Paul Brooks | 27 Nov 2007

A common mistake in web design is to limit the amount of content included on a website. The belief is that visitors will be driven away by reams of text and that a website can’t look attractive with a lot of words.

However, you should remember that web users won’t visit your website to look at the pictures – they are there to learn more about you and your products or services.

A well designed website should be able to satisfy their hunger for information, but also display content in an attractive, intelligent format.

When developing the text content for a website, you should consider all of your audiences and try to establish what they will be interested in reading and why they would visit your website.

Some visitors will simply be looking for a telephone number or a contact form, but in most cases they will be seeking information about your company, your staff, your services or any other aspect of your business. Importantly, your visitors will use that information to help make a buying decision. If they can’t find what they’re looking for, you may lose the sale.

If you offer a service, try to break it down into as many areas as possible and include a page on each. For example, a solicitors firm may offer commercial legal advice, but that could be split up into a number of more specific service areas that apply to their business customers. Instead of having one page, they should include a page for each of the specific areas and offer more details about them.

If you sell products, make sure you include enough detail about each individual product to answer any queries your customers may have. You might offer a written overview, detailed specifications (such as size, colour or shape) or reviews from other customers or independent sources.

The more information you can include on your website, the more likely you are to satisfy your visitors’ needs. However, the key is to present the information in a way that will make it easy for customers to find what they’re looking for and not bombard them with too much data at once.

You should picture your website as a pyramid, with a narrow, summarised level of content at the top and more detailed information displayed as you drill down through the site. By giving visitors a summary first, you aren’t forcing them to read information that isn’t of interest to them, but if it is what they’re looking for, they can click a link to learn more.

If you give your customers what they want, you are more likely to close each sale. A well designed site will allow you to do this without jeopardising visual appeal or frightening off your visitors.

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