Tweak Your Biz » Marketing » The Secrets to Writing Good Content for the Web

The Secrets to Writing Good Content for the Web

by Denise Fay on September 6th, 2010
23 Comments



When thinking about updating or creating a website, the first thing most business owners do is consult with a web designer. While this is advisable as good design attracts the eye, the business owner must not forget the words that are used on a website.

Your website should have two main aims – promote your business and engage with customers and prospects.

Search engine optimisation experts focus on keywords and ensure high rankings on the search engines while copy-writers focus on the readability of the message and how to engage with prospects and customers. Both are in the business of words and want to help you achieve your website aims.

Another way to look at the content on your website: You can only be in one place at one time but your website which portrays your business can be seen and read 24 hours a day.

Here are three gems of wisdom when you’re sitting down to write content for your website:

1. Believe the Customer is in Front of You

Most business people that I write for feel comfortable expressing themselves verbally but some feel that it is harder when it comes to the written word.

Instead of thinking about about how hard it is, imagine that your customer is in front of you. What would you say to him about your business? Would you talk to him about the benefits of your product, would you speak to him with passion about why they should buy from you?

Yes you would. So turn that passion into words to describe the benefits of why someone should buy from you.

Imagine your customer in front of you when you have your pen and notepad, write down what you’d say to them. This is the beginning of the process and getting started is always the hardest bit.

2. Solve a Problem

When you are talking to someone that is in front of you, you think about the problem that they have and how you can solve it. Keep this in mind and brainstorm all the problems you solve and all the benefits your product or service brings to your customers.

The products and services that you have may serve different industries, different clients or different sectors.  Think about all the problems you solve for each of these different target markets.

To write good content, you can take all of these problems that you solve and and write them up.

3. Decide on the Style of Writing

There are two main types of writing style on websites – formal and informal (or conversational). You have to decide which works best for your business.

Don’t mix formal and informal styles – it doesn’t work. It appears confusing to the reader and the message gets mixed up.

My writing style for denisefay.com is mostly conversational – I want to build a relationship with my reader, hoping to engage with them to keep them coming back for more and take action on the tips that I share.

Your style depends on you and your business. However, think about points number 1 and 2 above, If you’ve actioned those tasks like I’ve recommended, then it will become clear what style you have.

In summary:

  • When a customer or prospect is in front of you, what do you talk about? Write it down
  • What problem do you solve or what benefit do you bring when you’re talking to a customer or prospect?
  • What is the style of your conversations when you’re talking to customers and prospects?

When you have the basics written, you just need to polish it and then publish it.

Good luck.

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Category: Blogging, customer, online marketing, Sugartone

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The Author:

Denise Fay is an international marketing specialist who is passionate about marketing & helping small businesses get & keep customers. She set up the marketing consultancy Achieve Marketing after her redundancy from a Fortune 500 company in 2005. She brings big company knowledge and international marketing to every project or plan she works on. Working Words by Denise Fay is a sister company of Achieve Marketing which was set up in 2010. This is the copy-writing side of the business which has Denise at the helm. She is a trusted and proven copy-writer creating content strategies and writing everything that can be written in terms of sales copy, e.g, newsletters, ezines, websites, blogs, case-studies, articles and brochures. She believes that copy-writing is the secret to successful marketing and good sales copy should be start of a long-term relationship with its reader. http://www.denisefay.com

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  • http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

    Hi Mairead. It is a great analogy – good find. Your points are all valid and to be considered. The wrapping does have to be really good to get the interest in the first place, but this must be supported with a product or service that presents a strong value proposition to the customer.

  • http://www.btbtraining.com/blog Niall Devitt

    Hi Mairead, I think what the author in question calls a person’s crap-o-meter is for me, my too-good-to-be-true-o-meter. I think most customers bring a healthy skepticism to the table, the best approach is honesty, even when you are telling people things that they may not want to hear initially.

  • http://www.cgonlinemarketing.com/ Christina Giliberti

    Hi Mairead,

    I agree with Niall – being a natural skepic, too-good-to-be-good offers usually are just that.
    Do the promoters believe in the saleability of their products? If they did, they could list all the benefits and value to the customer.
    Sometimes its a case of ‘I like it and I want to sell it’, as you mentioned. There’s no obvious audience or real benefit, just the desire to sell. Presentation or incentives are distractions.
    Point 5 is usually a telltale sign if its the real deal!
    O’ and I still like doughnuts! lol

    Tina

  • http://www.seefincoaching.com/blog Elaine Rogers

    Great analogy Mairead – loved the article.
    I love frosting and well packaged products – but there is an innate suspicion within that just wonders “what’s inside” Like a gorgeous looking well presented piece of fish in a restaurant, I will always pry open the centre to make sure it’s healthy and fresh and cooked – just a peek.
    If we can allow for the peek, our clients will be happy
    Testimonials are all the rage now – are they truely effective though? Recommendations don’t always work out. Greg found this our the hard way in his heart rendering debt collection story:
    http://gregcfuzion.wordpress.com/2010/04/10/credit-control-warrior/
    So its a tough one. I like your point about after sales support – there should ALWAYS be a point of contact made available for even a limited period – demonstrates belief in one’s product/service and sincerity. Plus it’s important to maintain contact with the client for further business, a testimonial or feedback on the product / service.
    Thanks

  • http://www.encouragingexcellence.ie/ Mairéad Kelly

    thanks for the comments.

    I’ve learnt to be a skeptic and when I’m presented with something in a fancy package I begin to wonder just why it is so well packaged. Most of the time it is because the contents aren’t worth it, but every now and again it is because the person presenting it has gone to the bother of adding extra bells and whistles to make it “special”, those are rare treats, because they come with all 5 of the points I’ve listed above.

    Niall & Christina, it can be called so many names, and I’m glad it hasn’t affected your love of frosting or doughnuts Elaine & Christina. Lucky for me I don’t like either.

  • http://twitter.com/fredchannel Fred

    Nice one Denise.
    To add to your point, it’s amazing sometimes how business owners get overwhelmed trying to understand what and how to write for the web. For example, when it comes to blog posts, the majority wants to know everything before they hit one key. Very few dare to go through the simple exercise of reading other articles to understand the content, audience and tone. Doing this first will always be a massive help before coming up with your own content.

  • http://twitter.com/ZulyGonz Zuly Gonzalez

    Good article Denise! On point #3 (Decide on the Style of Writing), I agree that you should pick a writing style and stick to it. But I do think it’s fine to use a formal writing style on your website and an informal style on your blog, even if the blog is part of the website. What do you think?

  • http://www.encouragingexcellence.ie/ Mairéad Kelly

    I LOVE this, I’m so often told that I write like I talk and to this resonates with me on so many levels. People buy people and if your words don’t have an impact your lost.

  • http://twitter.com/JBBC Beyond Breast Cancer

    Excellent post Denise. I enjoy reading your posts as they are always so personal and friendly. I would also add that a headline that grabs attention is important too since it must grab the imagination of a market saturated with headlines.

  • http://www.seefincoaching.com/blog Elaine Rogers

    I think Fred makes a valid point below.

    And I know a few blogs / twitter accounts who obviously use a ghost writer or VA or someone else to write some of their articles, but have not described their own style, as the style changes between two mostly, or the “scheduled” tweets are completely different in style to the conversational tweets (which in itself is to be expected for tweeting about blogposts, weblinks etc)
    But if one is to be on the web interacting, then not being able to respond to a reply on twitter or facebook, or not to be able to comment on blogposts for days, I believe it can give the wrong impression.

    I enjoyed your comment – “Don’t mix formal and informal styles – it doesn’t work. It appears confusing to the reader and the message gets mixed up.” – I completely agree and experienced this myself when I began blogging for Seefin Coaching. Conversational is definitely more my style :)

  • http://www.btbtraining.com/blog Niall Devitt

    Hi Denise, Great message! Write for the customer & not at the customer. Also people obsess about trying to include every detail which leads to too much text & very little user experience. Remember people have short attention spans online so unless you can grab them, they are probably going to move on.

  • Denise

    Hi Mairead, thanks for that. There is no point being two different people – you need to be consistent with your marketing.

  • Denise

    Hi Fred, I like your thought process. I have to admit that often I find it hard to write sometimes. But looking around, reading around, like you suggest, is exactly what I do to overcome that ‘writers block’ syndrome. I just get to it and the trick is to edit afterward.

  • Denise

    Niall – I’m going to use that line again “Write for the customer & not at the customer.” How right you are.

  • Denise

    Elaine – thanks for your wonderful example. It really shows that to be true to your readership that you ought not pretend who you are. If blogs are written by ghost writers (I ghost write a few myself!), have your ghost writer get to know as much about you as possible so that they practically be you in words.
    Make sense?

  • Denise

    Thanks for your lovely words. I’m blushing now! Headlines are a subject for another day!! :-) But I absolutely agree – your headline must grab your readers attention.

  • Denise

    Zuly – I started writing your comment when you posted it but for some reason it didn’t save here. I completely agree that you can use formal on your website and informal on your blog. I just think that you can’t mix formal and informal in the same document/blog/article etc as it appears very ‘copy and paste’ or disjointed.

    Elaine, above, makes the point about how some tweets and blogs appearing inconsistent and not reflecting the true person tweeting or blogging. That goes to the point about mixing of styles and how it is so important to be careful.

  • http://www.seefincoaching.com/blog Elaine Rogers

    I agree, otherwise it’s futile.
    I love that ghost writers provide an invaluable service to their clients, but I agree that they should consult very closely (like go for a pint together!) to get a proper feel for the style :)

  • http://www.bizznurse.com/ BIZZNURSE

    I agree with you Fay that We must write like as the customer is just in front of us. That’s why I think that blogging exerts more of this effect than static website) Blogging give us room to “speak to our customer”. Its okay to have a website, but adding a blog page would be more interactive ;)

  • http://www.michaelgholmes.com Mike Holmes

    This is great Denise! This is almost copyblogger-ish :)

    I have defintely tried to keep my posts engaging and simple and I finally feel like its starting to pay off.

    Thanks for reinforcing the point!

  • Pingback: The Ultimate Business Resource for Startup Entrepreneurs | Michael Holmes

  • http://www.copy-hub.com web content writer

    Formal and informal are two types of writing. But there are a lot more options. It’s hard for some people to find their voice.

  • http://impresswebdesign.com/seo.html Dianne White

    Having a good design for your website will get people interested, and the content will help them stay that way. Like writing a good article, you need to grab the attention of the reader, to educate them, entertain them, or possibly both. There may be a lot of people in the internet in the same field as you, and you need to make that extra effort in order to stay relevant to your customers.

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