Business Writing for the Web. Dan Furman
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headlines first. But do yourself a favor, pay more attention to your subheadings. And use them on just about EVERY webpage you have (okay, maybe Contact Us or Quote pages don’t need them, but most other pages do).
The two types of subheadings
In my opinion, there are two types of subheadings. The first is very simple to go over. It’s called (by me) the informational subheading, and that’s because it gives information on what follows.
Take a quick look at Sample 2 for an example (and here’s the template I mentioned earlier, too).
(SAMPLE 2)
SUBHEADINGS
The Home Based Income subheading lets you know about what that paragraph talks about. The System one talks about … wait for it … the SYSTEM. And the Instructions one lets you know instructions follow.
Okay, these are pathetically boring, bad subheadings. Unlike my general opinion on headlines, I like almost all of my subheadings to be a little jazzy. I almost NEVER use what I am calling the informational subheading. Oh, it does have its uses from time to time (e.g., the subheading Company History before the company history), but I’d say 80% of the time, I like to use what I call the Story Subheading. A story subheading (my term for it) generally tells more of a story. It’s probably easier to just show you what I mean.
Here’s an example of the Story Subheading, using the exact same page I did previously. The only thing I changed are the subheadings. You tell me which one reads better at a glance (see Sample 3).
(SAMPLE 3)
STORY SUBHEADINGS EXAMPLE
See that? Isn’t the second page MUCH better at telling a story at a glance? That’s the whole point.
Now, I don’t always use multiple exclamation points on my story subheadings, but I think you get the picture. The subheadings I am using for this page definitely “tell and sell” the product much better than the first, and they also make you want to read the page more (note to the government: I am KIDDING in the copy).
Here’s another one from my actual website in Sample 4.
(SAMPLE 4)
MORE SUBHEADINGS: DAN’S HOME PAGE
I have two subheadings here: “Crisp, succinct business writing for companies of any size,” and “The Clear-Writing Difference.” These are less hype-filled than my template samples, but they are also decidedly more “story” in nature than just boring old “here’s what’s next.”
Generally, the thought behind the “story subheading” is to use it to somewhat advertise your company or services. In other words, the first subheading in the preceding picture essentially tells you that I have crisp, succinct writing (and, let’s face it, who wouldn’t want that?) So it announces what’s next (well, sort of — it tells them my writing services are next), but it really drives home several points for me. The second one says that Clear-Writing is different, and also announces that I’m now going to tell you those differences.
Plus (and I’m going to break a small rule and get a teeny bit technical here), the subheadings are H2 HTML elements. So using the term “business writing” in the first one helps me with SEO (all of my subheadings are H2s. If you don’t know what an H2 is, just tell your web person to make your subheadings H2s, and try to get some keyphrases in some of them).
How many subheadings to use on a page?
Use as many subheadings on a page as it takes.
Okay, that’s not a great answer, but it’s pretty accurate. There is no set number. In writing hundreds of effective webpages, though, I would say two to three for most pages is ideal. But if the page is really long, you might have six or seven.
The general rule of the thumb that I use is this: You should have at least a paragraph or two under each subheading. Sometimes three paragraphs if they are short, but I try to break things up into bite-sized chunks. A webpage is just easier to read that way.
Story Subheadings instead of Informational Subheadings
I mentioned a little earlier that informational subheadings have their place. But even in those places, I try to swap them out for story subheadings if at all possible.
Let me give you an example of what I mean:
“Company History”can become “Serving Anytown’s Plumbing Needs for Over 50 years” (insert your own trade).
Then you have a paragraph detailing the company history. This also sneaks in the keyphrase “Anytown’s plumbing.”
“Services Offered” can become “Marketing Solutions” (again, substitute your own specialty… I don’t have to keep saying that, do I)? Then you list your services.
“Driving Directions” can become “Directions to our Anytown Bathroom Fixture Showroom.”
In all but the most extreme cases, I will always try to use the story subheading. In fact, almost the only time I don’t is if the web copy is for a fairly conservative, organization/website. Then perhaps the informational approach is best. And even in those cases, it’s against my better judgment.
Okay, the last part of Rule 1 (yup, we’re still in Rule 1 of effective website writing): bullet points.
Bullet points
Not much to explain here, as bullet points are pretty self-explanatory in and of themselves. I use bullet points a lot. Unlike subheadings, I don’t recommend bullets on every single page, but I NEVER make a website without bullets on a few pages.
Bullet points allow you to make specific points in a very clear fashion. They also make for great scan-ability and are very simple for people to read. See Sample 5.
As you can see from my page, the bullets list the benefits of my website writing in a rather clear fashion (well, technically, they are features. It just sounds better to call them benefits). It gives readers a very simple-to-glance-at picture of my most important points.
This is an example of side-by-side bullets; two across and three down in this case (with a subheading leading it off). But I don’t always do this. If there are only three to five points, I usually use one row, like below (and these bullets will list a few points about them):
Spacing is important: Keep a space between each point. Bullet points lose their “ease of reading” effect when they are crammed together. And when I say “bullet point,” the bullet itself can be anything; squares, diamonds, numbers, etc.
Important Note: I also use bullets in paragraph form. There’s no rule that says a bullet list needs to be an actual item list. This bullet is a four-sentence paragraph, and that’s just fine. I often bold the first part of it to make it stand out.
Important Note Continued: Look at Sample 5. These paragraph bullets are actually quite effective at conveying a point and making the text stand out from the rest of the page. The eyes are drawn to a bullet, and the “shortness” of the information says “easy to read,” and as we’ve already discussed, we LIKE easy!
Bullets can be links. It’s a great way to list services and the like.
Lastly, don’t overstay your welcome. Unlike subheadings, which