Seven steps to great web copy Sue Keogh Sookio Limited

1. Size does matter Getting to the point Location, location, location

Getting to the point

Location, location, location

Getting to the point We scan web pages quickly, looking for key words and phrases to jump out at us. Less patient than with the printed word. It’s best to keep things short and to the point. Subbing content down is an art in itself – remember TS Eliot’s quote ‘ If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter”. Sometimes it’s actually harder to be concise than to write a load of waffle!

We scan web pages quickly, looking for key words and phrases to jump out at us. Less patient than with the printed word.

It’s best to keep things short and to the point.

Subbing content down is an art in itself – remember TS Eliot’s quote ‘ If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter”.

Sometimes it’s actually harder to be concise than to write a load of waffle!

Getting to the point Ask yourself some simple questions: Are you waffling? Repeating yourself? Offering too much information? Writing long-winded sentences that could be broken up into three short snappy ones? Front-load the content ie put the conclusion first. Make sure each paragraph includes one big idea. Use shorter words where possible – begin, not commence…say, instead of articulate…used to, rather than accustomed to. And avoid complex sentence structures. Break them up if possible. Rule of thumb – cut it in half and say twice as much!

Ask yourself some simple questions: Are you waffling? Repeating yourself? Offering too much information? Writing long-winded sentences that could be broken up into three short snappy ones?

Front-load the content ie put the conclusion first.

Make sure each paragraph includes one big idea.

Use shorter words where possible – begin, not commence…say, instead of articulate…used to, rather than accustomed to.

And avoid complex sentence structures. Break them up if possible.

Rule of thumb – cut it in half and say twice as much!

Strip out duplication and complex sentences for more concise copy: Ambridge Web Design is an Ambridge based website design and website development company that offers beautifully designed, unique websites at very competitive prices, with no follow up monthly installments that are going to cost you money. Ambridge Web Design Beautiful websites at competitive prices

Ambridge Web Design is an

Ambridge based website

design and website

development company that

offers beautifully designed,

unique websites at very

competitive prices, with no

follow up monthly

installments that are going

to cost you money.

Ambridge Web Design

Beautiful websites at

competitive prices

1. Size does matter Getting to the point Location, location, location

Getting to the point

Location, location, location

Location, location, location Length of copy tends to change according to where it sits on the site. Common phrase which has its roots in newspaper copy is above or below the fold. If your content is too long then some of the best bits get pushed down the page and the user has to scroll down to find it. Internet users are inherently lazy and impatient so won’t hang around looking for content if they don’t know it’s there.

Length of copy tends to change according to where it sits on the site.

Common phrase which has its roots in newspaper copy is above or below the fold.

If your content is too long then some of the best bits get pushed down the page and the user has to scroll down to find it.

Internet users are inherently lazy and impatient so won’t hang around looking for content if they don’t know it’s there.

Location, location, location Homepage If possible ensure everything can be seen at a glance without the user having to scroll down. If you’ve got a large site with lots of content to promote then give visual clues that there is more below the fold. Include teaser text to guide people around the site, perhaps add images to make important areas more prominent. Elsewhere Think of a pyramid structure. Brief and to the point on a landing page, then as people get deeper within the site then make the content more in-depth to match. Here’s an example here from the New Scientist site:

Homepage

If possible ensure everything can be seen at a glance without the user having to scroll down.

If you’ve got a large site with lots of content to promote then give visual clues that there is more below the fold.

Include teaser text to guide people around the site, perhaps add images to make important areas more prominent.

Elsewhere

Think of a pyramid structure. Brief and to the point on a landing page, then as people get deeper within the site then make the content more in-depth to match.

Here’s an example here from the New Scientist site:

New Scientist homepage Users arrive at this page and need to be guided around the site Small blocks of content act as tasters of what the user can get as they head deeper into the site Note use of images to highlight ‘featured’ content Subject headers like Latest Headlines or Video group the content effectively

Users arrive at this page and need to be guided around the site

Small blocks of content act as tasters of what the user can get as they head deeper into the site

Note use of images to highlight ‘featured’ content

Subject headers like Latest Headlines or Video group the content effectively

New Scientist feature Much more text heavy User has opted to go to this page so is more likely to hang around and read the feature at length Note the complementary content to the side which encourages you to stay on the site and not click away

Much more text heavy

User has opted to go to this page so is more likely to hang around and read the feature at length

Note the complementary content to the side which encourages you to stay on the site and not click away

2. Say what you mean Just say no to buzzwords and jargon

Saying what you mean If you’re not used to writing copy it’s easy to think that lots of jargon, buzzwords and complicated phrasing will impress people. It won’t. It’s always best to say what you mean. It can be particularly tricky in this sort of industry though as you may have lots of complicated terminology or data that needs to be interpreted in an engaging way. And sometimes the more you try and explain a concept the more tangled up in knots you can become. The next page includes some suggestions for getting round this:

If you’re not used to writing copy it’s easy to think that lots of jargon, buzzwords and complicated phrasing will impress people. It won’t.

It’s always best to say what you mean.

It can be particularly tricky in this sort of industry though as you may have lots of complicated terminology or data that needs to be interpreted in an engaging way. And sometimes the more you try and explain a concept the more tangled up in knots you can become.

The next page includes some suggestions for getting round this:

Saying what you mean Move away from the computer! Instead of writing and re-writing a section until it’s completely removed from the original concept, try saying it out loud. This can strip away all the irrelevant phrases that were clouding matters before. The blank sheet of paper approach; start from scratch and don’t let existing content influence your thought processes. Ask someone with no knowledge of the subject matter if they understand what you’ve written. If not, which areas are causing problems? Sleep on it. A clear way of expressing the concept may suddenly hit you.

Move away from the computer! Instead of writing and re-writing a section until it’s completely removed from the original concept, try saying it out loud. This can strip away all the irrelevant phrases that were clouding matters before.

The blank sheet of paper approach; start from scratch and don’t let existing content influence your thought processes.

Ask someone with no knowledge of the subject matter if they understand what you’ve written. If not, which areas are causing problems?

Sleep on it. A clear way of expressing the concept may suddenly hit you.

3. Remember, remember, the search engine optimisation Don’t play hide and seek with Google

Remember, remember the search engine optimisation It’s no good having this wonderful website if people can’t find it. Good search engine optimisation (SEO) means your site is top of the list when people search the internet for your company or your products and services. This is something the EBI does rather well…

It’s no good having this wonderful website if people can’t find it.

Good search engine optimisation (SEO) means your site is top of the list when people search the internet for your company or your products and services.

This is something the EBI does rather well…

Get found by Google

Remember, remember, the search engine optimisation Speaking editorially, here’s what you should concentrate on for good SEO practice Know your keywords. What words would users type to find your pages? Put these words in the title, image alt text and in the article. Don’t artificially stuff the page with keywords though – it’s not 1997 y’know. Think about Google’s notion of ‘quality’ – lots of people linking to a site is an indicator of it being useful and information-rich. Split the content up into natural sections. Make sure each page can be reached from at least one static text link. Don’t just rely on the navigation bar to guide people round the site, include internal links too.

Speaking editorially, here’s what you should concentrate on for good SEO practice

Know your keywords. What words would users type to find your pages?

Put these words in the title, image alt text and in the article.

Don’t artificially stuff the page with keywords though – it’s not 1997 y’know.

Think about Google’s notion of ‘quality’ – lots of people linking to a site is an indicator of it being useful and information-rich.

Split the content up into natural sections. Make sure each page can be reached from at least one static text link.

Don’t just rely on the navigation bar to guide people round the site, include internal links too.

Remember, remember, the search engine optimisation Make links descriptive rather than just ‘more…’. This is useful for visually impaired people who may be using text readers to access your site. Try and get links on trusted external sites, like Wikipedia or even your competitors if they’re feeling altruistic Keep your page size down, below 150k. It’ll be quicker for browsers to download, so more people will read it, more people might link to it, more search engines can find it – easy! Use text instead of images to display important names, content or links or the Google crawler won’t recognise them. Stick to the accessibility guidelines outlined by the WC3 and Webcredible and you won't go far wrong.

Make links descriptive rather than just ‘more…’. This is useful for visually impaired people who may be using text readers to access your site.

Try and get links on trusted external sites, like Wikipedia or even your competitors if they’re feeling altruistic

Keep your page size down, below 150k. It’ll be quicker for browsers to download, so more people will read it, more people might link to it, more search engines can find it – easy!

Use text instead of images to display important names, content or links or the Google crawler won’t recognise them.

Stick to the accessibility guidelines outlined by the WC3 and Webcredible and you won't go far wrong.

4. Think link bait How are you going to reel ‘em in?

Think link bait You’ve got the content, but are you displaying it in the most compelling way? Be creative and find ways of making it more useful, more funny or more controversial. Users will forward it to friends, share it on forums and Twitter, talk about it on blogs...all driving traffic your way without you lifting a finger. Get a great headline – the secret of x, what everyone should know about y. Include a call to action – be quite bossy if you like. Try this…do this…find out why… Break things up so they’re easier to digest – why not turn a long-winded interview as a Q and A with the person responsible for the research. Writing a blog is a great way of presenting industry developments in an entertaining and informal way. Can you present it as a weekly podcast? Offer expert advice, for example tutorials or tips on getting into the industry.

You’ve got the content, but are you displaying it in the most compelling way?

Be creative and find ways of making it more useful, more funny or more controversial. Users will forward it to friends, share it on forums and Twitter, talk about it on blogs...all driving traffic your way without you lifting a finger.

Get a great headline – the secret of x, what everyone should know about y. Include a call to action – be quite bossy if you like. Try this…do this…find out why…

Break things up so they’re easier to digest – why not turn a long-winded interview as a Q and A with the person responsible for the research.

Writing a blog is a great way of presenting industry developments in an entertaining and informal way. Can you present it as a weekly podcast?

Offer expert advice, for example tutorials or tips on getting into the industry.

Think link bait Explain difficult terminology through glossaries or descriptions of terms Make data easier to interpret by displaying it in tables or graphs Present images as a standalone gallery rather than buried in the middle of the text Tools or widgets can drive lots of traffic to your site, for example the BBC’s Budget calculator – which answers the question ‘what’s in it for me?’ Don’t forget to update this content frequently too. Letting it go stale will have a negative effect on your page rankings. Here’s a couple of examples of people presenting information in imaginative ways:

Explain difficult terminology through glossaries or descriptions of terms

Make data easier to interpret by displaying it in tables or graphs

Present images as a standalone gallery rather than buried in the middle of the text

Tools or widgets can drive lots of traffic to your site, for example the BBC’s Budget calculator – which answers the question ‘what’s in it for me?’

Don’t forget to update this content frequently too. Letting it go stale will have a negative effect on your page rankings.

Here’s a couple of examples of people presenting information in imaginative ways:

Google Chrome The process of developing a new web browser explained in a comic strip Amusing, engaging and informative whether you’re an expert or a novice

The process of developing a new web browser explained in a comic strip

Amusing, engaging and informative whether you’re an expert or a novice

Scientific American Content presented in a wide variety of formats: Blogs, podcasts, videos, news, features and more.

Content presented in a wide variety of formats: Blogs, podcasts, videos, news, features and more.

BBC Science and Nature website Who can resist a quiz?

Who can resist a quiz?

5. Who’s your target audience? Who do you think you’re talking to?

Who’s your audience? Who’s coming to the website? Make sure you’re using the right tone. Sites in the field of science demand a high level of clarity and accuracy but that doesn’t mean the content has to be dry and boring. Accidental traffic - are you using lots of jargon or acronyms that may be unfamiliar? Context - when you say ‘here’ what does that mean to someone overseas? Avoid making static content time specific or it’ll get forgotten about, go out of date and look unprofessional. Either avoid references to time or include a date stamp at the top.

Who’s coming to the website? Make sure you’re using the right tone. Sites in the field of science demand a high level of clarity and accuracy but that doesn’t mean the content has to be dry and boring.

Accidental traffic - are you using lots of jargon or acronyms that may be unfamiliar?

Context - when you say ‘here’ what does that mean to someone overseas?

Avoid making static content time specific or it’ll get forgotten about, go out of date and look unprofessional. Either avoid references to time or include a date stamp at the top.

6. Take a step back Look at the bigger picture

Take a step back Get someone else to proofread your copy They can pick up on errors that the spellchecker may miss, like writing ‘you’ instead of ‘your’ or mixing up the apostrophe in its and it’s. Check your links – you might have made a pasted one in incorrectly or the external site may have changed so it just doesn’t work anymore. Sensitivity – you may have pasted in a whole page and missed the line that said ‘Dear Adam, don’t forget there’s a strict embargo on section 2’ Now you’re happy with the text, take a look at the page as a whole.

Get someone else to proofread your copy

They can pick up on errors that the spellchecker may miss, like writing ‘you’ instead of ‘your’ or mixing up the apostrophe in its and it’s.

Check your links – you might have made a pasted one in incorrectly or the external site may have changed so it just doesn’t work anymore.

Sensitivity – you may have pasted in a whole page and missed the line that said ‘Dear Adam, don’t forget there’s a strict embargo on section 2’

Now you’re happy with the text, take a look at the page as a whole.

Take a step back Does the text read easily on the page, or would it benefit from a few more line breaks, paragraphs broken down into smaller chunks or lots of data put into an easy-to-read table or graph? Sometimes it can help just to put the text against a white background rather than have too many colours. The design needs to work with the content, not against it. Look for any awkward clashes with items you have no control over, like advertising or static content. Too much clutter? When you’re trying to express data in an engaging way it’s easy to end up with just too much information on there. Here’s an example of a page where the copy works well with the page around it:

Does the text read easily on the page, or would it benefit from a few more line breaks, paragraphs broken down into smaller chunks or lots of data put into an easy-to-read table or graph?

Sometimes it can help just to put the text against a white background rather than have too many colours. The design needs to work with the content, not against it.

Look for any awkward clashes with items you have no control over, like advertising or static content.

Too much clutter? When you’re trying to express data in an engaging way it’s easy to end up with just too much information on there.

Here’s an example of a page where the copy works well with the page around it:

Guardian blog Clear headline helps cut down waffle in the feature Paragraphs broken up into smaller chunks Lively picture illustrating thrust of the story Lots of white space around the story, makes it easier to read Intuitive internal links, but the feature isn’t littered with them Vertical strips of complementary content adds balance to the page

Clear headline helps cut down waffle in the feature

Paragraphs broken up into smaller chunks

Lively picture illustrating thrust of the story

Lots of white space around the story, makes it easier to read

Intuitive internal links, but the feature isn’t littered with them

Vertical strips of complementary content adds balance to the page

7. Dedication’s what you need Who’s looking after the site?

Dedication’s what you need How much priority is the site given? Who’s writing your web copy? Is it the web developer? In the same way that not all editors can build great websites, the nice chap putting yours together may not be so great at grammar. The people in marketing? They may have a knack for producing glossy brochures but will their advertising-speak work on the web? The business owner? They won’t have the proper amount of time to devote to it. A professional web copywriter will produce engaging, SEO-friendly copy and advise on the structure of the site.

How much priority is the site given?

Who’s writing your web copy?

Is it the web developer? In the same way that not all editors can build great websites, the nice chap putting yours together may not be so great at grammar.

The people in marketing? They may have a knack for producing glossy brochures but will their advertising-speak work on the web?

The business owner? They won’t have the proper amount of time to devote to it.

A professional web copywriter will produce engaging, SEO-friendly copy and advise on the structure of the site.

Dedication’s what you need A in-house editor responsible for looking after the web content will concentrate on getting the tone right, keep things consistent and make sure one department doesn’t hog all the homepage limelight. They can also keep a beady eye on the competitors. How are they presenting themselves, are they getting ideas across more clearly than you?

A in-house editor responsible for looking after the web content will concentrate on getting the tone right, keep things consistent and make sure one department doesn’t hog all the homepage limelight.

They can also keep a beady eye on the competitors. How are they presenting themselves, are they getting ideas across more clearly than you?

Dedication’s what you need Systems A content management system (CMS) really help make the site look consistent and will give you lots of opportunities for producing different content for different areas of the site. It’ll shape the sort of content you write for the homepage or for internal articles and make it easy to upload too, leading to less human error. There’s lots of open source CMSs around which you can tweak to fit your needs. Drupal or Joomla! also come with lots of extensions that you can just add on top to save lots of expensive development costs. Don’t forget you can use Google analytics to check up on traffic to your site, pick up on areas that are popular with users or give more promotion to areas that aren’t getting the clicks.

Systems

A content management system (CMS) really help make the site look consistent and will give you lots of opportunities for producing different content for different areas of the site. It’ll shape the sort of content you write for the homepage or for internal articles and make it easy to upload too, leading to less human error.

There’s lots of open source CMSs around which you can tweak to fit your needs. Drupal or Joomla! also come with lots of extensions that you can just add on top to save lots of expensive development costs.

Don’t forget you can use Google analytics to check up on traffic to your site, pick up on areas that are popular with users or give more promotion to areas that aren’t getting the clicks.

Any questions? Go on, ask me! www.sookio.com