Did You Know..?
The QWERTY layout for typewriter keyboards was designed SPECIFICALLY to slow down the speed at which you can type. Newspaper editor Christopher Sholes developed the QWERTY style in the 1860's. Due to the rudimentary mechanical nature of the first typewriters, the moving parts often jammed as typing speeds increased. So Sholes devised a layout where the most frequently used letters were further apart on the keyboard to reduce the jams. Read all about it here.
Dialogue
This is where you can really sell your product, service or idea! Your visitors will generally be keen for you to get to the point, so brevity is the key most of the time. Don't use three paragraphs if one will do. Consider using diagrams or other images to explain complicated ideas. The old adage...
“A picture paints a thousand words”
...is never more true than when designing a website. If your theme allows it, be DRAMATIC! Try to engage your visitor to keep them reading. Sometimes a little humour can be used to good effect, although care should be taken with this. Not everyone has the same sense of humour and your visitors may be from many different cultures. Being offensive in 'print' is not a good idea.
Research
Make sure you know your subject. If using facts and figures make sure they are correct. Cite your sources rather than being vague. Nothing will turn your visitors away more quickly than the feeling that you don't know what you're talking about. At best, you'll lose traffic to your website. At worst you may trigger emails or unwanted actions from your potential customers.
General considerations
Make sure the spelling and grammar are correct. Running a spell checker on the text you will use is a simple way of finding most mistakes. Grammer can be more difficult to get right but if you are not sure get someone 'studious' to cast their eyes over your masterpiece. In any case we will review your text as we process it and refer any anomalies to you.
Your text content is best delivered to us in a common format such as a .txt or .rtf file. If you must supply it in a native word processor format, these can usually be accommodated.
Continue learning about design elements...
Dialogue
