Writing and Publishing

Is your website a Derby or a Grand National?

Lesley Morrissey. Our official Writing for the Web Expert says:

In the horse racing world the Derby is a flat race -- a smooth ride to the finish line. The Grand National is one obstacle after another, some of them so huge that only a few of the riders manage to land safely on the other side. So how many obstacles do visitors to your website have to get past to arrive safely at the point where they have the information they need to make a decision to contact you? What sort of obstacles am I talking about? Let's start at the beginning.

Read Lesley's entire article Is your website a Derby or a Grand National?

What makes a home page sticky!

Lesley Morrissey, Our official Writing for the Web Expert says:

I’ve been a bit lax in keeping my blog entries up to date - and it has a lot to do with my last post!  Hannah’s book launch was so successful I’ve had a deluge of people asking for their home pages to be reviewed.  I must have done about 80 over the past month or so!

It has become very clear that there are two things that people need to know to ensure people get their message:

Read Lesley's entire article What makes a home page sticky!

What Has Your Website Got to Do with Goldfish?

Lesley Morrissey, Our official Writing for the Web Expert says:

What a strange question! But did you know that the attention span of the average web-surfer is equivalent to that of a goldfish? About four seconds - if you're lucky!

So what will stop them from clicking off somewhere else? Something has to get their attention really quickly - within that magic four seconds. Let's look at the things that turn web-surfers on - and off!

Read Lesley's entire article What Has Your Website Got to Do with Goldfish?

Home page layout

Lesley Morrissey, Our official Writing for the Web Expert says:

I’ve been reviewing home pages for the last couple of weeks and after looking at around 70 different websites I feel as though I can talk about what works and what doesn’t with a degree of authority!

Let’s look at a few basics that make a home page work effectively:

   1. Your brand needs to be consistent; not only on every page, but also should be recogisable as what is on your business card, letterhead and any other material you have.

Read Lesley's entire article Home page layout

Crafting your message

Lesley Morrissey, Our official Writing for the Web Expert says:

I’ve got on my soapbox about focus in previous blogs, but the whole page needs to have a purpose AND to be written in a clean and concise style.

Let’s look at structure for a page.

Read Lesley's entire article Crafting your message

Every picture tells a story

Lesley Morrissey, Our official Writing for the Web Expert says:

… or does it?  I keep seeing websites that feature pretty pictures right across the page, in prime real estate that really don’t help to make their point - and especially not to people who have only just ‘landed’.

Then there are those appalling stock photos of attractive people in blue suits that abound.  I haven’t been in any office where everyone looks so beautiful - or wears such naff clothes!  They look exactly what they are - posed photos and say almost nothing about the organisation they are supposedly promoting - except perhaps that they are unwilling to spend money on getting decent visuals for the website.

Read Lesley's entire article Every picture tells a story

Search engine optimisation

Lesley Morrissey, Our official Writing for the Web Expert says:

Most of us have heard of the magic mountain - the search engine list - and we all want to be number one, or at least in the top ten.  In fact, being number 10 is actually better than being number 6 or 7 - people remember the first and last better than those in the middle!

Read Lesley's entire article Search engine optimisation

Something unusual - read this!

Lesley Morrissey, Our official Writing for the Web Expert says:

I don’t make a habit of promoting products, but being, indirectly, a marketing person, I think anything that helps people to market their businesses effectively is a good thing!

Read Lesley's entire article Something unusual - read this!

Crafting your message

Lesley Morrissey, Our official Writing for the Web Expert says:

I’ve got on my soapbox about focus in previous blogs, but the whole page needs to have a purpose AND to be written in a clean and concise style.

Let’s look at structure for a page.

Read Lesley's entire article Crafting your message

Click here!

Lesley Morrissey, Our official Writing for the Web expert says:

How many websites have you visited that instruct you to ‘click here’?  There are plenty of people who use this phrase in the hope that your curiosity will get the better of you.  However, my response to an instruction to ‘click here’ is ‘why should I?’

Read Lesley's entire article Click here!