I’ve spent a lot of time working with people on their websites over the last week or so – and creating a website that works is so much easier when you start with the site map – or plan.

With one of my clients we established that there were six elements to co-ordinate – and in this particular instance they were all being carried out by different people; no wonder she was stressed! The elements were:

The come in roughly that order too, although some can be carried out concurrently – and SEO really runs right through from the copy onwards.

If the site map isn’t developed up front it makes writing the copy virtually impossible and SEO even harder as pages need to be optimised. The designer can’t create a template with the right menu buttons and the developer can’t build the site. It’s the key to a successful website that takes the visitor on a journey that keeps them interested and presents your products and/or services in the best possible light.

Every page must have purpose and also a call to action – if you just say lots of encouraging things and don’t ask for action, some visitors will leave!

Don’t leave it to your web designer to plan your site – that’s your job and nobody knows your business better than you (or, at least, they shouldn’t) – think about what you want people to do and plan your site with that in mind.

Two tips:
1. Don’t send anyone to your About page first; let them find out what you can deliver BEFORE you introduce yourself.

2. Find out what people really want before you try to give them what you think they should have!

Good luck!
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Visit our sister website at www.insidenews.co.uk for more information on what we can deliver for you.

Technology has delivered a faster paced life to us all – we get information quicker and in much larger quantities, so it’s no wonder that we feel a bit overwhelmed at times?

How many people do you know who mutter about ‘work overload’, ‘not enough hours in the day’, ‘never seem to catch up’ and other typical phrases of busy people? You’ve probably uttered a few yourself – and how many time management books have you got (and probably never had time to read)?

What’s this got to do with writing copy? Well, would you rather be working late or out enjoying the sunshine? Would you prefer to sit in front of a computer or relax with your friends or family? It’s a no-brainer! Think about what you’re offering and how it will help the buyer to use their time better.

The secret is not only in explaining how much time that your potential buyer can save – but also get them to see themselves using that time in a pleasurable or more productive way.

For example: Are you slaving away over writing the copy for your website and still can’t seem to get it right? Don’t worry, you can have focused, reader-friendly and search engine friendly copy written for you in a fraction of the time it will take you to do it yourself – leaving you free to get out of the office on time, instead of staring at a computer screen late into the evening.

Your site will get more traffic, have higher retention rates and more people contacting you – and you can spend your time making your customers happy with the top class service you provide, getting more business and higher profits.
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If you’ve got visitors to your website you want to keep them! This is all about readability. Reduce your bounce rates and improve retention by paying attention to these five things:

1. Put the headline in the right place – it needs to be in prime real estate – usually around two fifths of the way down from the top of the screen (that’s the actual physical screen, not the webpage) and about 4-5 cms in from the left hand edge. That’s where people’s eyes generally connect with the screen.

2. Make sure that your headline is the biggest font on the page – it needs to be at least 18pt and should not be overpowered by fancy graphics and page names.

3. Do not include the word ‘we’ in your headline. If possible use the word ‘you’. Make sure it addresses the reader’s pain or gain, it must hit an emotional trigger to keep them reading.

4. Don’t write loads of ’stuff’ (web copy) about your services – focus on what the reader gets, what it will do for them and how much better life will be with your product/service in place. Stick to the point, short words, short sentences and short paragraphs. A good web page is no more than 2 screens – even better if you can get it on one!

5. Don’t put anything on the page that moves more than once. Moving images distract the eye and they never get to read your message.

6. Don’t present your copy where the web copy is in a lighter colour than the background – this will create ‘dazzle’ and make reading hard work. Many people just won’t get what you’ve got to say.

7. Paragraphs should be left aligned, not justified and not centred. This is the easiest format for people to read. They don’t get ‘lost’ and reread lines or skip lines as much so no frustration factor to overcome!

If you really want people to get your message – take action and you’ll improve your visitor retention rate.
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I was lucky to work for a client of some of the top advertising agencies back in the 1980’s – I learned from some of the best people in the advertising business how capital letters work. The secret is that most of the time they actually STOP people reading!

If every word of your headline starts with a capital, the eye stops at each word – this means that they read one word at a time instead of the sense of the whole sentence.

In some marketing material this can work – if you know how to construct a sentence using key words that connect individually with the reader – like ‘Free’ ‘New’ ‘Save’ ‘Exciting’. However, when you’re writing a headline for your web copy so that you engage the reader, this is not the best way to go about it – you want the whole message to hit them, right between the eyes!

If you really want to learn how the marketing gurus make capitals work you’ll need to read the material generated by people like Ted Nicholas, Frank Kern, Armand Morin and others.

When it comes to your web copy your headline just needs to be easy to read, fast to digest and tell people you’ve got what they’re looking for.

I mentioned the words ‘current economic climate’ on Twitter recently and got a flurry of positive responses along the lines of ‘I refuse to participate in a recession’; ‘What recession?’; ‘I’m busier than ever,’ and so on.

I think that’s great – and you’ve also probably heard the one about ‘The people who market during a recession are several steps ahead of everyone else when the economy improves’. All this has seeds of truth – and certainly I’m not less busy at present, my clients are still asking for web copy, promotional material, articles and blogs. However, I was reading Gihan Perera’s newsletter the other day and he made an excellent point.

Even if you are doing well, some of your clients will be feeling the pinch – and some, frankly, struggling. Their focus has changed – they are less likely to be looking at the long term issues, they’re much more interested in the quick results department.

As a writer this means that they are looking for flyers to get sales rather than brochures for the longer term promotion. They want web copy that delivers customers, not lots of nice informational stuff (and quite right too). They want articles, blogs and newsletters that tell people they’re the best, they’re experts and they’re well-known – to generate leads.

How has the focus for your client’s business changed? And what have you done about it?
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In conversation yesterday with some friends the issue of ‘why have you got a website?’ came up. A number of answers were suggested:

This then spawned another question; what do you want people to do when they get to your website?

Four answers came up:

So there’s your challenge for today:
What is the purpose of your website?
What do you want people to do when they’ve read your web copy?

Tomorrow there’ll be another challenge!

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Your About us page is not usually the first place people will look, but it is the place where they’ll check after they’ve decided you’ve got something they want. It’s where they ‘check you out’ – does your web copy tell them that you’re someone they will want to deal with?

If it’s a list of ‘we do this and we do that’ or ‘we’ve been in business for x years’, it won’t tell your reader much about you at all. What they want to know is who they’re dealing with – what are you passionate about, why do you think what you deliver offers something special, what are your values and beliefs?

Most About page web copy is pretty boring, having something with a human touch will bring yours to life and create energy.

By all means write in the third person ‘Inside News was launched in 2000 to deliver a first class newsletter to Ford Motor Company and the first assignment was to cover the opening of Fords new Environmental Testing Lab.’ However, your web copy need to include some quotes from the head honcho or founder or managing director. For example; ‘Managing Director, Lesley Morrissey, says “We spent the first three months finding our way around the huge plant, but soon built up a network of contacts and stories came to us allowing us to deliver a wide variety of information to the 5,500 staff.”

Find a way to include your track record and any special expertise, but keep your web copy lively and fresh, not dry and dusty. It may be the defining factor in someone’s decision to buy from YOU!

If your website has pictures or visuals of some kind – it lightens up the web copy and helps people to be attracted to the site, but pictures have their drawbacks too.

Where do you get them from?
If your visuals are helping you to get your message across, then not nasty stock photos! Look at the web copy and see what will help that message to hit home. Use a picture that works for its space. If you do use library pictures, make sure you have the necessary permissions and buy the ones you want outright. Better still invest in a decent photographer and get originals taken.

Where do you put them?
Ideally to the right of the web copy. If you put them to the left of the copy remember that the picture draws the eye down – so any text to the right of them may not be read.

Don’t allow them to push critical web copy down below the ‘fold’ (the bottom of the first visible screen). As this depends on the size of screen the viewer is using, then ensure that, even on a small screen the headline and first paragraph of copy can be seen. If the picture takes over the whole of the screen, some people may never scroll down and just won’t realise there is any web copy at all!

Pictures are powerful – but keep them in their place!

I’ve been looking at web copy that is intended to persuade and it seems that when you want action you have to use sentences with power.

For instance, do you say:
‘If you’d like to improve your skills you’ll find this programme will help you to develop your performance to higher levels.’
or
‘Get promoted faster – give your skills a shot in the arm and outperform the rest! Find out how this programme can help you now …’

There’s nearly always a more powerful way of saying it – it’s just seeing it from the reader’s end – what gets them going? People ‘buy’ on emotional triggers. If your web copy doesn’t hit those hot buttons – you’ll lose them.

When designers go to design school they learn about colours, balance, shapes and juxtaposition. They learn how to make the visual image attractive, appealing and enticing.

When writers learn to write web copy they learn about benefits, emotional triggers and writing for the reader. They learn how to craft compelling headlines, web copy that excites and calls to action that actually get results!

So where is this black hole? It’s where the words and the design come together. No matter how great the web copy is, if the designer presents it as a visual element only, it can be virtually unreadable. It’s actually very easy to achieve this – and until you really understand how the eye and the subconscious operate in tandem – it’s often a black hole that everyone is completely unaware of.

Sign up to our data service and you’ll have access to plenty of information that will ensure that your website visitors don’t disappear down that black hole, never to be seen again.