Whose site do you want to emulate?

Which website content needs help?

Conduct an informal writing analysis of your competition for what works and what doesn’t.

When I’m looking to find websites and blogs in my industry, I start by looking at AllTop;a news aggregator created by Guy Kawasaki.

Type in the key words for your industry or search the alpha bar for pages that focus on your area of business.  Then scroll down through the websites and blogs to find ones that most closely match the services and products your company offers.

Read their most recent articles and posts to find styles, trends and topics of interest.  Visit their website to learn more about how they reach out to their target prospect. 

Make a list of the things you like and would want to adopt on your website.  Share the link with your web developer and your web site copywriter so they can keep the information in mind while creating your website or rewriting your website content.

Also check out Technorati and Blog Search by Google for more examples of blogs in your industry.

Today our professional head shot has become more valuable than our logo. People remember what we look like even if they don’t remember our name or our company.  Having a photo that clearly shows your face and is current, is important, not only for your website bio page but also for your LinkedIn profile, Twitter, Facebook and blog. 

Beyond sharing your photo, here are a few tips for writing websites “about us” page:

• If the about us page will contain information about the history of the company then start with when it opened
• Why did you start the company? What niche did you want to fill?
• Why was this important to you?
• Identify your ideal customer – who were you creating the company to help?
• Do you have multiple locations – mention how you went from one location to many.
• Spotlight each of the primary people – starting with yourself.  What is your background – not a resume, so much as experience. Name drop companies that you have worked for and OUTCOMES that you have successfully achieved.

Here’ s a link to an article with even more thoughts on writing a biography page for your website.

My passion is customer relationships and one of the key ways we begin to build those relationships is with the prospect’s first impression.  We have been mastering the art of winning them over in person but in this new age of technology we have to write websites that let the reader know, from the minute they find us, that we UNDERSTAND them and have what it takes to HELP them.

One of the biggest mistakes companies make when creating their landing pages is to write like a marketing brochure.  Talk about features and listing out services and talking about how many years you’ve been serving the community should be saved for when you are actually having a conversation with the prospect.

Your website content should be compelling enough to get the reader to take action.  Save the hard sell for when you’ve actually connected. 

Forget that.

There should never be a hard sell.  It should be a give and take of information – that’s how you build relationships and earn your customer’s loyalty.

But it all begins with the first impression and in the case of your website, it is with website content that draws the reader in so they read the next sentence, the next paragraph and ultimately pick up the phone to have a conversation with you.

Does your website content do that? If not, maybe you want to consider a web site copywriter.  Call me, I can help.  330-414-8792.

Did your web copywriter ask that question as you began to create your first website?  They may not have.  It is just in recent years that the focus has turned from graphic images and fancy animation to a focus on how to write websites people read.

A key element in writing effective website content is to first determine the audience.  Many companies have multiple audiences:

• Company owners
• HR Directors
• Chief Financial Officers

Or in the case of education you are trying to speak to parents and prospective students.

In the assisted living industry you are trying to reach the prospective resident as well as their caregiver or social worker.

Each audience has a different agenda.  Different needs.  Speaks a different language because they are of a different generation or a different mind set.

There is no such thing as writing websites for everyone.  Everyone doesn’t need what you have to say.

I’m currently writing content for a nursing college.  They have two different audiences:  the 28-38 year old single mom returning to the work force and the 18 year old newly graduated from high school. 

Each audience has different life priorities, is attending college for different reasons and needs to find a website written with them  in mind.

How do you reconcile the fact that your website needs to reach different audiences?

You can’t.

A successfully written website recognizes that they can’t be all to everyone and selects a target audience and directs their message to that audience.

The beauty of the website is that we can have multiple landing pages that speak to each individual audience which in turn, point back to the primary website which addresses every-one’s needs.

Just like with traditional advertising – you have to sacrifice communicating ineffectively to the masses and focus on reaching the few, targeted people that are the best fit for what you have to offer.

In the case of the nursing college – we are focusing on the older audience.  When they reviewed their enrollment they realised that the student most prevalent and most successful within their college was the single mom.  She is more motivated, more dedicated and uses the Internet to research and make decisions. 

That’s not to say the 18 year old won’t find the site and find value in the information – but the conversational website content will be directed at the 28-38 year old student.

Who is your audience?  Look at your website content. Have you tried to reach every one and found the result is that you are ineffective in CONNECTING with anyone?

Consider rewriting your Home page in a way that connects with your target audience.

Give your readers a reason to return.  Provide regularly updated content:

Newsletters

Articles

Tips for success

Thoughts of the day

Links to vendor partners

Update samples and testimonials

Freebies/giveaways

Frequently asked questions

You work hard to create a website that attracts the right customer and inspires them to take action, however, your work doesn’t end there.  The website needs to be constantly updated with fresh information so that readers return over and over.  They won’t make a decision or take action on the first visit – for some it may take more than one stop on your site.  If every time they return the content is the same – they may loose interest.

That’s where a web site copywriter comes in handy.  They can be constantly creating new information that can be added to your site.  And remember – each time you update your site, the search engine spiders come back around to see what you’ve done which helps with the search results!

The same is true with your online reader.  So write your content with them in mind. 

Leave out the feature discussions.  If you own a beauty salon you probably cut hair, give manis and pedis and teach how to apply makeup.  Those are features.

You want to talk BENEFITS.  Your beauty salon creates a new you.  You bring out their inner beauty.  You provide confidence to nail that job interview.

Write in benefit statements.  Benefit statements talk about the RESULTS – the GOAL – what they can EXPECT if they work with you or if they buy your product.

Want to learn how to write website content people read?  Make sure you effectively convey the benefits to the reader.

Need help?  Benefit statements are my speciality – email me: deborah@allwriteink.com  I can help.