Every website, whether personal, corporate, commercial, or otherwise, is built on a foundation of design, code, and copy. To many, the copy may seem like the easiest part of the whole package, but writing for the web can prove to be a deceptively challenging task even for the most adept writers. The main reason for this: web writing requires different considerations and a different skill set than, for example, academic or even blog writing.
Research shows that web users only read an average of 20% of the words on any given webpage; the percentage of words read is contingent upon the number of words on the page – basically, the more words on a page, the less the user actually reads.
Web design can help draw and filter a reader’s eye, but quality copy is equally important to insure that your content is reaching the user. Each word has to pack a punch – so how can you make the most out of every word on the page?
Determine Your Demographic
It’s extremely important that you determine demographic before you even start thinking about copy. Who’s your ideal reader of this site? Who do you want to reach? Some important things to consider about your user:
Age
Location
Gender
Race
Level of Education
Income
Profession
Language(s) Spoken
Political Views
Religion
Time Spent Online
Once you have a good sketch of your site consumer, you’ll have a much better idea of what to write and how to write it. For example, word choice for a site intended for a white, female, college-educated readership aged 18-24 is going to be entirely different than for a site intended for a religious, Latino male readership aged 40-60.
On the other hand, you don’t ever want to alienate readers by choosing an overly specific demographic. For example, if you’ve got a site for your music equipment business, using a lot of confusing technical jargon is going to be a turn-off for beginners who would be way more likely to use your site as a resource if it were written in a way that both amateurs and professionals can appreciate and understand.
Voice Choice
Your writing voice is what is going to propel the image and overall feel of your website. Voice can set your website apart from others – take a look at Groupon, for example, which uses witty dialogue to describe its deal of the day. The humor is an added incentive to read the daily email, plus it keeps the tone of the site light, fun, and entertaining. The tone of Groupon’s site has undoubtedly help propel it to success with a young, web-centered demographic that enjoys – and expects – humor.
On the converse side, don’t try to be something you’re not. Use your discretion. Sometimes, straightforward language is best, especially if your demographic is industry-specific rather than an average consumer. And the worst is overuse of clichés or kitsch. Avoid alliterative headlines and basically anything that looks like it could be found on the cover of a Cosmopolitan magazine. Also try to avoid sounding like a used-car salesperson; how many times have you heard advertisement lingo like, “We provide you with the solutions you need…100 years of expertise in the business…We’re experts in our field.” None of these ad clichés actually give the customer any valuable information about services provided. Think hard about the message you genuinely want to convey to your customer base – which can often be said more powerfully through tone and design rather than through self-lauding testimonials.
Tip:
Make sure your design, copy, and function work hand-in-hand.
If you’ve got a site design that uses bright colors and funky fonts, your copy should also be bright and fun. If your design is classic and professional, keep your copy likewise. If your site is minimalist or function-based, use as little copy as possible. Look at google.com and youtube.com – practically no copy at all, but it’s not needed. Just press play or hit search – the visual simplicity is what makes it user-friendly.
Edit, Edit, Edit
Once you have your copy written, go through and pare it down, and I mean word by word. Eliminate clichés and unnecessary adjectives and adverbs. As stated and re-stated, use the least amount of words possible to get your message across.
Grammar is important. Just one grammatical error can take away from your site’s credibility entirely, so it’s essential that your grammar is perfect. Have more than one other person take a look at your copy – they may catch errors that you didn’t. Common mistakes include errors with they’re/their/there, your/you’re, and confusion with apostrophe use (if I have to see one more site with a headline like “The #1 Place for All Your Electronic Need’s!” I’m going to strangle someone).
Today’s Headlines
Organizing your web copy is important to insure readability. Information should be quickly accessible. Web readers scan headlines and look for easy-to-read lists – they HATE having to search for information and will quickly turn to the next Google search result if a site is too text-centric.
Check out Apple’s Mac page.
Notice that the entire page is broken into bold headings and sub-headings. There are no text blocks whatsoever.
When we click on “Find Your Perfect Mac”, we’re taken to a page that uses organized columns and headings to convey a lot of information in one space without being confusing.
Etsy’s homepage copy includes blog posts, but places them toward the bottom of the page and only includes a headline and a very small example of the blog’s content so as not to clutter the already-busy page with excess text.
Mobile Readability
Consider also that more and more websites are being read on mobile devices. When thinking about your copy, it’s also imperative that you consider how it will look on a SmartPhone or tablet, because you can bet a large percentage of your readers will be looking at it as such. This is yet another reason to use headlines, lists, bullets, and concise language as much as possible.
Conclusion:
In a best case scenario, everyone would be able to hire a professional copywriter. If you can’t afford this service but aren’t confident in your own spelling, grammar, or style, try to find amateur services on Craigslist – many young English majors are willing to supply their services in exchange for a reference or a line on their resume.