EDITING CONTENT PRIOR TO PUBLISHING

Did you ever get the feeling that there’s just too many words on the Web? Well, you’re not alone. Many people feel overwhelmed by all the content and the myriad of links on every page.

The authors of all these words seem to think that the more they write, the more you’ll read.  And the more you read, the more likely you are to buy into whatever they’re selling including including opinions.

Just because there’s unlimited space on the Web doesn’t mean you should use it. On the Web, less is truly more, as in more effective. People have short attention spans on the Web because there’s so much content to see, so many competing products, so many opinions and informational sources. They’re always in a hurry and if they don’t find it on your page, they’re gone.

Trim Fat Sentences

Web authors should be concise. Get to the point but don’t leave out important information. Once you’ve written your text, edit it. Eliminate redundant sentences. Rephrase sentences to make them shorter. For instance, change:

Job applicants should contact the Human Resources department by clicking here.

to

Apply for employment here.

By optimizing all your pages this way, you’ll actually communicate more effectively with your busy visitors. And communication is what it’s all about.