5% of visitors fail to that know what your users need at
achieve their goal when your site. But what he doesn't
they visit company say is how to structure your
websites! By following 2 simple website so it meets users' needs.
rules, you can increase your
web-derived revenue by 1/3 or There are two golden rules:
more!
1) Write first, build later
Renowned website usability 2) Write to your customer
researcher, Jakob Nielsen, today
(Nov 24) published results of his Write first, build later
latest study. His test subjects The real message on most websites
used 139 websites. On average, is in the writing. It makes
they failed to find what they sense, then, that the writing
were looking for 35% of the time. should determine the structure.
Shockingly, 37% of users couldn't
even find company location Unfortunately, this is not the
details! case for most businesses. For
them, the writing is an
What was surprising was that afterthought. They structure and
users didn't give up. They design their website first, then
generally found the information try to fit the writing to the
they were after - but they found structure. This flies in the face
it at a competitor's site! of common sense. When you speak
to someone, you structure your
So how do you stop potential speech around your message. You
customers falling into the hands don't decide on a structure, then
of your competitors? Nielsen is change the message to suit!
right when he suggests user
research. Yes, it's imperative For a truly usable website, you
need to plan what you want to say - What does it cost?
before you create the site - - How can they contact you?
perhaps even write the whole - Where are you located?
thing. The message - the writing
- should determine the structure. Your website has to communicate a
lot of information. And to make
Write to your customer matters worse, you're going to
So how do you decide what to have limited screen real-estate.
write? Ideally, your customer won't have
to scroll - especially on your
Firstly, don't think, "What do I homepage (all your information
want to say?". When you're will fit within a single window).
writing a website, you have to And you can't fill the whole
think, "What does my customer screen with writing, either. The
want to know?". It's a very design and navigation elements
subtle difference, but it's the take up about a third of the
key to engaging writing. And window, and you should leave a
that's what you want to do... bit for white space (you don't
engage the customer. want to overwhelm your customer).
As a rule of thumb, you should
Most customers will want to know expect to have about 1/3 - "½ of
the basics: the window at your disposal for
the writing.
- What do you do?
- What benefit do you offer them? Chances are, right now you're
- Why should they choose your thinking, "How am I going to fit
service or product? it all in?". Well, that's where
- Why should they choose your your writing skills come in.
service or product and not your Choose your words very
competitors'? carefully...
annually! (A.T. Kearney, Network
Websites can be an extremely Publishing study, April 2001)
powerful piece of marketing
collateral. You can reach 4) Reading from a monitor is 25%
millions for just a few hundred slower than reading from paper.
dollars. Unfortunately, your (Sun Microsystems, 1998)
competitors can do the same
thing. It's a level playing 5) Helpful content develops site
field, but there are a lot of loyalty. The average person
players. It's important that your visits no more than 19 websites
thoughts are structured, in the entire month in order to
otherwise your site will be a avoid information overload.
mess. If your message is clear, (Nielsen NetRatings in Jan 2001)
your site will be simple and easy
to use. It's all in the words... 6) 79% of users scan read when
online (Sun Microsystems, 1998)
8 More Reasons to Write for Your
Audience... 7) Information gathering is the
most common use of the Internet -
1) There are approximately 550 73% (American Express survey,
billion documents on the web 2000)
2) Every day another 7 million 8) 48% of people use the Internet
are added to find work-related information
as opposed to 7% who use
3) Workers take so long trying to magazines. (Lyra Research, 2001)
find information that it costs
organisations $750 billion
About the Author:
* Glenn Murray is an SEO copywriter and article submission and article PR specialist. He is a director of article PR company, Article PR, and also of copywriting studio Divine Write. He can be contacted on Sydney +612 4334 6222 or at glenn@divinewrite.com. Visit http://www.DivineWrite.com or http://www.ArticlePR.com for further details.
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Glenn Murray
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