The Truth About The New Rules Of Business Writing Part 12

Some more Web site do's and don'ts.

Do understand your target audiences really well and orient every element to them. Try for simplicity. People like sites whose elements don't fight each other for attention. Do build in multiple ways to find the same information, because different people search differently. On a clothing designer's site, for example, one visitor might look at the menu at a page's bottom to find scarves and another might check the product listing on the home page, or notice a linked reference on the designer's "About me" page.

Do repeat information so each page is complete, remembering that users won't read everything and won't view pages in sequence. Do match your menu items to your pages. If your menu bar says "Business Technology Strategy" but the page that opens says "Financial Management," rethink your menu or page labels.

Do build in ways to update your site, whether with news, new product information, articles, and so forth so that you can keep it fresh and keep your audience coming back. Do use the say-ability test: How does it sound when read aloud? Do humanize and build empathy whenever you can. Show real people using your products or services, for example. This applies particularly to nonprofits.

Do use visuals that serve a purpose and relate to the content, such as photographs, ill.u.s.trations, or graphs. Do use graphic tools to direct the user's eye-typography, color, icons, design. Do offer ways for viewers to get more information: a person and phone number to call, material to ask for, links to technical specs, or a working e-mail link to someone who'll answer a question.

Do proofread obsessively. Millions of people may see your mistakes and laugh! Check that every link works, both those that direct viewers from one part of the site to another, and those that connect visitors to off-site resources. Check this periodically: People are annoyed when they're referred to a page or an entire site that no longer exists.

Do end each page with a call to action. "Call for an estimate today," with a phone number, for example-or with a lead-in to another page. For example, "If you like our earrings, check out matching necklaces," and link to that.

And some don'ts: Don't overload the senses. Visual and aural glitz, and meaningless motion, are distracting and slow a site down. Don't write copy that is cute or clever; many people have no patience for it. Don't use questionable humor-which is almost any humor to somebody. Don't put a mission statement on the home page-or anywhere else if you can help it-many epitomize everything Web site writing should not be. Don't put up a Web site and forget about it. Nothing is more off-putting than evidence that nothing's been changed for three years.

Truth 36. A home page must crystallize who you are.

To demonstrate how you can go about creating a Web site structure and home page, let's plan a simple one for a craftsperson who's starting from scratch. And let's suppose she creates a range of crafts and clothing that sell from $50 to $500 and have a "Vermont" theme.

Goals-To sell products via the Internet and bolster the owner's artistic credibility when she sells at fairs.

Audience-People who like handmade crafts and the Vermont "feel."

Content plan-Translating these into the Internet medium, she will want, minimally, the following: * Home page * Meet the Artist (a version of About Us) * Product showcase (one page or set of pages for each kind of product with brief introduction) * "Where I Am" (updatable page on craft fairs where the artist will show her work) * Shopping basket to hold selections * Ordering capability * Contact information * Content (such as an article on how handmade fabric is woven) Even though many prospective buyers will go straight to a particular product page and never see the home page, nonetheless it sets the stage for content, structure, and style. So, how to write a good home page? Here's how our artist's print brochure reads:

Introducing Laura Jones: A Craftswoman in the Best New England Tradition.

Vermont artist Laura Jones is the creator of unique, handmade crafts and artistic pieces that embody themes of her native Vermont landscape. Her highly original work is in the collection of the New England Museum of Modern Folk Art...etc., etc. She has taken blue-ribbon honors in compet.i.tions from Maine to Texas.

Her wide range encompa.s.ses painted textiles, wall hangings, clothing, and jewelry, all inspired by the Vermont world in which she was born and raised. Her artistic sensibility has been honed by both education and experience....

Even if you don't think the copy is awful, it's nowhere near right for a Web site. Who'd sit still to read it? How to cut to the chase? Here's one way:

Laura Jones StudioOne-of-a-kind crafts and clothing with Vermont themes.

Wall hangings.

Painted fabrics.

Painted scarves.

Painted ties.

Enameled jewelry.

Unique gifts and collectibles made by hand-buy direct from the award-winning artist's Montpelier studio.

Each listed product links to an inside page. The items outlined under Content Plan can be arranged as a menu any way the site owner wants or a designer suggests.

Far more complex sites can be planned out in a similar manner. The home page must reflect the best structure for the site's purpose and should be worked out by the full site-development team. Software has evolved that makes content changes easy, but changing the site's structure can be harder. Ideally, a good site plan takes future development into account.

For easy navigation, organize logically. It can be helpful to visualize the site as a tree branching off into roots, which lead to a succession of smaller roots. In the case of the artist's site, for example, you reach a Product Showcase page by clicking on that link. That page in turn can link to wall hangings, enameled jewelry, and the rest. The jewelry page can lead the viewer to earrings, necklaces, and so on.

Alternatively, the visitor can click on the direct links from the home page to each category, or might find the earrings page directly from Google by searching for "handmade enameled earrings."

Explaining the site-The artist's home page features a prominent tagline: Unique gifts and collectibles made by hand-buy direct from the award-winning artist's Montpelier studio.

Many current sites don't bother to define or explain what the company does or is. As a result, you may find yourself on home pages that make you figure out what relation the organization has to what you want to find, or the basic nature of the site itself. Unless you're Microsoft, it's best to tell the visitor whatever is needed to "position" your site. However, the statement must be very concise and as strong as possible. Don't be surprised if it takes a lot of thought to do this right. The exercise forces you to drill down to your core marketing message.

Cross-promote like crazy-Link your Web site to all your company blogs, and vice versa. Offer print materials about your organization and specific products and services. Link to your e-newsletter, or offer subscriptions to those who fill out a brief form (great for building your database). Connect with podcasts if you can provide those, and video you are showing on YouTube. Promote your upcoming personal appearances as a speaker or consultant, or your company's presence at a conference or convention, and link your site to your social media profiles. And of course, emblazon your Web site address on everything you produce. One of us recently received a small piece of pottery, and the company's URL was etched on the bottom. That's smart.

Worth the trouble?-Even with the services and templates available online to facilitate Web site creation, or the support services available in a large organization, good Web sites are very challenging to produce and update. But it's hard to imagine operating any kind of business without one these days. Surprisingly, The Wall Street Journal has reported that only 36 percent of small businesses-defined as having fewer than 100 employees-have Web sites.

If your organization doesn't have the best Web site it can pull off, it's missing major chances to reach audiences that would otherwise be unreachable-all over the world-every hour of every day.

Part VII: The truth about new media.

Truth 37. Blogging and social media are powerful business tools.

Blogging has transformed our world. The blogosphere is where we're likely to go for information, ideas, and advice in every situation, from how to paint the living room to how to find the best hotel in Timbuktu and what to do when we're there. Today, many people trust bloggers more than they do traditional authorities. Information and ideas have become "democratized" and interactive. We can all be part of the conversation with unbelievable ease, using software and services that are free or inexpensive.

For corporations, blogs have become must-have vehicles for selling products and services on a more personal level, and many encourage employees to blog about the company. For professionals such as lawyers, accountants, and consultants, blogs may be the best way ever invented to establish themselves as authorities, reach clients and prospects directly, personalize relations.h.i.+ps, and become known in their communities of choice.

Blogging has changed the political landscape, too. Blogs can and do bring down politicians, generate controversy, expose injustice and corruption, find contradictions and discrepancies, and reveal facts that at times seem inappropriate for public consumption.

The exploding use of social media extends the blogging revolution. Some experts predict that e-mail will soon be another has-been communication form and that Web sites will morph into blogs.

This means that when you blog, you're competing against thousands with the same interests and self-interest, so doing it well can make a big difference. The concept of "build it and they will come" can really work. Provide something of real value, and you'll be found.

Here are some points that apply to social media as well as personal and business blogging.

Remember that when you use these media, even when privacy options are available, you can't really keep your professional and personal worlds separate. They have merged. A prospective client or employer will check you out on Facebook, Mys.p.a.ce, and LinkedIn and also look at your postings. And, like e-mails, blog postings never, ever go away: They are archived and can be redistributed endlessly.

Remember also that using these media effectively can be very time-consuming. If you want to build a good blog with a following, rather than just post opinions on controversial topics, you need a steady stream of good material that makes a genuine contribution. Here's how to do it.

Know what you want to accomplish-Promote yourself? Sell a product or service? Share special knowledge or expertise related to your company, profession, or hobby? Or are you seeking to express your opinions and connect with kindred spirits? All such goals are legitimate, but when you define your own, you can be successful. However, keep in mind that blogs and social media postings don't work when they're blatantly promotional.

Know your audience-Define whom you must reach to accomplish your goals. That will tell you what focus might work, what you can offer that will be of real value to your audience, best content choices, and perhaps the right technical level for your material. It's becoming increasingly easy to pinpoint the groups you're interested in through free online services.

Brainstorm content based on goal and audience-A fairly tight focus can work very well so you or your company is identified with something specific that sets the site apart from most others. Specialized knowledge is what drives the Internet. Tie your subject into your own best knowledge base and pa.s.sion.

What special expertise do you have? Is there an information niche you could fill? For example, a former Wall Street a.n.a.lyst set up a blog that posts financial filings with the government, and it quickly became an essential resource for reporters. An automotive industry executive blogs on developing a new generation of cars, in deep technical detail, and this site attracts thousands of auto groupies.

Links are content, too-Remember that in the blogging world, providing resources that readers can access with a click is valued for its own sake. If you like reviewing scads of materials and can put them into perspective, that's a service. Building up your links is also the way to get read by more people and move up on the search engine lists.

Listen, learn, share-Social media and the blogosphere offer amazing opportunities to monitor the networks and communities you're interested in, socially, professionally, and commercially. So listen to the online conversations and comment only when you've absorbed the protocols of the specific medium and when you have something of value to give. Do your homework and research. Have the patience to build your credibility, and relations.h.i.+ps, gradually over time.

Don't a.s.sume that only your friends will read what you write on a blog or social media site-Think of all the students who've hurt their chances of college admission by posting questionable pictures on a site, or by telling unsavory anecdotes about themselves. Not to mention job applicants who are totally surprised when an employment manager looks up their Facebook pages and finds something offensive.

During a major trial recently, a key witness was similarly astounded when her blog posts, in which she described her ability to lie and the money she might get from false testimony, were entered into evidence. But blogging isn't a real-life thing, she protested. Wrong: In today's world, blogging is as real as it gets.

The principle holds for microblogs like Twitter, too, which gives people the chance to post very short comments of up to 140 characters. (See Truth 40 on writing for microblogs.) Most people think these mini-postings are as casual as you can get. But just ask a PR executive who tweeted about a city where he gave a major presentation to a client based there. His negative comment about the place was relayed to top executives at both the client's company and his own. Not a good career move.

Truth 38. To blog for yourself, be yourself, but carefully.

Blogging and social media venues are highly enticing to casual communicators, but whether your goal is to build a personal community or promote your own business or organization, don't be fooled. An instant delivery system doesn't mean that dis.h.i.+ng up your spontaneous thoughts will accomplish anything for you.

In addition to taking the trouble to write well and self-edit well, here are some ideas for making these media work for you.

Be yourself-Use your own voice, your own personal viewpoint, and definitely, your own name. Choose subjects you're comfortable with and value the fact that these new media allow for enormous flexibility. If you're someone who has carefully thought about a subject and taken the time to read other people's opinions, and you enjoy commenting from a personal perspective, do so. If you think you're interesting or entertaining, blog and microblog away. On the other hand, if you shy away from talking about yourself, that works too, probably even better: Offer practical advice about what you know, share industry trends, solve a problem. That's what most people are looking for.

Writing tone and style-Conversational-informal is excellent for blogging, but don't get sloppy. Despite the fact the blogging looks like a fre-and-easy medium, readers hate bad spelling, lack of punctuation, and run-on sentences that interfere with instant understanding. Write tightly using short words in short declarative sentences that have rhythm. Keep paragraphs short. Cut all the extra words and thoughts that detract from your core message. The say-ability test-reading the piece aloud to find out where the stumbles are-is really helpful in blogging.

Make your tone match your blog site's goal and audience. An accountant might choose to sound a.n.a.lytic and authoritative rather than using a stream-of-consciousness style, but an artist might not. Ideally, your tone and style should reflect your personality.

How long?-Online formats demand brevity. A print article typically needs to be crystallized to probably half its length to be read. If you're posting a viewpoint on someone else's site, just long enough to be interesting works-in the range of 250 words. If it's a business site and the subject calls for it, 1,500 to 2,500 words can be fine-as long as your information and research justify the length. In either case, make material easy to follow: Numbered lists and bullets work well. Use subheads even on short posts and boldface words to draw attention. Build in white s.p.a.ce to avoid a forbidding look of density.

Write good headlines-This is crucial. For blogs, construct headlines based on a complete thought or sentence so what you're writing about is absolutely clear. Readers tend to scan only the first few words, and so do search engines and news feeders. Therefore, put the bottom line on top-meaning at the left, in this case. Start with the most important three or four words, even though this can lead you away from the "action" feel you're usually trying for and may sound pa.s.sive. For example: Missile defense systems cost us billions in secret budgets Blogging for profit is hard to do: some ideas Small business accounting systems can save you millions Promote discussion-If you want to build a lively blog with different viewpoints, you need to promote some give and take. You might build a question into the content or ask it directly at the end of your own comment: "That's how I feel. Do you have a different opinion?" Whether you allow open access for posting comments or monitor them before publication is up to you or your company. Either way, develop a clear policy and present it on the site.

How often?-Most successful bloggers say they try to stick to a regular schedule and blog at least weekly to keep the site fresh. Operating your own blog is definitely a big commitment, but if you don't keep new material flowing, the time you do put in will be wasted. If your aim is to become part of a community or to build up your own readers.h.i.+p by posting on other people's blogs, it's also best to do it regularly. To get noticed, make sure what you post is relevant and well written.

Which social media should I use?-This landscape changes even as we think about it, so take the time to stay up to date and to evaluate what could be productive for you. There's no question that building up an effective presence on social media can be time-consuming. To best leverage the opportunities LinkedIn offers, for example, you need to invest time in adding contacts, partic.i.p.ate in discussion forums, answer questions related to your interests, and recommend contacts.

Facebook and Mys.p.a.ce have become much-used business and professional tools, as have microblog sites like Twitter. Other sites that aim to connect businesspeople with each other are Ryze, Spoke, XING, and Ecademy. To make good choices, be aware of what your compet.i.tors and colleagues are using, and how. Then use the techniques in this book to write strong profiles, comments, and contributions. You'll stand out.

Blogging for yourself-Never forget that blogging is the most public of forums, just like social media. Therefore, don't say anything that would harm your current or previous employer, or your chances with a future employer.

Don't criticize people by name, because that person may well get wind of it and there may be consequences.

If you criticize a company or product, give legitimate, well-thought-out reasons. Saying that a product is "useless" isn't helpful, but explaining that its battery fails after one hour instead of the advertised five hours is a legitimate criticism.

Be totally honest about your ident.i.ty. Use your real name, and in everything you write maintain the integrity demanded of journalists. If you have a connection to your subject, say so. Remember the company president who blogged about his own organization and compet.i.tors under a false ident.i.ty? It landed him on the front page of newspapers and an untold number of blogs.

Truth 39. Good business blogging is edgy.

Do you need to talk your employer into developing one or more company blogs or into endorsing one you'd like to do on behalf of your department or firm? Sometimes blogging is where a difference in generational att.i.tudes comes up. In many cases but definitely not all, older decision makers may not be immediately comfortable with the idea of blogging. If this is true where you work, and you feel your organization is missing out, you can marshal your best arguments and research what compet.i.tors are doing to help make your case.

Point out, of course, how stunningly inexpensive it is to blog. It's also a way for a company to control its own story and go right to the public, bypa.s.sing the media in its gatekeeper function. And it's an unparalleled way to go where your customers, clients, and prospects are. But don't undersell the time commitment involved. Present this realistically, or you'll just end up with a big responsibility added to your workload.

Here are some ideas about using blogs as a business tool if you want to move your company into the blogging world, or expand its applications: 1. Share information instantly-Blogs are superb outlets for relevant news about your company, such as a new product or service, new capabilities, and interesting ways to use a product. You can build interest in a product coming down the pipeline, and reward fans for their loyalty with early news or "inside" information. In crisis situations, blogs can deliver news at "real-time" speed.

2. Ask your customers or clients for direct feedback-Focus on a specific area: for example, a company-owned hotel's accommodations. Additional blogs can concentrate on various other aspects of the business, such as the dining experience, bridal accommodations, and conference facilities.

3. Respond to input on a daily basis-At least one person in a sizable organization should be responsible for monitoring the bloggers' universe on a daily basis. Most organizations of any size or significance face blogs whose sole focus is to badmouth them or play "gotcha." As politicians have learned, false statements must be countered immediately. Even negative postings that are true or somewhat true should be dealt with quickly because thousands or millions of people are probably reading them. Your company needs its own instant information outlet-its own blog-rather than just responding to negative attacks on other people's blogs.

4. Encourage company employees to blog-Do this even if they might post comments critical of the company. Several major information technology companies promote blogging, either on the company's official blog site, or on the employees' own sites-without vetting the blog posts beforehand. Contrary to the managers' original fears, no company secrets seem to have been revealed. Interestingly, they found that even rantings by unhappy employees offered a benefit, because it gave workers a public outlet for their frustrations and sometimes led to workplace improvements.

5. Directly ask your company's customers to make suggestions for improving your products-For example, a leading paint manufacturer operates a company blog site that encourages customers and potential customers to ask questions and to tell the company what they like about the various products, and what they don't. Managers have made some useful product changes based on this public feedback. A baby products company created a "mother's panel" to offer advice on new products and needs. That's transformed its entire marketing strategy.

6. Respond to complaints-When you receive client complaints, narrow your scope to the issue at hand and always be helpful and conciliatory. Telling customers that whatever happened to them wasn't really your business's fault isn't helpful and will antagonize them needlessly. Blog posts are information sources for other prospective customers, so answer complaints specifically, and if possible point out ways the situation might have been avoided.

7. Bridge distances-If your business has locations that are geographically scattered, employs a far-flung global workforce, or relies on collaboration, corporate blogs are great ways to bridge time zones and distances. Blogging casts a wide net, and posting a question or posing a dilemma can bring you innovative solutions. The informal feel that blogs promote can boost relations.h.i.+p building, too.

8. Deliver content value-If you want people to read the blog and to keep coming back, fill it with useful information for your chosen audiences. Solid material draws people and search engines. In-depth articles on specialized subjects are excellent (see Truths 47 and 48 for advice on how to write them).