Site visitors generally stay with you for as long as they feel confident that they will succeed in achieving their goal.
It's a simple truth, but important. For me, it helps explain some
sites I know that perform extremely well, but appear quite amateur in
their design and architecture. Some shortcomings in appearance and
structure are amply compensated for by the high level of confidence they
inspire.
If the confidence of the visitor is so central to the success of
your site, that puts a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of the
writer.
The writer needs to make sure that visitors feel they are in the
right place, that your site is the place where they can achieve their
goals. The home page needs to shout out, "Yes! You've come to the right
place!"
And on each page, the visitor needs to find a link that says, "Yes!
This is the best way forward. Click here to find what you're looking
for!"
And the page the link takes them to has to say, "Yes! This is the next stage, the next step in completing your task!"
The process needs to be fluid, clear, obvious - as simple as turning
a page in a book, the text from one page flowing naturally into the
message of the next.
Easier said than done, for sure.
But while the copy on a site may not be the only way to build
confidence, it is certainly a key element in making visitors feel they
are in the right place, and on the way to achieving their goals
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