Your website Home page should follow a very basic formula. First of all, the page must open with a headline that speaks to what visitors are looking for. Don’t say “Welcome to Widgetland”. People need to know as soon as they hit your page what the page is about.

Think of your website like a “Theme” park

There should be only one theme. I’ve seen home pages where they try to cover everything they do or have. If you overwhelm people with information they’ll decide your website is too complicated and leave.

Even picture books have copy

Avoid too many graphics. People don’t visit your website to look at pretty pictures (unless you’re a photographer. And even then, the home page should have a minimal amount of pictures.) Graphics can slow the page down so much that if your visitor has a slow connection, they’ll give up before they even see your home page.

Your website’s on a machine; don’t act like one

Try to remember there’s a human being on the other end of the wire. Write like you are sitting across the desk from a potential client or customer. Use short words of six letters or less. Try to keep your sentences to no more than eight words. And paragraphs of no more than four sentences.

And be friendly. There’s no law that says websites need to be cold and impersonal. Regardless of the subject matter. Just think about how you speak to people when you’re networking or “schmoozing.” Communicating one-on-one on a website is no different.

Bob McClain or WordsmithBob, has been a website copywriter in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, since 2000. He has focused on developing new, more effective approaches to web writing, web content, web copywriting and Search Engine Optimization. Starting with a BA in Technical Communication and a minor in Creative Writing from Metro State University in St. Paul, McClain has worked diligently to end the use of "corp-speak" and "technospeak" online. His approach is to “humanize” the Web, using real information to guide people to buy rather than turning websites into advertisements that people can easily ignore. McClain is also the creator of Cheap SEO Website Marketing, a website devoted to helping people with the best solutions to DIY SEO at an affordable cost with tips and software reviews. More at Cheap SEO Website Marketing

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Originally posted 2007-10-13 08:22:01. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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