Good Websites Gone Bad

How many time have you visited a gorgeously designed website, with beautiful imagery and a great color palette, only to find numerous typos, grammar mistakes, and confusing copy?

Does this make you less confident in the products or services on offer? Do you feel embarrassed on behalf the business and cringe at every gaffe? Are you concerned that the business might also be sloppy when it comes to your interaction with it?

You work hard to capture an online audience, and you certainly do not want to turn anyone away with poorly written copy. Read on for a few good tips to keep in mind when composing content for your site.

Sometimes Less Content Is More

Reading copy on websites, and increasingly on smartphones and tablets with their much smaller surfaces, can be a challenge. That is why it’s important to get your message and critical information across in concise snippets and copy blocks. Keep paragraphs to five or six sentences, tops, and avoid text-heavy pages that require endless scrolling. Make use of headings and sub-headings that can direct the reader’s eye. Bulleted lists can also break up the page and add more white space.

 “When you write, try to leave out all the parts readers skip.”

–Elmore Leonard

Be Consistent in Style & Tone

Unless your business has its own style guide that will determine how your copy is styled, you should follow a standard such as The Chicago Manual of Style or the AP Stylebook. Using a guide will ensure that everything from formatting (for example, italicizing the titles of books and movies) to punctuation (such as using an Oxford comma, the optional comma before the word “and” at the end of a list) is consistent across your site. Spelling out numerals, heading and sub-heading capitalization, the use of hyphens in words like email and eCommerce, etcetera: whatever system you use, be sure to review your content and strive for consistency.

More Eyes are Better

Ask someone not affiliated with your business to look at your copy. It is always a great idea to get input from an another set of eyes, and oftentimes this person will spot confusing or incomplete copy. You most likely know the technical aspects of the products or services that you offer. But remember that your target audience may be new to your type of business. While you do not want to talk down to your readers, and it’s important to write in your natural voice, your text should not be unduly complex. Convey your specialty with clarity.

Check, Check, and Then Check One More Time

Finally, the importance of proofreading your work can’t be overstated. A few days after you have finished composing your content, if time allows, print it out and read it over in a quiet space with 100 percent of your attention. Take your time. This is the face you are presenting to the world, so make it the best it can be. You would be surprised by how many people catch the little mistakes.

Does All of This Sound Too Overwhelming?

Let’s face it, your specialty is producing handcrafted ice cream, or legally representing clients, or creating the most beautiful flower arrangements in town. If writing is not your forte, and these writing tips appear daunting, consider working with the professional writers at efelle creative. A professional writer’s specialty is crafting copy that communicates your message and information in an engaging way, yet with perfect grammar! Should you choose to compose your own copy, we encourage you take advantage of our editorial services—we’ll ensure it is top notch and flawless. Call us at 206-384-4909 or use our online contact form to learn more.