Guest blogger: Ann Lillie, Vine Street Communications
Imagine for a moment that you’re a visionary business owner with big goals for your website. (Sounds familiar, no?) You want your website to make your business look credible. Drive more leads. Dramatically increase your sales, so you can kiss it all good-bye and move to beachfront property in Tahiti…
Hold the sunscreen.
Even if you’re a strong writer, there are many reasons to think twice before writing your own content. If results are important to you, investing in effective website content can be as important as investing in good website design and functionality.
Here are five reasons that professional copywriting can improve your website ROI:
1. Driving traffic to your website.
First things first. If you’re hearing a little voice in your head telling you, “If I build it, they will come…”, tell that voice to stop. You need a plan for getting people to visit your website.
There are lots of ways you could do it, including website marketing and advertising. But hey, why not take on the big dog?
Search engines.
Approximately 85% of all website visits come through search engines. And while many factors affect your website’s search engine ranking, your content is right up there.
How big of a role does content play? Well, that’s hotly debated. But there is general consensus that it’s a significant factor.
In 2009, SEOmoz conducted a study of top search engine optimization experts to get their opinions on what affects Google’s super-secret ranking algorithm. Among the expert panel, there was moderate agreement that having “substantive, unique content on a page,” as well as strategically using keywords, had very high importance in a website’s ranking in search engine results.
Good website content appeals to both search engines and customers.
If increasing visits to your website is important to you and you’re unclear how to write relevant content, invest in an expert who does.
2. Building trust.
So, you’ve figured out how to get people to visit your website. (Good job.) The next obstacle is getting them to call you. Make that purchase. Sign up for your mailing list. Whatever you need them to do to make Tahiti a faint possibility.
One of the main reasons people leave websites without as much as a peep is they don’t trust you.
Ah, trust. So hard to attain. So easy to lose.
There are many aspects of a website that can build trust ― for example, having a clean, professional design that doesn’t look like your cousin built it on his spare computer in the garage. Hey, that can build trust.
Good content can help you build trust too. In this case, good content is in the details (as one of my clients says, “the mind crap”). I define good content as website copy that is:
- Accurate and relevant. Before you start loading your website with product information, pricing data, calendars or other variable data, develop a plan for how you’re going to keep your content up-to-date. Out-of-stock items, mispriced products, and event calendars from 2008 do not instill confidence.
- Consistent, consistent, consistent. A good rule of thumb is, don’t make your customers think. Use the same tone and “voice” across your website. Use consistent terminology and capitalization, so your visitors don’t get frustrated or confused. When your content is inconsistent, you send a message that you don’t pay attention to details. And if you don’t pay attention to your website details, why should a potential customer believe you’re going to take care of his or her details?
- Written in plain English. For the record, using English words does not count as writing in plain English. Your content should not sound like it was translated from foreign language software. Your content should not include big stretches of fancy words that say absolutely nothing. Your words need to make sense. To a sixth grader. To your mother. To people other than your business partners. Why? Because friendly, plain English makes you more approachable. Likeable. Buyable.
3. Tapping into your customers’ needs and desires.
One of the biggest mistakes that business owners can make when they write their own content is positioning everything from their own perspective. I often hear, “I’m too close to my own story.”
Good, powerful content is customer-centric content.
It connects with customers and compels them to want to learn more about you. It demonstrates that you understand what painful challenges they face or what big dreams that want to fulfill.
Good content is not about you. (If you’re even thinking about leading your website with a giant “About Us” section, do not pass go.)
Instead, good content focuses on what matters to your customers. It’s information they care about and messages that resonate with them. At the end of the day, your content should be about connecting with people and inspiring them to do something.
4. Minimizing information overload.
People process information differently on the web. They scan. They jump. They look for content that grabs their attention: headlines, sub-heads, bold words, lists. Typically, they don’t read word-for-word. And they certainly don’t want cluttered, overwhelming websites ― that’s another big reason people abandon websites.
Good website content is user-friendly content.
It follows best practices in website writing. It’s easy for people to process on their computer screens or mobile devices. It’s light and airy and void of huge blocks of text. It doesn’t overwhelm people.
It’s a different technique than writing for print.
5. Increasing conversions.
All of these aspects of content ― relevance, trustworthiness, customer focus, ease of use ― can contribute to conversions. And really, isn’t that what you’re striving for? Sure, it’s great if potential customers visit your website, but it’s even better if your desired customers take action.
Speaking of which, good content compels action.
It’s amazing how a simple message in your website content (such as contact us today, order now, sign up here, download our report, donate now) can get people to do things. These “calls to action” are a subtle, but effective technique that skilled website writers use.
The bottom line? Even if you’re a strong writer, collaborating with a professional on effective website content can help you improve your ROI… and put you that much closer to sipping cocktails on the beach.
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