You've thought long and hard about the design of your business website. You know how you want it to look. But what do you want it to say?
What you write on your website can make or break your business, so it's vitally important to get it right in order to build relationships with your customers, sell your products, and promote your brand. These 9 tips will give you the strategies you need to ensure you're connecting with your audience and putting the right information out there for search engines to find.
Keep It Simple
It's understandable to want to cram all the necessary information into one page so the customer sees everything they need to know right away. However, that can slow down the page loading, ruin the customer's first impression of you, and make your website appear busy and unfocused. Instead, you should make sure you have a simple, consistent style so your audience can make their way easily from page to page on your site. Ensure that your navigational menu is on every page of your website so that no matter where your customer finds you, they can easily get where they want to go in a few clicks.
Keep It Concise
Reading a website isn't at all like reading a book. Instead of reading through pages of text, customers hunt for the information they need, and if they can't find it quickly after a hurried scan or glance, they will go elsewhere. So, use short sentences, break up any sections of text with white space, and add other useful textual tools, like bullet points and numbered lists, to prevent your site from looking monotonous.
Go Multimedia
Another great way to break up blocks of text is with the use of high-quality images or video. This also gives customers a break from reading, increasing the amount of time the user stays on your site. Video marketing can be a great way to demonstrate the unique benefits of your product to customers, and will also help to improve your SEO rankings.
Use Straightforward Language
Put yourself in the customers' shoes and use the language they use. Don't use obscure words or business jargon. Don't be pretentious or overly scientific. Visitors to your website are looking for terms that are familiar to them and words they can find connection with.
Use These Tools To Help You Write
When it comes to writing web content, don't go it alone. Use these helpful online tools in order to get the most out of your writing:
1. Subjective vs Objective - a blog with information about common grammar issues and rules.
2. Grammarix - a quick and free online way to check your grammar.
3. Essayroo - a writing agency that can assist with editing and proofreading.
4. Easy Word Counter - a free online way to check your word count.
5. Boomessays - a guide to writing, as recommended by the Huffington Post in Dissertation Writing Help.
6. Citation Generator - a free way to understand citing references
7. UKWritings - a writing community for professionals and students
8. State Of Writing - a great list of resources and writing guides
9. My Writing Way - a blog-based guide to writing
Consider The Search Engine
How do your customers find you? Most of them will come via a search engine, which means it's absolutely vital that you have keywords on your site which will allow the search engine to index your website. Think of your potential customer: what might they be searching for to come across your site? Then ensure you put the phrases and words they are looking for on your site, in the appropriate context so they can find what they need.
Update Regularly
You don't necessarily have to put out all your content right at the start. In fact, it's better if you introduce regular updates to the site. This will encourage your customers to make return visits, and you can announce the new content on social media or your mailing lists to drive your audience to the site.
Check Your View
So, your website looks great on your own desktop. That's wonderful, but your audience isn't necessarily using the same computer, browser, or setup that you do. Check how your website looks on mobile devices, in different browsers, and using special aides such as screen readers.
Consider Credibility
“Your text and your design should complement each other and look great together. If your website looks appealing and suitable and the text is readable and clear, you'll be perceived as more credible and as someone who understand what their customers need,” suggests Sam Kites, web master at Academized. Give past achievements, press mentions, customer testimonials, and important milestones their place on your site. Show off your expertise and your product with a website that deserves it and will drive customers to you.
You've created a product and a brand you believe in. Making sure your website maximizes your potential earnings will be crucial to your success as an online business, and now you have the strategies to make that possible.
Mary Walton is an editor at Australian Assignment Service, and content manager at Australian Help. She also blogs on SimpleGrad, her website for students on education.