Creating winning website content is a lot of work, and requires a tremendous amount of thought and planning.
These three tips are designed to help you start off and stay on the right track as you move through the content creation process.
1. Focus on Your Visitors
Your website content should be immediately engaging — from the first words read or images seen on your home page, to the call-to-action on your contact page. Think about what visitors will gain from your site, and make it easy for them to understand this gain.
Remember, nothing is more relatable than a story — what’s yours? By sharing your genuine self and journey with others, you are helping them relate to you as an individual, rather than just another face on a webpage. Your website content should be about presenting yourself as a real person (company, organization, etc.) whose aim is to engage with real people (visitors to your site).
Focus your website content on who you are, who your audiences are, and what those audiences would find relevant and intriguing.
2. Encourage a Smooth Flow
There are two main questions you should ask when designing a user experience for your website:
- What action(s) do you want visitors to take on your site?
- What do visitors do your site wish to gain from engaging with you?
When planning the flow of your site, keep in mind that all content should be related to one or both of these questions. Extraneous information can often deter people from the desired path/outcome.
Your site map/navigation, design, and content should be created to lead visitors to your site through a series of points, and should inspire them to easily take some kind of action to engage with you.
3. Ask for Action
Oftentimes, we’re afraid to ask directly for what we want. No one wants to come across as pushy. But when it comes to websites, we need to be direct — or we risk losing potential customers / partners / readers (etc.) who can so easily be distracted or lose interest.
Don’t be afraid to ask. Do you want someone to sign up for your newsletter? Schedule a consultation with you? Buy your book? Make your calls to action clear—using direct language will encourage decisiveness and follow-through.
Tell people what they are getting. Visitors to your site should quickly be able to understand the value that engaging with you will bring. Example: “Sign up for my newsletter and receive a weekly tip on time management” or “Sign up to receive your free guide to getting along with your co-workers.”
Are you interested in working with Weaving Influence on your next website or website content project? Contact us to learn more!
Image credit: everythingpossible / 123RF Stock Photo
Margy Kerr-Jarrett enjoys reading, writing, and spending time in nature with her husband and daughter. Born and raised in Indianapolis, IN, Margy has been living in Jerusalem, Israel for the past three years.