Writing webcopy in black and white

It’s not that I’m old fashioned, but there’s nothing like good old black and white - as long as the writing is black and the background is white.  However, reverse that combination and you have a problem.

When the background is darker than the text, the reader has to work much harder to read.  Whilst a sexy black page may be visually appealing, the eye/brain connection is bedazzled!  Lots of little thin white lines criss-crossing a dark background create a dazzle effect, making your subconscious work really hard to actually see what the words are.

If the information is not ‘received’ by your brain, there is an instinctive (and also subconscious) assumption that the information is ‘difficult’ and many people simply won’t make the effort to continue reading.

It’s not just black and white either - yellow writing on dark blue, forest green or burgundy backgrounds all do pretty much the same thing (all of which I have seen on web pages).  A good rule of thumb is to simply ensure that the background is lighter than the text and that the differential in tone between the two makes it easy for the eye to see the words.

When it comes to headlines in nice big bold text you can get away with reversed out writing, because the lines that make up the letters are not lines, but shapes.

Backgrounds don’t have to be white (although it does create a nice crisp look) - pastel shades such as very pale blue, cream or yellow all work well (and often aid reading for people with dyslexia).  Neither does the writing have to be black, but it does have to be dark enough to to stand out against the background - so dark blue on cream or pale yellow will work; so will very dark green.

Remember - the fewer obstacles you put in front of your reader getting the message, the better!

Is your website search optimised?

One of the jobs that I do regularly is write copy for search engine optimised pages.  This entails using a handful of key words intelligently in the copy so that search engines find the page when people put those words into their search.

Having spent hours and hours wrestling with online systems such as Word Tracker to work out what people might actually be searching for - I gave a huge sigh of relief when a SEO specialist friend of mine said “The best way to find out what people search for is to ask a few people you know what they would type into a search engine when they’re looking for the sort of services you offer.”

Wow - that means working with human beings rather than automated systems!  Much better - and, given that it’s a human being that types the search terms in, probably at least as reliable (and much less confusing).

Don’t go mad - you need just 2 or 3 terms and should use each one between 2-4 times in the copy - making sure that the copy flows naturally, otherwise people just won’t read it.

There are other terms that are lower down the list that could be introduced here and there, to reinforce the message.  For instance, if you are a coach specialising in career development, the search terms might be:

How to get promoted

Fast track promotion

Career development

So you’d need to use these terms 2-4 times in the main part of the text.

You might also try to knit in:

Getting promoted

Improve your career path

Become more successful

Promotion to manager

Promoted to manager

Career path improvement

… and, although you might not get all of these in, if you can add three or four of them at least once, it will help to add to the key word ‘cloud’ - all the words that are related to the subject.

Just remember that the copy must make sense and feel natural to read - or people simply stop reading and don’t get the message.

Focus on the message

Every time I start working with a client on their website I ask the same questions:

Why do people buy you/your services/your products?

What would they be looking for when they search for what you’re offering?

What do you want them to do when they’ve finished reading each page?

Doesn’t sound like rocket-science, but I’m constantly amazed that people don’t know the answers to these questions.  These are absolutely critical - you need to not only ‘think’ you know the answers, you need to actually do some research to find out the answers to the first two - and then be realistic about the answer to the third one.

If you think people will ring you up and buy from the home page, that is probably somewhat ambitious.  Instead choose where you’d like them to go next to get more in depth information (usually your services/product overview page).  However, always have your phone number/email visible on each page, just in case.

Answer the questions for every page on your website and your copy will be much easier to focus and to connect with the reader.

Website graphics

Pictures on your website can be a big advantage or a huge drawback in helping you to get your message across.  Here are a few good rules to work by:

DON’T put picture in just to have a visual on a page - make sure that every picture works for its place.  It must help you to get your message across.

DO use pictures of real people (especially on your About us page - where YOU should appear); but beware of naff photos of people shaking hands, posing for the camera looking like ‘business people’ or other stock shots.  Ask your clients and customers if they are happy for you to take shots of them - or leave them out.  ‘Fakes’ look exactly what they are.

DO use diagrams, graphs, pie charts and so on to help to make your point, but make sure that the information is genuine, up-to-date, not copyright and is simply enough for anybody to understand.  One diagram or graph per page is enough - a whole series is confusing and puts people off.

DON’T use clip-art, holiday photos (unless you’re a travel site and they’re really good ones), nice pictures you like (but don’t add anything) or a bunch of graphics that don’t match.  It will simply brand you an amateur - and that subliminal message can leak over into your expertise.

Pictures are powerful - if they’re the right ones in the right place!

Descriptive copy

Everyone can write, but few people can write well.  The people who can’t string three words together are usually aware of their shortcomings and find the whole writing process a struggle.  Then there are the people who do write - using lots of descriptive prose and three adjectives to every noun.  This makes it really hard for the reader who will then have to pick out the pieces of information they want from all the excess verbiage.

Descriptive prose has a use - to set a scene, to create an atmosphere, to help the reader to see themselves in the situation being described - but, there is always a danger of ‘going over the top’.  When writing commercial copy you need to ensure the message is clear - so descriptive copy really isn’t appropriate, particularly on a home page.

When you get to a specific service or product there is a place for it.  For instance on the products page for a furniture company:

Imagine what it would be like to come home and be able to sink into a really comfortable sofa, that supports your back, but is just soooo relaxing. With a Supersofa this is exactly what you get - and more.

The image helps the reader visualise themselves and makes the sales message stronger.  But if the text had been:

You come home and push the door closed behind you with a huge sigh of relief.  It’s been a long hard day and you have been longing to just collapse and put your feet up.  You walk into your beautifully decorated lounge and glance into the mirror over the chimney breast - you definitely look tired.  The sofa beckons - you sink into it letting it wrap around you and feeling that firm pressure at the base of your spine, whilst the soft cushions allow you to totally and completely relax.  If this sounds like absolute luxury to you - then don’t wait a moment longer, order your sofa right away.

Now, whilst that certainly sets the scene - it’s far too much information for most people!

Good writing isn’t about lots of words - it’s about getting the message across.  Keep it short and simple and write for the reader, not yourself.

… and if it’s all too much of a struggle call in the experts!  www.insidenews.co.uk

Every web page has a purpose

It’s essential that you know the purpose of each of your web pages.  That might be:

• To take the visitor to another page,
• To get them to email or phone,
• To share an important piece of information with them, or
• To help them to understand a particular aspect of your service and how it applies to their business

But, if you don’t know what the purpose of the page is, it’s likely to be ‘woolly’!  That isn’t all - you will need to decide what information goes into each page to achieve that purpose.  This is where you will need to be ruthless.

We are all passionate about our businesses, we are excited about what we do and the danger is that we want to share it all with the visitor to our website.  Resist the temptation!

Every word must work for its place - if it doesn’t help to persuade someone to take action then leave it out.  Many people put far too much information on their websites and then visitors can’t find out what they want quickly and easily - and leave.

TIP:  Get someone outside your business to review or edit your copy, they’ll have a much better idea of what your potential customer wants.

Alternatively, email info@insidenews.co.uk and get a professional to do the job!

A house style

I just delivered a course on writing for the web for a group of professional website managers and the one issue we were challenged by was developing a ‘house style’.  They all had their specialisms and were intending to write the website pages for each of their expertises individually.

“How can we create a house style?” they asked.

This is the toughest nut to crack for a website.  You can agree layout, site map, design, page purpose, USPs, key information for each page - but how do you ensure the writing style is the same throughout?

There are two answers:

1.  Have just one person collect the information and write all of it.

2.  Everyone writes their bit - then gives it to a single editor to ‘knock into shape’.

Every writer is different, even the professionals.  Asking half a dozen writers to create copy that looks as though it’s all been written by a single hand is probably much too tall an order.  If you’re suffering from this problem, find someone who is good at English, pedantic about punctuation and grammar and doesn’t know too much about your business.  They’ll edit it so that the reader (who also doesn’t know much about your business - and only wants to know if you can do what they want) gets the messagge, clearly and consistently.

If they happen to be a professional editor - better still.

If you’re looking for a professional webcopy editor we’ve a few in our team!  Look at our website to find out more:  www.insidenews.co.uk/services_website_copy.htm

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.