HOW TO WRITE UNIQUE AND APPEALING CONTENT FOR YOUR WEBSITE THAT WORKS By Julie Jackson http://www.jjweb-design.co.uk THE POWER OF THE INTERNET The internet has quickly evolved over recent years and many businesses are realising how powerful the internet is in reaching out to thousands more potential customers than ever before. As of June 2010, 82.5% of the UK population use the internet (information courtesy of Internet World Stats). Internet users research information before deciding where to make their purchase. They view a number of websites before making an informed decision - but they won’t view many, probably choosing two or three from the first couple of pages from the search results. If you don’t have a website for your business or organisation, you are missing out on a vast number of customers who now shop on the internet for virtually everything. If you’re not on the internet, you can bet your competitors are! And they are stealing your customers! Website Marketing Your website is the front gate to your business and is a powerful marketing tool. Having a presence on the World Wide Web helps to build credibility to your business and provides awareness to potential customers. It reaches further than any marketing campaign ever could. This provides opportunities to attract new customers and offer services and information not usually available through traditional advertising methods. One of the most important elements of a successful website is the content. Whilst the design and layout of your website is important, it is the content within your site that will attract the search engines and potential customers, along with good optimisation techniques. This report will focus on how to easily write good content for your website. Packed full of tips and ideas on what to write, how to write and how to use keywords effectively, you will have your website content ready in no time. It is split into easy to read sections; · · · · Three basic elements to writing good content Planning and preparation Using keywords effectively Individual page content tips THREE BASIC ELEMENTS TO WRITING GOOD CONTENT How do I write good content? Writing good content for websites is not difficult and can be defined in three ways; · · · It must be original It must be of high quality It must be presented in a concise and well organised way Original Content To gain credibility with your visitors and search engines, your content should be unique and written by yourself, not copied from another website. Google does not list every website on the same topic and if it sees duplicate content, it will only show one site – you need it to be yours! Your website needs to reflect your company’s image and values and compliment your business. Writing original content for your visitors is crucial to supporting this image. As an authority on your industry, you are best equipped to write about your business – you’ll be surprised at how much you know when you start writing! There are a variety of ways to write the same thing, so if you see a valuable point on another website, think about how you could write it in a different way, adding your own slant to it. High Quality Content A good website needs good quality content. Content that is valuable to your readers will keep them on your website – if they can find everything they need there, why would they want to go anywhere else? List the benefits of your services and explain in detail how readers could benefit from these services. Focus on what your visitor needs, not how great your company is. Could you offer a section on a specialised area? How to apply for local planning permission, for example, if you are a property developer. You could list the contact details and departments where appropriate. You could write an article on the benefits of using UPVC windows if you have a window installation business. Look for ways to offer high quality content that is of value to your readers and that your competitors aren’t offering. Your website is a marketing tool but don’t use the salesman approach - be genuine and honest in your writing. Presentation The way you present your content on your website will reflect the image you portray of your company. Bad spelling and grammar will diminish your company’s credibility. With spell-checkers on most modern computers, this is easily avoidable. Write naturally and set the tone accordingly – do you want to promote your website in a formal manner or with a more friendly approach, allowing your personality and approachability to show through. Be aware of how internet users read websites. They scan websites instead of reading everything on the page until they find something that catches their eye. Keep paragraphs short and concise – small chunks of content are easier to scan through. Use headings to help break up content and use bullet points. Don’t waffle! If you can say something in seven words instead of fourteen – do so! Less is definitely more in the internet world! Internet users generally have a limited amount of time and they want to find what they are looking for in the quickest amount of time possible. Put important information towards the top of the page for impatient readers who won’t read down to the bottom. PLANNING AND PREPARATION Start with an outline of what you want to include on your website. Think about a catchy opening line, the key points you want to cover and how you will conclude your page e.g. with a link to another page or a special offer to purchase. Understand who your readers are and write for them. Decide on which topics you want to include - these will become your individual pages. Under the heading of each topic, write bullet points for that page. Expand on each bullet point. Write a question about the topic that you are frequently asked. Provide the solution. Link to a relevant page on your website e.g. purchase page Apply to each page you write for a consistent and well presented website Check out your competitors websites before you write anything! This will not only give you inspiration, but it will give you an idea of what to topics to include, titles, headings, images etc. Take ideas from websites (without copying them!) and think about how you an improve them and possibly expand from them. Your website needs to be better than your competitors! Carry a mini-recorder in your top pocket for a week whilst going about your business and record your conversations with customers and suppliers. Voila! You have your content! People want to know about what you do. Split your recordings into sections and build your content from them. Think about Features and Benefits - a feature is a service or product you offer e.g. upvc windows. A benefit is what it can do for your reader e.g. make the house warmer, therefore reducing heating costs. As you start to expand your list, more questions will arise and more points will present themselves that need further explanation. Say what you can do, not what you can’t. Don’t say “We don’t deliver over 50 miles” or “We don’t use low quality products.” Say, “We deliver up to 50 miles” or “We only use high quality products.” Choose page titles carefully. Make sure each title is self-explanatory and that each page is a continuation of the next. Good site navigation is an important element to a successful website. Web readers expect to find what they need in 3 clicks so don’t have too many pages listed in the navigation area for readers to have to work their way through. Compliment pages with appropriate images. If you haven’t already got images to compliment your website - get them now! Most web designers will be able to provide you with professional stock images, but there’s nothing like your own photos to make your website more personal. Do you want to include videos on your website? This is an exploding market at the moment with video’s on just about anything springing up on many sites - video tutorials, video testaments, video blogs etc. Videos are easy to optimise well for and with video recorders readily available, this is definitely an option worth considering. Testimonials are a good way of gaining trust and credibility with readers. Most clients are happy to supply you with a couple of sentences about your company and its service/product. Get as many as you can as these can be rotated and will keep your website looking fresh and regularly updated, a huge brownie point in Google’s eyes! First impressions count and you only have a matter of seconds to grab your reader before they click the ‘Back’ button - work hard on a great opening headline to grab your visitors attention and keep them on your website e.g. “Sunshine Sun-houses are experts in their field of creating bespoke sun house designs for you and your family to enjoy. With an innovative team of qualified designers and 20 years experience, we offer quality workmanship at an affordable price.” Offer your reader something for free! Everyone likes to get something for nothing. A free report perhaps on how to treat your decking, or a free trial sample of a product you are promoting. Autoresponders can easily collect their email addresses before sending out your free offer and suddenly you have a list of valuable potential customers. Regular emails could then be sent out to these new sources with further offers and news - A great way for gaining trust and credibility. USING KEYWORDS EFFECTIVELY Keywords are words that internet searchers type into the search box when they are looking for a product or service e.g. photographer or photography club. Keywords play a vital role in helping your website to achieve high rankings. Google looks at individual pages within a website, not the website as a whole. Therefore, it is important to have appropriate keywords for each page. Once you know which keywords people frequently use to look for your product, you can incorporate them throughout your pages. Your website developer should be able to provide you with an appropriate list of keywords to use on each page. Alternatively, you can research which popular keywords are searched for within your industry by using Google’s Keyword Research Tool (search google for this.) Once you have sprinkled your keywords throughout your content, and with a little optimisation (a method of promoting websites), Google will see you as an authority on these keywords and show your website to internet searchers. Write your first draft as naturally as possible and you will probably find you will have included a few keywords without realising. Then go back over your content and see where you could naturally replace any more words with your keywords. Using keywords as headings, page titles in the navigation menu and in the footer of your page is an easy way to include them. Keywords should also be used as links to other pages within your website. INDIVIDUAL PAGE CONTENT TIPS Each page on your website needs to flow from one subject matter to the next. The Home page is usually the first page a visitor will land on and this should be reflected in the Navigation Menu list. If your page is getting too long on one topic, for example on a particular product or service page, it is better to split it over two pages. Readers get discouraged if they see a lot of print but will happily go to another page for further related information. The aim is to keep visitors on your website long enough for them to make an informed decision to choose your company over your competitors. Putting a link from one page to another within your website content helps visitors to flow naturally through your website as well as providing important website promotion techniques. The process of linking your pages together is called Internal Linking and is an important element in achieving high rankings along with External Linking, which are links coming in to your website from other sources e.g. directories, other websites, blogs etc. An example of internal linking would be from your home page to another page with the following, ’10 top tips on how to clean decking” - where ‘how to clean decking’ would be your linking keyword phrase to the appropriate page. Once you’ve made it clear what you have to offer, invite readers to take the next step with a clear Call to Action. E.g. “Call today on 0800 123456, “Click here for your special offer” “Sign up here’. However, make sure you’re not ‘in their face’ with your call to action! Keep your links to sales pages discrete. Pages to include on website This depends on the type of business you have, but usually there a number of pages that are commonly used. These include; Home Page This is the most important page on your website as it is usually the first page a visitor will land on. This may be first contact a visitor has with your company and it must reflect the image of your company. This is primarily your sales page and you only have approximately 7 seconds to grab your visitors attention and keep them on your website. Create an opening headline that summarises the purpose of your website. Summarise the key features of your company whilst telling your visitors how using your company could benefit them. Make it informative and visually appealing and you will be well on your way to keeping those visitors on your site. Don’t try to cram everything in on your Home page - use your navigation menu and links to guide visitors around the rest of the site. Products/Services Page Start with a brief summary of the product or service and then give as much information as you can on each product or service. Ideally, there should be a new page for each product or service, though some services naturally compliment each other e.g. Gas central heating and boilers could be combined on the same page for a Plumbers website. Pricing Page Unless you are setting up an e-commerce shopping site, it isn’t necessary to list your prices, but an indication of costs is a good idea e.g. Prices start from £..... or include a range e.g. £200 - £400. This gives readers an idea of how much they can expect to pay if they use your company. About Us Page This is an important page as it gives more of an insight as to who you are and builds up trust and confidence with your customers. Explain the background of your company, include staff members, completed projects, trade associations details and any awards your company may have won. Photographs of your staff will make your website more personal and approachable. You could also include your mission statement if you have one. Contact Page As well as having a contact page, it is a good idea to have your contact details in as many places on your website as possible - the header, footer and within the body of your site. Make it as easy as possible for visitors to get in touch with you. Information to include on your contact page ; Business name Company address Telephone numbers- landline and mobile (if appropriate) Fax number Email address Map/directions to your premises (if appropriate) Resources Provide information and links that are complementary to your industry e.g. a cake maker could include information on photographers or party planners. This would give your website links to/from other related websites which is the main element in getting your site to rank highly. Articles Choose a topic related to your business and write about it in more depth (approximately 250 words would be adequate). e.g. a gardener could write about what to plant in various seasons. Adding articles to your website on a regular basis builds your site up as well as helping your site rank well - Google loves fresh content and will revisit your site more frequently if it sees new content added. This also adds value to your website and encourages visitors to return. Enquiry Form Important for building a client list. Keep it simple without asking for too much information - Name and email address should suffice. Send regular emails and newsletters to your list, offering the latest promotional products. This keeps your name in your visitors mind. There is plenty of inexpensive autoresponder service providers that will collect email addresses and send emails out automatically. Portfolio Would your website benefit from having a separate page with all your photographs on, or would it be better to include them on the individual product or services page? Maybe you could show before and after pictures. Frequently Asked Questions This is a real time-saver and you can keep adding to it over time. Think about the questions you are regularly asked. The more information you put on your website, the less time you will spend answering emails and questions on the phone. Blog The exciting world of social marketing has exploded over the last couple of years and is a great way of presenting your company in a more personal way. Talk about your day, new products/services and add videos and photos - videos are showing in the search engine results more and more and are a valuable asset to your website. Testimonials Include testimonials from current customers to show potential customers you are trustworthy and reliable. Most customers will be happy to write down a few words. For new businesses, give away a few products or services and ask for some feedback. Decide whether a page full of testimonials is justified or incorporate them in one of your other pages. Site Map If your website has many pages, a site map will allow visitors to see at a glance every page within your website and click to each individual page. Further page suggestions; Refund and Returns Policy News Online Magazine/Newsletter Privacy Policy Events Calendar Product Reviews Choose pages which are relevant to your business. If unsure which pages to include, it is best to start with the basics and build from there; Home Products/Services About us Contact Us Pricing 5 pages of content to write is a lot less daunting than 20 and is quite an acceptable number to begin your online presence with. By then adding one extra page a month, it will keep your creative juices flowing and please Google with new and fresh content - great for keeping you moving up in the search results! THE ROUND UP! After absorbing all the information in this report and having a go at putting pen to paper - or finger to keyboard, there’s a few more points to take on board; • Know your goal! What do you want to achieve from the website? Online sales? Selling your services? • After the first draft of each page, put it away for a couple of days then return to it with fresh eyes • When you read through it for the second time, half the content! Chances are you got a bit carried away on the first draft and, remembering that less is more, cut out the waffle! • Give it to a friend or family member to get a different perspective on it - is there any part of it that is unclear? Are there any spelling or grammar errors? • Make sure the most important content is at the top of the page - got to grab those readers who don’t like scrolling! • Use the KISS system - Keep It Simple, Stupid! Assume your readers know absolutely nothing about your business. Be concise and explain EVERYTHING without sounding condescending In essence, you are creating a virtual business and inviting visitors to share in your experience. It is your business, one that you have worked hard to achieve your standards and reputation. It is for this reason alone that you are the one who is best equipped to write the content for your website - you are your online business! Above all, enjoy creating your website! Further information on website design and website optimisation can be found at http://www.jjweb-design.co.uk