Writing for mobiles and tablets
One more factor to consider is the increase in the number of users who access information on the website through a mobile device or tablet. This puts ever increasing pressure on web copywriters to keep their content succinct and to the point otherwise the end user will just get frustrated and become disengaged.
At the moment, the University does not have a specific platform for mobile users. This means that we have to ensure that our copy converts easily to a mobile or tablet. The key to this is to eliminate the ‘fluff’ – the filler copy that can add depth to a story but which in reality adds very little to the overall outcome of somebody reading an article or piece of content.
Intro copy
One thing to consider when writing for the web is cutting back on the amount of intro text. Visitors to your page usually have a specific purpose in mind when they click through your page so they do not need a potentially lengthy introduction to the copy they are really interested in.
Cutting the ‘fluff’ from your copy is easier said than done. It is in our nature to provide introductions to our copy and to try and make the user feel good about the copy they are reading. However, people read so little on the web that it can often have a negative effect on then reading the real content you want them to engage with,
Example: (taken from Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox, October 10, 2011)
The conference attracts a highly diverse audience of professionals who are committed to advancing user experience in their companies. Hearing from participants at previous conferences will give you an idea of the colleagues you'll meet and the discussions you'll have when you attend.
Most users are likely to skip a full paragraph such as this one and may also skip the rest of the copy. By cutting the opening sentence from this paragraph, the copy is reduced by almost 50% and becomes far easier for a reader to scan and pick out the key bits (in bold)
Hearing from participants at previous conferences will give you an idea of the colleagues you'll meet and the discussions you'll have when you attend.
So why bother with intro text at all? A brief introduction can help users better understand the rest of the page. If you keep it short, a bit of ‘fluff’ might actually enhance your copy.
Focus on answering these two questions with your intro copy:
- What? (What will users find on this page — i.e., what's its function?)
- Why? (Why should they care — i.e., what's in it for them?)
A good example from the University website:
Your journey to university starts here! Find out everything you need to know about undergraduate life at the University of Huddersfield and discover why so many students choose to study here.
In this example, we could easily cut the opening sentence. A visit to the University website suggests that they have already commenced their journey to University so do they really need reminding? The rest of the paragraph tells them what they will find out (everything) and why they should care (why do students choose to study here). It could read like this and immediately cut the word count from 31 to 20:
Find out about undergraduate life at the University of Huddersfield and discover why so many students choose to study here.
Writing for the web, mobile or tablet is a complicated business. There are lots of factors to consider, however it is good to start looking at the copy you are producing and checking off some of the points raised in this document. If you are acting upon these suggestions, the chances are that you will start to write more engaging copy that appeals to our target audience.