I don’t know who started this, but I think it’s silly when I see content at websites and blogs that overuses red text, bold red text, bold text, CAPS in the Wrong Places, and italics.
It makes pages look absolutely ridiculous and correct me if I’m wrong here, but if you emphasize everything, I think it loses a lot of the impact you’re actually trying to communicate.
And… it doesn’t work like you think.
the same applies to email (marketing) messages.
Anyone who has been online for any amount of time knows how difficult it is to get traffic to their website or blog.
It’s not free, it’s not easy, and you better convert those visitors into inquiries, phone calls, and ultimately sales. It’s all about conversion and other than the Internet marketing hype-sters… no one is telling you to use any of these techniques.
Here are my recommendations.
- Assume people are not stupid and know how to read
- Have an Internet marketing professional write your content (great content = conversion)
- Avoid underlining as people will probably think it is a link
- Use correct grammar
- Write your content in short sentences that are combined into short paragraphs
- Minimize the use of red text
- Minimize the use of bold text
- Capitalize your words properly
- Avoid italics
Take a look at this wedding reception site in Denver. Conversion is very good and there is little or no bold text, italic texts, or red text.
The WORDS you use on your pages, combined with the appropriate graphics, are what get people’s attention and get them to take action.
Anything else… is probably working against that objective.
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