Advertising company director Mark Irving on the need to involve copywriters just as much as the design team when creating websites.
If you're anything like me, I have to spend a fair amount of time on the internet. An increasing amount of this is spent on websites, reading articles and occasionally buying must have stuff like endangered Central American mountain parrots and hard to source Japanese machine guns.
Apart from the fact that it starts to hurt my eyes after more than an hour, I've always tried to limit my time on the net. It comes from being sensitive to socially damaging comments like: "you need to get out more" or the equally hurtful: "get a life." These types of comments are hard to live down at the best of times.
So when I do have to go to websites, I usually want to find what I'm looking for and then get out of there as soon as possible. I'm not one of those people who enjoy surfing the net just to pass time. I have far better things to do like watching reality TV.
Websites are slightly different from print ads in that they're more information based and not so much about grabbing attention but more about information organization and ease of navigation. But a lot of the principles like having a focal point to the page and a pleasing look apply.
But how many times do you look on a homepage and because of the mass of cluttered information you have no idea where to start. A good idea for a site is to have a sight identity and mission. It can often be found under the company name on the website.
For example on The Warehouse site, right underneath, they have - "Where everyone gets a bargain." It's just like a tag line on a print ad, in that it's a short sentence just clarifying what the site is about and perhaps what makes the site unique, compared to its competitors. So a casual browser can see exactly what it's about.
A pet hate of mine is having to scroll through loads of information, when it could be written and summarised in a far more succinct and benefit focused, user-friendly manner.
There is a balance to be struck between having too little and too much information. When either of this occurs I usually find myself frustrated and screaming (in a very manly kind of way). There are many people out there creating websites, from designers, art directors, web developers to copywriters.
Sometimes these people will work together, other times it may be left to a designer who makes things look nice and then calls in a copywriter at the last minute to fill the gaps. In my belief this isn't a good route to follow as most websites are information based, which requires a fair amount of reading. This information needs to be worded in the right manner suitable for the readers and then structured into distinct pages and headings, so the information can be easily accessed at a glance.
Often I find because copywriters obviously write the copy, they're in a good position to structure the information in a user- friendly, benefit focused manner. Too often I see websites that are too design lead.
By this I mean they look nice and colourful but they're often difficult to find the information that you want. A website requires creative talent but it's not a place for people to unleash their creative whims at the expense of the consumer. The ideal scenario is where a designer/developer and copywriter work as a close team where the aesthetics, structure and wording of the site play an equally important role.
Mark Irving is the Director of Range Advertising and Communications
