To create good website content you first have to understand how people read on the web.
People don’t read websites word for word – they scan the page looking for the information they want. Therefore your website content should be written for scanners:
Nothing you can say for yourself is as valuable as what customers have to say about you. That's because people find the endorsements of actual customers more persuasive than the hype of faceless copywriters.
Every marketer has the same problem: overcoming a prospect's fear of making a mistake. Faced with a buying decision prospects will often sit on their hands. They need to "think about it". It's safer to do nothing than risk making the wrong choice. In this situation smart marketers use psychology to overcome the prospect's inertia.
Here are some alarming statistics for every business owner and marketing manager who is responsible for building or managing a business website:
A report released by Sensis in August 2007 stated that:
Source: Sensis e-Business Report - The Online Experience of Small and Medium Enterprises
What this means is only one in 10 websites delivers a profit-generating benefit to the business. In other words, 90% of websites just sit there and do nothing! That's right… no sales leads, no new customers, nothing.
You'll win much more business if you show your target audience how you can solve their problems.
What is the one thing every person is interested in? The weather? Politics? Health? Sport? Religion? Shopping? Sex? Money? While many people are interested in some of these things, not one of these topics holds universal interest.
"Marketing is everything you do to promote your business, from
the moment you conceive of it to the point at which customers
buy your product or service and begin to patronize your business
on a regular basis. The key words to remember are everything and
regular basis."
My favourite marketing guru Jay Conrad Levinson from Guerrilla Marketing
NB: I believe every marketer and business owner should have a well thumbed copy of this book in their office.
My first job after uni was working at a small publishing company. One of my boss's favourite sayings was, "If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there." It was a reminder to his staff that the first step in any project is to establish what you want to achieve i.e. setting goals or targets.
In my experience few websites have any goals. Often they're built on the reasoning, "We've gotta have a website because everyone else has one." Even now, many people think a website is a kind of marketing panacea. They think that by simply putting a website up they'll be deluged with sales enquiries. Unfortunately it ain't so.
Realistic and achievable goals for a website fall into the following categories:
Sales lead generation
A website can deliver sales leads directly (e.g. by prospects emailing you to arrange a consultation or providing their contact details in exchange for a white paper or special report) or indirectly (e.g. by prospects visiting your showroom after finding out about your products online).
E-commerce
Making sales directly from your website.
Customer service
You can serve your customers better by providing customer service online. This can range from FAQs on common customer queries to a 24/7 online help desk.
Process automation
You can cut costs by automating processes online e.g. online billing, data gathering, delivering information, and human resources procedures.
One, or a combination, of these goals should be the primary focus of your website. Once you've selected your goals you can develop strategies to achieve them. don't even think about calling a website developer until you're clear about what you'd like to achieve with your website.
Always budget for your web content before you hire a web developer. I know it seems counter-intuitive; you want to build your house before you decorate it. But, as web usability guru Jakob Neilsen states in Designing Web Usability
If your print ad, direct mail piece, press release or home page isn't getting the results you want a weak headline may be to blame.
Research shows that readers respond more to headlines than any other element of a print ad. So no matter how eye-catching the images and design, or compelling the body copy, without a strong headline an ad will most likely be ignored.
These are the best books on how to create profitable content for business websites that I have found. I recommend them to all webstite copywriters and editors:
Think I've missed something? Feel free to recommend your favourite book for website copywriters.
Here's a selection of the best websites and e-newsletters for website copywriters I've found on my travels around the Web:
ExcessVoice.com
Nick Usborne's e-newsletter focuses on copywriting and content writing, with an emphasis on the Web.
New Thinking
Gerry McGovern's weekly e-newsletter focuses on web content management, information architecture and writing for the Web.
copyblogger
"Copywriting tips for online marketing success"
HighRankings.com
Everything you need to know about SEO copywriting.
Writing for the Web
Web usability guru Jakob Nielsen's excellent collection of articles plus recommended books.
This comprehensive web writing style guide was also co-authored by Nielsen.
Writing Effectively Online: How to Compose Hypertext
An oldie but a goodie!
