Website Content: 7 Errors to Avoid

Posted by D. Denay Davis on: 2006-05-25 20:54:56

If you are considering a website redesign look first at your content. Often there are simple errors that can be corrected changing the entire dynamic of your site, while also improving the overall visitor experience.

1. Veer clear of inconsistency in both content and format.
If you are a Chocolatier, providing information about imported chocolates, their use; method of preparation, storage and stability; don’t include information about dried fruits and nuts. It is easy to get caught up in the moment and feel the need to cover a multitude of information. Resist the need.

2. Create a flow to your content.
For example, discuss types of imported chocolate from Europe, Africa and South America; explain new ways chocolate is being used in savory foods, and offer a RSS feed that keeps an eye on the wholesale cost of chocolate. Avoid the need to address everything on the homepage, it makes for a busy unorganized webpage that is frustrating to navigate and difficult to read.

3. Oceans of information are just not necessary.
Visitors to your site want and need you to utilize the “keep it simple” method of providing information. No one wants to read a 25 page report or a 500 page manual if the same information can be provided in a 200 word paragraph.

4. Use more detailed menu headings.
The purpose of a menu is to reveal all the choices of information available to the visitor. This is one time when using brief one word menu descriptions should be avoided. For example, if the menu heading reads Quote, consider using Requesting a Quote or Quote Submission. The menu heading should not be ambiguous to the visitor. “Don’t make your visitor think.”

5. Most visitors to your site want the facts, the answer, or the solution without all the fluff.
Give your visitors exactly what they want, the way they want it. We use the Internet because we can get what we want, faster than any other method available. Keep it simple. If a website visitor needs to call you and all you have is a contact form, you may be losing a potential customer.

6. Cover the what, when where, how and why one your home page.
Somewhere on your home page you should state what you do, when you do it, where you do it, how you do it and why you do it. This may sound elementary, but you would be surprised at the number of websites that do not explain in plain language their reason for being.

7. Provide follow up information; don’t leave potential customers hanging in the wind.
How do I contact your company? Include all methods of contact; email, address, phone, and fax. If possible mention your follow up expectations. How long will it take for you to respond to an email inquiry? Providing information adds creditability to your website. Why are you in business and why should I select you when I can “search” a topic area and get a cadre of your competitors? Contact information should jump off every webpage. Visitors come to your website to see what your have to offer, and contact you for further information; give them what they want, the way they want it.

If you are not sure what your website is saying to your customers about your company, consider getting a website usability analysis. An evaluation of a website’s written content, spelling errors, along with a complete usability report addressing the functionality of the site can be most beneficial. If you are not going to provide visitors to your site with a positive experience, they will venture off to find it on another website.

Website Usability Analyst and Lead Writer - Detra D. Davis
The Site Therapist
http://www.thesitetherapist.com

Detra Davis is a Website Usability Analyst and Lead Writer for The Site Therapist and strongly believes in helping clients succeed and prosper by addressing website usability concerns; a graduate of the University of Maryland, and a United States Navy Veteran, Davis insist “writing is my passion. The goal of The Site Therapist is to help ecommerce and lead generation site owners create functional and prosperous websites. The writing staff of The Site Therapist also specializes in writing articles, manual article directory submissions and ghost blog writing services.