Copywriting for websites – it’s one of my key services and yet often, potential customers need convincing that (a) they need better content and (b) that they should pay someone else to write it.
Here’s why good writing matters
I write all my online content for clients incorporating keywords to enhance SEO. However, SEO aside, when it comes to written content on your website, it first of all needs to actually be there, and secondly, it needs to be good.
I’m posting this because in the past week I was writing information for a client about various businesses in the tourism industry. What stunned me was that most had poorly designed websites and virtually all of them had incredibly poor content.
As a customer, I want to know:
– What services/products does your business provide?
– How can these benefit me?
– Why should I buy from you?
These are three very basic pieces of information and yet for many of the businesses concerned, I had to gather snippets of information from other websites. I couldn’t find what I needed from their own sites and even when the information was there, it was often badly written and very short. Let me remind you – one paragraph of written content on your website isn’t good. People may have shorter attention spans online, but customers want to know about your business and a few lines of information not only reduces your online visibility, it will also likely encourage most people to go elsewhere.
I like to know who I’m potentially buying from and I like to see that the business values my custom by providing me with the information I need. You might know your products and services inside out, but if I have to Google what they are to get a good explanation, then I’m probably not coming back to your site.
These sites were, as I say, mostly tourism-related, but I’ve seen the same time and time again on many others. Design may be outdated or bang up-to-date, but the content is usually brief, uninformative or just downright jargon.
As a customer, I don’t buy from such sites. As a copywriter, I urge you – invest in your online content and don’t self-sabotage your business from the outset. Your website is your global shop window and should represent you at your best, singing about your great services and working hard to convince people to buy from you. Sites that haven’t been dusted off since they went live however many years ago, just don’t cut it.
The best way to promote your brand and show people what you have to offer is by creating easy to read, informative content that’s well written and grammatically correct. It instils confidence in your customers that you’re a professional business which has taken the time to explain what you have to offer and why they should only get this from you.
Have a read of your website during your next coffee break and ask yourself honestly:
– Are you answering your customers’ questions with the content?
– Would you buy from your business based on the information that’s there?
– Would you understand what’s being offered and would you feel you could trust the company to deliver if you hadn’t heard of it before?
Let me know how you get on …