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Friday, October 17, 2008

To be found, you need to say something

Here's the reality: people search with words that make sense to them. For most people, that means plain, short, common words, not the oblique marketing speak so prevalent on the Web.

Too many corporate sites (and the technology sector is by far the most consistent offender) feature marketing messages so pregnant with buzzwords, made-up phrases, and convoluted clauses that it's questionable whether the original writer has any clue what he was trying to communicate.

The company that speaks in everyday vernacular will simply appeal to a wider customer base. For instance, people will not type "integrated premises-based ECM solution" into a search engine. So if your site says that, you are missing a disproportionately large segment of your target audience. Someone might type in "content management for accounts payable." Maybe. More likely, that person will search for "software to organize invoices," and then find the company that solves this problem without talking about all of that ECM mumbo jumbo.

Search is already playing a significant role in our online experience. As the Web becomes more cumbersome and competition thickens, the increasing influence of search engines will continue to define how content is organized, parsed, and delivered. In the end, plain language will be a decisive advantage. Not only because your website will appear more often in search rankings, but also because readers can understand your message when they visit your domain.

People will always recommend products and services they understand, never ones they don't. No world leader ever gained power by speaking above his followers, and no songwriter ever hit stardom for not making sense (except Bob Dylan, but even he made sense some of the time). People will consume and pass along messages they grasp and relate to-like a website their moms can use to buy environmentally friendly detergent. Writing better copy for the Web

If there's one axiom of global commerce, it's that companies that cannot be understood lose business. Ask any English-speaking businessperson traveling to France, Saudi Arabia, or Japan; most figured out long ago that learning the native language was a significant competitive advantage. On the Web, the axiom still applies. There is simply no point is throwing mud into the water of language. Obfuscation kills communication.

The goal of your domain should be to open a dialog with a customer, prospect, or investor, not intimidate them. This requires communicating in plain language, not hiding behind opaque words, and is best accomplished by avoiding corporate speak and writing for your target audience. Avoiding corporate speak

Imagine walking into a pastry shop, asking for a Boston cream doughnut, and getting the following response from the shopkeeper: "That particular confection, with its falsely historical nomenclature of alternate-dessert elements and synergistic relationship with first light beverages, presents a best-of-breed banquet that yields sweet savor from the first morsel of brunette icing to the last swallow of golden cream. It is also currently out of stock, but we've leveraged our advanced dessert replacement solutions to replenish the inventory."

You would probably leave. As you walked down the street looking for a Dunkin' Donuts, you'd wonder how that bakery ever stayed in business. Visiting any number of corporate sites on the Web, you could easily wonder the same thing. Here are three fictional examples of typical corporate speak:

Example 1: "Although our software can be premises-based or deployed as a fully hosted solution, we allow companies to automate and streamline processes, progress organizational efficiency, and concentrate on governance and compliance through the direct management and explicit control of content."

Example 2: "A person-centric architecture is at the core of our products. Whether implemented into an enterprise system or interfaced as a particularized solution, our laboratory software offers unparalleled functional competence."

Example 3: "Leverage the power of ever-increasing interconnected media channels by inspecting them through a marketing lens. This integrative archetype affords businesses a new context proven for retooling marketers to rethink clients working in a rewired market."

.... To read the full article go this address http://ooyes.net/to-be-found-you-need-to-say-something.

by oOyes

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