The first step to creating a solid web foundation is also the step that is most often overlooked – the writing and development of content.

Make no mistake, content is king when it comes to web design but so many corporations focus on the “glitzy” components of web design, such as SEO and social media, that they lose focus on the basics of web marketing.

Good content leads to a good web strategy

Unfortunately, a lot of organizations fail to realize the importance of having rich and reviewed content on their pages. Too often upper management is focused on getting users to the site with launching SEO campaigns and new projects but what they fail to realize is that it’s only half the battle. No matter what the situation is, when the foundation of your site is built on quick sand no amount of SEO, social media tools or design will fool your users.

People Don’t Read! So why am I writing this?

Jakob Nielsen said it best when he categorized how how user’s read on the web

They don’t read. . .

They scan . . . especially when it comes to any site that tries to market anything. People might read a full news article if they are interested but when it comes to any type of web marketing, less is always more and this is where a lot of websites and web-marketing strategies fail.

Only 20% of all web users actually read every word on a website while the rest (including myself), scan a page for items that pop out to them. Marketers and content-owners should pick their words carefully, choosing text that grabs the user’s attention and entices them to perform a task (aka a ‘call to action’) or read further.

Visual design elements like headings, typeface, and bulleted lists are powerful allies in the fight to get users to pay attention to your content. However, it is important to remember that the words themselves make a difference. Over-marketing/spinning, also known as market-ease, is quickly recognized and ignored by most users.

How to Combat “Marketing Disregard”

In Nielsen’s book, Eyetracking Web Usability, Nielsen describes the concepts of “Selective Disregard” and “Banner Blindness,” in which user’s brains are subconsciously trained to view areas with good content and ignore areas with bad content, such as ads.

The concept of Selective Disregard can also be applied to words on a website as well. People know when they are being marketed towards and hate being force-fed market-ease.

So if people hate reading, and hate reading marketing material even more, how do you market your wares to the user?

Give the user what they want:

• to feel in-control of their experience
• to have their expectations met quickly and;
• access to valuable content

When reviewing content for new products, I try to keep these points in mind:

• Remember that the user’s time is VERY valuable
• Honesty is the BEST policy (Don’t claim stuff that isn’t true)
• How does the product/service help them do what they need to do?
• (Quickly answer) Why are you better than your competitor?
• Always give them what they need to move on (price, ordering info, etc.)
• Only use images if it tells something about your service or product

Keep your content simple, honest, and to the point. By bringing your most important information to the forefront and keeping the distractions to a minimum, users easily digest information which makes them feel in control.  An in-control user will spend more time on your site and more time exposed to your products, services and brand. Not only do you want users to spend more time on your site but you want them to return to your site. If they leave your site having had a good experience, your site will likely be top of their mind for next time.

Web Writing – The toughest job on the Web

People either hate writing content and thus never give it to you on time or they are very passionate about it and give you more copy than you know what to do with.

Good web content is clear, honest and presented in as few words as possible, all while still maintaining a passion and energy that draws readers in and keeps them there. In my opinion, this makes web writing one of the toughest jobs in web development. The designers and coders get all the glory but it’s the content that is what really makes the sale.

I strongly advocate to companies that are serious about building a web strategy to invest in a writer devoted solely to the Web.  Writing for print is not the same as writing for the Web since users read these items differently. Reusing content from your print material or relying on a traditional writer is usually not good enough. A true web writer needs to balance passion with a Twitter-esque word count, something that very few people have the talent to do.  Great web writers are out there but they are usually underrepresented and undervalued.

Writing for the Web is tough, it can make or break a site, but good writing can make all the difference in a site’s usability, sales and traffic.

- Ryan