7 tips for writing content for your website
Building a website can be a really daunting task that doesn’t have to be! Whether it’s your business, blog, brand, or all of the above writing content and figuring out what to say seems to be the #1 stumbling block for most clients I work with.
After years of helping clients develop their perfect website, I have a few tips that will help them with the final step to make their site go LIVE.
Just start writing
The biggest tip I give to my clients when their website has been designed and they have a “block” about content is to just START writing. No one knows your business better than you, so getting anything you want other people to know down on paper is the easiest way to get started. This can look like a list, paragraphs, random phrases, or anything else - just get it out!
Name the pages in your navigation bar
Often times you’ll have an idea in your head of sections on the website that you want your clients or visitors to navigate to and naming those is an easy place to start grouping content together. After you've done that, I always recommend for my clients to write a small preview of what each page will be. This will become content for the homepage that shares what the rest of the website is all about!
Have a clear call to action
When you’re writing - have your end goal in mind. It’s easier to write when you know that everything has the same goal in mind.
Ask yourself the question: "What do I ultimately want them to DO on the site?" Then, create a clear call to action centered around that end goal.
Is the end goal to sign up for a service? To call you? To sign up for your course? Make sure the main buttons and the calls to action on your site reflect whatever that end goal is.
Keep your content writing short and sweet
If you’re unsure, get rid of it! Users want an answer ASAP and they should be able to answer what you do right when they visit your site. The rest of the copy can be cluttering your message. Websites are no longer used to house every little piece of information about your business. Users frankly don’t want to spend time looking for their answer and sifting through a bunch of unnecessary copy.
Rather than having all that information, your website needs to serve as a strategic marketing tool. Let it be the opening remarks - not the open, middle, closing, and encore.
Keep your ideal user/customer top of mind when writing
When you know your ideal user inside and out, you can write with a specific person in mind rather than just writing to everyone. Focus in on that person - their age, lifestyle, gender, demographic, etc. - to make your product/offer/service feel essential and irresistible to them. By doing this, you will create more sales and revenue for your business.
Focus on your business benefits
A lot of content that I get sent over from clients only focuses on them and how their business is so great. BUT if you really want to sell your product/service/etc to someone, you need to show them how it will benefit them.
To start writing from a beneficial point of view, ask yourself - what problem am I helping my customer solve? When you make the focus of your copywriting about your client, you'll see success in connecting with them. Connecting with them = more revenue for you!
Ask your designer for help!
At the end of the day, if you’re working with a designer who also has a marketing background *cough*cough* then they will be able to help you determine what content will be best for your website.
