The other day, I received an entertaining piece of mail from a credit card company. Due to recent legislation, credit card issuers are now being forced to make a “Clarity Commitment™” regarding their credit card account summaries; promising to offer consumers “a clear and straightforward description of their credit card rates and fees.”
Hopefully this “wonderful new commitment” means that fine print will finally be written clearly enough to help credit card holders better understand their account terms and avoid unexpected rate hikes and fees.
However you may feel about this issue, I’m all for anything that improves clarity and informed decision-making.
This prompted me to think about the following tip:
Make a commitment to CLARITY on every page of your site … and you’ll likely see improved leads and sales for your pet-related business.
I know I’ve talked about the importance of clarity, or clear content, in a few other tips I’ve written. But now I’m adding the concept of committing to clarity.
From now on, whenever you’re faced with a web page, make sure the message and flow is clear. This includes every headline, subhead, bullet, chart, offer and call to action.
As you’re collecting your thoughts and preparing to write the content, ask yourself
- What’s the #1 mission of this page? Perhaps the mission is to get a lead, sell something or get someone to sign up for your newsletter. Be clear before you proceed.
- What do I want the site visitor to understand? Identify the main takeaway you want to convey if your visitor is site-hopping and prepared to give your page just a 5-second scan. (Of course, if your content is clear and compelling, the visitor will stay longer than 5 seconds, right?)
- Why would the visitor stay on your page? Make sure you clearly and concisely offer what the visitor is looking for. Provide information that helps him or her see how you could solve a problem. And make sure graphics or animations aren’t distracting the visitor from that solution.What exactly am I offering the visitor? Make sure it’s not just a list of features, but a strong, compelling benefit or reason for the visitor to get excited. Some examples are: the easiest way to choose the right pet, avoid a serious infection in your pet, keep track of your pet, build a dog house, find bargain pet toys, get pets to take medicine, anything at all. Or an amazing once-in-a-blue-moon bargain on something your visitor really wants. Be crystal clear.
- How does the visitor get the solution you’re offering? Again, clarity rules here! If there are any confusing barriers to the visitor’s ability to order a product or fill out a newsletter sign-up form, you’re sunk. So make the trial offer clear and simple. Make the buying process as easy as 1-2-3. The fewer the clicks, the better.
To see a few sites that have made a commitment to content clarity (in my opinion), visit the Pet Airways website.
My tip of the day is this: commit to content clarity on every web page you write.
Until next time,
Here’s to a clear and prosperous site!
Pam
PetCopywriter.com