Giving Visitors a Reason To Come To Your Site!

Web surfers these days dont appear to be doing a lot of in depth reading. We tend to skim and scan until we find something interesting. In fact, you could be losing important business, if your site doesnt have compelling text that motivates the prospect to move. If your website copy is poorly written, uses really bad grammar, or is just plain dull, you wont be getting their attention or their business.

Do this for just a minute……

Get online and go to your web sites first page. Imagine you are a visitor to your site. Look at the first screen you see. Is there enough quality in what you see and read to make you want to read deeper into the site? Be totally honest with yourself.

I think most every web designer dreams of achieving a fantastic presentation of their web site! Your web site may look awesome. It may download in a flash on your new super fast, super powerful PC with the 19" screen. However,experts say that between 40- 50% of Internet users have more modest systems with 640 x 480 resolution, older versions of Netscape or Explorer, or even a creaky old version of AOL. You may wonder why dont these folks just upgrade their browsers ( the newer versions are free anyway), buy bigger monitors and faster modems. But quite often these computers have enough hard drive space, memory, and modem speed for the day-to-day needs the user may have.

Lets say you applied your efforts in designing your web pages with the above parameters in mind. You coded correctly, avoided the "bells and whistles", and optimized your few sparse graphics.

The next thing to address is what you are going to put on your web page. How good can you write? Would anyone besides a close friend or family member read on? Does your copy run from margin to margin without interruption, or did you break things up with (bullets, block quotes, tables, etc.) for readability? Does white space break up solid blocks of copy? Is the most important text at the very beginning of your main page? It better be! Are your most important points repeated clearly on each page? People dont read Web pages in the same manner they read books. They jump around. Are your fonts and type sizes easy to read? Have you checked spelling, punctuation, and general grammar use?

Here is something that has been emphasized by many writers….white space. This is not a microscopic component of the human body :-) According to web design expert Grant Crowell , white space is the open space between design elements, and an important layout technique. Text is a design element. I like to think of placing text the same way Ritz-Carlton chefs present fine food on exquisite tableware. If we offer lots of good text on our sites, but without
order and organization, no one may read what we have to say.

Do you feel comfortable knowing whether to use "its" or "its," or "whose" or "whos." How about "due to" vs. "because of." Do you know the difference between active voice and passive voice? Can you use "affect" and "effect" effectively? Do you know when to lay something down and when to lie down? Whether you think its fair or not these things lend credibility and make you appear to be more authoritative.

But what if you dont know how to use some words?

Dont worry. If you are serious about your business and serious about your web site then you probably care how your copy represents you. Visit a couple forums or message boards and you will easily find someone who is willing to help you; probably free. Before long it will not even be a problem. Webgrammars area is but one of many places on the Internet where you can visit and ask questions without fear of ridicule.

The Internet is breaking down into some incredible communities. These communities consist in part at least of people who before the Internet would be quite expensive to consult. These people are often business owners who work their businesses full time, but choose to help others because it helps raise the standards of the entire Internet community.

Almost any good website is always under construction. This is so very important. A great website is not a destination, its a journey. New concepts, rules, and guidelines appear almost daily. Welcome change, and the availability of those of us who offer help. Great Web sites deserve great design - including great grammar and style!

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About the Author

**Article is by Leon Brickey. Leon is webmaster and owner of Appalachian Online Marketing at appalachianmarketing.com. At Appalachian Online Marketing you can find everything you need to turn your struggling business into an explosive moneymaker! Free subscription to Absolute Internet Marketing Resources Ezine containing the most current, up to date online marketing resources on the planet.
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