How to write content for your website

amazing copywriters, I call them word smiths. It is one skill to visualise a business, it is another to sum up all of the details of an operation and convert them into text that a reader can digest and understand.

Our copywriting service focuses on:

• Results-Oriented
  What do you want your visitors to do? Call you? Your website needs to persuade visitors to action.

• Simple and Concise
  The information on your site should be to the point and easy to understand. Remember, readers do not read your copy – they scan.

• Optimised
  We will incorporate key words and phrases into your site without compromising the integrity of the copy. Make it easy for search engines to find you and increase your ranking through effective keyword use.

• Professional
  – no distracting typos, grammar or spelling errors to take away from the credibility and professional image of your business.

• A reflection of your brand
  – I get to know your business, products and services and your target customer so I can write in a way that accurately reflects the values and distinctive voice of your business.

Do you fancy writing the content for your website yourself?

Web copy works quite differently to print copy or writing text for print, it works in it's own ways.

Considerations when preparing copy for your website

• Web visitors scan a web page, taking in bits and pieces of content that you offer.

• What are your company’s strong points?
  Concentrate on the ‘point of difference’ that you offer to the market.

• The big question for the visitor is: “What’s in it for me?”
  Does your website offer what they’re looking for? And can they find it easily?

• Mention your most important information first.
  A simple statement of what you do, drawing the visitor in is best. Then they might proceed to wanting to know some important details or background information.

Journalists call this way of writing the inverted pyramid.’. Your customers want to know the big picture first. Basically: What do you do? Or what can you do for them?

• A few seconds is all you have.
  Readers on the web do not have time or long attention spans, they might already be thinking about the next site they like to check out.

• Simple statements are often most effective.
  Clever phrasing requires people to think. Asking people to think does not work on the web since web visitors are hunting – they don’t have time to think.

• Write for scanners, it's been proven that only 16% of people read web pages word-for-word (source: Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox).

• Don’t try to be everything to everybody.
  Know who you are and what you do. If your positioning is clear, it’s much easier to stand out on the web and to be found. If your message is clear, it’s much easier to create a persuasive web copy.

IF PEOPLE ONLY GLANCE AT YOUR WEBSITE, HOW DO YOU GET YOUR MESSAGE ACROSS?

Your Checklist

• Use short paragraphs – four sentences / lines max

• Use short sentences – twelve words on average

• Use familiar words

• Skip unnecessary words

• Avoid jargon and gobbledygook

• Avoid the passive tense

• Avoid needless repetition

• Address your web visitors directly.
  Use the word YOU

• Shorten your text
  Condense your text, cut back the amount of words on a page to 50%, then half these again.

• Use highlighted keywords in the text

• Convert text into bullet points Use no more than 3 bullet points, people count 1, 2, 3 .. many and stop reading.

• Use care words
  These are words visitors are really looking for. Call a spade a spade (i.e. cheap) “When we see these words, we click, we act.” ~ Gerry McGovern

• PDF Files for Online Reading
  Users hate coming across a PDF file while browsing because it breaks their flow. Search Engines don’t recognise PDFs. PDF is great for printing and for distributing manuals and other big documents.

Keep in mind

1. Does your headline communicate what you’re about?

2. Each page should clarify to people where they are.

3. Each page should have a call to action telling people where to go next – to read another blog post, sign up for your email newsletter, check out a detailed product description or testimonial, request a quote or add a product to a shopping cart.

4. Don’t rely on your navigation bar to tell people what to do next. Include a button or link to guide people to take the next step. On each page.

5. Use Google Analytics to check where people arrive on your website and which pages are visited the most.

How can you help them find you?

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION

Content is still king.

Potential customers demand useful information. That’s how writing for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) works:

1. Answer the questions potential customers are asking

2. Discuss one key topic for each page

3. Include links to relevant pages on your own website or to other websites

4. Use phrases and words your potential customers are looking for

5. Above all: Be helpful