When you’re setting up your website, it’s the most natural thing in the world to think it’s about your business – your mission, products and services, history, success stories, etc., etc. After all, this is what your customers want to know, right?

Actually, no, it’s not. Unless your visitors entered your website address (URL) directly from your business card, or click a link from a public listing or review of your business, they aren’t coming to research your company. They’re coming with a problem in mind, looking for a solution.

And if your site doesn’t look like it’s likely to provide the solution those visitors want within seconds of their arrival, they will – repeat will – move on, no matter what your credentials are. If you can’t direct them to the product they need, and tell them how to use it, they simply aren’t interested in your 30-year history at the forefront of your industry.

In other words, while your website may superficially seem to be about your company, your products and your services, it’s really about your visitors, providing answers to their needs and solutions to their problems.

What are some indicators of a site that serves your visitors’ needs, versus one that simply promotes your business?

• That simple three-letter “y” word – you. How many times does your content use “you” instead of “we”, “I”, or your company name?
• Ease of use. Does your site put the information your visitors need on the landing page, or does it bury useful information below several sub-menus? Does it use a clean, easy-to-read style with black text on a white background, short paragraphs and plenty of open space, or does it cram as much information as possible onto high-tech pages designed in white-on-black reversed text?
• Helpful headlines. Do your site speak directly to the visitor’s needs with a home page headline like “The Right Gadget for Your Purpose…Every Time” or does it begin with a generic headline like “Welcome to Our Site” or “Leading the Gadget Industry Since 1979”?
• Understandable language. Does your website speak the same language your audience uses – or does it drown them in technical terminology and jargon?
• Features versus benefits. How much do you tell about the ways in which your products or services can solve your visitors’ problems, instead of describing the details or specs of whatever you do or sell?
• Educational content. Does your site offer additional information such as an FAQ, a blog, or an article library to help your visitors make good decisions, or does it assume they have all the background information they need?
• Continuing connection. Does your site offer an educational newsletter, a special report, or some other free information product for the visitor to download (which also puts a lasting reminder of your expertise in their hands and gives you an opportunity to get their contact information for your mailing list)? Or does it just tell visitors to call or write for more information?

Bottom line – treat your site visitors as you would treat individual prospects in a personal presentation. Let them know you care about their needs and want to solve their problems. They’ll reward you with their trust and business.

Back in 6th grade English class, our teacher was Mrs. Callanan…a small round lady with a 100-megawatt personality and an utter dedication to the English language and its rules. She taught grammar like a science, with sentences diagrammed like chemical molecular structures.

And while I never did get the hang of chemistry, I loved the challenge of English as she taught it, with passion and precision and tough love for her wayward pupils.

But heaven help the struggling classmate who told Mrs. C., “I don’t know why it should be that way – it just sounds right!” That was the invitation for her to launch into her favorite lecture:  “I don’t care how it sounds to you. You’ve been listening to your friends, to the television, to all kinds of things that have trained your ears. Whether it sounds right isn’t the question – do the rules say it is right?”

Most of the time, they didn’t. We learned, unforgettably, that proper English and colloquial English could be two very different things. And sadly, some of my classmates took away an abiding fear that they would never grasp the rules fully, that their conversational ear was not to be trusted.

So imagine the surprise I experienced when I shifted from journalism and technical writing into online copywriting, and I learned that the single best test was to read my work aloud and see whether it sounded right.

This wasn’t the place for formal, academic English in which no infinitive was split – it was a conversational venue in which contractions, exclamations, even sentence fragments were allowed if they carried the message forward.  The important thing was to connect with the audience – to know their concerns, understand their feelings, speak their language.

Of course there’s more – much more – to professional copywriting than that…and there is a big difference between conversational and ungrammatical writing.  However, the truth is that if you don’t begin by connecting with your readers, none of the rest matters; you’ve lost them. And this applies whether you’re writing a sales letter, a marketing article, or a blog post.

But how do you tell if your writing sounds right for your audience?

Start by picturing one person – your perfect prospect. Is it a man or a woman? Old or young? Homeowner, apartment dweller, or corporate traveler? What are his or her interests, talents,  problems, worries? What does he or she long for, dream about? If he or she were standing right in front of you, asking you about  your message, what would you say?

Got the picture? Now hold that image, and write to the person you’re envisioning as if you were speaking directly to him or her.

When you’re finished, don’t let the image go – instead, keep picturing your perfect prospect as you read aloud what you’ve just written. Does it sound stilted? Awkward? Insincere? Go back and revise. Keep revising until the written message flows as smoothly as if it were spoken  from your heart.

But what if you – like some of my 6th grade classmates – are still channeling your inner Mrs. C., and paralyzed by the blank paper or screen in front of you? One solution – if your phone has a voice-recording function – is to put it to use. Speak your message to your imagined listener, record and transcribe it, then read it back to check for tone. As you practice this technique, you’ll find the words coming more easily.

Of course, there are those times when the message itself is difficult,  the audience is challenging, you’re frozen with writer’s block, or you simply need another person to spark your creativity or edit your work. For times like those – or to place the job in professional hands – email us at phila@your-words-worth.com.

If you’re like me, you probably grit your teeth and groan inwardly when you hear a barrage of corporate-speak, loaded with cliches like “leveraging the synergy to take it to the next level” and other conglomerations of nebulousness. What is this person saying, anyway, you wonder, and what exactly is the point?

As the overinflated catchphrases roll sonorously past, you start to feel dazed, hypnotized… there’s probably a meaning hidden in there somewhere, you’re thinking, but it would take a year-long archaeological expedition to dig it out and dust it off.

Your eyelids get heavy…the speaker’s voice begins to fade…

Enough, already!

We’ve all lived through such Ambien presentations…and probably sworn to ourselves that we’ll never inflict anything like that on an audience! But fuzzy phrasing is a particularly insidious temptation that can show up even in ordinary conversations or everyday documents. You don’t need to flatten your listeners with sesquipidalian horrors to leave them wondering what on earth you just said.

The truth is, most people tend to start getting vague when they aren’t sure of their own meaning or message.

How can you tell when you’re obscuring your meaning?

The first red flag is your own feelings. If you ‘re unsure about your message, chances are that you’re going to fudge it. If you don’t really know your topic, you’ll be tempted to gloss. If you’re writing about a topic that has you in inner turmoil, unless you’re able to be clear about your own inner conflict, you’re probably going to try to blur your message.

If you somehow miss these inner warning signs, watch the way you’re writing. Your own lack of clarity will show up in little telltale ways that are practically guaranteed to leave your audience in a state of confusion.

Passive voice

An attempt was made at communicating….but nobody knows who made it! This little trick shows up most often in quasi-official settings like memos or reports. Perhaps the perpetrators feel they need to sound businesslike? Because the passive voice has no subject, however, it only succeeds in sounding as of someone, somewhere, doesn’t want to take responsibility for something.

Latinate language

This was the pet peeve of a wonderful writing teacher I once knew.  He’d listen to a particularly inflated composition, then practically shoot steam from his ears as he shouted, “Latinate! Latinate! Use the good old Anglo-Saxon!” And he’d point out the differences – how Latinate nomenclature (word choice) obfuscates (obscures) the signification (meaning) of the communication (message).  While there’s nothing wrong with choosing words with sophistication and precision, regardless of their complexity,  there’s a great deal wrong with choosing longer words purely for their impressive sound, or your own need to blur your meaning in a fog of verbosity. Remember that most people don’t read – they scan. The more complex your language is, the less your words will communicate.

Cliches

I’ll admit it – I can also succumb to this kind of verbal shorthand. Cliches are phrases that are so common in the popular language that they slip out almost unnoticed – and are essentially meaningless and usually barely heard. “Taking it to the next level” is one example that I’ve heard applied to everything from profit-making to personal growth to coupon-clipping. “Sooner than later” is a useful fudge when you don’t want to specify an exact time…when, exactly, is “later?” You get the idea…if a figure of speech slips out in one breath, without thought, it’s probably a cliche.

Euphemisms

We all use these – kind, less emotionally loaded terms like “passed away” for “died,” or “terminated” for “fired,” or “downsized” for “laid off.”  But there are subtler forms, too… indirect words and phrases that neutralize meaning, distance the writer from the audience, suck out the soul from the message. People often use this type of circumlocution when they want to avoid taking responsibility or blaming anyone, resulting in statements like this:  “my understanding of the deadlines required a decision, and we missed connecting as a result.” Direct meaning? “I skipped seeing you because I thought I had no time.”

So what’s the alternative – how can you communicate clearly?

Here are some simple pointers…

• First of all, be clear about the message you want to convey. If you’re in conflict, or unfamiliar with the topic, work it through before you begin to write. Do your homework.
• When you write, use active (not passive) voice in your sentences – make sure each sentence has a noun and a verb, a subject and a predicate. If an action was taken, make sure the reader knows who took it.
• Use short, active, simple words that leave no doubt about their meaning.
• Think for yourself, choose your own words – avoid cliches. Give your sentences a fresh meaning in your own voice, not the meaningless pop phrase of the moment.
• Be kind, but clear. Own your actions and state facts without blame.

Finally, if you’re still struggling with your message, call us. With 25 collective years of experience in journalistic, technical, marketing, and organizational communications, Your Words’ Worth provides consulting, coaching, and creative services,  including editing and  ghostwriting.

Don’t fumble and fudge your message….email us at phila@your-words-worth.com and let us help! We offer not only writing services, but also editing and coaching, and can help you to communicate clearly and cleanly, whatever the project.