Creating Content for your Website
Before we look at the copy, remember that once you have defined your site strategy and structure, you should also have a think about whether your site will require any interactivity (see interactivity for more), any Ecommerce requirements and also how you wish to update the website and your attitude to future proofing. Once you have a very clear idea of your requirements, it is time to decide whether you will engage a web designer or build the site yourself.
If you are going to work with a web designer (which is usually the best option) then remember to provide as clear and specific a brief as possible. Web designers will need to know all the key details and specifically functional requirements in order to compile an accurate time/cost quotation. This guide is on the actual website itself so no further mention will be made of the process of researching and finding a web designer.
The Key Words...
One of the key stages in creating a successful website is the copy. The text is much more important to the success of many websites than the images - even for product based sites where a good quality photo is essential.
Why? Because the majority of visitors to the majority of sites come through search engine referrals - and so content (or more specifically well-written content) is key.
One of the important questions to ask is whether you want to write the content yourself, or whether you will get an expert copywriter in to do the job for yourself. And if you answered 'yes' to wanting to write the content yourself, the next question is around whether you should write it yourself, or get an expert in.
Considerations of budget will come into play here, plus also how easy or hard it would be to write well on your subject - if it is niche and requires specialist knowledge then there is a good case to write the content yourself; if it is a generic topic or large market and you can simply provide the key ideas and communicate what you want your web copy to achieve, then getting a copy writer may be the answer.
Either way, here are some tips on creating good and compelling copy on your website:
- After writing every paragraph, read it through and consider whether it would make sense to a customer
- Once you have written a whole page, read through it as though you were the customer, and think of any questions or clarifications that you would naturally have, and take action to either answer them in the copy or link through to the relevant place(s) on the site that address those questions
- Keep copy short and snappy - paragraphs should be much shorter than offline
- Try not to have more than a couple of hundred words of content per page - people will get bored and reading online is harder and people have less attention span than when reading a book
- Use appropriate imagery (see the next article)
- Use bullet point lists to break up text and create easily digestable chunks
- Be clear and be specific in what you write
- Avoid jargon and if you use terminology explain it the first time you use it
- Proofread everything you write - bad spelling and grammar can lose you sales
- Create clear calls to action within your content - if you are trying to sell a product then make it easy to work out how to actually purchase the product or find out more on how to do so!
Writing the content for your business site may take some time, especially if it is a large site, and you should not rush this stage as it is so important. The key consideration is that you communicate clearly to your target audience, and that all content is original to the site.
Once the content is done and dusted, it's time to start thinking about Choosing Images for your website.
This guide to building a business ecommerce site is by Clarity Media Ltd
Quick Links
Researching the opportunity... Site strategy... Site structure... Interactivity... Ecommerce... Future proofing and updating... Creating content... Choosing images... Site build... Launch... Measuring success... Building traffic: free methods... Building traffic: paid methods... Onwards and upwards
Home page: building a business website guide
Quick Links
Researching the opportunity... Site strategy... Site structure... Interactivity... Ecommerce... Future proofing and updating... Creating content... Choosing images... Site build... Launch... Measuring success... Building traffic: free methods... Building traffic: paid methods... Onwards and upwards
Home page: building a business website guide
