Putting yourself in your client’s shoes
Image: Pexels (public domain)
I was recently reviewing the Red Pony website to update the text on some of the pages. The homepage in particular was bothering me. I knew it wasn’t quite right but I couldn’t put my finger on the problem.
After a while it dawned on me that although the company description talked about the quality of our services and our ability to assist clients, it didn’t expressly state what it is we actually do.
So I rewrote the introduction to state that we provide writing, editing, training and communications consultancy services to business. Because that is the most concise and accurate description I could devise to describe what Red Pony does.
The lesson is this: always try to clarify in your mind who you are writing for—before you begin writing. Avoid making assumptions about the prior knowledge of your readers, particularly when writing for a medium as widely disseminated as a company website.
As it happens, identifying your target audience up front is one of the primary techniques we teach in our Clear Writing course. It just shows that we all need an occasional reminder.
It’s also a good idea to employ the same language as your potential readers when writing for the web. Not only does this help align your description of products or services with what people want, it also means your site is more likely to appear in their search results. If someone types ‘running shoes’ into Google, your website is going to figure more prominently in the results if your pages use the same term, rather than just ‘trainers’ or ‘jogging shoes’.
A friend of mine runs a corporate consultancy firm. He keeps a record of the terminology prospective clients use to describe their requirements when they email him or send an enquiry through his website. When he updates the website or begins work on a new marketing campaign, he refers to this document to ensure he uses the same language as the people he wants to reach.
If you have any great tips for improving your written communications, we’d love to hear them.
