Most people have a lot in common with one another. We all need shelter, food, love — you know the drill. But, that doesn’t mean we’re all the same, which is why it’s rare for one message to resonate with everyone.

A key part of effective communication is learning to send the right message to the right audience. Before you can do that, though, you need to learn who your audience is. Think about your customers, what they have in common and what problems you can help them solve.

More often than not, when someone comes to your website, it’s because they want to learn about your business. They might want to learn about your products or services, get to know your team or see your rates, but what they don’t want is to read a novel, no matter how interested they are.

It’s important to format your content so that it’s easy to read. Break up long paragraphs into short ones, with a maximum of three to four sentences, use bullet points and lists, and use headings to summarize longer information.

Like I said, your content needs to be scannable so that it’s fast and easy to read, but it’s also important to be prepared for the possibility that your visitors won’t read all of it. More people will read the content at the very top of the page. The farther down the page, the fewer people are likely to read it.

It’s important to keep this in mind when you’re writing your website content so that you can organize your content from the top down, with your most important message at the very top of the page, and less important information down toward the bottom.

Knowing your audience is the first step toward writing effective website content, but it’s also important to keep your audience in mind as you’re writing it.

Write at your readers’ level, and avoid using any jargon or other industry-insider verbiage that they may not understand. Also, explain topics thoroughly, but don’t talk down to your readers. Talk with them as you would a friend.

As I mentioned before, most of the time, even people who are interested in what you have to say aren’t going to stick around to read a novel on your website. The best approach to website content is to keep it simple, short and to the point.

A few rules to keep in mind when writing short, sweet website content are:

• Avoid using unnecessary words

• Write simple sentences that average 12 words or fewer

• Keep your voice active rather than passive

• Don’t be too repetitive

• Limit paragraphs to three to four sentences

Too often, when small business owners think about website content, they only think about text. Undeniably, text is important — and you absolutely need it on your website — but it’s only one of the many types of content you should have on your small business website.

Use a variety of content types on your website and in your marketing materials. Break up text with images and videos that support and expand on your text. This will make your website content more engaging and memorable.

Writing is a skill that not everyone has. And, even the best writers don’t always end up with perfect copy every time they write. Mistakes happen. Typos happen. Grammar and spelling mistakes happen. That’s just the reality of the situation.

No one is perfect. Don’t expect your website content to be perfect on your first go. Use in-document spell and grammar checkers, and consider writing software, like Grammarly. And, always have someone else read it through to help you catch spelling and grammar mistakes, and watch out for any readability issues.