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