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Make your website content more user friendly
How Users Read on the Web
People rarely read Web pages word by word; instead, they scan the page, picking out individual words and sentences. In research on how people read websites, it was found that 79 percent of the test users always scanned any new page they came across; only 16 percent read word-by-word. (Update: a newer study found that users read email newsletters even more abruptly than they read websites.)
As a result, Web pages have to employ scannable text, using
• highlighted keywords (hypertext links serve as one form of highlighting; typeface variations and color are others)
• meaningful sub-headings (not "clever" ones)
• bulleted lists
• one idea per paragraph (users will skip over any additional ideas if they are not caught by the first few words in the paragraph)
• the inverted pyramid style, starting with the conclusion
• half the word count (or less) than conventional writing
It is found that credibility is important for Web users, since it is unclear who is behind information on the Web and whether a page can be trusted. Credibility can be increased by high-quality graphics, good writing, and use of outbound hypertext links. Links to other sites show that the authors have done their homework and are not afraid to let readers visit other sites.
Users detested "marketese"; the promotional writing style with boastful subjective claims ("hottest ever") that currently is prevalent on the Web. Web users are busy: they want to get the straight facts. Also, credibility suffers when users clearly see that the site exaggerates.
Measuring the Effect of Improved Web Writing
To measure the effect of some of the content guidelines, My team had identified, developed five different versions of the same website (same basic information; different wording; same site navigation). We then had users perform the same tasks with the different sites.
It was somewhat surprising to us that usability was improved by a good deal in the objective language version (27% better). We had expected that users would like this version better than the promotional site (as indeed they did), but we thought that the performance metrics would have been the same for both kinds of language. As it turned out, the four performance measures (time, errors, memory, and site structure) were also better for the objective version than for the promotional version. My conjecture to explain this finding is that promotional language imposes a cognitive burden on users who have to spend resources on filtering out the hyperbole to get at the facts. When people read a paragraph that starts "Nebraska is filled with internationally recognized attractions," their first reaction is no, it's not, and this thought slows them down and distracts them from using the site.
How to write web contents:
Introduction
On the Web, content is king. If you’re running an ebusiness, it’s a good idea to have some targeted web content aimed at people doing searches on Google or other major search engines. The more relevant content there is on your site, the more chance there is that a person will find your site after making a search query, as well as remain on the site. Good web content can increase a site's search engine ranking and ultimately increase an ebusiness's sales.
Instructions
Difficulty: Moderate
Things You'll Need
• Internet access
• Website
• Word processor
Steps
Step One
Find a writer. Writing’s harder than it seems, so don’t necessarily tackle the writing yourself if you have limited experience. Unprofessional writing can make the site appear unprofessional. Think about hiring a web content writer through a copywriting firm.
Step Two
If you’re doing it yourself: Don’t just write the content and hit publish. Make sure the content is grammatically correct and free of spelling errors. Using spellcheck couldn’t be easier.
Step Three
Don’t cram keyphrases together. This is considered keyword jamming and could have the site banned by search engines. The content should be informative with targeted keyphrases thrown in so the keyword-rich content flows naturally.
Step Four
Hyperlink content with other content on the site so visitors will click-through. The more time people stay on your site, the more likely it is they’ll 1. Buy something and 2. Come back for another visit.
5Step Five
Add a blog and/or forums. This type of content is always changing, as opposed to static, and the fresh content is continually indexed by search engines.
Writing for the Web
Introduction
When we're surfing the 'net, most of us are testament to the fact that attention spans get a little smaller. In contrast to print publications, much less attention is given to each word as we skim through web pages. Correspondingly, for this reason and many more, it is important for us to understand that writing for the web can be significantly different than writing for print.
The web has inadvertently made authors out of us all. As we post on forums, send emails, share information, write white papers, guides and various web content – most of us are not authors by profession and so consequently the quality of writing on the web varies greatly.
This paper outlines some important points to consider when writing for the web and trying to harness the obvious reach that the web holds over traditional print media.
What is Web Content?
When we strip away all of the graphics, logos, designs and images from a site, we are left with pure web content.
Most business websites can be quite similar in the sense that we all advertise our services, products, contact details, etc. However, each company has a variety of specialized information that can be used to create a unique website and it is important that we recognize and feature the points that make our individual business (and associated content) different from our competitor’s.
The First Paragraph
As a general rule, if the first paragraph of a publication can attract and keep the readers attention, then they are highly likely to read on. Optimizing your first paragraph to be as articulate and concise as possible will greatly increase the chances that a reader will stay with you for more information. Outline your biggest benefits here and engage the customers to read on and get involved with your products and/or services.
Converse with Your Readers
Being a slave to search engines is inevitable, and it is because of this that we find many sites bombarded with keywords. Don't allow your quest for keywords to interrupt the effectiveness of your grammar or your ability to be informative.
Your website may have a large amount of information -- readers will most definitely not get through all of it -- so make sure you outline the most important benefits and present them to users in a conversational style.
Having a friendly conversation will present the information more clearly and will be more engaging, for example:
"If you're short on time, then you should try one of our widgets. Time is a precious commodity, and we're here to help you make the most of yours…"
Don't present your information in overwhelmingly large blocks. Cut it down into short bite-sized paragraphs that are easier to digest and use bulleted lists when comparing or describing features.
Use the least amount of words so that readers have less to skim through - you'll find that the amount of scanning reduces and readers will actually absorb more information.
Cater for Different Tastes
It is also important to understand that user's come with many different levels of knowledge on any one topic or product. It cannot be expected that all users visiting your site will know about or understand your offerings in their entirety.
For example, sites that list products by their model numbers and reference codes are narrowing the appeal of their site to only those users that would know these numbers. It is important to have enough foresight to realize that while you are fully aware and knowledgeable about your products and services, your site's visitors may not.
For example, instead of providing just model numbers and reference codes, why not include a picture, short description and some user reviews on your product pages?
Don't Make the Reader do all the Work
Visitors will often venture to your site with one single goal in mind. Given that, if the visitor is then presented with a site that forces them to figure out the product/service that suits them, but they are not helped because there is no meaningful information, then your site has failed.
This extends to the way your information is presented. If your fact sheets and other information are, for example, simply uploaded in a series of PDF's for the user to download, then the user just has to work harder because you didn't take the time to convert the product information into easily navigated HTML pages.
Readers Don't Like:
• Pages that require a lot of scrolling - Text is easier to read if it is clear, concise and scan-able. The text needs to be in short paragraphs or bulleted lists and needs to get straight to the point.
• Over doing the sales and marketing on a site with no real information but with too much "fluff", claiming "world's best", "number one", "top of the range" - these bear no value if the simple features and benefits about the product are left out.
• Grammar and spelling mistakes - It seems obvious but they are still very apparent on many sites. If a user sees spelling and grammar mistakes, then it seems obvious that the author was not willing to spend some extra time to run a spell check or read over their own work. If the author places such little value on the time they invest in their work, then readers will place similarly low values on their products/services and will most probably disregard the information.
In Conclusion
Many visitors will take a look at the information on your site, however it is important to understand that each person reads individually, so effective web content should make the reader feel that it is focusing on them.
Try and get your point across quickly and avoid bombarding users with information - your published web content should be the result of various levels of refinement considering style, emphasis and conciseness.
The above points give a few important factors to consider when writing for the web, but if you are still lost for content then start at the very basic level of interviewing/researching your customers and finding out what it is that they want or need. From there, you can start investigating the foundations that lead customers to your site, and make them want to stay with you.
