Online Business with Style

Planning to launch a small-business Website? You’ll need more than a Web host, a secure shopping cart and appealing products and services. You’ll also need a Website with content that is well-written, interesting and attractive to your target audience.

In short, you’ll need Website content with a clear, consistent style.

What is style? Well, think about the differences between, say, a healthy-eating brochure guide written for 10-year-olds and a nutritional guide prepared by the American Medical Association for its member physicians. There’s going to be a huge difference between the two, even though the subject matter – and maybe even some of the basic content – is the same. One will be written with short, easy words and will probably be supplemented with kid-friendly illustrations and lots of real-life examples, while the other will use advanced medical terminology and will probably offer complex diagrams, charts and statistics to illustrate the material.

That’s style.

While a major element of style is whom you’re writing for, what you’re writing for also matters. Think of the differences between a news story about an area bus crash written for a radio broadcast versus one written for the local newspaper.

Web style is different yet again … in many cases, not as formal as print publications or books, with content that’s presented in shorter chunks (which makes reading easier and takes advantage of the Web’s linking capabilities). As you prepare your own Website content, pay close attention to the sites you expect to compete with: How is their content written? How does it differ from the information you might use on, say, printed materials, advertisements and sales brochures? Keep in mind these key features as you develop your own content.

More than any other medium, the Web also demands more attention to the “where” of style. Not where your business is, or where your Website is, but where your potential audience is … which is everywhere.