Nine tips for content writing
Tip 1 – Surfers are in a hurry
When you begin to develop words for your website, remember that all internet users are usually in a hurry so are, by default, impatient. There are millions of websites out there and many are selling or promoting the same services. There are a few things you can do to make it easier for these very busy and important people:
1. Use bullet points – lists are easier to read
2. Write using the pyramid style – this is when you have your conclusion, news or sell at the top of the page, and then provide the background and details as the user scrolls down
3. Bold headlines – ensure your articles are clearly-titled and use bold to bring out important and salient points
Tip 2 – Unique Selling Points (USP)
This might sound like the most sensible and obvious tip, but you would not believe how many companies don’t make this their first priority. Firstly, you need to make it painfully obvious what the company business is. Many firms will use the word “solution” but this does not help users or search engines identify what the company actually does. Our favourite usage of the word solution was for a company which “provides transparent wall hygiene solutions”. They are window cleaners…
Once the nature of the business is clear, the USP (Unique Selling Point) comes into play. This explains to your users why you are different to your competitors. Make a proposition to the customer: “Buy this product, and you will get this benefit.” The proposition itself must be unique – something that competitors do not, will not or cannot offer.
Tip 3 – Services
Make sure your content focuses on your services and products and their benefits. What you do, how you do it and why it is so fabulous. This needs to be listed clearly on your homepage, and also needs to be easily found on your inside pages.
Tip 4 – Keep it simple, stupid
Keep sentences as simple as possible. Try to communicate basic facts. Leave out any complicated words and again, use bullet points as often as you can. A good trick is to write the content and then try to reduce the number of words by half! Take out anything unnecessary and any padding.
Tip 5 – Tone
The way you write should appeal to your user. A website advertising yachts should have very different users, and therefore language, to a website selling mobile phone ringtones.
Tip 6 – Make some style rules
Once you have decided on the type of content and the tone, write down a list of rules for the content. How are the headings going to appear, with capital letters at the beginning of each word, or not? Are you writing in the third person? Keep these rules saved and issue them to anybody writing for the website in the future to keep the style consistent. This should be a bible.
Tip 7 – If you aren’t sure, check
If you have doubts about your English skills, keep a dictionary next to you. We find this guide from the Economist website very helpful!
http://www.economist.com/research/StyleGuide/
Tip 8 – Proof Reading
Always get your work proof-read. If you don’t have budget for a professional copywriter/proof-reader, then make sure you get at least one other person with good English skills to go through your content before it is pushed live. Errors in your content can make the company look unprofessional, careless or plain stupid.
Tip 9 – Rest
Make sure you take a few days off after writing the first draft and then go back to it with fresh eyes. This will enable you to see a clearer picture of what you are trying to convey. There might be a better way to get your point across, so don’t rush this process.
