The Role Of Arguments In Influencing
I’ve spoken about simplicity in several articles already in this series and at the outset I want to point out that this is not a rehash of previous material that is covered. Reviewing some of the points that have been made thus far, especially the very important ones, can certainly be helpful and there is no doubt that some of these will be touched on as we proceed.
A leads to B which leads to C are easy directions to follow
However the type of simplicity I’m talking about in this segment concerns what we could call argumentative simplicity. This is something I haven’t spoken about before but it deserves some mention.
I want you to think of your content in terms of arguments that you are making, not just in terms of information that you are providing. All manners of influencing involve arguments, in the philosophical sense at least. Providing reasons to do something is an argument for instance. You want this or should want this, so if you do this you will get it, so do it to get it.
What Impact Does This Have On Our Sites?
What we should be looking to do with our sites is to keep our arguments as simple and as clear as possible. Where we can get off track here and off track to even a very large degree is when we look to include too much extraneous information in our content, information that serves no useful purpose for us.
Notice I said no useful purpose for us, not for them. It could be useful for them and we do need to include things like that at times to keep their interest, and to that end it can serve our purpose, or it may not.
Some of this other information, side information or information that does not directly contribute to our ultimate ends in other words, can be eliminated with little or no effect on the power of our message and our efforts to persuade. When we do simplify things though this can add even more power to the main message and the small cost of simplifying can very often be outweighed by the benefits of a greater impact overall.
The example of putting too much and too great of a variety of things on our home page is an excellent one. The circus effect that can emerge from this is one that can seriously detract from our main effort, or what should be our main effort at least. Some of that may be needed but it must always be looked at closely to decide if the extent of its inclusion is really justified.
I don’t want you thinking that this is the only example of this though, as when we stop to think of it this affects or may affect a great deal of the content that we produce, including our reviews.
Looking To Find The Right Balance Here
Some of the reviews that I get paid to write are pretty lengthy, and to be honest I just ask the clients how long they prefer them and go with it, and I can write some pretty long ones if desired. I get paid by the word though so I don’t complain too much, but often this involves watering down the message by simply providing too much information as well as risking losing people’s interest by making things too long.
When asked though I do recommend reviews of a more moderate length, as well as a pretty modest approach to web content in general. With reviews we already have their attention and can put banners and other links to allow for them to click out at whatever point they feel they have read enough, and for those who seek a more lengthy explanation of why they should consider the site we’ll have plenty there for them to sink their teeth into, although preferably not an excessive amount.
So getting back to the theme of this, constructing our arguments more simply and clearly, the key to doing this effectively is to first realize that this is what we’re looking to do, to present arguments for something. That alone can be very eye opening and that’s the one big thing I want you to take away from this article.
This is the approach I use, and start by setting a goal of what I am trying to achieve, which is always to present the best argument I can for readers to do a certain thing, and then look to construct these arguments as simply and as clearly as I can. When you are finished you should then be able to read your material and see how it would be effective in convincing people reading it, and if it isn’t effective enough, you can tweak it to make it better.