The Written Word

 

In almost every web site, there has to be text content - even if only to be seen by those all important search engines that give your site page rankings. It is often said that the key to a good web site is “Information, Information, Information”. Without relevant content, your site is unlikely to get many visitors. But more importantly, the information in your site has to useful to others.

 

It’s very easy in any form of self promotion site to forget that visitors may want to learn something, rather than just read about you and your business. So give people a reason to visit your site - give them useful information that's relevant to your site’s core message.

 

Regardless of what your site is about, there are some basic rules you should be aware of when it comes to putting words on a computer screen, These are summarized below:

The No - No’s

 

• Never have your text content spread across the entire width of your web pages. This can make text difficult to follow. Instead, put your text into narrower columns (like in newspapers and magazines).
• Don’t use vibrant colour schemes for text content. (see the section on colour to see what we mean). This will give people a headache!
• Don’t Centre or fully justify text articles. Always justify left for easier readability.
• Don’t squeeze long articles into single pages. Break them up into shorter pages and provide “read More” Links to move from page to page.
• Don’t write a book! - If you have a big story to tell, summarize it in your web pages and offer links to downloadable PDF files for those who may want to read the whole story.
• Don’t make text too large or too small. (10 pt sans-serif type styles are a good choice for web viewing)

The Must Do’s

 

• Keep your articles simple and easy to read.
• If you have long articles, keep paragraphs short and consider placing some relevant images on the left and right of some paragraphs. This helps to break up the information into easy-to-assimilate chunks, and the pictures provide a sort of visual placeholder so people can find their way around your articles.
• Try and keep your articles in “Plain Language”. Unless you have a particularly technical site aimed at people who know your subject well, stay away from “Subject-Specific Jargon”
• Consider the use of pull-quotes and varying paragraph styles to help highlight important points