Too much writing gives you brain fade

If you’ve ever been given a big document to read - pages and pages of closely packed text - you know exactly what I’m talking about.  If you look at the top of a page and there are only 2 paragraphs - one with 20 lines and one with about 30 lines, you’d be forgiven if your first thought was ‘I’ll go and get a coffee and read this later.’  Of course, the chances of you actually reading it later are slim - unless it’s really critical.

Having been working on business plans recently I know that they have to have lots of information included so it’s inevitable that they run to many pages, not to mention the appendices - but there is not reason why they should be presented in a way that makes reading difficult.

I was taught the KISS technique - Keep It Short and Simple!  It works like a charm - short sentences, short paragraphs and simple easy to understand language.  One thought per sentence and one idea per paragraph is a good rule of thumb to work by.

If you do actually know the definition of every word in the Oxford English Dictionary don’t show off in a document that you want other people to understand.  Stick to straightforward terms, don’t use jargon or abbreviations without an explanation the first time of use and get someone else to read it and give you some honest feedback.

Go back and cut out extra words; we all use them.

Finally, use subheadings and lots of white space to keep people reading.  Generous margins, headers and footers and a consistent and clean layout all help people to read - and what’s the point of writing something if people don’t read it?

Click here

Why would I do that? If you want me to do something then tell me what I’ll get and make that the link – and don’t be clever about it – blue underline means a hyperlink to me, pretty coloured text or bold or anything else might – or might not – be a link; I may not mouse over it to find out!

A hyperlink that says ‘Discover more about our services’ will lead me to the page where the services are featured. If you ask me to scroll back up and make a menu selection I might not bother!

Clicking on hyperlinks is a knee-jerk reaction – scrolling is conscious and, therefore, ‘harder’ work. Don’t make your visitor work any harder than necessary.

http://www.insidenews.co.uk/services_website_copy.htm

The patchwork quilt effect

Have you ever arrived at a website to find lots of different boxes with various products, services, special offers, sale items or a range of different options that cover everything from signing up for the newsletter to downloading a report?  Confusing, isn’t it?

Where do you start when there are so many options?  The problem is most people don’t - they just hit the back button and leave.

You need ONE item that stands out and attracts attention and that gets your visitor started - it’s usually the headline, but there are some other devices that also work.

If you’re offered a choice of six colours isn’t it harder to make a decision than if you’ve just got a couple to decide upon?  It’s the same principle, except that most web visitors just don’t bother, if it looks too hard, they’re off to find something ‘easier’.

If you want your home page to be sticky then you mustn’t frighten your visitor off at the first visit!  Nice clear text, a visible menu that looks easy to use, not too many boxes and things in the places that they expect them to be.  For instance, log in or sign up boxes tend to work best top right, under the masthead.  Testimonials work well under that on the right, or in a defined box in an appropriate place in the text.

Visuals should contribute to the message not be pure decoration.  Everything should work to get your message across and you’ll have a much better chance of hanging on to your visitor long enough to get them really interested.

Getting people to read key information

On your web pages you want to connect with your reader - but did you know that people don’t read web pages?  If you’re wondering what the point of writing killer copy if people aren’t going to read it, then here are some tips to make the words connect as much as possible.

1. Know what your visitor is looking for and make sure the first thing they say addresses that need.  That will be your big, bold headline!  If you don’t know what people appreciate about what you do then ask a few satisfied clients what your biggest advantages are and sell your services with those benefits in mind.
2. Don’t go on and on and on.  Most web pages can say what is needed in 200-300 words.  If you can get it all onto one screen, so much the better.  Your visitor won’t have to work to get your message; no scrolling required!
3. People scan the screen in an ‘F’ shape (yes, it’s been researched with eye sensors), so you know that they’ll pick up the beginning of paragraphs.  Make sure each paragraph starts with something that connects with them.
4. Put key words in bold.  Not capitals, just bold - they’ll stand out from the rest and attract the eye.  Don’t fall into the trap of doing this to too many words and peppering your page with bold words, or you’ll lose the effect.  One or two per paragraph is usually plenty.
5. If you have a key piece of information that you want people to read, turn it into a bullet point list.  We read lists where we won’t bother to read a paragraph.  You can turn three sentences into three bullet points with a little creativity.
6. Put a call to action at the end and make the words into a hyperlink.  The hand tends to follow the eye and people respond to hyperlinks that give instructions without realising it.  For example:  Not ‘Click here to find out more’, but ‘explore our service pages to find out how your company will benefit’.

Following these simple rules will help you to get your visitor to stay and find out more about what you can do for them.

Words that people read

Don’t be offended, but did you know that you are much more likely to read copy where the words are short?  You also find short sentences and short paragraphs much easier to read.  This doesn’t mean you are intellectually challenged - it’s just easier to digest information that has lots of white space around it.

You read subconsciously and your subconscious doesn’t take easily to anything that requires lots of work!  Consider your instinctive reaction when faced with a screen of packed information, no visuals, no paragraph breaks, no subheadings - just solid text.  Do you dive right in and read or do you find yourself thinking ‘I’ll come back to that later’?

If it’s important that you read it you’ll make the effort, but if it looks ‘easier’ you’ll find the effort level appears much less.

What does that tell you about your own text?

Visit our website on www.insidenews.co.uk and find out how you can get the help you need - either by asking us to do it for you or by joining one of our teleclasses and learning how to do it for yourself!