Too many websites contain content which are organisation centric and not customer centric.  And there is no more obvious sign of self indulgence on a website than a message from the CEO welcoming the user to the site or saying how “delighted” he is about something.  I’ve got bad news for you – not one of your customers or potential customers cares.

Consider the claim often repeated in this column that the thing which matters to your online customer more than anything else is their ability to complete tasks.  They comes to your site to pay a bill, to find out a contact number, to email you, to read about your products or to compare your services with those of a competitor.  I guarantee you that not a single person visits your site to find out what kind of humour your MD is in.

Unfortunately the mood of the CEO is not the key problem.  Rather this is a symptom of a wider problem – and this is that as organisations we are obsessed with ourselves.  We have to recognise that if a visitor cannot find the content they are looking for because of the language which we use, it is not their fault.  If a user has to phone for information which is on your website it is not because they are stupid – it is because your website has failed.

The web is a self service medium – people are servicing their own needs using the tools and content which you have given them.  This means that you need to know your customers better than if you were dealing with them face to face.  Face to face you can ask all the questions and make sure that you deliver what is required, you can hear the words and understand the body language.  On the web you don’t always hear the swear words or see the angry faces as users get frustrated with your organisation talk.

There are two techniques which can help you avoid this organisation speak, and that is writing for how people search, and writing killer links.  These techniques bridge the gap between online and offline copy writing – and this is the need for navigation and next steps.  Using these techniques will allow you to avoid the internal pressures and politics which cause you to write content that keeps your colleagues happy and customers unhappy.

To address how people search you need to provide key phrases and relevant clauses on your site which people can quickly identify and act on.  When people search on your site, they aren’t filling in the search text box, rather they are scan reading the key phrases and text on your website – they are looking for something which they recognise, and which they can act on.

Links are the signposts and navigation tools which allow web users to get what they want.  Your readers want directions and are following your signposts.  It is too easy to send them in the wrong direction, by using confusing phrases or bland classification.  Don’t fall into this trap – test yourself in the following way.  Pretend you are a customer wanting to complete a particular task.  Try to complete that task, taking note of the simplicity and clarity of your links.  You’ll begin to get a feel for how your customers are feel.

Consider the www.garda.ie website.  Imagine you’re an actual user and you’re there to fulfil a task.  Someone has broken into your house and you want to phone your local station.  Perhaps you’re wanting to join the Garda.  Perhaps you have been caught speeding and you want to know what your fine will be.  There will be a range of tasks which you want to complete.

Is there any value in the home page asking you if you are at the site for the first time?  Is there any value in the message from the Noel Conroy outlining the features of the site.  Of course there’s not.  There is no more value in Noel’s outline of the site than there is in Ronald McDonald stopping you at the door of the famous restaurant and outlining the features of the Golden Arches – if the restaurant is properly built it will be painfully obvious what its features are.

I suspect that what really makes your CEO “delighted” is increased sales.  Make them genuinely delighted by driving sales through your site by writing appropriate links and helping your user search on their own terms.