Talking to your clients is what your website is all about. How you talk to your clients is becoming more and more challenging. Part of the challenge is finding the right level to base the conversation.

Their are some sites that recommend targeting an audience with a reading skill level of grade 8. Which begs the question “Grade 8 in what jurisdiction?”. With many colleges and universities requiring first year students to take some form of remedial English, it seems clear that literacy, at least in North American is on the decline. ( Canada and the United States rank 19Th in UNESCO’s literacy rating. source Wikipedia )

This year Webster Miriam (the dictionary people) chose ‘admonish’ as their "Word of the Year". This was based on the spike in the number of searches for the meaning of ‘admonish’ after the US White House admonished Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C. for his outburst in the President Obama’s speech to Congress.

In writing for your website it is important to know your audience.

One of the best examples of a person using speech to connect with his audience is, in my opinion President George W. Bush.

While the rest of the world silently, and some times not so silently, chuckled over his malapropisms, his ‘Good Old Boy’ speeches connected with the people that matter most – his conservative base. His ability to talk directly to his target audience was an important factor in his election campaign.

Identifying with your audience is important in all forms of communication – but is doubly important when trying to sell a product.

There are any number of rules for determining if your copy is well suited to your target audience – here are three of mine:

• Don’t talk down to your audience. Respect your audience’s intelligence – they wouldn’t be reading your webpage unless they wanted to learn something about your product.

• Don’t talk over your audience. Big words and long sentences won’t make you look any smarter. People expect you know more about your product or service than they do – they want you to share that knowledge.

• Explain all jargon, even if you think most of the audience should know what you mean.

When in doubt – test. Juicy Studio has an excellent readability test that will let you check your website.

Tags: literacy, small business

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