Mara's Musings

Many clients now update the text on their own websites, so here are some tips on common mistakes and what you should avoid:

Elaborate fonts – these are the kiss of death! They are often not web friendly and all your hard work will be converted straight back to Times New Roman on the screen. This is probably a good thing since they are notoriously difficult to read. They may look pretty – until you are faced with reading a whole page of it,  and they will make people click away from the page rather than attract them to it.

Centralising large bodies of text – it does not look “creative” it looks messy and it is difficult for the eye to follow.

Inconsistency – make sure all your headings are the same and the font styles are the same. The point is not to show how amazing you are at formatting the page but to encourage people to read what you have written!   A different style of writing on every page is a no-no.   People are turned off by attempts to make the site more interesting by varying the style of writing, the font type and the position of the text on the page.

Making pages look the same is not “boring” – it gives continuity and makes the text easier to follow and read.

Poor Grammar/Spelling – we all make mistakes but the importance of using spelling and grammar checking  tools cannot be understated. Basic errors like failing to use capitalisation in headings or the random use of the apostrophe will grate on the nerves of most browsers. Friends are often useful in finding mistakes so get them to look at your site. Once you have uploaded text look at it again in 24 hours when you have a fresh eye just to make sure.

And remember I do offer proof reading services as well as being able to supply text for your website!