Content Workbook

Writing content for your website is a tricky business. You think it’ll be easy, that you can do it in half a day, but it can quickly become the bane of your life for weeks. The guide below includes 6 tips you can use to make it a little easier

Don’t write for you, write for me.

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Ok maybe not me personally, but write for your audience. It sounds obvious and you may think you’re already doing this but I want you to take a step back and really think about whether you’re truly writing for your audience, or for yourself.

 💡 We like to imagine our users sitting at their computers, with a hot cup of tea, reading our websites word for word. No distractions, nothing but whale music in the background with their focus completely on us.

Let’s think about the realities of someone reading your website. They’re either at work, at home or somewhere in between. Things going on around them and they’re most likely multitasking, whether that’s watching TV, looking out for their bus— or their boss.

They don’t have the time to figure out whether the website they’re on is for them or not. And if they’re unsure, they’ll hit the close button and you may never see them again.

So make sure when you’re writing the content for your website, you’re making it ridiculously clear who it’s for and why they should care.

The goal of your website isn’t to toot your own horn. It’s to solve some kind of problem or need for someone else. So write as if you’re talking to them, not pitching yourself at a networking event.

Make It Scannable

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Web users don’t read websites, they scan them. So when you write your content try to keep paragraphs very short (between 2-3 sentences) and make good use of visual markers like sub-headings and bullet points to break the content up a bit.

Ideally you should be able to skim down the page quickly and get the gist of what you’re trying to say. Then people can decide whether they want to go back and read in more detail.

Essentially what you’re trying to do is move away from having a block of text on your website and turn it into something more engaging.

Structure your content so it is easy to skim.

Change your ‘We’s’ and ‘I’s’ to ‘You’s’

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The most useful trick you can use to make sure you’re writing for your audience is making sure there are more ‘You’s’ in your text than ‘I’s’or ‘We’s’

Every time you hear yourself saying something like

“We’ve been established in the industry for 5 years”

try to change it around to something like

“You will be working with someone you can trust, we’ve been around for 5 years so we’ll be there for you when you need us”

There will still be a time and a place for saying We but make sure the focus of the sentence is around You.

Remember, us humans like talking about ourselves. We’re all guilty of it (I’m doing it right now!) If you can be one of the few who really talks to your customers and not at them, you’ll stand out a mile.

A good rule of thumb is to try and use the word “you” twice as much as the words “me” and “I” or “we” and “us”.

Write before the design starts

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Most people think that they need to see their website designed before they can add content to it. After all, how do you know what to write unless you can see where it’s going?

💡 The problem with writing your content after the design has been completed is that you’re not going to write what’s best for your website, or worse, what you write won’t fit into the template and you’ll need to get the whole page redesigned.

You’ll get a far better result by preparing your content before design begins. Your designer will then be able to use your wording as inspiration for the design. Maybe they’ll read it and think it’ll work better as an infographic or an illustration. They’ll be able to design for your content rather than creating generic templates.

Don’t try too hard to please Google

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Google is pretty smart these days. And it’s only going to get smarter. It knows when you’re ‘writing for SEO’ and may actually penalize you for stuffing your content with keywords—even if they’re relevant. Just write what you want your visitors to read and you can’t go wrong.

Don’t try to be too clever

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Finally, try to write in the most basic way possible. Don’t try to be clever. People read pretty quickly on the web. So if they have to decode what you’re trying to say, they’re not going to stick around for long.

When you’re writing your content, pretend you’re at a party and you’re trying to explain it to someone who’s had a couple of glasses of wine/beer/schnapps.

For example: Sell your house within 1 month or your money back is a lot easier to understand than: Close the deal on your place of residence within a 1 month time period or we shall refund your money.

Basically, if you find yourself reaching for the thesaurus, don’t. Everybody likes to sound smart but don’t make the mistake of alienating your customers.

In Conclusion

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In conclusion, effective website content writing involves putting your audience first and understanding their needs and preferences. By writing for your readers, making the content scannable, using “you” statements, and prioritizing clarity over complexity, you can create engaging and user-friendly content.

Additionally, writing before the design phase allows for better alignment between content and design.

Remember, the goal is to solve problems and provide value to your audience, so focus on creating content that resonates with them.

By following these principles and organizing your content thoughtfully, you can create a compelling website that captures and retains the attention of your visitors.

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