It’s one of the neglected steps of the website building process, but writing high-quality content is just as important as a good website design – it’s an integral part of your company’s message that speaks directly to your customer. Today I sat on calls with two different clients discussing their website copy, and during each call we talked about content as it relates to:
- Search engine visibility
- Customer education and needs
- Tone and voice of the company
The last discussion turned out to be the most important – how do you want to tell your story? Your website copy needs to resonate with your audience, so when we think of writing copy, instead of looking inward, my advice is to begin by looking through the eyes of your customer.
Know Your Customer
Depending on what you’re writing website copy for – a fashion product, restaurant, technical service, you name it – you want to make sure you are identifying first and foremost with your customer. How would your customer refer to your product or service? Do they use acronyms when looking for your service or do the abbreviations annoy them? Why are they going to your website? To order products or to find out updates and specials?
Before you start writing your content, think about these questions and write some of your own.
Personality & Image
What image have you created for your company? If you’re representing an upscale corporate image, then informal chatter in your copy will not align with your customers. Take the questions you asked about your customers and adjust it with the internal personality of your company; this will create your distinct voice.
You may have noticed that our personality is one of education and simplifying technology questions that are important to today’s business owner. This means that we try to clarify terms and questions related to important client issues, but with a friendly, easy-to-understand tone. [Did we achieve our objective? - comment below!]
The most important thing to remember is Your Voice needs to Connect with Your Customer.
Thanks for the good commentary on “company voice.” A powerful narrative creates the lasting connection with a customer. And the narrative voice must be clear, consistent and uniquely your own. Just like any good story, it should make the customer feel that it is told to him/her directly and personally. (Think how a good radio show gives you the sense that it is speaking only to you) So you must begin by finding your own story and then put it in a web friendly form. The web is not an electronic brochure. It is a unique medium with its own aesthetic. Exploit its capabilities — video, audio, animation and lean text.
Ted, Thank you for this thoughtful comment. I really like that you pointed out that the web is unique medium I agree and we take this into consideration through writing and design.
Jennifer