The Internet contains a phenomenal amount of written information on every subject imaginable; some of it accurate; some of it not so accurate, and some of it just downright untrue. All this data is supplied by companies, individuals and organisations that for one reason or another have information they want to share with others.

However, apart from the issue of accuracy, another major problem with a huge amount of online copy is a lack of care and attention paid to the quality of the writing. Yes there are numerous websites that look brilliant but are let down by errors in their copy; errors that could easily have been rectified long before the site went live had a little extra effort been made.

Luckily though, websites are totally versatile when it comes to changing graphics or copy, and both can be altered within minutes, enabling mistakes to be rectified quickly.

So, why don’t some website owners take more care over the quality of their web copy? Do they think the graphics alone are enough to entice a visitor to buy their products or services?

Is it deemed acceptable that because Internet publishing can be done by just about anyone, normal writing disciplines don’t apply? Unfortunately, in many cases, the answer to both of these questions is yes.

The only thing that can tell a visitor what they want to know is well-written, informative copy. Obviously no-one is perfect and errors will appear now and again. However, most visitors will overlook the odd spelling mistake or misuse of a word but won’t hang around for long if there are too many. To them, illegible copy conveys an I-don’t-care attitude, so if the website owner can’t be bothered then why should they?

Not all websites have to be graphically amazing. Understated can be just as effective as in-your-face visuals, but one thing they all have in common is that they all contain a textual content, and the only way that words are truly effective is if they are written so readers can understand what they are trying to say.

Remember, it’s the copy that will ultimately be responsible for generating enquiries from interested parties; it’s up to every website owner to make sure it says the right thing about their business.

Nearly everything in existence requires some form of maintenance or other and websites are no different. Keeping your website up to date is an important part of SEO and vital if your website is to work to its maximum potential.

If your website isn’t performing as it should then it may be time for an audit. Most web designers offer a website auditing service and some of the main areas they will look at are; content, graphics, keywords, usability and calls to action.

Content

Old and outdated content is perhaps one of the main offenders and often leads to a slow death for websites because eventually search engines won’t bother to crawl a site and it ends up getting left behind and forgotten.

Graphics

Graphics are an often overlooked but important element of a website with many never having being replaced despite any other changes to a site that may have taken place over time.

Keywords

Keywords and search phrases are the search engines’ friends but only in the right density and position within the website copy. Too many or too few are as bad as each other so balance is extremely important.

Usability

With no shortage of choice on the web, good usability is a must to keep visitors on your site. If they encounter any difficulties finding information or navigating the site itself they will simply leave and look elsewhere.

Calls to Action

Strong and persuasive calls to action should drive visitors to the final stage of the buying process – the checkout! If yours aren’t doing this to at least an acceptable level then it’s time to change them.

A website audit will actually cover far more than has been mentioned here and probably throw up some eye-opening results into the bargain, but the thing to remember is that whatever is found to be wrong with your site is totally fixable – all you have to do is listen to your web designer.

Until next time.

As it’s the last post of the month, I have decided to indulge myself and take a brief trip down internet memory lane

The internet has been around for a comparatively short space of time but has still managed to totally transform the world of business, leisure and communication.

What started as a government project way back in the early seventies wasn’t actually used by the public until the early nineties, but it’s hardly surprising that not everyone took to it straight away as back then most people had never heard of a website, didn’t know the meaning of the word cyberspace and hadn’t a clue what a ‘dot com’ was.

Some forward-looking businesses did see the potential and registered their domains early whilst others were not convinced this new technology would be of any benefit to them; quite ironic, given that now most business throughout the world is conducted wholly or partially through the internet.

Websites started out as simple static affairs populated by blocks of text and images but as the internet grew in size and popularity and new technology became available, ecommerce sites arrived and the world of business changed forever.

Communication also underwent a radical transformation as the speed and convenience of email was embraced by the public and businesses alike, and like websites, wasn’t limited by borders or distance.

The internet has also been responsible for creating whole new industries essential to keep it running and evolving. SEO specialists, web hosting services, domain registrars, software and programme developers, and not least, web designers themselves.

Despite thinking that maybe the internet has gone as far as it can go, it’s currently going through yet another stage that literally puts it in our pockets – mobile devices. Phones, iPads, tablets or whatever we choose to carry, the internet is now with us all the time.

There’s no denying that the internet has firmly become part of everyday life whether for shopping, finding information or communication, and knowing what we know now, I wonder what we’d do if suddenly it wasn’t there. Makes you think, doesn’t it?

Until next time.

For most people, surfing the Internet and reading copy on web pages presents no problem whatsoever, but for the visually impaired and the elderly it’s another matter entirely. Unimpeded access to websites is something the rest of us take for granted, but for those with a visual disability things are not quite so straightforward.

Accessibility and Benefits

There are various methods employed by web designers to make websites compliant. Using simple page layouts without overcomplicated use of tables will make it much easier for screen readers to use, as will the application of ‘Alt’ text (alternative text) on images.

Traditional html sites can be built or modified to make them accessible, but one of the best methods is to build them using simple CSS code. CSS-built sites will read the text exactly as it appears on the screen and users will also benefit from ease of navigation and much quicker loading times. An added bonus is that CSS sites will generally attain better search engine positions than their html counterparts.

Potential Market

According to figures from the RNIB (Royal National Institute for the Blind), an astonishing 3 million people in the UK cannot, or have extreme difficulty reading standard printed material and encounter exactly the same problem when they attempt to read website content.

It naturally follows therefore, that should they wish to purchase something online and can’t read what is on the website – they won’t buy, resulting in not only a staggering amount of disgruntled would-be customers but a significant amount of lost sales and income.

Equality

Accessibility is not only about online spending though; that is just one aspect to consider when building a compliant website. Another, and possibly the most important factor to take into account is that whether spending or just surfing for fun and information, visually impaired or elderly Internet users should be able to access and read websites with the same ease and convenience that the rest of us enjoy and not feel as though it’s a privilege or something they have to earn.

Having a disabled-friendly website makes sense not only from a business point of view, but because not to have one means denying a minority the chance to share one of the greatest communication and information systems ever invented.

Until next time.

Way back in February, I wrote about busy websites and what it is about them that put visitors off, and things like music, widgets, scrolling text and pop-ups. Taste is of course a personal thing, and sometimes there really is no accounting for it. However, everyone is entitled to an opinion and the argument must be balanced.

To say that busy sites don’t work at all is wrong; Ebay and Amazon, even MSN and Yahoo are proof that they do. All are packed with content including Flash advertisements and very little clear space to be found.

So, what is it about these sites and others like them that seem to attract visitors whilst busy sites in general tend to repel them?

It may have something to do with the length of time they’ve been in existence. Both Ebay and Amazon have been around since 1995 and have grown up with the internet so we’ve become extremely familiar and even comfortable with them over the years.

It could also be the fact that although busy, they do have some structure as to the layout because despite being content-packed, Ebay and Amazon are generally very easy to use and navigate and their success proves that users appear to have no problem coping with the amount of information found on each page.

This site here is another that may be familiar to many and can’t be said to be lacking content, but from a personal point of view it does nothing for me except put me off strictly on looks alone. I don’t know how well it does in terms of visitor conversions; it might be extremely effective or it might be turning them off in droves; who knows?

Regardless of performance, the site no doubt has its fans because as I said earlier it’s a matter of personal taste, but because the look of the site actually hasn’t changed much over the years, maybe the owner has hit on a formula that works very well.

Whatever you views on busy websites, I’m still fairly certain that most pet hates centre on the widgets, music and pop-ups and anything else present that doesn’t serve a useful purpose.

Until next time.

As a web designer, you want visitors to your website to like what they see and if they don’t initiate contact on that particular occasion, will hopefully return to do so later, but what else can you do to in an attempt to keep them looking?

One area to think about is a portfolio page; a place to blow your own trumpet and show off your dazzling design skills and expertise, but more especially, a place to wow your visitors.

The majority of web design businesses do indeed have a portfolio page but strangely there are many that don’t and this could perhaps be one reason why some visitors fail to be converted into paying customers.

Customer testimonials are fine and often work well but if an interested visitor is inclined to check them out they can’t do it through your website but a portfolio page is instant.  

However, a portfolio page is far more than just examples of your past work: it should serve to give visitors ideas and inspiration for their own websites particularly if they are unsure of what they want.

It’s a good idea to be varied with your choices when deciding which sites to show and not restrict those choices to just the all-singing all-dancing sites because simple brochure sites still have their place on the internet and your portfolio page should reflect that and appeal to a wide range of tastes.

It’s also worth noting that whatever websites you decide to display on your portfolio have clickable links, either next to or underneath the image or within the image itself so that visitors can go directly to a live example of your work. Images with no links will only frustrate and annoy them and make them unlikely to visit your site again.

Many potential customers know they want a website but have a hard job envisaging how that site should look and perform. Others may have a half-formed idea in their heads but need to see other examples that may help to make that idea complete – a portfolio page could help them to achieve this and more importantly, commission you to do it.

Until next time.

At the end of every year and the start of a new one there are countless articles to be found speculating on web design trends, covering everything from the technical to the aesthetic and it will come as little surprise that some predictions are consistently bang on the money whilst others just don’t happen at all.  

One area that did interest me however was that of colour and reading through various blogs and forums, I came across numerous discussions as to what colours are expected to be hot and which were not.

As you’d expect, opinions were wide ranging with just about every colour combination getting a mention as being the next new thing.

The issue I have with colour usage predictions when it comes to corporate websites though is that they can really only apply to newer businesses because I suspect most older and longer established businesses that unless going for a totally different look would be loathe to change something that has grown to become an essential part of their corporate identity.

Take Aviva for example; they used to be known as Norwich Union but rebranded a few years ago, but whatever else altered within the company itself, their corporate colours and logo remain the same; consequently, they are still recognisable even though the name has changed.

Building brand awareness relies as much on constant exposure of corporate colours as it does on taglines and logos, and done properly, consistently and with enough time, people should be able to recognise a particular brand by any one of these elements on their own.

Colour of course is a matter of personal preference but as I said earlier, new businesses still in the early stages of building their brands face fewer restrictions than the more established companies where following colour trends could perhaps do them more harm than good.

Until next time.

The subject of today’s post centres on a subject the importance of which is often overlooked, ignored or completely dismissed by website owners – website copy!

Many businesses commissioning new websites take the view that hiring a professional copywriter is an unnecessary expense and prefer instead to concentrate their efforts and budgets solely on the website itself.

There are others who fancy themselves as wordsmiths and compose their own copy, and to be fair, some of them are more than capable – but not many.

It’s not about being able to string a sentence together or using clichéd sales speak and jargon or simply a case of putting some hastily written words on a site and thinking that visitors will be so impressed they will immediately want to do business – it doesn’t work that way.

Effective copy should talk to visitors, inform them, engage and interest them and persuade them to take a desired course of action and copywriters have a better understanding than most of what it takes to do that.

It’s often said that a website has only seconds to capture a visitor’s attention and it’s the immediate look of the website that has to achieve this, but once that task is completed and the visitor has decided to stay and learn more, the copy is the next stop, and if it isn’t up to scratch all that good design work is wasted.

Good copy is as vital to the success of a website as is the design itself and the two can’t be divorced from each other without affecting that success. Any business commissioning a new website and even those with existing sites should seriously consider the benefits of using a professional copywriter.

As I said earlier, many businesses see copywriting services as an unnecessary expense and possibly something they’ll never change their opinions on which is their choice of course. I like to think that the more enlightened see it as an investment.

Until next time.