The WebDev Buzz

A visitor opens the site, looks over the homepage, clicks the sales copy page, and then leaves the website after a few seconds.  Does the website often experience this routine?  Those few seconds are not enough to read the whole content of the web page, even for the fastest readers.  This can only mean that right at the beginning the web content was not effective in capturing the interest of the readers.

The importance of web content and copy cannot be overemphasized, especially for those conducting their business in the Internet.  Before the sales copy can induce the reader to take action, either to join the mailing list or place an order, it must make the reader want to read the whole web content.  This can be achieved if the web content is interesting and intriguing enough.

To decide whether something is “interesting” or not is considered a subjective effort.  Yet, there are effective ways to make the web content appealing to the clients.  These ways are based on human psychology, particularly, on the needs of the human species.

Human needs can be classified this way:

• Physiological needs – Considered as the most basic of needs and include the needs to satisfy hunger, thirst, shelter, clothing and sex.
• Safety needs – Which are also described as the needs to attain security, and covers physical, emotional and financial security.
• Social needs – Refer to the needs of humans to belong and to be accepted in a group, and these embody the need for love, affection, and companionship.
• Esteem needs – Covers the need of men and women for attention, respect, achievement, and recognition.
• Self-actualization – Refers to the need of every individual to develop to his fullest potential

Based on the above classification, the ideas to keep in mind while writing an effective web content become obvious.  These are:

• Headlines of articles should appeal to the needs of the potential clients – The most attractive headlines are those that appeal to the emotion of the website visitors.
• The introduction part should outline the benefits that potential clients will have.  The writer may identify a problem and then proceed to how this particular problem can be answered by the company’s products or services.  The introduction is crucial.  When it is interesting enough, the potential client will read the rest of the sales copy.  If the introduction is boring, the potential client leaves.
• The body of the web content should be informative.  It must provide details on how the products or services may answer the needs of the clients
• The conclusion must use persuasive words and must again appeal to the emotions of the readers.  It should also excite the reader to take action, which, of course, is to click the order form.

Writing effective web content becomes more directed and the produced copy becomes more effective if the client’s needs are used as guideposts.