Writing for the Web: Part 2

In Part 1 of this series, I told you some things about your potential website readers. Now that you understand them a bit more, it is time to begin writing for them.

Here are my top ten pointers for writing content on your website.

1. Be informal. This isn’t a formal English class or a research paper. This is you and your company addressing potential and current clients. Talk to them as though they were there with you.  Also, address your customer as “you.” For instance, “ABC has what you need” rather than “ABC has what our customers need.”
2. Talk in plain language. In addition to being informal, be plain. Don’t use jargon or acronyms. Unless you are a writer, you don’t know what POD is, so if I told you that I could help you write a POD book, you wouldn’t know what I was offering. POD=Print on Demand – so I would need to say so!
3. Be consistent.  If you call your product XYZ, always call it XYZ. If you refer to a process, call it the same thing every time. For instance, I could say Print on Demand or self-publish. I would need to pick my terminology and then stick with it. You also want your site to have a consistent feel. Each page should reflect the same style as the homepage.
4. Scan the pages easily. Use bullet points, bold type, highlighted areas, or underlined words. You want your reader to continue to scan down the page and not be bogged down in paragraphs and paragraphs of type.
5. Answer the “So what?” question. Your customer doesn’t want to know all the features of what you have to offer. They want to know what they are going to get out of it on an emotional level. They want to know “What’s in it for me?”
6. Answer “What Now?” Tell your customers what you want them to do next. Tell them to order or subscribe. Tell them to join or visit. Tell them to donate or enquire. Don’t just assume they will know.
7. Be definite. Don’t use wishy-washy words like might or maybe or can. You don’t want to tell your customer that they might get more return on their dollar using your product. You need to tell them that they will get more return on their dollar. If you can’t state it 100%, don’t state it at all.
8. Be reachable. Do not just have an email contact form. If you use a form, be sure that the page also includes your phone number and email address so they can contact you directly. Also, add specific contact names. For instance, if you have someone in charge of marketing, list them as such.
9. Be helpful. Provide useful, free information that your customers may need. Provide links to informational sites. Provide PDF downloads. Show your customer that you care about more than earning a dollar. Be sure that you update your page often, both adding new information and deleting information that is no longer relevant.
10. Be interactive. You want your customers to “do” something while at your site rather than just read. Invite them to do things while there, such as sign up for a newsletter or enter a competition, or participate in a poll or survey. Make them feel involved in your company.

If you follow these ten tips, you will be well on your way to writing a website with good content; and good content keeps people coming back to your site.

[Feel free to contact me with any of your writing needs: teribclark@gmail.com]