Writing Web Copy
How To Make Sure Your Visitors Read What You Write! A Lesson From Journalism 101
by Lindsay du Plessis

When most people open a newspaper, they look for the most interesting, bold and colourful images on the page. There is no time to read a whole newspaper from cover to cover, just as there is no time to read every single word on a web page, especially if it is really full of text.

Readers today are generally referred to as “scanners” because that is what they do. They scan the page looking for the most interesting item on the page, which often makes the contents obsolete.

This is a great difficulty for people in the content industry because it means that we have to write sensational, catchy and often clichéd stories. This is where the design of a page becomes crucial, both in the print and Internet industries.

More is not always better.

How People Read

Mario Garcia, a pioneer in newspaper design in the USA, developed a format called EYETRAC, which shows how a reader looks at a page, also known as page navigation.

We start at the top in most cases, or at a strong visual point of entry, and then move around the page. This is why most well designed newspapers and web pages will put a photograph or graphic at the top of the page, near to the main headline or line of type.

A reader generally looks at the page in the following order: Photo, headline, caption, and text. Text is last, and unless he previous elements convince them that there is something to read, they will turn the page or scroll down.

For this reason, it is vital to put different information relating to the subject in each element. Don’t repeat the same information in the picture and in the headline and then explain exactly what the picture is. For example, if Bob Jones is holding a 50 kilogram fish, don’t say, “This is Bob Jones with his 50 kilogram catch,” when your headline is “Bob Jones lands 50 kg monster!”

Your First Paragraph

It is also important to make the first 25 words of your text captivating and interesting so that the reader will be hooked into the page.

It is also useful to make that first paragraph a bit bolder so that it attracts attention, but not too much so that it unbalances the page.

Keep in mind that people on the Net make their decisions about web sites based on what loads first, and what loads quickly – normally what they see in the first screen view.

Make your first screen count!

BTW. the same also applies to emails you send out.

Graphics And Fonts

It is important not to clutter the page with too much fancy animation or complicated fonts. This confuses the eye, especially on a computer screen, and puts the reader off from the beginning.

Simpler is better because it makes it easier to navigate the page. Simple fonts are also easier to pick up on all servers and computers, where as complicated or unusual fonts aren’t as accessible. The kind of font you use also creates an impression.

You should think of your page as a person and try to design it with that image in mind. For example, the Wall Street Journal is a formal and educated elderly man because of its design and content. Serif fonts are more formal and should be used sparingly if you want to attract younger readers.

Sans serif fonts are less formal and are easier to read on a computer screen. Fonts like verdana and arial are especially good for this purpose because they create white space and gives the page air.

White Space And Balance

White space is a very important design tool and can help make a page accessible and easy to navigate. Correctly used to balance a page or highlight an image or paragraph, white space is very effective.

One must also remember that irregular shapes draw the ye first, so unless you want people to start reading at the bottom of the page, don’t put an irregular shape there, especially if it is in colour. This unbalances the page and confuses the navigation process, which should be as simple as possible. It is also important not to overlap text and images.

Keep It Modular

A page should be as modular as possible. In other words, things that are related should be together and be able to be closed up into a box on the page.

Backgrounds And Colours

It is also important not to make the background on you web page very complicated because it clashes with the text. A simple colour or design works best, both for readability and for server usage.

This is especially true of a blue background, as it causes the images and text to vibrate on the screen and makes it impossible to read.

You should also keep colours in mind when creating a page, because colours have subconscious connotations for readers. When choosing a colour, keep your “page person” in mind and try to think of all the connections people will make with the colour.

And remember, more colour is not necessarily better. Use it for effect or to draw the reader’s attention to a subject. People will rather look at a colour photo before a black and white one, so keep that in mind.

These ideas and tips are taught to journalists in journalism school and you would be well advised to keep them in mind when you design your web pages to make your pages more “user-friendly”.

The easier-to-read and more enticing they are, the more people will read them and the more success you will have.

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Lindsay du Plessis is a free-lance journalist and studied Journalism at Rhodes University. She has been published on the Net and in newspapers in South Africa. For writing tips, ideas and articles visit: http://www.thetraveljournalist.com

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Don't Strive For Efficiency At The Expense Of Effectiveness
Wendy Hearn

What is your level of effectiveness? What difference would it make to your life and work if this level were raised? One of the first steps to achieve this is to understand what being effective really means. I've found that many people confuse effectiveness with efficiency. They struggle to improve their efficiency but their effectiveness doesn't always improve. Striving for efficiency is sometimes at the expense of effectiveness.

What's the difference between effectiveness and efficiency?

Being effective means producing powerful effects. Being efficient means producing results with little wasted effort. It's the ability to carry out actions quickly. However, by so doing, you may not necessarily be achieving effectiveness. Effectiveness allows you to accomplish the worthwhile goals you've chosen. The ones which support your vision and your mission.

For instance, you may be very efficient at working through your to-do list and completing a lot of it. However, when you shift to being effective, you may choose to delegate part of it, stop doing some of it and focus on one or two things which will allow you to achieve your goal. Perhaps you're efficient at sending follow up letters to potential clients but being effective may mean only following up certain key ones, yet doing so in a fuller, more complete way.

Where does your time go?

When your intention shifts to being more effective, you can achieve your worthwhile goals in much less time. You choose the things which will make you more effective instead of doing more and more to achieve efficiency.

Effectiveness comes from taking the time to stop and evaluate, rather than running faster and faster. Discovering for yourself what effectiveness means, and what it will take for you to achieve this, is an area in which a coach works, both with individuals and organisations. When I'm working with clients, we often focus on their effectiveness. The coaching session we conduct by telephone once a week gives them the opportunity to stop, look at where they are and where they want to be.

I believe that by taking time out, this allows you to increase your effectiveness. I'm also a great believer in taking this time at regular intervals during your day. So many people set out to work harder and harder, without really looking to see if they're being effective. I've found that what works best for me, and most of my clients use this, is to work for 15 minutes slots with breaks of a few minutes in between.

I strongly believe that if more people worked in this way, companies would be much stronger and more effective. For instance, lets say you're working on a proposal. You work on it for 15 minutes and then put it aside for the next few minutes. You can use this break to either stretch your legs, step outside for fresh air, enjoy a period of quiet reflection or to clear thoughts from your mind. You choose what would feel most useful.

When you return to your proposal for the next 15 minutes, you'll probably find that something occurs to you which you'd forgotten, or you didn't see as being very important. You may find you now have a different perspective on it or you now have a solution to something you were stuck on. It's increased your effectiveness. When you only have 15 minutes, you'll work more effectively to achieve more within this artificial deadline.

What I want is for you to be effective in achieving your goals and vision.

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Wendy Hearn works with business owners, professionals and executives to discover and unlock their own inspiration, to effortlessly take the actions required to have the success they desire. To receive Wendy's fre^e newsletter, send an email to: newsletter@wendyhearn.par32.com
http://www.Business-Personal-Coaching.com

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