Keep It Short & Simple

As a business owner you’re continually working to generate traffic to your website, but you also want your visitors to keep coming back. With that said, there are several things you should keep in mind when producing copy for the web.

Unless a visitor has been driven to a laser targeted landing page on your website, they’re likely to do nothing more than skim the first section of your page. The longer your copy is, the less likely it is that it will get read so don’t place long pieces of copy on pages where visitors do not expect it to be.

Writing simple copy is important because you want your visitors to be able understand what you’re trying to present to them without a lot of work on their part. They don’t want to spend the time trying to figure out your website, and you don’t want them to think about whether or not they should buy from you. Your goal is to get them to click the order button without a thought. If you cannot give the facts briefly and directly then you should consider rewriting the copy.

Aim to deliver one key point over one or two lines. Any longer and you can easily lose the focus of your visitor.

Again, your visitors are specifically looking for something, so once you have captured their attention you need to direct them to a page that has more detailed copy. Provide them with a hyperlink to a fresh page that contains all the information they need. If you really need to include longer passages of copy in order to get your point across, then make sure that you format it in a style that is comfortable for the reader. Break up your copy so that readers can skim it and still get the answers they’re looking for. You can do this by using headings, sub-headings, bullet points, and short paragraphs.

Longer passages of copy do not need to maintain the approach of directness that we would use in shorter copy, however, make sure it is simple to understand and that visitors will not be deterred from reading it due to its complexity.

Try to keep a neutral tone when writing copy. You should aim to produce copy that is simple to read and maintains an unassuming tone, and is neither tedious nor overbearing. Ignoring any of these simple guidelines could cause your reader to switch off and you will lose the opportunity to convey your point to them.

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