Content Writing Techniques
1.
Treat your web
visitors like wild animals:
v Your
website visitors behave like wild animals (source: Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox).
v They’re
hunting for information or a product to buy – just like a hungry panther hunts
for his next meal.
v When
a panther sniffs a scent trail he quickly decides: will the scent trail lead to
a good meal? And will it be an easy catch?
v Your
web visitors consider the same two things: Does your website offer what they’re
looking for? And can they find it easily?
v A
hungry panther doesn’t like wasting time to catch a meal. And your web visitors
don’t want to browse around your website for several long minutes to find the
product they’re after. They want to find it quickly.
v Just
like the panther makes a fast decision whether to follow a scent trail or not,
your web visitor decides quickly whether your site is useful or not. So if your
site looks complicated with a lot of options to choose from, they click away to
check out another website.
v Web
visitors quickly glance at your web page before guessing whether they’re in the
right place or not. They don’t need to know for sure. They just want to make a
quick decision.
v If
your web visitors only glance at your website, how do you get your message
across?
2.
Put your most important
information first:
v Writing
for the web is completely different than writing an essay or a paper.
v An
essay might go like this: First, explain what you’re going to discuss. Then,
present an overview of the literature. Next, discuss; and finally draw your
conclusion. The most important point you make is in the conclusion – at the end
of your essay!
v On
web pages you have to do the opposite: you’re most important points always come
first.
v An
example: you’re looking for a new red three-seater sofa. When you arrive at a
website you want to see it sells sofas. And secondly, you want a search box so
you know you can quickly find out what the red three-seater sofas are like.
v Or
say you’re looking for a copywriter for your website. Maybe you’re looking for
someone local, so you need to see a copywriter is based in Manchester which is
nearby. Or maybe your copywriter needs to understand medical terminology, so
you like to see a headline like copywriting for the medical industry.
v Information
that’s most important to your web visitors is often a simple statement of what
you do. Once they understand what you do, they might want to know some
important details. And then – maybe they’d like to know some background
information.
v Journalists
call this way of writing the inverted pyramid. In newspaper articles the most
newsworthy information comes first before details and background information.
Even if you only read the first paragraph of a newspaper story you still
understand the big picture.
v It’s
the same on your website. Your customers want to know the big picture first.
Basically: What do you do? Or what can you do for them?
3.
Don’t try to be
clever or creative:
v On
the web it’s rare that a reader hangs on to every word you write. He doesn’t
have time. He’s in a hurry because he could check out several other scent
trails – websites – instead of wasting time trying to figure out what you do.
v Simple
statements often work best.
When I look at a Web page it should be
self-evident. Obvious. Self-explanatory. ~ Steve Krug.
v Clever
phrasing requires people to think. And asking people to think, doesn’t work on
the web because web visitors are hunting – they don’t have time to think. So
keep your web copy as simple as possible.
v Write
as if you’re writing for a 12-year old because that makes your copy
easy-to-follow. And be careful with jokes unless you’re absolutely sure your
target audience will get them.
4.
Write for scanners:
How many people read web pages?
Hardly anybody!
[What most web visitors do] is glance at each new page, scan
some of the text, and click on the first link that catches their interest or
vaguely resembles the thing they’re looking for. – Steve Krug
Research suggests that only 16% of people read web pages
word-for-word. Most people scan. (source: Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox).
How can you write for scanners? A check list:
v Does
your headline communicate what you’re about?
v Does
your image caption communicate a sales message?
v Do
your sub headlines summarize your key points?
v Do
easy-to-scan bullet points reduce wordiness?
v Your
web visitor is hunting for information or products. Ensure he can understand
your most important information by just glancing at your web page.
