How to write the main site (and what should not be there)

Hello! I keep talking about the letters for Textbroker's blog - my good friends.

Let's start with the fact that today, perhaps, there are no more sites left, where the main page is a single entry point. In the days of Arpaneta, this was a list of nodes with addresses to go to. This BBS had a menu and text on the entrance. Now people come to your site from all sides . Therefore, each significant page - the main. That is, the page of any product on the website of the online store should be treated as the main one. And to the service page. And to any other.
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People often get to the main page either through a search, typing the name of your company, or through paper or some other “social” way, for example, when sharing a link with them.

Structure

Therefore, the approach to the main large site is very simple: the main navigation node and the text "where I am and what I can." If the site is 5-20 pages, it is better to think hard about why so many things. And, perhaps, to immediately tamp the most important thing into one page, which will be both the main and the main product.

For the Chinese in their Chinese part of the Internet, which is well separated from the rest of the world, the approach is generally magical. They are trying to put on the home as much as possible most and immediately, and the text, not graphics. The reason is simple: most desktop readers download speed is very low. Almost dialup (and there only recently passed a dial-up). And the payment was time-based. Therefore, the consumption model is as follows: download pieces of 5-10 sites (main ones), disconnect, read each, select, then connect again and want to do what you want.

Fortunately, we are not.

There is also a third approach - to make a “one-page” of the head. When a site sells a single product or service, in general, it is very justified. In this situation, it is best to focus on the most cool Kickstarter collecting goods - they licked the structure of the description page to the smallest detail.

Layout

Often the main one is far from a solid text, and writers forget about it. And it is not clear what to do with the "sheet" further. The second mistake is when the coder makes dies of a certain size and forces the writer to enter text into them. What sometimes affects the quality of the text. Therefore, the correct approach is to first prototype the site with real text (that is, write it before the design and, possibly, change it a couple of times while the prototype changes), and then do the rest.

The reasons for this approach are again banal. First, the text change faster and cheaper than the layout. Secondly, many blocks will fall off by themselves when it becomes clear that there is nothing to write about them. Because the main thing is the texture, and if it is not there, the block is not needed. A specific invoice is generally the most difficult thing for the customer (to understand what to write thesis) and for the writer to remove this information without playing a “spoiled phone”.

What to write

If the site is commercial, then roll up everything “about the company” and put it on the appropriate page. The buyer is not interested in a dynamic young story. Start by describing the product as is. The block about the company should shrink up to 4-5 lines either at the end of the text as a social proof “these guys are adequate” or go somewhere on the side as a reference.

For example, for a large site on a hub navigation page, it’s a good idea to describe the main benefits. For example, "On the Internet since 1974, 402 excavators sold in Russia, 5 stars on the Market, pysch-pysch" - this is approx.

Do not continue contacts. They are usually in the cap, but on the main one it is better to duplicate them somewhere else.

For everything else, I suggest dancing approximately from the following structure:

• What is it and where am I. A short and very capacious description of what is happening here, and the main point of differentiation. “Car service for truckers in Volgograd: cheaper than Moscow and also our specialist disassembles and repairs the nozzles. 3 year warranty.
• A little more about what problems are facing the reader. You just need to describe the person and his tasks so that he recognizes himself. Then propose a solution to the problem, without insisting that it is the only and most correct one. "Bureau of Architecture. Our projects pay off even at the stage of pouring the foundation, and now we will explain why this is so. ”
• For a service, describe the work process from the call to the delivery of the result. By the way, it is very important to take a person by the hand and explain what will happen next. For a product - explain what category and why.
• Select the main features of the company or site (or general product).
• It is possible to add a FAQ, if earlier the main questions from clients were not covered.
• Next - all the other blocks.

Scenario modeling

The correct approach is as in UI / UX, to write a script for each type of site visitors. And understand what and who needs. For example, this will most often mean that you need to give a large address on a cafe site, draw a map with landmarks almost immediately, write the opening hours - and this will be more important than text. On the website of the hotel - to give landmarks and detail in detail dobiralovo from different points, show the cheapest numbers, make a call order form. On the rental of an autotower - immediately give TTH of those towers, prices and deadlines. And so on.

Errors

• "Text for text . " There is nothing to write - do not write anything.
• Text instead of a photo or an explosion scheme . Sometimes it's easier to show than to paint with words. That is why it is right to prototype first - writers simply do not have the right pictures in the TK.
• Useless information . Drag scenario modeling at least in your head. Are you sure that this huge block about the biography of the CEO is important?
• Low use of hypertext . If the main one is a navigation node, and the text is large, then right there let us link to sections, examples, etc.
• Inappropriate educational program . This is quite a cheap novice mistake. When the writer does not know what to write, he begins not with the essence, but with the description of the class of goods. For example, on the site of the manufacturer of hardware can begin with a description of the products. People know what kind of products, believe me. They are more important prices, availability, ordering procedure, especially the delivery and contacts of the person who can give to drink and find out the percentage of marriage.
• SEO blocks . This is even worse than the previous version. At one time, a large company, let's call it “Br-br”, was particularly noted for hiring writers for $ 1,000 (judging by the result) and spoiling websites for people, contributing a bunch of keywords to it. The robots liked it for some time (until the next update of the Yandex algorithm), but people ran away in horror.

Remember that the main task of the main one as a navigation node is to give a person the opportunity to leave it on the right subpage as soon as possible. It should not hold the user.

The main task of the product page is to give as many details as possible, grouped according to the pyramid principle (the main squeeze at the top, then gradual detailing and details).

Another major task in the buying process is to be a “page-laying”. The fact is that the user is far from always mentally ready to buy something from the first page. He needs to make several transitions, “look around” before the key action. Non-selling main plus page of a specific product or service helps in this scheme.

Other materials

• Why 98% of the texts on your sites do not work. At all. And how to fix it.
• How I chose a hedgehog copywriter
• How to make TZ radio easier
• How to describe an online store product