Microcopy is all those small bits of copy on your website that help ease the concerns of your site visitors. It’s really the detail that instructs people and can make or break their website experience.
Microcopy will be littered throughout your website to explain features, interfaces and every tiny detail so it’s important to get it right.
4 Tips for Designing Effective Microcopy for your Website
1. Reassure Your Site Visitors
Your site visitors are looking for reassurance – so make it clear that you’re prepared to help. Even if people don’t read every word on your website they still need to be able to capture the essence of your messages at a glance. Spell out in reassuring terms exactly what you want to say so that you’re providing real interactive page elements – whether it’s your loading screens, sign-up forms, confirmation or thank you emails.
2. Stick to a Low Word Count
Great microcopy is all about keeping to your website’s theme while delivering relevant information to your user. As the name suggests – microcopy is included in the smaller areas of your web pages and the text itself is usually micro in size. It’s important to keep your word count low with these messages as your site visitors will prefer succinct text over large paragraphs.
3. Provide Context
When it comes to your microcopy context really matters to your site visitors. When you write copy for your web pages it’s all about location, design and formatting as well as getting your message across. Microcopy is also about conveying your message, but you could almost design your microcopy in any style if the text you’re using is relatable to the situation.
4. Be Human
Effective microcopy is all about building confidence in your website and brand. Make sure it doesn’t sound like a computer-generated response by writing microcopy that relates to your site visitors. Text that speaks to your user as if they’re having a conversation with the interface is more relatable. It will also ease frustration when site visitors encounter alerts and error messages and help provide a more authentic connection.
For help creating effective microcopy for your business website, speak to the team at your local Kwik Kopy today.
