Achieving Clarity in your Website Content
The content within a website is the number one tool that is used to help bring people back to your site in the future. Keeping this content as informative, yet as concise as possible, is not an easy task. Yet if this is achieved you may come to find that the vast majority of the visitors to your site are returning visitors because they have come to discover that they will consistently find clear and quality information on your site.
There are several things to remember when working to make the information on your site as clear and concise as possible:
- Keep your content focused on your target audience
- Use simple words and phrases
- Think about proper word choice when explaining things to your audience
- Express Ideas and concepts with the most simple language
One tool that many professional writers employ, that is important for web writers as well, is keep your sentences short. The average sentence falls between 15 and 20 words. When sentences begin to reach the 30 to 35 word mark they begin to feel like a run-on sentences, and the focus of the audience can be lost. When editing your website content, you should look for the same key points as those editing print media. When writing a sentence be cognizant of works such as ‘and’, ‘but’, and ‘who’. These words can tell the editor that the sentences could possibly be broken into two separate sentences and can help with clarity.
One of the last things one can do to help make sure their content is clear and concise, is have a 3rd party review the work. The 3rd party can consist of a professional editing company to your next door neighbor or friend. It is always import to have a fresh set of eyes review your content as they can provide quality feedback and information that could be helpful to a first time or returning viewer to your site.