Different content types require different approaches. What works on one medium won’t necessarily work on another. A web page is a good example.
No matter what business content you write or medium you use to deliver it, some things don’t change:
- Credibility and professionalism are essential.
- Branding must be consistent.
- The message must be clear.
- The rules of good writing always apply.
But if you’re going to write web content, it’s a little more complex. You need to know how to write for web users specifically. (And the fact that we call them ‘users’, not ‘readers’, is a big clue as to why web content is different.)
If you treat a web page like a blank sheet of paper without understanding the nuances of the medium, your message may be confused or ignored altogether.
Here are five questions to ask about every page you put on your website.
1. Is the web page necessary?
It sounds obvious, but every page must be there for a good reason. For every page, you should be able to state exactly what the page achieves—for you and/or the user.
You may believe that a page is very important and needs to be there, but the analytics will ultimately show if that’s true. If no one ever reads it, why is it there?
Many websites are far bigger than they should be. Aim for a well-structured, discrete website that provides only the information readers are looking for. Anything else is a waste of your time.
2. Who is using the web page?
The answer to this question resolves a range of issues, including:
- what tone to use
- how much information to provide
- how best to deliver the message (e.g. video, PDF or on-screen text).
Many websites are written in organisational jargon without respect for the knowledge level or needs of the person using it. The web user must always come first. To achieve that, you should learn everything you can about them.
3. What problem does the web page solve?
Web users usually have one goal when they land on a web page—to find a solution to a problem or answer to a question quickly without reading more than necessary.
They don’t want to read reams of information to find the answer (in fact, they won’t even look at it). They don’t want to click a bunch of links. And they don’t want to waste time interpreting confusing text, especially instructions.
Your page needs to solve a problem for the user quickly and easily or they’ll move on to a website that does. Or worse—they’ll pick up the phone and call you. And, let’s face it, we don’t want that!
4. Is the web page clear and simple to use?
This morning I went to a new recruitment agency’s website and had absolutely no idea what to do there. It was a clever website—far too clever for its own good. So I left.
Innovative web design is great. But if it’s not also intuitive, you’re wasting the user’s time while they figure out how to get to what they want. Web conventions exist for a reason—because users expect them.
Don’t get too fancy. Know what your user wants and give it to them.
5. Will anyone find the web page?
A major aspect of web content is that it must be found. Many web writers think ‘searchability’ is the domain of web developers in the mysterious ‘back end’, but it’s not true. As writers, we can do a lot to improve the chances of our content being found.
When writing web content, consider search engine optimisation, metadata, keywords, navigation and other elements that improve searchability.
Going deeper than the writing
Complicated, isn’t it? And this article only scratches the surface of why web is a different medium with different rules.
So if you’re a web writer – or want to be one – I’d recommend taking the time to go deeper than the writing and find out all you can about how this medium really works – and then you’ll get the audience love that your content deserves.