Copywriting
Website copy is the core text that narrates visitors through your website and tells them what they need to know about a brand or the site.
According to research, users generally prefer writing that is concise, easy to scan, and objective rather than promotional in style.
Why does it matter ?
On the web, you have less than 15 seconds to grab somebody's attention when they first arrive on your website. On the average Web page, users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average visit.
Making web pages more concise had a positive effect on users' performance, satisfaction, and overall usability. Researchers cut the text by 54%, and users still found the shorter version more complete. The study also found that task errors were reduced when users didn't have to go through long blocks of text.
Recommendation for writing copy text outlined in this study:
- Remove small details.
- Add tables of contents and section summaries, bullets, numbered lists, bold and colored text to highlight key words, additional headings and shorter paragraphs.
- Remove commercialism from the text. Adjectives (e.g., "formidable" and "overwhelming"), buzzwords (e.g., "paradigm"), and unsupported claims.
Main takeaways
- Be short, and use simple language
- Write with a clear structure
- Provide relevant information
Evidence and further readings
Here you can find a list of references to dive deeper on the subject.