5 Rules to Create User-friendly Web Content that Delivers

When a web user lands on your website through organic search, he/she would be browsing through many websites simultaneously. So, you would have very less time at hand to captivate their interest and make them browse through your text. If you want your content to communicate your intended message and give you the desired ROI, but have been wondering how to achieve this feat, we have cracked the code for you.

Rules You Should Follow to Create User-friendly Web Content

1.    Most important information should stay on the top – Being a writer you would be tempted to go verbose, and feel like giving a detailed introduction and a build-up before actually diving into the topic. But, if this sound likes you, hold your guns right now. Web content writing is different from Academic writing, and it’s important to get to the point in the beginning itself; so that your readers remain interested. You can then tell readers that going forward they can expect other useful details (tips, details, related information, etc.). basically, follow the Inverted Pyramid Approach.

2. Know your audience – The key to writing effective content is knowing:

·         Who are you writing for?

·         What are their problems and areas of concern?

·    What would interest your audience more – a detailed technical know-how of the solution or just the fact that you have a solution (just explaining your process, advantages, and that you can provide a solution)

·   Whether you have the expertise and knowledge to impart value to your target audience through your content?

3.    Address the Pain Points of Your Audience -  Let your audience know in the beginning itself how your service can resolve their woes, or how your product can change the way they work. People are always looking for a solution, and if you can address their problem spot on, your readers would be more than interested in reading your solution.

4.    Write for Scanners – 90% of the web users don’t read the entire content. What they do is glance through the page, scan the title and headings, and click on a link that vaguely matches their search criteria. Therefore, use –

·         Headlines which best describe your content

·         Appealing Images which also communicate your message

·         Add a lot of easy-to-scan bulleted points

·         Indentation and page breaks wisely

5.    Serve Your Content on a Platter – Web users are spoilt for choice, and they can really afford to be lazy and not put in an effort to read your text. So, it becomes your responsibility to ensure that your text is easy to consume. Hint – presentation is the key.

·         Use captivating headings – H1, H2, H3, H4

·         Write small paragraphs – 3-4 sentences at a maximum

·         Write small sentences – 12-15 words on an average

·         Avoid jargons, complicated words and passive voice, as you may not really want them to sit with a dictionary while reading your page

·         Avoid redundant and generic lines

I can vouch from my experience that practicing these rules can help you get a better response for your pages. Give these rules a try, and comment below if you practice some other rules which have improved your web content and made it user-friendly. 

Love and Live, 

Neha Agrawal