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"I highly recommend Marketing Breakthroughs to any organization looking to increase their profile and grow their revenues."
Mark Bonneau,
Senior Vice President
Ottawa Senators Hockey Club
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Articles
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Good writing is the key to a successful website. A recent Canadian usability study found that prospective customers make up their minds about your site in under 50 milliseconds.
Why Take Chances With Bad Copy?
Here are the seven secrets to writing compelling copy for the Internet, including information on planning and prioritizing, sentence and paragraph structure, font choices, web page organization, and testing and editing.
Plan Your Website Content
Planning is crucial to developing compelling copy. Visit credible sites and take note of popular patterns. Research your target audience, and establish a purpose for your site.
Make a list of the key words and phrases to include on your site. Most visitors scan, not read Internet text; make sure to use terms that catch your reader's eye.
Prioritize Information
Develop a list of information to include on your website. Always place the most relevant information at the top of your list. Readers are likely to become annoyed if they have to search for important information.
Write Effective Headings
Use smart headings to divide the sections of your site. Headings save readers time by directing them to the desired information.
Write Short Sentences And Paragraphs
Write with clarity and conciseness. Monitors display type at only 96 dots per inch, much lower than the 300 dpi of printed text, and much harder on the eyes; readers of online information are less likely to respond positively to lengthy copy.
Sentences should consist of no more than 10 words. Short sentences are easier for your audience to read.
Keep paragraphs to a length of two to three sentences. Present your information in small, succinct chunks.
Choose The Right Font
Choose an easy-to-read font style, size and colour. If the font is hard on your readers' eyes, they will stop reading.
Choose a sans serif font such as Verdana or Arial. While serif fonts such as Times New Roman are easier to read in print, usability studies show that sans serif fonts are easier to read online.
The font colour you choose should not contrast with the site's background
colour.
Never choose all caps, bold, or italic for your paragraph font. Also avoid
underlining font that is not meant to be a link; this confuses your reader.
Font size should be 10 - 12 pt; big enough to read, but not too big. Save larger font sizes to better highlight important headings or messages.
Do not distract your reader with loud colours or images that compete with the text.
Keep Scrolling To A Minimum
Keep vertical and horizontal scrolling to a minimum; too much scrolling annoys the reader. Minimal scrolling in general makes it easier for readers to print relevant information.
Test And Edit
Test drafts of your web site on your target audience. Note how they respond to the structure of your site and the information provided. Ask for feedback and update your site.
Web sites should be aggressively edited. Nothing damages your company's credibility more than typos, and spelling and grammar mistakes. Ensure your content is perfect before you post it for your target audience.
Remember, you only have one chance to make a first impression, and this
impression largely depends on the quality of your Web site. Following these seven steps to website success will ensure your company's growth and productivity.
Marketing Breakthroughs Inc., is a breakthrough marketing, branding and advertising company specializing in helping businesses grow and succeed. Talk with Ottawa's web copywriting and search engine marketing specialists at 877-721-3335. |
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Our expert web copywriters can make your website sing. Click here to Request a Meeting with us.
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