plement stairs for those with wheelchairs or children’s strollers. In many seminars, sign lan-

guage specialists are contracted to translate the speaker for those with hearing disabilities.

Many rooms—including restrooms—have braille equivalents on their signs. These days,

hotels and event organizers take steps to make life as easy as possible for everyone.

Several countries have made accessibility in buildings a legal requirement, and any public

space failing to meet the minimum accessibility policies is subject to fines. The same types

of requirements are starting to appear on the Web. All US government sites must adhere

to a certain level of accessibility, as do most sites in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland,

Canada, and more. Even commercial sites are subject to lawsuits if they discriminate

against those with disabilities.

The issue of accessibility on the Web is not new. However, for years, the issue has been rel-

egated to small designer mailing lists. Only recently have web designers and corporate

marketing teams become aware of the potential problems inaccessible websites present,

and how to overcome those challenges.

Accessibility is not just for the blind

While the design industry is slowly becoming more educated through the evangelism of

Joe Clark1 and sites like Ian Lloyd’s Accessify,2 many web designers still incorrectly equate

“disabled” with “blind.” While it is true that the Web plays host to a significant number of

people with visual impairments, to slice the definition of disability so narrow is a disservice

to the millions of users with other handicaps.

1. www.joeclark.org

2. www.accessify.com

38

ACCESSIBILITY

The 2000 US Census reported that 12.3 percent of Americans have a disability—including

sensory, physical, and mental disabilities. That number adds up to almost 32 million

people.3 There are very few businesses or institutions that would willingly turn away so

many potential customers, if they could find a way to serve them elegantly.

The first step to meeting the needs of the millions of disabled users is understanding their

situation. The word “disability” is an umbrella term that covers many categories of impair-

ment, from visual impairment to learning disabilities. Following are some common handi-

caps many everyday web users have to contend with.

but this too often gets forgotten in the excitement of the design process. Design and con-

tent, like in any medium, are symbiotic, and when working together, they create a stronger

finished product. Web designers and information architects are responsible for how con-

tent is presented, and must work with copywriters to ensure that the best possible product

makes it to the outside world.

34

WEB DESIGN AND MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS WEBSITES

Summary

Writing and the presentation of the written word are the fundamental goals of the Web,

but this too often gets forgotten in the excitement of the design process. Design and con-

tent, like in any medium, are symbiotic, and when working together, they create a stronger

finished product. Web designers and information architects are responsible for how con-

tent is presented, and must work with copywriters to ensure that the best possible product

makes it to the outside world.

34

3ACCESSIBILITY

3ACCESSIBILITY

WEB DESIGN AND MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS WEBSITES

Architecture and web design are close cousins. Both vocations require focus in creatively

designing tangible experiences and environments that facilitate movement. A good archi-

tect will study how people move from room to room and craft a layout that makes this as

easy as possible. A good web designer will research how people navigate a website, where

their eyes travel, and what visual cues they look for to get the information they need as

easily as possible.

One person moves through a building and follows the icons for the restroom; another

navigates a website and finds an e-mail address by clicking Contact. The craft of predicting

user movement exists in both environments, and the architecture of each is designed to

assist that movement. But what happens when not everyone moves the same way?

Problems arise when architecture—both physical and digital—limits the movement of the

visitor. Buildings are clearly designed around people who can walk. Long hallways, stairs,

urinals in the men’s bathroom. Websites are clearly built around those who can see.

Pictures, icons, colors.

If you visit any contemporary public spaces, especially those catering to large meetings like

conference centers and hotels, you will notice the abundance of accessibility and usability

accommodations these facilities have extended to their visitors. Ramps and elevators sup-

Like the conundrum over serif or sans serif, there are no hard-and-fast rules, only guide-

lines. Some prefer dark text on a light background; others like their copy reversed.

Whatever the case, contrast—the level of color difference between the words and their

environment—must be set relatively high in web design. A thousand different monitors

will produce a thousand different images. For a deeper discussion on the topic and a list of

tools to help discern contrast ratios, see Chapter 3.

5. Diving into advanced typography is beyond the scope of this book. However, a great book that

wades neck-deep into the topic is CSS Mastery: Advanced Web Standards Solutions, by Andy

Budd, Simon Collison, and Cameron Moll.

6. For an entertaining read on how Arial was unceremoniously derived from Helvetica, read Mark

Simonson’s article “The Scourge of Arial,” at www.ms-studio.com/articles.html.

33

WEB DESIGN AND MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS WEBSITES

Summary

Writing and the presentation of the written word are the fundamental goals of the Web,

but this too often gets forgotten in the excitement of the design process. Design and con-

tent, like in any medium, are symbiotic, and when working together, they create a stronger

finished product. Web designers and information architects are responsible for how con-

tent is presented, and must work with copywriters to ensure that the best possible product

makes it to the outside world.

34

WEB DESIGN AND MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS WEBSITES

Summary

Writing and the presentation of the written word are the fundamental goals of the Web,

but this too often gets forgotten in the excitement of the design process. Design and con-

tent, like in any medium, are symbiotic, and when working together, they create a stronger

finished product. Web designers and information architects are responsible for how con-

tent is presented, and must work with copywriters to ensure that the best possible product

makes it to the outside world.

34

WEB DESIGN AND MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS WEBSITES

Summary

Writing and the presentation of the written word are the fundamental goals of the Web,

CONTENT

familiarity and proven legibility, make them ideal carriers of web-based content. The trick,

then, is to make sure the CSS references them correctly.

Cascading style sheets provide web designers the means to discontinue the use of messy

inline tags and other display-related markup. In addition to creating far cleaner

HTML, CSS allows for advanced typographic control, such as general styling (italicizing and

bolding), employing small caps and drop caps, precise sizing through different units of

52

measurement, and much more. With this much power, it is vital to write CSS type defini-

tions that accommodate different platforms.

For instance, all Windows-based and newer Mac-based machines have Arial installed, but

the same cannot be said for older Mac-based computers, which often rely on the similar

but subtly different Helvetica.6 To produce a similar experience on both operating systems,

the CSS needs to define both faces, such as the following:

p {

font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;

}

It is also important to note that some fonts may not be called the same thing between OSs,

and ones that are may look slightly different between the platforms. The font Times is

common on the Mac, but completely absent on most PCs, except for a rare variation that

produces a grungy, distressed version of the classic Times New Roman. To avoid the

appearance of this nasty alternative and ensure the same look is produced on both plat-

forms, the CSS would be the following:

p {

font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;

}

Finally, it is critical to include a generic term at the end, whether serif, sans-serif, or

monospace. It is foolhardy to assume any given machine has even the most generic font

installed, so a contingency rule must be added. Otherwise, the browser will use its own

style sheet (and that is almost never desirable). Testing the website on all platforms will, of

course, weed out many of these potential design trolls.

Consider contrast

Finally, contrast is very important in web design, and most important when designing text.

the same cannot be said for older Mac-based computers, which often rely on the similar

but subtly different Helvetica.6 To produce a similar experience on both operating systems,

the CSS needs to define both faces, such as the following:

p {

font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;

}

It is also important to note that some fonts may not be called the same thing between OSs,

and ones that are may look slightly different between the platforms. The font Times is

common on the Mac, but completely absent on most PCs, except for a rare variation that

produces a grungy, distressed version of the classic Times New Roman. To avoid the

appearance of this nasty alternative and ensure the same look is produced on both plat-

forms, the CSS would be the following:

p {

font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;

}

Finally, it is critical to include a generic term at the end, whether serif, sans-serif, or

monospace. It is foolhardy to assume any given machine has even the most generic font

installed, so a contingency rule must be added. Otherwise, the browser will use its own

style sheet (and that is almost never desirable). Testing the website on all platforms will, of

course, weed out many of these potential design trolls.

Consider contrast

Finally, contrast is very important in web design, and most important when designing text.

Like the conundrum over serif or sans serif, there are no hard-and-fast rules, only guide-

lines. Some prefer dark text on a light background; others like their copy reversed.

Whatever the case, contrast—the level of color difference between the words and their

environment—must be set relatively high in web design. A thousand different monitors

will produce a thousand different images. For a deeper discussion on the topic and a list of

tools to help discern contrast ratios, see Chapter 3.

5. Diving into advanced typography is beyond the scope of this book. However, a great book that

wades neck-deep into the topic is CSS Mastery: Advanced Web Standards Solutions, by Andy

Budd, Simon Collison, and Cameron Moll.

6. For an entertaining read on how Arial was unceremoniously derived from Helvetica, read Mark

Simonson’s article “The Scourge of Arial,” at www.ms-studio.com/articles.html.

33

around 12 to 14 points.

Above 12 points, most fonts of any family are perfectly readable. At smaller sizes,

sans serifs slightly edge out serifs in terms of readability, but this has a lot to do

with the inability of most computer screens to elegantly render the subtleties of

serif fonts.

Small sans serif fonts present difficulty for readers with dyslexia.

Use common typefaces

When producing Windows 95, Microsoft commissioned celebrity typographer Matthew

Carter to design screen-friendly fonts. The result was Verdana and Georgia, among others.

These were crafted with the goal of retaining legibility at both small point size and subjec-

tion to poor screen aliasing. In a study by Wichita State University, both faces—along with

Arial, the inbred cousin of Helvetica—scored high with users in almost all categories,

including reading time, perceived legibility, and overall font preference.4It would be a

criminal understatement to say Matthew Carter succeeded in his goals.

The advantage of Verdana and Georgia is that they are available on most PC- and Mac-

based computers produced since 1995. (Arial is installed on all PCs, and its nearly identical

twin Helvetica is installed on all Macs.) This widespread adoption, along with their

4. Michael Bernard, Melissa Mills, Michelle Peterson, and Kelsey Storrer, “A Comparison of Popular

Online Fonts: Which is Best and When?” Usability News 3.2, 2001 (psychology.wichita.edu/

surl/usabilitynews/3S/font.htm).

32

CONTENT

familiarity and proven legibility, make them ideal carriers of web-based content. The trick,

then, is to make sure the CSS references them correctly.

Cascading style sheets provide web designers the means to discontinue the use of messy

inline tags and other display-related markup. In addition to creating far cleaner

HTML, CSS allows for advanced typographic control, such as general styling (italicizing and

bolding), employing small caps and drop caps, precise sizing through different units of

52

measurement, and much more. With this much power, it is vital to write CSS type defini-

tions that accommodate different platforms.

For instance, all Windows-based and newer Mac-based machines have Arial installed, but

ter picture framer carving a new frame without knowing what the painting looks like, only

that it’s about 3 by 2 feet and has some red in it. While it can be done—and maybe even

done well if the framer guesses right—the end product will not be anywhere close to its

potential without understanding the context of the art.

To execute the best possible work, designers and developers need the full story, and that

means real content. Too often, clients, marketing departments, and writers instruct

graphic artists to “just ‘greek’ in the text.”3 While designers might have a general idea of

what the site needs to convey in its look and feel, it’s still just a shot in the dark.

Typography considerations

The world of typography on the Web has a murky, sordid past, filled with inconsistent

browser rendering, poorly aliased text, cross-platform font discrepancies, and the unpre-

dictable text-resizing whims of users. This trail of frustration is, thankfully, slowly subsiding.

Today, the tools are better than just a few years ago, and as technology marches forward,

some of the maddening variables of early web design have stabilized into a few concrete

guidelines.

To serif or to sans?

The question over whether to use serif or sans serif fonts in body copy is actually a fairly

interesting debate. In the web design world, it has become an accepted precept that sans

serif fonts are better for condensed body copy, and in the world of print, serif fonts are

better for longer passages of type. This is, however, a myth that has yet to be proved con-

clusively either way, but you can see an example of the difference in Figure 2-2.

3. The term greek is technically false (lorem ipsum is Latin), but it has been slowly converted into a

slang verb by thousands of designers and marketing folk looking to quickly fill a block of

content without actual text.

31

WEB DESIGN AND MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS WEBSITES

Figure 2-2. The text on the right could appear on a website; the text on the left is formatted

for print.

Several studies have been conducted, all of them producing virtually imperceptible,

almost anecdotal evidence supporting both arguments. For typography on the Web, we

can deduce the following:

In general, people prefer serif fonts when they were sized higher than normal,

To execute the best possible work, designers and developers need the full story, and that

means real content. Too often, clients, marketing departments, and writers instruct

graphic artists to “just ‘greek’ in the text.”3 While designers might have a general idea of

what the site needs to convey in its look and feel, it’s still just a shot in the dark.

Typography considerations

The world of typography on the Web has a murky, sordid past, filled with inconsistent

browser rendering, poorly aliased text, cross-platform font discrepancies, and the unpre-

dictable text-resizing whims of users. This trail of frustration is, thankfully, slowly subsiding.

Today, the tools are better than just a few years ago, and as technology marches forward,

some of the maddening variables of early web design have stabilized into a few concrete

guidelines.

To serif or to sans?

The question over whether to use serif or sans serif fonts in body copy is actually a fairly

interesting debate. In the web design world, it has become an accepted precept that sans

serif fonts are better for condensed body copy, and in the world of print, serif fonts are

better for longer passages of type. This is, however, a myth that has yet to be proved con-

clusively either way, but you can see an example of the difference in Figure 2-2.

3. The term greek is technically false (lorem ipsum is Latin), but it has been slowly converted into a

slang verb by thousands of designers and marketing folk looking to quickly fill a block of

content without actual text.

31

CONTENT

Insist on copy—refute lorem ipsum

Designers everywhere have a familiar friend in ancient Latin text. For hundreds of years,

Cicero’s De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum has provided printers and designers a content

doppelganger: the infamous passage containing the words lorem ipsum. This once obscure

text now finds its way into countless design projects as meaningless filler copy. It suppos-

edly approximates typical character distribution in an average passage of English text, and 2

is intended to force the viewer’s eyes to focus on the design of the text without getting

hung up on the actual words.

While the technique has merit—especially when testing typefaces—designing a website

without real content does a disservice to everyone, especially the designer. Imagine a mas-

Design considerations for content

Some web designers may think they are perfectly justified in glazing over this chapter. It is

after all, about content, not design, or even traditional information architecture. But the

reality is that the two elements are fundamentally bound, like hydrogen and oxygen atoms

in a water molecule. In fact, their symbiosis is driving many designers to become increas-

ingly conscious of web content—what messaging works and what doesn’t, how people

react to typography decisions, how people scan content within a page, and so forth. Every

day new research offers deeper insight into how the masses interact with content. Those

theories and best practices filter down and permeate the decisions driving how interfaces,

navigation elements, body text, and more are actually designed.

In a traditional marketing structure, designers design and writers write. Large organizations

might even have a dedicated copywriter for the Web. A medium-sized business might

retain a copywriter who handles both print and web content. But in a small company, one

person could easily comprise the entire in-house marketing team, and their job is to both

write copy and get it live on the site.

Whatever the case, it is in a designer’s best interest to read the content. At best, they can

work proactively with the copywriter to craft better messaging; at a minimum, under-

standing the text can only help them appreciate the company’s needs, which will ulti-

mately result in a stronger design.

30

CONTENT

Insist on copy—refute lorem ipsum

Designers everywhere have a familiar friend in ancient Latin text. For hundreds of years,

Cicero’s De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum has provided printers and designers a content

doppelganger: the infamous passage containing the words lorem ipsum. This once obscure

text now finds its way into countless design projects as meaningless filler copy. It suppos-

edly approximates typical character distribution in an average passage of English text, and 2

is intended to force the viewer’s eyes to focus on the design of the text without getting

hung up on the actual words.

While the technique has merit—especially when testing typefaces—designing a website

without real content does a disservice to everyone, especially the designer. Imagine a mas-

ter picture framer carving a new frame without knowing what the painting looks like, only

that it’s about 3 by 2 feet and has some red in it. While it can be done—and maybe even

done well if the framer guesses right—the end product will not be anywhere close to its

potential without understanding the context of the art.

tional efficiency, and concentrate on governance and compliance through the direct man-

agement and explicit control of content.”

This is not bad copywriting per se, it’s just heavy-handed. It’s technically correct, but the

cacophony of big words wearies the brain. Here is the same message, but with lighter, sim-

plified text:

Example 1 (edited): “Our software introduces new ways to organize your corporation’s

many kinds of content, increasing employee efficiency and helping to meet compliance

regulations. The software can be installed locally in your company, or hosted through our

datacenter.”

The message is still there, but the delivery is not as dense.

Example 2: “A person-centric architecture is at the core of our products. Whether imple-

mented into an enterprise system or interfaced as a particularized solution, our laboratory

software offers unparalleled functional competence.”

29

WEB DESIGN AND MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS WEBSITES

The second example is tougher, because while the sentence is long and uses colorful

ords like erson-centricnd nterfacedit’s not actually saying too much. Here’s a possi-

wpa i,

ble revision:

Example 2 (edited): “Our products, built with the user in mind, help make your laboratory

more efficient.”

It’s not particularly mind-blowing, but it’s about the best we can do with such thin raw

material.

Example 3: “Leverage the power of ever-increasing interconnected media channels by

inspecting them through a marketing lens. This integrative archetype affords businesses a

new context proven for retooling marketers to rethink clients working in a rewired

market.”

This final example is just bad copy. The writer is trying way too hard, and the final text is a

plate of syrupy mush lacking any kind of intellectual nutrition. The message is there, and

it’s fairly simple once all the layers of language are peeled away:

Example 3 (edited): “Using a combination of marketing media, you can reach new

customers.”

regulations. The software can be installed locally in your company, or hosted through our

datacenter.”

The message is still there, but the delivery is not as dense.

Example 2: “A person-centric architecture is at the core of our products. Whether imple-

mented into an enterprise system or interfaced as a particularized solution, our laboratory

software offers unparalleled functional competence.”

29

CONTENT

Keep bullets short and punchy.

Group them together in logical clumps.

Don’t overuse them.

It’s best to mix bullet points with paragraphs to break up content and keep the eye moving.

This also avoids feeling too much like PowerPoint. Also, be careful that your bullets—

which are intended to abbreviate and highlight key messages—do not obfuscate your 2

message. It is entirely too easy to truncate a complete thought so much that it becomes

meaningless to your readers.

Reading level

Most television sitcoms are written at an eighth-grade reading level to appeal to the widest

audience possible. News and editorial programs might be written for a more educated

audience, but I would bet that if you sat a class of 13-year-olds in front of the TV, they

would understand almost every word on CNN. Television is written by professionals who

know how to speak to a broad demographic in a common language. It would be wise for

companies to follow TV’s lead. It’s common to assume your audience is more educated

than they really are, but even if that’s true, people don’t want to think too hard when

reading, especially on the Web, where the term reading is used loosely.

Examples of clarification

Taking into consideration everything covered up to this point in the chapter, let’s take

another look at the examples of the thick corporate speak referenced earlier, and see if we

can’t increase the signal-to-noise ratio to get a clearer meaning. Here is the first one:

Example 1: “Although our software can be premises-based or deployed as a fully hosted

solution, we allow companies to automate and streamline processes, progress organiza-

28

CONTENT

Keep bullets short and punchy.

Group them together in logical clumps.

Don’t overuse them.

It’s best to mix bullet points with paragraphs to break up content and keep the eye moving.

This also avoids feeling too much like PowerPoint. Also, be careful that your bullets—

which are intended to abbreviate and highlight key messages—do not obfuscate your 2

message. It is entirely too easy to truncate a complete thought so much that it becomes

meaningless to your readers.

Reading level

Most television sitcoms are written at an eighth-grade reading level to appeal to the widest

audience possible. News and editorial programs might be written for a more educated

audience, but I would bet that if you sat a class of 13-year-olds in front of the TV, they

would understand almost every word on CNN. Television is written by professionals who

know how to speak to a broad demographic in a common language. It would be wise for

companies to follow TV’s lead. It’s common to assume your audience is more educated

than they really are, but even if that’s true, people don’t want to think too hard when

reading, especially on the Web, where the term reading is used loosely.

Examples of clarification

Taking into consideration everything covered up to this point in the chapter, let’s take

another look at the examples of the thick corporate speak referenced earlier, and see if we

can’t increase the signal-to-noise ratio to get a clearer meaning. Here is the first one:

Example 1: “Although our software can be premises-based or deployed as a fully hosted

solution, we allow companies to automate and streamline processes, progress organiza-

tional efficiency, and concentrate on governance and compliance through the direct man-

agement and explicit control of content.”

This is not bad copywriting per se, it’s just heavy-handed. It’s technically correct, but the

cacophony of big words wearies the brain. Here is the same message, but with lighter, sim-

plified text:

Example 1 (edited): “Our software introduces new ways to organize your corporation’s

many kinds of content, increasing employee efficiency and helping to meet compliance

you, and customers refer you.

Larger companies have dedicated editors for web copy. These folks understand the golden

rules of brevity and clarity. Unfortunately, these wise companies are the minority, so it is

important that web designers, information architects, and others involved with the project

understand what makes words work well so they can collaborate with the copywriter to

produce the most reader-friendly messaging.

Provide the whole story

Don’t assume people know what you do, how you do it, where you are, or when you

started. Providing all this information offers people the whole picture of your company.

Leaving out a key piece of the puzzle just annoys visitors and puts them off going any fur-

ther. For instance, a web page describing the services of the company should be rich with

detail, whether marketing copy, testimonials, or illustrations. Failing to adequately inform

readers about what the company does and its methodologies results in only one thing: less

interest.

Short paragraphs

The print medium provides designers tremendous creative freedom. If they want 2-inch

columns, text set at 8 points and the background a light gray, there’s not a darn thing the

reader can do about it. This flexibility in design accommodates different content styles as

well; our example of carefully designed columns would handily fit denser type and longer,

multi-sentence paragraphs.

The Internet ignores all constants. Text size is dictated by the user, and long paragraphs of

text can quickly become unwieldy on a wide monitor, causing reading speed and informa-

tion retention to plummet. Because of this unpredictability, the best web content is writ-

ten like newspaper copy: short paragraphs that focus on one thought and rarely exceed

three sentences. This fast-paced style organizes thoughts into easily digestible chunks, and

helps the eye travel from block to block through the copious whitespace.

So how long is a paragraph on the Web? A 50-word paragraph is reasonable; shorter is

better. It has been demonstrated over and over again that readers scan web content

quickly, rarely lingering to read and fully digest the information. Short paragraphs oblige

this pattern.

Bullets

Like short paragraphs, bullets help readers lightly graze on content to help determine

whether they’re in the right place. Here are some general guidelines:

material in which it finds itself. Your software might leverage your client’s IT invest-

ment, but it more likely takes advantage of that investment instead.

Best-of-breed: This one just has to stop. Probably one of the most pompous

descriptors to come into common use, best-of-breed is a term best left to award

ceremonies at dog shows. A marginally better best-in-class could be employed, or

you could just stop writing empty modifiers and talk more about the real-world

benefits of your company’s product.

Writing with clarity also requires the immediate cease-and-desist of trying to write with

pomposity. People who try to write over the heads of their audience nearly always fall

short; after all, what is the benefit of confusing your readers with sentences thicker than

tar and as appetizing as sawdust? Removing these common sins from the copywriting tool-

box can help further the cause of intelligibility:

Invented words: Making up words not only complicates language, but suggests one

of two things: either the writer was not intelligent enough to think of a perfectly

decent word, or the company regards its self-worth high enough to warrant its own

secret language. There are many rather funny examples, but just keep in mind that

verbing nouns only increases the complexification of wordspeak.

Acronyms: These poisonous little strings of letters are the darlings of technology

pundits everywhere, from software makers to commercial equipment manufac-

turers to government agencies. Very few are valid. Just for fun, try to guess what

these stand for: SERP, ECM, XSLT, OPML.

Superfluous modifiers: Modifiers are the subtle little attachments to nouns that

make the subject sound just a bit better. Like a good pair of shoes, they provide fla-

vor to the package—and, like a pair of hot-pink knee-high Nancy Sinatras, can

quickly become distasteful. We discussed best-of-breed in the preceding list; world-

class, unprecedented, and others also appear with uncomfortable frequency.

27

WEB DESIGN AND MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS WEBSITES

Write for your audience, not your ego

Avoiding obfuscation is the first critical step in a more readable website. Thinking about

what your audience wants to read—and how they want to read it—is the second.

Many copywriters indulge themselves with big words and heavy-handed messaging. Avoid

this. Edit copy to a common denominator by assuming your reader knows nothing. This

means offering the full story, in clear language, so search engines index you, readers find

tar and as appetizing as sawdust? Removing these common sins from the copywriting tool-

box can help further the cause of intelligibility:

Invented words: Making up words not only complicates language, but suggests one

of two things: either the writer was not intelligent enough to think of a perfectly

decent word, or the company regards its self-worth high enough to warrant its own

secret language. There are many rather funny examples, but just keep in mind that

verbing nouns only increases the complexification of wordspeak.

Acronyms: These poisonous little strings of letters are the darlings of technology

pundits everywhere, from software makers to commercial equipment manufac-

turers to government agencies. Very few are valid. Just for fun, try to guess what

these stand for: SERP, ECM, XSLT, OPML.

Superfluous modifiers: Modifiers are the subtle little attachments to nouns that

make the subject sound just a bit better. Like a good pair of shoes, they provide fla-

vor to the package—and, like a pair of hot-pink knee-high Nancy Sinatras, can

quickly become distasteful. We discussed best-of-breed in the preceding list; world-

class, unprecedented, and others also appear with uncomfortable frequency.

27

CONTENT

Solution: Probably the poster child for corporate-speak abuse, this once great word

now appears on an incalculable number of company websites. Unfortunately, while

elegant, it has little meaning when orphaned, especially in a site’s navigation. The

word is still valid when meaning an actual answer to a problem, but not when used

as a replacement for more tangible words like products or services.

Utilize: The major problem with utilize is that it is simply overused. It may or may

not be a direct replacement for use; in different situations, its meaning can con-2

note something slightly different. For example, I can use this shovel to dig a hole

(its intended purpose), or I can utilize this shovel to smash this lock open (an unin-

tended use, no matter how practical). However, the problem lies in the fact that

copywriters use utilize even when its monosyllabic cousin would be clearer and

more to the point.

Enterprise: This word is just a flowery alternative to company. Who can seriously

tell me they don’t think of Star Trek when they read it? A prime casualty of the-

saurus abuse, try the more humane company, organization, or business instead.

Leverage: This is another alternative for use, but with major bonus pretension

points. While a real word with real meaning, it hardly ever relates to the marketing

have a template for how not to write.

Following are a few words that have had their character ground away by unrelenting use

(or is that utilization?):

2. Erin Kissane, “Attack of the Zombie Copy,” A List Apart, October 24, 2005

(www.alistapart.com/articles/zombiecopy).

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Solution: Probably the poster child for corporate-speak abuse, this once great word

now appears on an incalculable number of company websites. Unfortunately, while

elegant, it has little meaning when orphaned, especially in a site’s navigation. The

word is still valid when meaning an actual answer to a problem, but not when used

as a replacement for more tangible words like products or services.

Utilize: The major problem with utilize is that it is simply overused. It may or may

not be a direct replacement for use; in different situations, its meaning can con-2

note something slightly different. For example, I can use this shovel to dig a hole

(its intended purpose), or I can utilize this shovel to smash this lock open (an unin-

tended use, no matter how practical). However, the problem lies in the fact that

copywriters use utilize even when its monosyllabic cousin would be clearer and

more to the point.

Enterprise: This word is just a flowery alternative to company. Who can seriously

tell me they don’t think of Star Trek when they read it? A prime casualty of the-

saurus abuse, try the more humane company, organization, or business instead.

Leverage: This is another alternative for use, but with major bonus pretension

points. While a real word with real meaning, it hardly ever relates to the marketing

material in which it finds itself. Your software might leverage your client’s IT invest-

ment, but it more likely takes advantage of that investment instead.

Best-of-breed: This one just has to stop. Probably one of the most pompous

descriptors to come into common use, best-of-breed is a term best left to award

ceremonies at dog shows. A marginally better best-in-class could be employed, or

you could just stop writing empty modifiers and talk more about the real-world

benefits of your company’s product.

Writing with clarity also requires the immediate cease-and-desist of trying to write with

pomposity. People who try to write over the heads of their audience nearly always fall

short; after all, what is the benefit of confusing your readers with sentences thicker than

Example 3: “Leverage the power of ever-increasing interconnected media channels by

inspecting them through a marketing lens. This integrative archetype affords businesses a

new context proven for retooling marketers to rethink clients working in a rewired

market.”

This trend toward what writer Erin Kissane calls “zombie copy” blossomed with the advent

of the Web, and hit critical mass around the time the first dot-com bubble burst in 2001.2

Traditional selling collateral rarely required such language because most sales efforts were

focused on consumers. But the economic tsunami of the technology sector brought a

massive influx of postmodern business-to-business marketing, and companies quickly

found themselves stumbling over superlatives, euphemisms, and run-on sentences. There’s

no obvious reason why this occurred, but it’s fair to say a combination of factors were at

work, including the following:

To make the product or service appear more complex than necessary

To make the company itself appear smarter than its customers and thus subcon-

sciously claim authority on the topic

To make their target audience feel smarter

To use the thesaurus more often

The trend, thankfully, seems to be waning. Many companies have scaled back the layers of

nonsensical verbiage, put their thesauruses back on the shelf, and started writing in plain

language again, like their forefathers in advertising taught them. The more your company

exercises this, the more effective and far-reaching its marketing material will be in the

market.

Have mercy on the thesaurus

The torrent of bad writing has left a graveyard of once-valid, now-cliché words in its wake.

In the California Gold Rush of 1848 and 1849, thousands of people tore through rock and

stream to find any speck of gold their prospecting neighbor up the stream left behind. In

the late 1990s, the American English Thesaurus became a similar victim of pillaging.

Suddenly, plain English wasn’t good enough. Use was replaced by utilize, company was

made obsolete by enterprise and the use of acronyms—the ultimate achievement in

euphemistic writing—was suddenly so fashionable you could invent them on the fly and

people would almost applaud. This swath of abuse sent dozens of useful but relatively

uncommon words crashing down into a pit of clichédom. Couple this with the invention of

new words (seriosity) and the trend of ridiculous modifiers (world-class), and we suddenly

some of the time). People will consume and pass along messages they grasp and relate

to—like a website their moms can use to buy environmentally friendly detergent.

Writing better copy for the Web

If there’s one axiom of global commerce, it’s that companies that cannot be understood

lose business. Ask any English-speaking businessperson traveling to France, Saudi Arabia,

or Japan; most figured out long ago that learning the native language was a significant

competitive advantage. On the Web, the axiom still applies. There is simply no point is

throwing mud into the water of language. Obfuscation kills communication.

The goal of your domain should be to open a dialog with a customer, prospect, or investor,

not intimidate them. This requires communicating in plain language, not hiding behind

opaque words, and is best accomplished by avoiding corporate speak and writing for your

target audience.

Avoiding corporate speak

Imagine walking into a pastry shop, asking for a Boston cream doughnut, and getting the

following response from the shopkeeper: “That particular confection, with its falsely his-

torical nomenclature of alternate-dessert elements and synergistic relationship with first

light beverages, presents a best-of-breed banquet that yields sweet savor from the first

morsel of brunette icing to the last swallow of golden cream. It is also currently out of

stock, but we’ve leveraged our advanced dessert replacement solutions to replenish the

inventory.”

You would probably leave. As you walked down the street looking for a Dunkin’ Donuts,

you’d wonder how that bakery ever stayed in business. Visiting any number of corporate

sites on the Web, you could easily wonder the same thing. Here are three fictional exam-

ples of typical corporate speak:

Example 1: “Although our software can be premises-based or deployed as a fully hosted

solution, we allow companies to automate and streamline processes, progress organiza-

tional efficiency, and concentrate on governance and compliance through the direct man-

agement and explicit control of content.”

Example 2: “A person-centric architecture is at the core of our products. Whether imple-

mented into an enterprise system or interfaced as a particularized solution, our laboratory

software offers unparalleled functional competence.”

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WEB DESIGN AND MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS WEBSITES

competitive advantage. On the Web, the axiom still applies. There is simply no point is

throwing mud into the water of language. Obfuscation kills communication.

The goal of your domain should be to open a dialog with a customer, prospect, or investor,

not intimidate them. This requires communicating in plain language, not hiding behind

opaque words, and is best accomplished by avoiding corporate speak and writing for your

target audience.

Avoiding corporate speak

Imagine walking into a pastry shop, asking for a Boston cream doughnut, and getting the

following response from the shopkeeper: “That particular confection, with its falsely his-

torical nomenclature of alternate-dessert elements and synergistic relationship with first

light beverages, presents a best-of-breed banquet that yields sweet savor from the first

morsel of brunette icing to the last swallow of golden cream. It is also currently out of

stock, but we’ve leveraged our advanced dessert replacement solutions to replenish the

inventory.”

You would probably leave. As you walked down the street looking for a Dunkin’ Donuts,

you’d wonder how that bakery ever stayed in business. Visiting any number of corporate

sites on the Web, you could easily wonder the same thing. Here are three fictional exam-

ples of typical corporate speak:

Example 1: “Although our software can be premises-based or deployed as a fully hosted

solution, we allow companies to automate and streamline processes, progress organiza-

tional efficiency, and concentrate on governance and compliance through the direct man-

agement and explicit control of content.”

Example 2: “A person-centric architecture is at the core of our products. Whether imple-

mented into an enterprise system or interfaced as a particularized solution, our laboratory

software offers unparalleled functional competence.”

25

CONTENT

language will be a decisive advantage. Not only because your website will appear more

often in search rankings, but also because readers can understand your message when

they visit your domain.

People will always recommend products and services they understand, never ones they

don’t. No world leader ever gained power by speaking above his followers, and no song-

writer ever hit stardom for not making sense (except Bob Dylan, but even he made sense

2

To be found, you need to say something

Here’s the reality: people search with words that make sense to them. For most people,

that means plain, short, common words, not the oblique marketing speak so prevalent on

the Web.

Too many corporate sites (and the technology sector is by far the most consistent

offender) feature marketing messages so pregnant with buzzwords, made-up phrases, and

convoluted clauses that it’s questionable whether the original writer has any clue what he

was trying to communicate.

The company that speaks in everyday vernacular will simply appeal to a wider customer

base. For instance, people will not type “integrated premises-based ECM solution” into a

search engine. So if your site says that, you are missing a disproportionately large segment

of your target audience. Someone might type in “content management for accounts

payable.” Maybe. More likely, that person will search for “software to organize invoices,”

and then find the company that solves this problem without talking about all of that ECM

mumbo jumbo.

Search is already playing a significant role in our online experience. As the Web becomes

more cumbersome and competition thickens, the increasing influence of search engines

will continue to define how content is organized, parsed, and delivered. In the end, plain

24

CONTENT

language will be a decisive advantage. Not only because your website will appear more

often in search rankings, but also because readers can understand your message when

they visit your domain.

People will always recommend products and services they understand, never ones they

don’t. No world leader ever gained power by speaking above his followers, and no song-

writer ever hit stardom for not making sense (except Bob Dylan, but even he made sense

2

some of the time). People will consume and pass along messages they grasp and relate

to—like a website their moms can use to buy environmentally friendly detergent.

Writing better copy for the Web

If there’s one axiom of global commerce, it’s that companies that cannot be understood

lose business. Ask any English-speaking businessperson traveling to France, Saudi Arabia,

or Japan; most figured out long ago that learning the native language was a significant

The always-on, instantly searchable, globally connected Web offers a tremendous platform

for businesses small and large to compete with equal footing. Millions of companies have

seen the Internet’s potential, and the medium is teeming like a jar of sea monkeys with

marketers vying for your business. But this new landscape introduces a new problem. Or

rather, reintroduces an old problem: how to differentiate yourself and win business over

your competition.

Consider a local music store called Armand’s. They compete with the downtown mall shop

and another record store a few blocks away. Their biggest problem came when the com-

petitor marked his 12-inch singles down to $5.99 and theirs were still $6.99. Despite this,

business remained strong because everyone knew Armand’s name, where they were

located, and the variety of the merchandise, and the helpfulness of the staff.

By contrast, an online shop has thousands of competitors, all lined up on the same

“street,” each with relatively equal pricing and selections. The Internet flips the archetype

of the brick-and-mortar store. The new twist on the age-old problem turns out to be

deceivingly simple—to succeed on the Web, you must be found in the first place.

Old paradigm: the phone book. New paradigm: search engines. Google, Yahoo, and MSN

have supplanted the slabs of dead trees thrown on our doorstep every six months, and

their information is a hundred-fold deeper and updated every second of every day.

There is one critical differentiator between these models. Search engines are more than

directories of names and addresses. They index every word of your website, offering a

richer representation of your business, and then attach that data to a geographic location

if one exists. Today, users can search by physical location or keywords. As you can see in

Figure 2-1, Google can find Armand’s store by keywords (“hip hop records”) or by

location.

This abrupt exposure has forced companies to reexamine their content. Marketers are no

longer able to control whose hands their brochures fall into, and by publishing on the

Web, they are effectively inviting a billion people to learn more about their business.

Some people might type in “detergent.” Others, “discount detergent refills.” Still others,

“environment-friendly detergent alternatives.” Each combination is going to bring up a dif-

ferent set of results, but at the top of each ranking will sit the company who wrote about

these topics in plain, clear, concise language.

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WEB DESIGN AND MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS WEBSITES

Figure 2-1. Businesses can be found by keyword or geographic location.