Find a Winnipeg company and tell us about its website structure!
•Navigation/Footer menus
•Landing pages
•Home pages*
•About pages*
•Contact pages
•Services/Shop pages
•Blog*
The home page is your virtual front door; your customers decide to stay or leave in less than 3 seconds.
Tell visitors what problem you solve in a succinct headline that uses emotional words to grab attention and then use a subheading that draws them in and compels them to keep reading.
It’s the first impression, and it should be designed to grab the visitor’s attention, communicate the core message, and direct them to other important sections of the website
It should include:
It can include:
•Company/Personal History
•Mission and Values
•Team Information
•Achievements
•Testimonials
•Links to other parts of your website
A landing page is a page that “directs traffic” on your website via a specific URL that is not navigable from the main website.
In digital marketing, it refers to a page tailored for one particular audience group; it’s highly targeted and uses personalized language and visuals to convert visitors to take action on the page.
It usually has a single purpose via a call-to-action button (CTA) (buy, sign up, download)
It often generates leads by asking people to exchange information for the lead magnet/freebie.
It should include:
Example: shopify.com
What is the difference between a landing page and a Website?•Displays contact information, hours of operation, phone numbers, social media, or other types of information.
•Usually contains a contact form.
•Avoid using your email address because you’ll get spam from robots that crawl the web.
•Consider using Captcha to protect from spam.
•Avoid using unnecessary words –get straight to the point.
• Follow up with a “thank you” reply message to confirm the submission worked.
•A blog is a standard part of every website (and if there isn’t one, there should be)
•It’s excellent for search engine optimization (SEO); most of the search result that gets clicks is a blog post.
•It’s the core place where you own the content and provides a more in-depth perspective to build authority on relevant topics.
•Sometimes, it can be called different names, but avoid getting too custom because people won’t know what it is (and won’t take the time to look)
•Keep the blog updated and relevant; abandoned blogs don’t represent the brand well.
•Use blogs to be helpful, not sell, but include a relevant CTA in every post.
•Consider using content categories or tags for an additional SEO boost.
They are the best way to educate your audience.
They are vital for driving traffic to your website.
It should include:
Research Tools:
Information architecture is a technical name used in online content strategy and usability to describe the structure of a website and how the content is organized (the skeleton)
A general best practice is to use page names that your target audience understands.
There are several ways you can figure out how users organize information.
Card sorting: Use index cards and ask people to sort content into categories.
Alphabetical: A to Z
Chronological: First to last (Step 1 to Step 10)
Audience classification (novice, intermediate, advanced)
People often want to see something concrete rather than doing the up-front strategy work when it comes to websites.
Starting with the design first is a mistake because people get distracted by the colours, images, and design elements, and they lose sight of the content, or they become willing to compromise content and user experience(UX) for design or interactive components without the context of how it will be used.
It’s essential to create a shared understanding of who the website is for and how it will be used before any actual writing or design work begins.
“Wireframe” is a term to describe a tool that outlines how your website content is displayed page by page, including interactive elements like menus, navigation, and forms.
They are usually black-and-white sketches or drawings.
They often use placeholder content and focus on understanding how users might complete their primary tasks within a roughed-out design.
They test early ideas and are important for iterating during the interaction design.
They’re a communication tool for anyone involved in the work.
Good wireframes are simple, and they minimize distraction.
High Tea Bakery.
• It’s about helping people who want to get stuff done (aka their tasks)
• Content isn’t just “the stuff in the middle”
• Writing is navigation, structure, search, and how it’s all put together.
• It includes interactive elements like button text, error messages, and forms.
• Great content + great functionality = great user experience.
• Who are you creating it for?
• What problem does it solve for them?
• What makes you unique?
• What content formats will you focus on?
• Where will it be published?
• How will you manage creation and publication?
• Reading is typically more task-based online (we want to do something)
• We have a lot less patience.
• We read less linearly.
• Screens are complex on our eyes.
• We have a limited attention span (10 seconds tops!)
• Skimming text after the first few lines.
• Skipping entire lines and even paragraphs.
• Scanning for keywords.
• Jumping around from one point to another.
• Getting distracted by links or abandoning them entirely.
This is how your audience reads too! They don’t care about your content as much as you do.
Scannable content
Bold or italicized text to emphasize key points.
Be clear and simple in your language
• Speak to your readers directly, like you’re conversing with them.
• Active voice has action and uses fewer words –it’s about what you’re doing (not what’s being done to you)
• The only exception is if you need to put the keyword at the beginning of the sentence to help your readers scan.
Examples:
• Passive voice: The plane was flown by the pilot.
• Active voice: The pilot flew the plane.
Put keywords at the beginning of sentences, phrases, and bulleted lists.
• This helps people who are scanning your content.
• It acts as a hook that draws them in to keep reading because they know it will help them.
• It helps drive behaviour, reassuring your target customer that they found what they wanted.
• Remember this is the one time that passive voice is okay: if you put the keyword at the front of the sentence.
This technique refers to breaking down large chunks of text into smaller chunks.
• A wall of text is hard to read and understand; it acts as a barrier.
• If the text looks easier to read, then people are willing to read it.
• Instead, use bulleted lists as much as you can.
• Use subheadings to break up the text.
• Leave white space.
• Sometimes even single sentences can be their paragraph (but not every sentence should be its paragraph)
• For most audiences, write using everyday, simple words (if you’re writing for a technical audience, write to the appropriate level)
• Simplify language as much as you can (even experts and professionals prefer it this way)
• To boost comprehension, write up to an 8th-grade level for a general audience. Write up to a 12th-grade level for a college-educated audience or a specialized B2B audience.
• Example: ‘We utilize unnecessarily sophisticated vernacular’. Instead of saying ‘we use big words, we don’t need’.
Frozen Foods
Dairy
Bakery
Fruit and Veg
Scannable content
Subheadings to break up content
Bullet points and numbered lists (Information chunking)
Bold or italicized text to emphasize key points.
Hyperlinks for further reading or navigation.
Be clear and simple in your language
Avoid jargon or complex vocabulary
Front load important content
Ensure you use proper H tags on your headings
Bots will crawl your site, your H tags tell them in which order to read the page.
E.g.: H1 tags will be read first, then H2, then H3, etc.
Be sure to include keywords in your headings
This style of writing answers questions first
● Put the most important information up front, then details, then the background.
● This format was often used in journalism.
● People don’t have the patience to read all the way to the bottom; they will give up and abandon your content instead.
• Use engaging headlines and subheadings
• Use images and videos to support your content:
• Put your reader first:
• Links are decision points along your reader’s journey.
• Use descriptive words that capture the information at the destination.
• Avoid “click here,” “learn more,” and “go” (they’re vague)
• Use links carefully; be thoughtful about the experience.
• External links can build your content’s credibility but can also be distracting.
• Link triggers are the underlined words that make up a link (longer is better)
• Focus on the primary call-to-action (CTA); consider using buttons!
Notes:
What is UX writing?
Psychological Triggers
•Go back to your persona and think about how you can convince that person to take action on your website.
• Copy should reinforce that your target customer landed in the right place.
• Match the keywords your audience is searching for and then draw them in by talking directly.
• Tell them how you can help them or what problem you will solve.
• Remember to think “mobile-first” most people are browsing your site from a mobile device.
The Power of Why – Simon Sinek
Your bio is a chance for your readers to get to know you--ideally, to know, like, and trust you.
• Tell them you understand how they’re feeling.
• Draw them into your story.
• Provide a tidbit that’s personal (favourite colour, drink, season, or a story they can relate to) or something about your work (an award, important project, or professional achievement)
• Speak like a human; don’t use overcomplicated, fussy words.
• Your About page is like a warm introduction or a conversation with a friend.
It’s not really about you at all.
Your About page is for your reader, not for you:
• Make them feel welcome.
• Remember people will look at your picture first, then read the bio (use a headshot that’s consistent with your social media profiles, too, so people recognize you)
•Put all the info at their fingertips.
•Plus, it’s great for SEO and for boosting traffic.
