Your website is a service, not a brochure or a product. As a service, your website should prioritize the tasks and information that your readers need most. Crafting a website with your readers in mind is more sustainable over time. It also translates to better search performance.
Setting expectations
Websites should be accessible, usable, and useful
People need to use your website to access important information and services. Website content that is accessible is designed to follow the P.O.U.R. guidelines:
- Perceivable
- Operable
- Understandable
- Robust
When designers, developers, and publishers consider accessibility from the beginning we can create a more inclusive digital experience. Content that is easy to scan and read enables more accurate translation, is easier to maintain, and is more findable.
Write content for people
People are busy and often distracted. Writing clear, easy to read copy helps them to “get” your content, do what they need to do, and move on with their lives. Sometimes this will result in shorter time on page, or “less engagement” in terms of Google Analytics. But, that’s not always bad! If you’ve helped people get to the content they need more quickly, you’ve created a more positive and successful web experience.
Using plain language can help you to avoid convoluted or cliché expressions. Simplifying the words you choose – for example, write “use” instead of “utilize” – will make your content more impactful and meaningful.
- Use active verbs
- Write shorter sentences
- Avoid abbreviations
- Avoid generic “click here” link text
- People will skim and scan and that’s okay
The web is made of links
Links allow people and search engines to navigate your content. When crafting links, consider the following:
- Action – What do people need to do?
- Clarity – Links should look like links, ie. underlined
- Visibility – Don’t hide essential elements (search, menu)
- Promises – A link is a promise. Tell the reader what to expect.
- Words – Choose the right words. Language is more powerful than images.
Research on usability indicates that when users fail to navigate correctly on their first attempt, their success rate tends to decrease. Making sure your links and navigation are clear and that content relationships are visible (through breadcrumbs for example), all help people understand and navigate the virtual space of your website.
Check out these tips for writing great links for websites and emails on Smashing Magazine.
Be useful: internal links and external links
Internal links also help search engines crawl (discover) and index (store in its database) the pages of your site. As Google states in its guide to how search works, “Some pages are known because Google has already crawled them before. Other pages are discovered when Google follows a link from a known page to a new page.”
Don’t be afraid of linking to external sites. The idea of “keeping” people on your site is not realistic. Links to high-quality, useful external sites can be helpful to your readers. That’s the job of well-crafted content; get people the information they need, when they need it.
Structure your content for readability
Web pages and documents with a clear structure and hierarchy are easy for people to understand. Typically, a person will scroll a page and scan the headings to get a sense of what the page is about.
In HTML, the markup language of a webpage, we have some core elements that create structure in our page:
- Headings – H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, H6
- Lists – <ul> is an unordered list, <ol> is an ordered, or numbered, list (this list is a <ul> element)
- Blockquotes – more than a visual style, a <blockquote> is a different element from a paragraph, but it may include a paragraph
- Paragraphs – the basic, essential element to display text content
Good page structure helps people scan content and find what they’re looking for more easily. It also helps Search Engines to understand your content. Page structure is a factor in technical search engine optimization (SEO) as well as usability and accessibility. Use your elements!
Using headings to define blocks of content
Headings organize and define blocks of content. They help all readers scan your page to understand the content and find the information they need. This includes sighted readers, readers using assistive technology, and search engines.
- You should only use one H1 per page – this is usually your page title.
- Don’t skip a heading level. Headings 1 through 6 are available to use but you might not need them all. Just make sure they appear in order (ascending, descending).
- Don’t use headings just because you want your text to stand out visually.
Conclusion: Your audience is people – prioritize their needs and expectations
Keeping your audience in mind when developing content, optimizing for search, and testing for accessibility, will all ultimately help you develop a more successful web presence (one that can be found in search and is optimized for conversion).
Need help or have questions about content? I provide team training to help content publishes create useful, optimized, accessible content and make the most of their website tools. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions, I’m always happy to help.
