6 Steps to Writing Simple and Effective Website Content

Apr 14, 2016 | Content Creation

Kevin Fouche

6 Steps to Writing Simple and Effective Website Content

Posted by Kevin Fouche, Pixel Fish Director

Kevin handles the planning, design, launch and training of every website that Pixel Fish creates. He ensures that every website is highly engaging and aligned with our client’s goals. With over 20 years of design and web industry experience to draw upon, Kevin aims to pass on his knowledge to our clients and like-minded businesses wanting to grow their online presence.

As any web developer would tell you, getting the visuals right is a core part of successful website design. But too often, companies pay so much attention to the visuals that they forget about the written word.

While visuals grab your audience attention, the text on your website keeps your audience engaged and encourages them to take action. To make sure your website accomplishes these goals, here are 6 steps to writing simple and effective website content.

6 Steps to Writing Simple and Effective Website Content

1. Get to the Point

Most importantly, your website copy should not beat around the bush. If you have something to say, say it quickly, without paragraphs of introduction. Our digital attention span is now at 8 seconds, so if you take too long to get to the point, you lose your audience before they ever read what you truly want them to read.

2. Break up Text

Nobody wants to read the dreaded wall of text. Instead of long paragraphs about your company, products, or services, break up your text into digestible, easily-scannable nuggets. Use headers for individual sections, bold important words within your text, and use bullet or numbered lists wherever possible.

Especially visitors on mobile devices, who simply navigate to another site if all they see is text filling up their screen, will appreciate the readability.

3. Keep it Personal

Ideally, your website copy should speak directly to each individual member of your target audience. Of course, that is functionally impossible, as you simply don’t have the information needed to address your visitors by their name or needs.
But you can write your website text so that it addresses your audience directly, using the second person and addressing the general needs your market research has found your target audience to have.

4. Use Active Language and Action Verbs

Here are two variants of a sentence that says the exact same thing:

  • Get your free ebook now!
  • The free ebook is available to all our visitors.

Which one do you think will receive more clicks? The answer is obvious. Using active language and actionable verbs directs your audience’s attention, while subtly telling them what they should do in order to take your desired action. Avoid indirect sentence structure whenever possible.

5. Supplement Your Visuals

It’s tempting to treat the text and visuals on your website as separate entities. But in reality, they should be closely related, communicating the same message. If you get the balance just right, you can optimize your website copy by building on the visuals provided on the page.

For example, a page on your website may show the services you offer in an engaging image. If your text simply describes the same thing that your image communicates, you are duplicating your efforts and your audience will lose attention. If, on the other hand, your text goes beyond the image and describes how customers can get the pictures services, your website copy will become more effective.

6. Check the Grammar

Most importantly, all text on your website should follow proper grammar rules for your country. Your audience will disregard even the highest quality content if that content is not spelled right, or sentence construction seems off.

Have at least 3 people read all copy on your website, and make any edits necessary to ensure that your grammar reflects the quality and credibility of your business.

How much attention to you pay to the text on your website? If you don’t follow any of the above tips, you may need to take a second look at it.

To ensure that your pages help you promote your business and sell your business both through their visuals and their text, contact us today.

Further Information
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How to Optimise Your On-Page Content Using The Yoast Plugin
7 Top Ways E-Commerce is Changing for Business
How to Set Up A YouTube Channel For Your Business
Why Google My Business Reviews are Important and How To Ask For One
Professional Website Content Writing Service
10 Best Practices for a Successful WordPress Website Design Project

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Kevin Fouché, Pixel Fish Director