Web Design Information

Wording Up Your Website


Back to basics. Forget funky design, good copywriting is the key to a clear and intuitive website.

Are you losing business because of your website? More and more customers are logging on to the Web to decide where to spend their money because it is quick and convenient, and they can jump from site to site instead of walking from store to store.

Web savvy customers don't need to be patient, studies have shown that you need to engage a potential customer very quickly by giving them easy, fast access to the information they need. Otherwise they will simply move on to the next site.

Appealing design and speedy functionality are important but they don't ensure that your site is well structured (intuitive) or well written (clear).

Write First

The real message on most websites is in the writing, and so it makes sense that the writing should determine the structure. Unfortunately, this is not the usual case. Most businesses choose the structure and design of their site first and then try and fit the writing around that structure. This flies in the face of commonsense. When you speak to someone, you structure your speech around your message, you don't decide on a structure then change the message to suit. So you need to plan what you want to say before you create the site. Maybe even write the whole thing first and then use the message to determine the structure.

When deciding what to write, think about what your customer wants to know rather than what you want to say. It's a subtle difference, but it is the key to engaging a potential customer.

Most customers will want to know the basics:

What do you do?

What benefit can you offer them?

Why should they choose your service or product?

What does it cost?

How can they contact you?

Where are you located?

Brevity & Clarity

Your website has to communicate a lot of information and to make matters worse, you are going to have limited space. Ideally, your customer won't have to scroll on any page (all your information will fit in a single window) and that single view will need to contain more than just words. The design and navigation elements take up about a third of a window, and you should leave a bit of room for white space (you don't want to overwhelm the customer). As a rule of thumb you should expect to have about half the window free for text.

How you are going to fit all your information in such a confined space? This is where writing skills come in - choose your words very carefully.

Websites can be an extremely powerful piece of marketing collateral. You can reach millions of potential customers for as little as a few hundred dollars. Unfortunately, your competitors are all doing the same thing - it's a level playing field but there are a lot of players.

It is important that your message is structured and well thought out, otherwise your site will be a mess and no-one will bother to read about your business. If your message is clear, your site will be simple and easy to use. It's all in the words.

About The Author

* Glenn Murray is an SEO copywriter and Article Submission Specialist. He is a director of PublishHub and also of copywriting studio Divine Write. He can be contacted on Sydney +612 4334 6222 or at glenn@divinewrite.com. Visit http://www.divinewrite.com or http://www.publishhub.com for further details, more FREE articles, or to purchase his e-book, 'SEO Secrets'.


MORE RESOURCES:

Web design firm's span reaches from Dnieper to Danbury
Danbury News Times, CT - Dec 1, 2008
... a city in western Ukraine near the country's border with Poland, got the idea to start the firm while working for another Web design outfit in Stamford. ...


Web Design Training – Spring Semester
Marywood University News & Events, PA - Dec 1, 2008
A two-part workshop in web design will be offered on Tuesdays, 1:30 – 3:00 pm beginning January 13. Part A: Introduction to Web Design (Jan 13 – Feb 24) – a ...


Corpus Christi Web Design Now Available – WebDesignRush.com is Live
PR-CANADA.net (press release), Montenegro - 14 hours ago
We’re catering to small businesses in Corpus Christi and surrounding areas to bring affordable web design to small businesses. Web Design In Corpus Christi, ...


Web design & FOSS
ZDNet UK, UK - Dec 1, 2008
Having just moved house, I had the interesting experience of being without a telephone handset. And my current mobile provider 3 [% coverage] can't always ...


Extra Cash for the Holidays or Anytime With the Launch of Diamonds ...
MarketWatch - 15 hours ago
Bayshore Solutions' award-winning Web design team utilized their Microsoft Gold Certified development capabilities along with their interactive marketing ...
Extra Cash for the Holidays or Anytime With the Launch of Diamonds ... International Business Times
Businesses Thrive Amidst a Recession Thanks to Live Help TMCnet
all 11 news articles


Mercy student 'wow's' in web design contest
Mirror, MI - Nov 30, 2008
Mercy High School Junior Michelle McCarthy was awarded first place in the 2008 Michigan Council Women in Technology Foundation web contest held at Lawrence ...


Web 2.0 principles for good web design
Bizcommunity.com, South Africa - Dec 1, 2008
Web design can be deceptively difficult, as it involves achieving a design that is both usable and pleasing, delivers information and builds brand, ...


SEO and Web Design are "Recession Proof"
About - News & Issues, NY - Nov 28, 2008
Silicon Alley Insider -- a group blog focused on the New York startup scene -- published a post today titled Recession Winners: Web Designers, SEO. ...


Three day Web design Conference will be held in Boston December 8 ...
PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung), Austria - Dec 1, 2008
2008-12-01 15:45:33 - December 8-10, 2008 - a tremendous event in the field of Web design and technologies will take place at Westin Copley Place in Boston. ...


David Cosgrove Los Angeles Web Design Wins Top Honors in Business ...
Press Release 365 (press release), FL - Nov 27, 2008
SIMSBURY, CT -- David Cosgrove Los Angeles Web Design has been recognized by StartupNation (http://www.startupnation.com) as one of the top businesses in ...

Web-Design - Google News

home | site map
© 2006