Choosing the right words for your audience can be the difference between people visiting your website and passing by without a glance

When writing for the web, should we choose the "correct" words or the words that people actually use?

During the bombardment of communications about the flu over the past couple of months, it's been interesting to note which flu terms different groups are using. Governments and medical people tend to use "H1N1" whereas the media seem to be using "swine flu" and "H1N1" almost interchangeably.

According to Google, there were 9,140,000 searches done for "swine flu" in Canada in the month of September, but for the term "H1N1" and most other terms containing "H1N1" there were simply not enough searches performed to produce a number.

These are very telling results. While "H1N1" may be the official (and therefore "correct") term, it is not the term that the general public prefers. When writing for the web, we want to speak in the language of our intended audience. If they prefer "swine flu," then shouldn't that be the term we use?

Of the over 9 million searches performed for "swine flu" in September, I wonder how many official government or hospital websites showed up on the first page of results. While I understand that the government and medical professionals want to use the official term of H1N1, it means that their content doesn't get found as much as it probably should, leaving the general public to rely on the media or their peers for this important information.

Think about the words you use internally in your organization. Are they the same words that your target market will use when they are looking for your product or service?

Correct or useful? The choice is yours.

Emily Amos is a Halifax copywriter specializing in writing for the web. She helps companies convert more people into clients by writing key marketing messages that resonate. Check out some of her work at www.wordsavvy.ca.