Words trump Web design, navigation

Without the right words on your site, nothing will work properly.

Without the right words on your site, nothing will work properly

Words are the building blocks of every Web site. But then, words are the building blocks of modern civilization.

Words matter. They always have. They always will. On the Web, words matter even more. The right words.

The problem is that there are lots and lots of words. For your Web site, there are a small set of words that really matter, and then there are an awful lot of words that don’t.

How do you judge if a particular word matters or not? You don’t. It’s not for you to judge. It’s for your customers to judge. Customers are highly impatient. They search and scan a page quickly, looking for their right words.

If you want to design a new Web site, the first thing you should decide on is the words. Not the graphical design, not the software. No. The words must come first. Once you get the words right, you are half-way there.

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