You’ve probably heard it before – “content is king.” It is a common mantra in the Internet community, and it seems obvious. Yet, few firms spend anywhere near the same amount of time, money, and energy on their web site content as they do on design and graphics. Splashy graphics can indeed capture attention, but most visitors are driven by a quest for information.

Whether a site is simply “brochureware” or a complex e-commerce site, visitors come for content. They may find the visual effects appealing, but, if the content they seek is not easily found and easily processed, they will move on to another site. The need for relevant information to be easily found and processed explains why effective web content plays by different rules than copy used in print materials. According to web usability guru Jakob Nielsen, seventy-nine percent of online users don't read text word-for-word but instead scan the page. Because of this, and the fact that reading from a computer screen is 25 percent slower than from paper, he advises that web content use only half the word count of its print counterpart.

Effective content follows 10 guides:

1) Follow the "inverted pyramid" format
2) Eliminate unnecessary words
3) Use the active voice
4) Use short, simple sentence structure
5) "Chunk" your information
6) Use bulleted lists
7) Limit scrolling/insert jumplinks
8) Highlight important, informative words
9) Avoid marketese
10) Make your copy 100 percent error-free

Following these guidelines, InsideServices will make it possible for its corporate clients to communicate more effectively online, while enhancing your web site visitors' experiences and impressions of your firm.