Writing content for your website

How often do you spend more than five seconds on a web page? Usually, it’s a case of quickly scanning a page before moving on to the next. This is something we need to remember when writing content for websites.

Break it down

Creating a whole chunk of text is not going to attract any readers so break it down.

Use titles and subtitles so that visitors can quickly see what your page is about. Short and to the point makes sure the reader doesn’t have to do any guesswork.

Having a short paragraph at the top of your page that summarises what the page is about will inform the visitor quickly if it’s something they want to read more of.

Think about what your visitors will want to know when they get to your site. When you are searching for a tradesman, restaurant or club, what do you want to know?

Tips for reducing content

When you think you have written the perfect page, cut it down by half and then reduce that again by half. Extreme I know, but don’t forget that website visitors just scan, they will not read huge paragraphs of text. So cut down using these tips:

• If your page is about prices then just layout your prices. It’s a complete waste of time adding paragraphs of text introducing your prices. All visitors will do is skip down to the prices and then move on. So cut it out.
• Adding content like ‘Welcome to London Hairdressers’ is not necessary as it’s on the top of every page of your website and it’s not giving any information that’s new. So cut it out.
• Don’t add simple instructions such as ‘click on this button’ or ‘fill in your name, phone number and address below’. If it looks like a button or a form then it’s obvious what needs to be done. So cut it out.
• When you read back your content do you find yourself saying ‘blah, blah, blah, blah’? If you do then you’ve just written a load of waffle. Cut it out! 

REMEMBER: Cut your text down. Having a long chunk of text is boring and it could also mean that visitors will leave your site.