I have the good fortune to be offering content writing services in India and globally. Seen as a pain in the you-know-where universally, the prospect of web content writing often elicits a groan or at most a dismissive grunt from most clients. And all I have to say to them is that if that’s the way you feel about doing website content, your audience will feel the same way too.
The word ‘audience’ for some strange reason, many clients think, only applies to design. The objective seems to blur from their vision when it comes to web content writing. “After all what can web content writing do?” they reason. “There needs to be lots of content on every page. Otherwise it’s going to look like we haven’t put any effort into our website.” And that’s my point. Your website content has to look effortless.
Your customer doesn’t want pages of content. He wants information. He doesn’t care whether you put it in two words or five. As long as it’s all there and he can move on. The key is WHICH two (or five words) you choose to put and WHERE you put them. This is really what converts your prospect as much as design.
If you have a website, here’s what your content writing services provider should ask you:
- Who is your audience? Is it a 15-year old, school-going, I-phone-loving teenager in America or a forty-year old, conservative housewife in Mumbai?
- What specific benefit do you want to convey to your audience? The audience has to see a clear benefit in your content.
- What is the objective of your website? Is it to make a sale? Generate a lead? Engage the user? Build a brand in his mind?
E.g. If you are selling fashion bracelets for teenage boys, which of these do you think they’ll respond to?
Option 1: Silver, spiked bracelets that bring out the ‘bad boy’ in you. Slip it on. Get the chicks and move on. Click here to buy now. Click here for more details.
Option 2: XYZ is a company that is based in Texas. It offers a whole range of fashion bracelets for boys and has won many awards for its product design, HR processes and marketing efforts. Our bracelets are silver with spikes. They’re designed to make you feel really good and will fetch you plenty of compliments. These delightful bracelets will make you want more and more. Buy it for yourself and for your friends. They make a great gift for birthdays and Christmas too. Click here to buy.
I’m hoping you said Option 1!
What’s important when doing website content writing or offering any other form of content writing services, is not to insult the intelligence of your audience. No one falls for hyperbole. More importantly, no one has time to plod through the exaggerations to find the little nuggets of information.
As a website owner, you can make the content writing process exciting for yourself. As a content writer, you can get your client to take you more seriously. This will happen only when you realize that you don’t HAVE to have 300 words on every page. Ask ‘why’ am I putting this word here? What objective is it meeting? Even the delicate divide of less content but enough for SEO can be met.
There’s lots to be said on strategic and scientific website content writing, including the concept of heat maps, and knowing how audiences read content on website. That’s going to be reserved for another post. Until then, let’s start evaluating and downsizing! Happy cleaning!
