What markets are you focused on? Who recommends you? What do you want me to do next? These are all questions that potential customers want answered quickly. Visual images communicate the answers faster than words. What is your visual content strategy?Photos can show your involvement in specific industries. Recognizable logos from organizations such as the Better Business Bureau, Angie’s List or trade associations show visitors you are a reputable firm. Graphic buttons and design point the way to the next click.
Who is your firm and what do you do? Leave generic taglines, industry jargon and a lengthy list of services in your briefcase. Be concise and specific about what you do, including the keywords you believe people are searching for. Cut out unnecessary “marketing speak” that isn’t fact-based. In usability studies conducted by Nielson, users found shorter versions of web pages–with 54% less text–more complete than longer versions.
Studies show website visitors don’t read, they scan. To quickly communicate, focus on benefit-laden headlines and keep paragraphs short. Highlight keywords and other information in bold. Utilize bullets or numbered lists to make scanning website copy easier.
Resist the urge to add more content to an already crowded home page. Instead, reorganize content into easy-to-digest chunks. Keep the 20-second time frame in mind when deciding what should stay and what should go.
Remember less is often more in online communications.
