[October 27th, 1999]

See Also   Want A Sticky Website That Sells? Forget Content!   Giving Customers What They Want   Rule Busters Lose   Building Your Web Site's Sales   Abandoned Shopping Carts: Enigma or Sloppy E-Commerce?   The Only Visitor That Counts Is A Repeat Visitor   Three Steps to Get More Customers   Your Web Site - Do It Yourself? or Get Serious!   How To Make Them Buy Now   The Future of E-Commerce Stinks!   Beware Overload   Does Your Site Have Stopping Power?   Online Sales Psychology That Works   And the Broadband Played on, and on...   How Your Web Site Can Learn From Newspapers   Promise Not to Tell   Where's Your Community?   Understanding Your Visitors   The Seven Deadly Web Site Sins   The Good, The Bad and the Ugly - Part 2   The Good, The Bad and the Ugly - Part 1

What would a newspaper be like if no one took care of the content?

It would, of course, be a mess: it would be full of spelling mistakes and littered with factual errors. Readers would find it almost impossible to find the information they wanted. No one would read such a pile of nonsense. Why should they?

The same applies to the web. Sadly, there are many sites out there with content that is so poorly written, badly presented and full of simple errors that readers are leaving disappointed. Your site might have been designed by the best brains on the net but if no one has taken care of the words you are wasting your time. While design might attract people, it is the text that does the selling and turns browsers into regular visitors.

So take a look at newspapers and learn from them. There is a lot you can pick up from the press to clean up your content and make your site the best-written on the web.

Bear the following in mind:

Headlines are your shop window

Journalists have to choose a handful of words with which to sell their story, and a good headline will make the reader stop turning the pages and take a second look at what is underneath. Editors use short words and active, present tense verbs. Do the same. Sum up your page in five or six words that will make the casual surfer say "I've gotta read that".

Short words, short sentences, short chunks

The reporter's job is to make it easy for readers to gain an understanding of the news. They are not out there to impress with the scope of their language and education, rather to give the facts to you straight and in as short a space as possible. So make life easy for your reader: don't make her stumble over long words and rambling sentences but use short, easily-understandable words and brief, simple sentences. Break your writing into sections, each perhaps with a headline. Consider using hypertext links to take the reader to the full story.

The inverted pyramid (or getting the best stuff in first)

Journalists are trained to tell the story in the first couple of paragraphs. In this way, busy readers can look at the start of the text and get the basics of the information they require. So put the main point in the first paragraph and let interested readers carry on if they want. Other readers will skim on to the next headline, without becoming irritated by wading through irrelevant information.

Use an editor...

Even the greatest writers make mistakes. That's why everything a newspaper reporter writes passes through the hands of editors who can spot spelling errors, ambiguities and poor construction. A good editor will make average prose sparkle. Indeed, some of the biggest names in newspapers are bad writers with good editors.

...and a proof-reader

Spelling mistakes in newspapers look bad - and readers are quick to write in to point them out. Every story that goes in to a newspaper is read by half a dozen people. And reports still sometimes contain errors. Ask someone else to read through what you have written; you can't do it yourself because you are too close to the text, making it almost impossible to spot your own errors. A handy trick is to print your writing out - it's amazing how many mistakes that have been missed on screen stand out on paper.

Check your facts

Some newspapers and magazines employ an army of fact checkers because they know that if they get a basic fact wrong they look silly and untrustworthy - and run the risk of upsetting people. So if you are not sure about something, check it.

Clean design

Make your site look professional. The best newspapers are the best-designed: they use a consistent font for headlines, avoid clutter and make the page visually appealing. Look at how some of the biggest newspapers are put together and copy the basic principles of simplicity and clarity.

Above the fold

Newspapers put the best elements - the main story and a striking picture - at the top of the front page because these are what the shopper sees when the paper is folded and put on display. So put your main point, your most striking piece of news or your best product at the top of the screen - before readers have to scroll. If they are interested by what's at the top, they will scroll down or click on a link to see what else is on offer.

Most people do not want to read you

The sad truth is that many people have neither the time nor inclination to read a newspaper. Journalists know this and write accordingly. They do everything they can to attract the reader's attention, to stop her turning the page or to keep her hooked to the end of the story. A good reporter or editor will make the price of potatoes a must-read. You must do the same when writing the text for your site.

Article written by Simon Payn. Simon is a UK-based journalist and owner of Boldroman.com Editorial Bureau, which provides editing, proof-reading and writing services for print documents and the web. He can be e-mailed at info@boldroman.com.