
In the final analysis, nobody truly cares about your site. What visitors do care about is getting their problems solved. People visit websites to:
- Get information,
- Buy (or in some cases sell) something or
- Be entertained.
Flaw # 4: Putting existing print on your website.
No, no, no. Do not take your brochure, product catalog, employee manual, whatever and simply put it on-line. Printed materials don’t work on-line; they’re two totally different species. Knowledgeable web content writers create text that helps users find key words and concepts quickly. They:
- Write shorter sentences and fewer lines, paragraphs and pages.
- Use heads and subheads instead of introductory paragraphs.
- Use white space to keep the page looking open and inviting.
- Use hypertext links to give added information to readers who want more.
Flaw # 5: Acting like you own the company – even if you do.
Website readers have come to expect copy that’s personal and upbeat, so copy that smacks of bureaucracy tends to stand out like a sore thumb. Whether you’re writing your own copy or having someone do it for you, formal language and turn the tone down a notch. Also make sure to avoid technical terms and, by all means, make your verbs active and action-oriented – not in ho-hum, snore passive voice.
Allison Nazarian is president and chief copywriter of Allison Media Group, a Florida-based company that helps businesses nationwide harness the power of words to sell, inform and publicize. Click here to connect with Allison and receive an email response within one business day.
Copyright© Allison Media Group, Inc. May be reprinted without permission of Allison Media Group, Inc and Allison Nazarian if in full, unchanged format and with complete attribution to author.
