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Writing for the web

For a lot of businesses, the most difficult part of developing an effective web site design in Mayo is providing the keyword rich and informative content to go into the site.

When clients approach me with no content (text & pictures), that want a website and want to get to the top of Google, I tend to use the analogy of a book - To think of it as if they want to produce a book and be top of the bestsellers chart.

What is the book about? What is going into the book? Who is going to read the book? What will make it a bestseller? The real answer is:- the way to get to the top of the best-sellers chart is just to write a really good book...

Why do I need good content?

By writing good content for your web design in Mayo, your site should;-

• Be easier to find in search engines
• Be well organised and logical for your customer
• Promote your products or services
• Answer all of your customer's questions
• Be easy to understand for your customer
• Be as specific as possible, not generalised
• Inspire confidence that will lead to an enquiry ('Conversion')

Writing effective web content is a good investment of your time. It will make your website work better, focus your approach and presentation of your business, and result in a solid foundation that you can use for your other marketing like brochures, leaflets, advertising and editorial.

Who are you aiming at?

Remember that you are writing the web content for people, not for search engines. You are talking directly to your customers and potential customers, so develop the information with them in mind.

Modern websites are much less formal than sites of the 1990s/early 2000s, so don't worry about perfect english. They should be written more like a conversation, which makes it easier for your customer to relate to your business, feels more trustworthy and inspires confidence.

It is best to work to a profile for the type of customers that you are aiming at in County Mayo. There is no need to try and guess this - think about specific existing customers and write it for them. Put yourself in their position and consider:-

• What information do they want?
• What questions do they have?
• How they talk - what phrases do they use?
• How will they use the website?
• How will they find the website?
• Is it easy for them to understand?
• What's the best way to sell your products or services?
• What's the best way to explain your products or services?

If you know your own business well, this should seem quite straight-forward. The act of objectively considering and writing down your customers needs and impressions, will often focus your approach to your business and even open up ideas on how it might be improved.

What should I say in my content?

When people visit websites, they don't read them front to back like a book, they read them more like a magazine. They dip in, scan the text and jump around until they find what they want.

If the visitor doesn't find what they are looking for, they can just click 'Back' and go to the next site in the list of results - which may be your competitors. From web statistics, it can be estimated that 60% of these people will not come back to your site again.

For this reason, as long as it is well organised, you can never have too much information - but you can easily have too little. We don't want waffle, as this gets in the way, but if you want to communicate 'we sell power tools' for example, you could also list the types of tools, names, brands, uses and benefits etc.

Think about the your customers, the questions they would have and any additional information that would inspire confidence in your service or product. Examples of these are:-

• Information about the business
• Your unique selling points
• The business team
• Your services in detail
• Your products in detail
• Case studies/testimonials
• How to order
• Contact details
• Hours of business
• A location map

Research the websites of your competitors for ideas, but never copy or steal content from other sites. Apart from the fact that it is bad practice and illegal, it won't necessarily help you as you are just duplicating the content, when what you really need is better content with more key words and information.

How do I get started writing my web content?

Writing good content for an effective web site in County Mayo is no easy task and should not be underestimated. To simplify the process I would always advise that the job be broken down into manageable chunks, and thought of as a lot of smaller jobs.

1. Research your competitors - both online and offline.
2. Determine your own position in the market.
3. Make a list of your unique selling points.
4. Write your customer profiles.
5. Using this information, write a heading for each section of the website.
6. Divide any large sections into smaller categories. eg. Products
7. Write each heading on a separate piece of paper
8. Write bullet-point notes for the information in each category.
9. Write each bullet point on a separate piece of paper.
10. Expand the text for each bullet point, one at a time.

At the end of the process you should end up with a good framework as a sort of content 'scrapbook'. This can then be used to write the first draft of your website, in conjunction with your customer profiles.

Note: By including your customers own terms and phrases (keywords) throughout your content, you will make the site easier to find in search engines, and also much easier to understand for your visitors.

The process usually takes several drafts to get it right. Each version should be simpler and clearer, and the final result will feel highly polished and professional.

For more information on how to write good web content I would suggest reading the book 'Letting Go Of The Words' by Janice (Ginny) Redish. www.play.com/Books/Books/4-/4159255/Letting-Go-of-the-Words/Product.html

You don't have to read it all, the first half of the book is the most informative, and it is a good reference when getting started with a new web site design in County Mayo.