Many of the businesses we design for really struggle on how to write great website content. They want to find the words that will attract their potential buyer, be unique, but they also don’t necessarily want or know how to write it themselves!
Content can be a challenge…
As a web design company, this is probably one of the largest challenges for us, as well as our customers. They may be experts in their field, but writing interesting and compelling information for their customers can be a real challenge. This can sometimes make a newly designed website late in going live – the copy can sometimes be a real sticking point!
There must be enough text on the website to make it look professional when it is published on the internet – one paragraph on a page will look as though the customer has not bothered. It needs to have a decent amount of words, (at least 300) so that search engines will find the pages, index the website and bring potential customers to it.
Websites with technical information should not just be copied from another website. Obviously the specification must be accurate but text should always be individual to each business – Google will not like it if you use duplicate text and you will really struggle to get your website indexed effectively.
Don’t be tempted to steal information or text from other websites! You could be caught…
So where do you start?
- Make notes and bullet points to get you started. Write some key points that you can then elaborate on.
- Do keyword research – it is vital to pick the right terms for each page. That way you are half way there with regards to marketing your website!
- Think about the titles you want on your website and how they will interact with your customers. This will then give you ideas on where to start writing.
- Start to break down the above three points and write your information in more detail. If this is a point you find really hard, then a good website copywriter could help. They will be able to write effectively for a website and will know about keyword density as well as not “spamming” or “keyword stuffing” the copy. But have a go yourself first and see how you get on – you are the expert at what you do, after all!
- Keep your paragraphs relatively short and to the point – don’t necessarily write one sentence and then drop down a line, but alternately, great long paragraphs will really make people switch off.
- Break each page up with the sub-headers you have already thought about and make each one interesting. Don’t just use the main top title, with a huge amount of text underneath – break it down into more bite sized chunks!
- Use images to show what you are selling. Make sure they are your own though….don’t forget copyright! Images and photographs can break up a page and make it more visually interesting, whether it is an online shop you have or a brochure website.
- Make sure there are no spelling or punctuation mistakes – many people will be put off by this.
- There is an optimum limit on the internet for page width and the way people’s eyes move over the page – ensure your website designer understands this.
Basically you need to write about what you know; your own products or services. You are understandably the best person to promote your business and your website must show this. However, not everyone is up to the job; you may be an expert in your own field, but writing good quality copy for a website can be a real challenge. The guys at Sokada can help you with this, as well as with regular blogging, that will help to keep your website vibrant, interesting and current – all extremely important for search engines to keep coming back to look!
So if you feel like you are walking through mud and don’t know how to write great website content, then at least we have helped you get started with all these ideas. If you are really put off by this and what to chat through your options, then please call us on 01435 817226 and we can offer some alternatives.