This week I’ve been helping a voluntary organisation to update a page of their site about volunteering. The lady I worked with knew what she wanted to say, but wasn’t sure how to represent it on the page. We looked at the most important elements she needed to include. Though it was a charity, it needed to operate in the same way as an effective small business and reach out to site visitors and connect with them. I thought it might help to pass on how we worked and how we organised the page for her to attract the search engines and visitors. If your website isn’t working then it may be you haven’t included some of the important elements that you need when writing for your business To my mind as I’ve talked about before you need to be clear about what you want to say. Think about if from your visitor’s point of view. Ask yourself why they’re on the site. In the case of the charity, then the visitor may be interested to use the services provided or they might want to be part of the team that provides the services. In terms of organising the page there are some basics you need to remember: 1. The need for phrases that demonstrate key points about your business fast. 2. The basic information you need to consider and include. 3. The fact that visitors will process your information differently. 1. Remember the need for phrases to pick up key points quickly. Effective web pages include headings and sub-headings and they perform the job of moving your reader through your page with ease. If someone read only your heading and sub-headings would they make sense of your information? Would it tell them everything you need them to understand to decide whether to contact you or not? 2. Remember the basic information you need to consider and include. One of my clients produces information bulletins and I help edit and update their bulletins. That takes me into many websites to check information for the udpdates. It amazes me how difficult sites make it for their visitors to find out basic information. Before you start writing your web pages, sit down and make a list of the vital basic information that will help your website visitor. For example: Contact information should appear on every page not only on your Contact page. If you have premises include opening hours and make directions to the premises available If when they phone they’re likely to be transferred to answering services, tell them and when if possible they can speak to a human being instead. Often this basic information is so ingrained in our minds that we forget that the website visitor knows nothing about us. Begin with a blank page and write every tiny detail down. It doesn’t all have to be included in the final version at least it prompts you for what is important… to your visitor. 3. Remember that visitors will process your information differently. Have you ever given someone a phone number and when they repeat if back to you, they read the numbers in a different way? Maybe you read them in groups of two and they do it in groups of three. That’s a small example of how we process information in different ways and you need to consider how visitors may absorb what’s on the page. Generally there are three ways that people approach written text: 1. Their primary means is visual which means that the look of the thing is most important to them. That means they often read at speed and including the heading and sub-headings works well for them. Laying out the text helps them absorb information fast which is what they like to do. 2. Their primary means is hearing which means that absorbing large chunks of text may be more difficult for them to absorb. Consider including some form of audio information. Many sites now have an introductory audio which lasts maybe a couple of minutes maximum and repeats text on the page. 3. They are process driven which means that once started on a piece of text they will read it from beginning to end. That means your page needs to have a logical sequence to satisfy them. Starting one topic, leaving it then going back to it will make them feel uneasy and cause them to leave the page in a hurry. Of course many people have elements of all three ways of dealing with information but by at least considering including various avenues for people, you are expanding your chances of connecting with a higher percentage of visitors to your site. It doesn’t matter what page you’re writing for your site you should follow the same process. That results in an overall approach to a site giving the visitor a coherent approach that makes it easy for them to find what they want..
Article Source: http://www.bizymoms.com/expert-advice
Eileen Parr is an author and writing consultant with 7 years experience in helping small businesses to present their products and services effectively. If you find www.writerslittlebook.co.uk”target=”_blank”>writing for business. a challenge, then learning a sensible, straightforward, easy method is important to help you connect with your market. Eileen's books on writing are aimed at helping you become an effective writer for your business.