The quick answer? Take notes on the way down.
There’s a waterfall here in West Virginia on the Gauley River called Sweet’s Falls. As a ballpark estimate, I’ve run the falls around 500 times. Here’s how it works…
When you start, there’s a line of waves that runs right up against a cliff on the right side of the river. You have to line your boat up on the left side of those waves. Once you start into them, get ready; no backing out now.
Follow the waves as they get bigger and bigger, and then…
That’s when you start writing.
Meaning, your message goes right here.
The process of writing for the web is like paddling into the entrance to Sweet’s Falls. You want to put readers on a path, a line of waves.
One thing to consider: Really good guides would run the falls without anyone ever taking a stroke. The current did all the work for them.
That’s how your website should be. Each micro conversion (getting to your About page, downloading your PDF) carries readers toward where they want to go. They don’t have to work for it.
Long paragraphs, ambiguous menus, and big chunks of test are all swirling eddies that pull readers off course. It’s work to get out of an eddy, and if you make readers work, they’re gone.
It takes a lot of practice and training to drop the falls just right. But if you start with that end in mind, you’ll carry your readers through safely.
Tags: content, content marketing, Copywriting, writing