As companies shy away from the Vegas-style Flash of the web and embrace the far more telling (no pun intended) aspect of verbiage, many times the result is mainstream template with little to no personality in the writing. The result? A fallen away website that fails to excite users and command the attention of the fishbowl that is the internet. After a brief perusing, give or take 10 to 30 seconds (let’s be honest, a minute is pushing it), possible clients move on to the next locale. Instead, the focus ought to be placed on the letters, the real driving force that switches on the synapses and sets the gears in motion. Though a site may lack the visual ornamentation, the passion of the text drives the mind to explore and become engaged.

People, this is what you want. Nay, need.

Ask yourself this: would you read it? Would you dedicate the time? If not, rethink the wording.

Look at it logically. Our brains are assaulted incessantly with text, whether required reading for the job, or the glossy pages of magazine. We are so inundated that eventually it all jumbles together and becomes indecipherable. What transcends the static noise, the potpourri of words and phrases, is the personality and attitude behind it. This does not mean that your 70-year old grandfather’s mahogany-lined law firm should cross the tracks and lose their refined sense of self. No. This would represent the company unjustly, and business might suffer. A better option would be to write content that depicts the firm’s dedication and passion for the law, not to mention years of incomparable service, reputation, and standards.

Contrarily, a younger, MoMa-inspired graphic design team, trenched in the corners of Greenwich brownstones, has the leeway to experiment with the colors of words. Dramatic arabesques of phrases that turn your head with the flow of the vowels would entice readership and demonstrate their creativity extends beyond the palette.

What’s true for both situations is the identification of self (in this case a business) with articulately chosen words unified for one sole purpose: to establish a unique niche among the endless dross with which we are faced.

(Picture from www.granitegrok.com)