Ever have that moment where your eyes goes fuzzy while you're skimming a web page. So much small text! We're all suffering from Information Overload (neatly described by Monika Mundell) anyway, so its not surprise that lengthy web content can make your eyes roll back into your head.

We all want our websites to be user-friendly so here are some tips on how to tell what content on your site or blog important. We'll identify two types of information.

Must-Haves

• Answer the "What?" question. Either in your landing or about page, give people the quick and dirty of what your site is about.
• Reader's requests. Ask your readers, via email, twitter or even a blog posts what they want to read.
• Relevance. You know the goal of your site, put information relevant to it up. this includes news, trends, f.d.q.s (Frequently Debated Questions) and your own thoughts.

Superfluous

• Anything written for your ego.
• Long-winded content when something short but juicy will do.
• Out-dated content

With all writing on your website, both blog and site  content take time to identify what things are “must haves” and what things would you “like to have”. The important things have to take priority. There are lots of things you'd like to write, or see on your site, but if its not something your readers say they “must” have, it will have to take a backseat or even be cut.

Keep it short. This goes for web content especially. What you can't fix on your site, take it to your blog. Short, frequent posts are much more effective than one long-winded post a month. This goes back to the point at the top, “must” vs. “like to”. Trim the fat off your site, just post what your readers really need to know.

We've talked about using your audience to gauge the effectiveness of your content, what other ways do you use to decide what to keep or cut?

In a continuation from my last post, I'd like to continue discussing things I learn from Content Critical.

Identifying your Readers:

Have you really taken the time to identity your readers. First, take time to analyze. There's lots of great services out there (Google Analytics, Crazy Egg, Woopra) who can help you get this information:

• Who is visiting your site now?
• Who is your competitor targeting?
• Who is the leader in the industry and what kind of people read that site?
• Who do you want to read your site?

Once you've got a clear idea of your data, don't just sit there, talk to them. Survey your readers by emaiing them, polling in your blogs, or just contacting past customers. Here are the questions you want to ask:

• What's the most critical thing you need?
• How do you want the information presented?
• Ho are you getting the content you need right now?
• Do they think you are a legitimate source for this content?

After you've gotten these answers from your own and other people's readers prioritize the readers you want:

• List potential customers (those you want, and those you discovered)
• Then Prioritize them: first by who is reading you most right now, and then by who you want to market to
• Using the desired list, narrow your scope to the top 2-3 readers

How do you analyze traffic and try to reach your target audience?

Image by http://flickr.com/photos/veganstraightedge/

I recently finished the book Content Critical by Gerry McGovern and Rob Norton. Lots has changed since this book was published in 2001, but the core principles remain the same. Content forms the foundation of every website. Most businesses write some content on their website. Sometimes they write the actual copy. Others hire a copy-writer but still blog regularly. Either way, they write for an online audience.

I want to spend a few posts on this book and what I learned. First, let's start with a new way to think about who reads your website:

Readers vs. Users
Ever noticed that people who access the internet are called users? We refer to them as computer users. Its actually a unique term. Most people become a variation of the verb they perform. People who ride bikes are called bikes, those who play golf are golfers and people who practice law are lawyers. But when it comes to technology, people are computer users. (Content Critical also went on to point out the other people we call "users" usually have some destructive habit.)

The writers of Content Critical encourage us to think about our audience not as users, but as readers. It makes sense. Reading is the activity that occurs most often online. We open and read our email, we read blogs for tips and fun, we read websites for information about a product or service and we read social media sites to keep track of our friends.

Take a moment to consider this. Do you think of your audience as "readers"? If not, does thinking of them as "readers" change your attitude towards them or your writing? This is the first step to connecting with your audience better, whether you are blogging for fun, for business or just writing the content of your home page.

My next post will deal with Identifying your readers. How do you identify your readers right now?