I picked up this mantra from Marketing Experiments, and for good reason. A Web page has a very brief moment to communicate to visitors where they are, what they can do, and why they should do it on your website and not somewhere else.
The moment someone lands on any page of your website the first time, they begin to make decisions that will affect not just that visit, but potential future visits. These decisions also affect how likely visitors will be to share or recommend your website.
Writing copy for websites is different.
Every page on your website should present clear and precise information in a consistent and easy to use interface. Clarity trumps persuasion every time in test after test. But, this may not be the way you learned to write marketing copy. Brochures and advertising are often persuasion-focused and as marketers, we learn to write persuasively.
But website user behavior demonstrates an "impatience" to get to the point. Most people arrive at a site looking for something specific. They've either entered a search query or were referred to the site because they need or want something, whether it's a product, service, or information. Not too many visitors will spend more than a few seconds determining whether or not the page they landed on offers whatever it is that they are seeking.
So, all that lovely persuasive promotional copy that looks and works so well in an advertisement, may completely miss the mark on a Web page. You simply cannot bury the lead. Your most important information needs to come first. The best copy for letting the visitor know they are in the right place must be easy to find, clear and easy to understand.
Quantifiable statements work better than hype
The second part of the clarity equation is eliminating generalizations and hype. A headline claiming: "best source for socks" or "we have the most socks" will not perform as well as a headline of facts such as: "36 styles of socks in 27 different colors, shipped within 24 hours." Quantifiable information is much more meaningful.
Everywhere we look on the Internet, someone is telling us they're the best, most, biggest. "Best," "most," "biggest," doesn't mean anything. Best according to whom? You? Is biggest even the most important thing? What visitors want to know is what you've got to offer. And they don't want to have to spent a lot of time finding out. So give them facts and when you're boasting about something, make sure it's real and quantifiable, or don't say it at all.
A few things to keep in mind:
- Clear and Easy to Understand: Don't be coy. Quickly communicate the site’s purpose and clearly define what the site offers. Visitors should be able to understand in an instant, where they are, what they can do there and why there and not somewhere else.
- User Friendly: If you make something difficult to use, people won't use it. Keep your website clear of unnecessary clutter. Make sure important information can be found and isn't buried in overly long copy. Make sure copy is written so that it can be understood by anyone. Reduce or eliminate the use of hyperbole and provide the facts people need to make decisions.
- Clear, Consistent Navigation: Use consistent navigation throughout the site. Keep navigation simple and easy to find and use. Be sure every page includes good navigation to the rest of the site. Don't make it hard for people to learn more.
- Consistent: Be consistent among the pages of your website. We learn as we move through pages and expect to find similar information presented in a similar place and style. Consistency also helps build your site's brand. You'll want to be generally consistent with customary practices across the Web as well. Being too unique and clever - being different from everybody - can be taken too far and may mean that visitors become confused and leave.
- Pleasing look: The colors used, the type, the balance of elements on the page should all be inviting. But the design should also enhance the readability of the site and ease of use. Sites designed to look really "cool and clever" sometimes make it difficult to read the words on the page or find things. When you start designing for the sake of the design, step back and make sure you are not giving up usability.
If it helps, think of the last time you went looking for something on the Web. How long did you spend on each site before deciding to move on? Which sites made you feel confident and made you want to read more? Which sites were confusing and how quickly did you press the back button when information was hard to find? The people visiting your site have those same expectations.
- Keep it simple
- Keep it clear
- Keep it meaningful