How can your website content be more effective?

If you’re sitting down to whip your content into shape after getting the first look at your new ecommerce web design, keep our golden rules for effective copy in mind.

Effective copy cuts through the clutter and makes connection with the reader. It’s rarely if ever jargon heavy. Think straightforward, succinct and concise. With the majority of web traffic now originating from mobile devices, write with this smaller screen in mind. That means keeping sentences short and snappy so the context is easier to get. Not having huge chunks of text which require lots of awkward scrolling. And again, no jargon. Your aim isn’t to bamboozle your reader, it’s to engage with them. To have them add to basket or click to call.

Tip: if you’re finding it hard to write jargon free, ask a friend or family member to read through your draft and highlight jargon that they don’t understand.

If you’re writing an article, blog post or white paper, you want to ensure first and foremost that you meet the good quality content benchmark. This not only helps to get your content ranking on Google, it immediately signals to your visitor that your post is worth their time.

You can pull of being authoritative in a number of ways. The most obvious way is to have a subject expert write the article. Another way is to cite credible, recent research, such as industries studies or surveys. Back up claims and facts with links to respected sources. Use quotes from respected figureheads.

Tip: Authority content makes superb evergreen content. Just be sure to check back and update it at least annually with newer studies or the latest data.

Even seasoned copywriters can fall into the habit of sell, sell, sell. Unless we’re talking about a very specific landing page, this is usually an uneffective method of communication. To make your content more effective, focus on how you can help your customer. What problem are you solving for them? What fear are you allying? How are you saving the time or money or otherwise making their lives easier?

Showing you understand your customer’s needs, their pain points and what they are looking for is so much more effective than leaping in both feet first with a flat out sales pitch.

Visual content is such an effective edition to any piece of content you may be crafting that it’s impossible to overstate its importance. Whether you’re writing a blog or crafting an email, think visual to make an impact.

Blog posts and articles especially can benefit from the addition of visuals. It serves to break up large tracts of text and can add context to the subject at hand or illustrate difficult concepts.

Tip: Visual content can take many forms – photos, gifs, memes, videos, slideshows, infographics… get creative to be effective.

For more tips and hints on website design, feel free to get in touch with us at Digital Inspired.