Only 15 Seconds to Get Your Website Seen
Did you know that the average person will spend less than 15
seconds reading your webpage? So much for all that
perfectly-precise text where you describe absolutely everything
you do in loving detail! Guess what-no one's reading it. They're
skimming. Are you skimming now?
A couple months ago I bought some website traffic analysis
software so I could tell how my search engine placement is going
and see what my popular pages were. I about fell over dead when
I realized how quickly people click in and out, especially
because I do some pay-per-click advertising that costs me over
$1 per click! Being a detail-queen myself, I had to completely
re-think my copy writing.
To be the most effective, your website copy should be written
for 3 types of website browsers:
People that skim:
Most people surfing the web are skimmers. To speak to them,
employ a combination strategy for easy readability:
*headlines (big and small) *bold text on important words *text
boxes with small bits of copy *photos with word captions
*bulleted lists
If your page is skim-friendly, a reader should be able to
understand the main benefits of what your business does,
without ever having to read the tiny text.
People that love details:
If you've got someone's attention with your headlines, then you
want to deepen their interest with the small text. Don't put
very much detail on your home page. Put the detailed
information a level or two deep, in the places where someone is
looking for specific information. Remember, you want to break up
the tiny text with lots of breaks for skimmers.
Computers that determine your search engine placement:
One of the best ways to improve your search engine placement is
to include lots of keywords in your writing. (Don't be obnoxious
and type your keywords in a nonsense fashion. That can get you
banned from search listings.) Do use your relevant keywords
on every page, in the headlines and in the details. And
here's a trick you might not know: if you use bold font for
your keywords, it can help your results. Detailed articles &
newsletters (with your keywords) work well too. Go ahead and
build your site deep with rich content, just don't lose the
skimmers by putting the detail up front.
When you strike a harmonious balance of all three types of
website copy, you should notice better results. When I focused
on keywords, Google bumped me up to the 2nd page for "small
business coach." When I revamped my home page, my newsletter
subscription rate tripled. When I started archiving my
newsletter articles, I noticed that I got more traffic from
people searching for those specific topics. Try some of these
small changes, and watch what happens.