Articles
Less is more – using design with content
Give the copy life!
Ask yourself these questions.
- Is the content interesting?
- Does it grab you and address your needs?
- Does it have a rhythm to it?
- Do you use your action in the verbs?
The more variety that you have in your sentences and copy the better it is in grabbing the attention of your readers.
Don’t get all emotional on me…
When you think of Apple, what do you feel? If you’re diehard Mac fan, you probably swoon at their ads and can’t help drooling while you browse their website. Apple has done a great job in invoking emotion to their brand and their ads.
You must do the same thing. When you’re writing for your website – take a step back and see if your readers are responding to your words… Does it grab their attention/interest and create desire?
Or best yet, does it make them act? Use a style of writing that people will like when talked to.
Design: Less is More
Don’t overcrowd your pages, let the copy breathe. Include plenty of white space, and keep content pages short—300-350 words. Complicated menus or loads of graphics make pages visually confusing and may lose you customers. Make pages easy to see and easy to use. Help your reader concentrate on the content by placing ads out of the way.
- Easy navigation – make the content easy to follow
Take a look through your analytics program and see how long it takes your readers to find what they need on your site. How many clicks does it take – keep it between 3 -5. But what’s important is how intuitive is it for them to find what they want, not the number of clicks they take. - Headlines and bullets make scanning a breeze
Notice the way this article is laid out? Headlines tell you the general contents of each paragraph, which is helpful because more than 2/3 of your readers will actually be scanning the pages, not reading them. When you use headlines and bulleted lists, you provide information that’s quick to access and easy to read. - Consistency in patterns
Take a look at your pages, do they have a consistency in look and feel? Do your words have the same tone and style from page to page? Also take a look at your graphics, menus etc.. and see if there is any variancy between the pages. Any differences will throw your readers off and navigate away to other pages.
