How to Write The Right Content For Websites
Intro
That is article is about: figuring out what people REALLY care about when they visit your website and writing your content around that.
Or – how to write the right content for websites.
Writing content for a website is not the same as writing a novel.
It isn’t the same as writing a news article.
When you are preparing to write content for a website, there is a lot to consider:
- What do the people who visit my website REALLY care about?
- What content NEEDS to be on my website for visitors to find?
- How does my website content contribute to or harm my SEO?
- What is the best way to present my website content so people will read it?
- And more!
But How do You Know if The Content You’ve Written is the Right Content?
How do you know if the content you’ve written is the best possible content?
Do the people who visit your website care about this content?
Did you address a lot of people’s major concerns about your product or service?
How do you know if the content you’ve written truly addresses the main concerns of potential buyers?
Well, that is what this article is all about – helping you figure it out.
How We Research to Discover What People REALLY Care About
If you want to find out how to write the right content for websites, you need to know what people’s true concerns are about your product or service, the BEST place to start looking is: Reviews
Reviews
Specifically, read as many negative reviews of other companies in your industry (or in general) as you can find.
The things people complain about the MOST about other companies, is EXACTLY what they truly care about in looking for a company to work with.
As an example – Law Firms
if you read negative reviews of Law Firms, you will discover quickly that by far, the #1 compliant about law firms is: Responsiveness
For some reason, lawyers don’t email, call, or even text their clients back.
This is the #1 thing people hate about lawyers.
So – if you are designing a website for lawyers, my suggestion would be you put in the headline:
We are Responsive – We Call Our Clients Back Every Time!
Because this is the #1 thing people care about, I would make that your unique selling proposition.
Why? Because it is what people care about.
Another Example – Physical Therapist
We recently designed a website for Physical Therapists.
After researching negative reviews, the top complaints were:
- I felt like a number rather than a person.
- I never got “my PT” – they were working with like six other people. I got no personalized attention.
- My physical therapist didn’t listen to me.
So what should you put on your website if you are a Physical Therapist
- You are not just a number when you work with us
- We work one-on-one with clients so you always get one-on-one attention
- We listen to our clients.
People Complain Online About What They Really Care About
You see, what most content writers do is fill up a website with “features and benefits.”
The problem is, most everyone else in your industry probably has the same features and the same benefits that you have.
This is especially true if you are a service-based business.
How much different is your Dry Cleaning than someone else’s really?
If you get the clothes clean, that is your feature and benefit. Bad news, everyone can do it.
To truly get at the things that make people afraid, or make them excited, go anywhere online and see what people complain about.
Because people complain about the thing’s others failed at that truly upset them.
If you want to write content that truly resonates with people, tell them right up front that you specialize at the things other people drop the ball on.
PRO-TIP – if you read this last section and think, “wow, I can’t put that on my website because we don’t do that. We do the same things that people complained about in their reviews every day.”
IF this is true of your business, then fix it. Explain to your team what you’ve discovered and fix it.
Then tell people on your website content that your team doesn’t make the mistakes other businesses in your industry make.
Features and Benefits – What NEEDS to Be On Your Website
Are you saying features and benefits aren’t important?
No, I am not saying that.
In fact, one of the things that is important and is often overlooked is having an eye for what NEEDS to be on a website.
This is especially true of products.
Somewhere easy to find on your website, should be your features and benefits.
Anything specification wise that someone would be interested in knowing, or need to know to make a good purchase decision should be easy to find on the website.
It just shouldn’t be the headline on the home page.
First you need to tell people what they truly care about, and address their fears and concerns.
THEN – get your products features and benefits information somewhere easy to find.
The funny thing is, for all of the features and benefits that have been written and put in the wrong place (up front and center), often when you get the point as a website visitor that you are truly interested and ready to start your research, then the content writers fail you again.
How?
By being lazy and not giving you ALL of the information you need in the product specification.
One of my writing teachers used to say about product writing:
“If you write at all, then write it all.”
Why do companies make it SO HARD for people to buy from them?
You need to make absolutely sure that any information a person needs to make a purchase decision right then and there is readily available on your website.
Don’t make visitors “hunt” for the info they need.
Is this only true of products?
Not even close. Services do the same thing when writing website content.
I can’t tell you how many service-based companies make it hard to find their phone number, book an appointment, ask a question, pay for something, or even find a pay link on their website.
When people start “hunting” for information on your website, they usually just abandon your website.
Don’t make things hard to find for people.
Summary
How to find out what people really care about so you can write the right website content:
Read negative product reviews. Specialize in the things other people have failed at.
Remember – people complain online about the things they TRULY care about
Things to Avoid When Writing Website Content
No Fluff. No Tricks. No Positioning Statements
Don’t Lead With Features and Benefits
Make Sure Everything Someone Needs to Know is Easy to Find
Write a robust features and benefits section for every product or service
Make SURE that everything someone needs to know to make a purchase on the spot is there
Make SURE all information it is easy to find and navigate through
About the Author
This Article: How to Write the Right Content for Websites was written by Tim VanDerKamp – Co-Owner of Stay Wild Digital Marketing based in Salt Lake City, serving Salt Lake City, Park City, New Orleans, and the entire United States. He is in charge of content production and creation for Stay Wild Digital Marketing. He can be reached at tim@staywilddigital.com
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