31

Jan

Why worry about good writing for your website?

When creating (or redesigning) your business’ website, design and code are vital. You want to immediately impress and draw in visitors with your site’s punchy and professional appeal. But by focusing only on the site’s development, color scheme and fonts, the site won’t achieve the success you want. You must take the time to create  high-quality copy for every page.

Writing matters to website design and, ultimately, its success. Great copy makes your site better by:

1. Dividing information logically and intuitively

If the site’s information isn’t organized, it’s difficult to read. This means that visitors will leave before they are persuaded to buy your product or service. When the information is divided and distilled intuitively, visitors will want to read every page — and return again and again. These visitors are most likely to share your ideas with others or purchase what you’re selling.

2. Determining search engine optimization

Your copy influences its search engine optimization — and whether or not searchers can find the site. Without properly placed keywords, your site may be beautiful, but will not show up in search results.

3. Showing the reader who you are and how you do business

With great writing, you demonstrate to readers that you have a great attention to detail, know your business and have a professional attitude. Also, clear descriptions of your business’ services, products and mission will attract the best prospective clients.

4. Selling your products and ideas 

The site’s design and useability attract the visitor initially. The words are what seal the deal. With excellent, benefit-orientated writing, visitors will become promoters of your blog posts and business. Ultimately, the writing turns visitors into customers.

Good writing is vital for your site’s success. Make sure you are putting the time and effort into creating great copy. If you aren’t sure where to start or need help creating insightful content, be sure to hire an expert.

117 days ago Short URL Comments

Business Writing

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28

Oct

5 Reasons to Start that Internal Blog

Blogging is contributing to a conversation – a conversation that’s happening with or without your input. Internal blogs are platforms for thoughts, ideas and perspectives pertaining to vital conversations at your business.

Whether you’re a professional, supervisor or executive, you have an abundance of knowledge, information and experiences. Blogging benefits your business by allowing you to share your thoughts, ideas and perspectives easily. You can tell anecdotes, recommend an insightful book, offer tips or address pressing concerns.

While an internal blogs’ return on investment cannot be measured quantitatively, blogging benefits your business by:

  1. Increasing morale and engagement: Your employees and co-workers will appreciate your candid discussion of their concerns and questions. Use an upbeat and positive tone – your optimistic attitude will be infectious. By sharing your advice and experiences, you’ll promote collaboration and equip your readers to tackle similar challenges more easily.
  2. Creating a feeling of connectedness: Employees and co-workers throughout the world will read your posts, and contribute their thoughts by commenting. By addressing internal concerns, you’ll promote transparency and openness. Also, you can blog about the corporation’s long-term objectives and projects or relate the business’s work to important events and trends, giving employees insight into the importance of their contributions.
  3. Raising awareness and promote change: By blogging strategically, your message will grow stronger throughout the organization. For example, if you are an executive implementing a new sales strategy, dedicate your blog to outlining the strategy’s goals, tips for improving sales tactics or stories about individual employee’s experiences selling under the new strategy.
  4. Showcasing your business’ resources and opportunities: Promote your corporation or business internally by highlighting why it’s a great place to work, exciting new opportunities and resources for employees to leverage. Blogging is one of the best ways to strengthen your business’ brand internally, which bolsters how your customers perceive your brand.
  5. Keeping employees coming back for more: Insightful and thoughtful blog posts will peak readers’ interest, so they’ll want to keep coming back again and again. Over time, your blog will become a hub for important information, resources and conversation.

Internal blogs help businesses grow, fostering more productive and knowledgeable work environments. Give your blog the attention it deserves; high-quality content is vital for it’s success. If you aren’t sure where to start or need help creating insightful content, be sure to hire an expert.

Have you read a business’ internal blog that impressed you? What did you like most about it? What made it successful?

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212 days ago Short URL Comments

Business Writing/Writing

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18

Oct

Keywords and Quality

website

Image via Wikipedia

Bob Bly – a successful copywriter and internet marketer – recently wrote a blog entry “Articles By the Pound” about the challenges of writing articles and content for websites.

Bly argues that instead of opting for keyword-intensive articles that are churned out quickly and inexpensively, website owners and internet marketers should insist on high-quality and interesting articles.

SEO, keyword development and search analytics are very important for ensuring that your website gets found. Without the right search terms, your website, intranet page or blog won’t ever get found by your readers.

However, when writers focus solely on keywords, the language seems forced and, often, generic. Your site may be found more often, but the readers probably aren’t impressed with your content.

How can you improve your website’s content quality and still get found? 

  • Develop an extensive bank of keywords and search terms. Aim for 250 words for an entire website and 50 words for an article. By having a larger bank of options, your keywords won’t be repeated over and over.
  • Write the site’s content WITHOUT looking at the keywords. Write interesting, well-organized articles that speak directly to your audience so they’ll keep coming back to your site for more. This type of writing takes skill and talent, so make sure that it’s valued.
  • Review the website’s copy and replace any words that have a keyword synonym.
  • Review the website’s copy once more and check that you have at least one or two keywords per paragraph. Every title should include a keyword, as well as the footer and page description.

To craft a readable, clear and highly interesting website, your top priority should be the content’s quality and your second priority the keywords. People will easily find your articles and site – plus, those who are seriously interested in your thoughts will be impressed by your knowledge, understanding of your audience and clarity!

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222 days ago Short URL 1 Comment

Business Writing/Writing

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14

Feb

Writing for your (website) reader

Web copy is tricky. It’s much different than other types of writing and vital for creating a lasting impression for your customers, clients, employees or any other visitor.

So, what separates the good from the bad? General advice for good web copy is to converse with your readers and do not talk at them.

Sounds simple, right? But once you start to craft the words, it becomes painfully obvious just how complex it is. You want to converse, but you also want to get your message across, write professionally and stylishly. How can all this be done?

I find that this rule becomes a bit easier when I break it down into a few parts:
First of all, figure out who your reader is. Write a list of your customers’ main characteristics and consider what they are looking for when coming to your site.

Then, outline the services that your website provides (information, business info, articles, amazing photos, recipes, etc.) and nail down how these benefit your readers. Keep in mind that almost all internet readers have a super short attention span and want interesting information quickly. Your list of benefits should be direct, straight to the point and compelling.

Once you begin to write the copy, try to keep the reader’s and their interests as the main subject of all sentences.

Let’s say your website advertises a lake home for rent, emphasize the the home’s benefits for the reader, not the qualities that you find appealing.

Consider this sentence: “Our beautiful lake home is located on 200 feet of private shore.” It’s appealing, but can more effectively engage the reader.
Converse with your reader: “You and your family will create cherished memories playing, swimming and relaxing on your beautiful private beach.” This sentence addresses the reader, who most likely has a family and appeals to their desire for a memorable vacation.

This important component of web copy will help you on your way to creating killer web content.

467 days ago Short URL 1 Comment

Writing

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