Words are the driving force of the web, and other forms of media supplement and complement them. The largest video website in the world is also the second most popular search engine in the world. YouTube knows that they deliver video on demand, and that words are the currency by which it works.
People want to know your price. Your value proposition. Your product specification. Your speed of delivery. Your terms and conditions. Your returns policy. The CVs of your senior people – or a link to their LinkedIn profile. Your case studies and track record. What your customers think of you. And so on.
If your price is too expensive, no amount of technology, design or dancing girls is going to win you the sale. If you haven’t bothered to put your senior people’s CVs online and your competitors have, you run the risk of not making the agency shortlist. If your returns policy is harsh, people will go elsewhere.
To understand the centrality of words is to embrace the discipline of structuring content to thrive in this interactive marketing environment. People DO read websites. If your content is well structured and correctly prioritised they WILL engage with what you say.