What are the elements of a great business website? At the top of the list: an eye-catching design, smooth navigation and great content. This last element, great content, is what often causes business owners the most headaches. What does it mean to have great content? Here are seven tips to help you create website content that will engage your visitors and keep them coming back.
Make Your Writing Concise
The American Marketing Association says that the average consumer’s attention span is now eight seconds. This means that you do not have a lot of time to grab people’s attention when they land on your website. Your content needs to be short and to the point to keep users from tuning out. Do not pad information or try to be clever or funny. Keep it simple and stick to the basic ideas that you are trying to convey. Using bullet points and short paragraphs are two of the best ways to organise your information into easy-to-digest snippets.
Keep Your Writing Simple
According to internet consultant Gerry McGovern, website users respond to “carewords.” These are familiar words that let people know that they are on the right track when they are searching for information. When writing website content, use the words that most people use in everyday conversation. Getting too fancy can cause consternation and scare visitors away.
Put Your Most Important Information First
People do not read websites. They scan them, hunting for relevant information. One way to ensure that the most important information is front and centre is by using the inverted pyramid method. This means that instead of leading up to the good stuff, you put it first. So if your website sells sofas, put pictures and short descriptions of sofas at the top of the page and the details about them – sizes, materials, delivery options, etc. – toward the bottom of the page.
Write with Authority
You are the expert when it comes to your products and services. Make sure your content writing reflects this. If you believe in what you are selling, then your website visitors will, too. You do not want to oversell, but you do want your users to know that you are confident that your services and products will benefit them.
Write for Human Beings
Digital marketing experts will tell you that your website must employ search engine optimization (SEO) techniques if it is going to achieve visibility in search engines such as Google. This is true, but it is also true that your content must appeal to human beings. They are, after all, the ones that you are trying to engage and turn into customers. Including keywords in your content is important but so is writing in a way that is interesting to people, not just to machine algorithms.
Make Your Content Valuable
Writing appealing, relevant content is not easy, but it is important to offer your visitors something of value when they arrive at your website. Fluff will not work. There is just too much competition out there. Most people on the internet are looking for a solution to a problem. They want information that they can use. If your site provides that, then visitors will stay, look around and return in the future.
Add Images
Pictures and infographics go hand in hand with great website writing. To illustrate your words and make a visual impression, add images next to your text. Eye-catching photos will encourage visitors to linger a little longer. The longer they stay, the greater the chance that they will become a new customer.
Writing great website content takes time and practice but by keeping your writing to the point, using familiar words, putting important information first, writing with authority, writing for humans and giving your visitors valuable information will keep people on your site longer. If you have questions or need assistance, please contact us. Our team is standing by to assist and looks forward to working with you.
