Don’t make the mistake of thinking that tweaking your business profile is all that’s needed to get good content for your website. If a writer agrees to do this for you, then you should fire your writer.
Website content needs to be crafted to achieve your business goals – which is what an experienced web writer can do for you. But this needs substantial planning before the writing can start. Ask your writer what he/she needs from you; if these 10 boxes aren’t ticked, you may need to look for another writer:
10 steps of preparation for effective website content
- Understand your business, your USP and the needs of your target market.
- Understand your website goals – what do you want to achieve?
- Plot the journey of the user through the site and develop a site map.
- Understand your company’s verbal branding (language, tone, style, power words).
- Decide on key messaging that will persuade, convince and convert.
- Decide on the calls to action that will drive conversion.
- Do the keyword research (usually done by an SEO specialist). Don’t leave this out to save money; without keyword rich content, you have no hope of being visible on the Internet.
- Research competitor websites – what are they saying and how can you improve on this?
- Develop the positioning statement that clearly encapsulates what the website is about.
- Collate and plan the content for each page.
Now, let the creation begin!
