How to Present Your Website Content

There are two kinds of website readers:

• Those who read everything.
• Those who skim to find specific content.

As you write for your website, remember that most people do not read a website the same way they might read a book, article or newspaper.   For those who skim, you’ll want to take special measure to be sure you don’t lose them from your webpage before they “get” your message. 

Here’s what skimmers do…

Skimmers will skim through your website looking for their own key words. When they find them, they will slow down to scan the area more closely; if they like what they see, the will go back and read more fully the areas that contain those words keywords.

If they really like what they see, they might even read the whole page…but don’t count on it (smile).

Here are writing tips to make sure your readers can “get” what you want to share, no matter what their reading style:

• use headlines and sub-headings
• write using short thought bites
• use bullet points where appropriate
• allow for pleny of white space
• avoid jargon, long sentences and complicated detail (put that onto a deeper page for those interested, or make it available as a download)