I had a conversation with a client today about him developing content for his website. He wanted to sit down with me and work out a website design strategy and explain the business and show his vision. I listened patiently as he spoke at length about his business and where he wanted to go.  Search Engine Optimisation is the art of getting ranking for your keywords and is called SEO for short but below is a tale of how you need to begin at least with writing content!

He was very convincing and in fact the product he is selling is interesting and unique to the Irish market. When he paused for breath I said I didn’t want to meet him this week and thought he should write the content himself.  I was happy to go off and get the website design started but I really wanted him to get into the habit of writing his own content and not rely on me.

There was a short uncomfortable  pause which I filled by saying he had a CMS and he could write all this content himself right now and we could shape and mould this in advance of his soft launch in a few weeks.

I sensed a bit of discomfort at his end of the phone  and I  explained that there was no magic wand for getting his message on to a website. He just needed to sit down and type.  I told him it would be hard at the start but all he needed to do was develop the habit of writing a little every day.

When I am writing content I close all other windows put on some nice music and distractions open the editor (usually in WordPress) and start pecking away at the keyboard.  If you are passionate about your business then this should not be a problem.

But We Need To Meet?

I have no problem meeting people to discuss their project and website design plans. But let me let you into a little secret. My job isn’t to be passionate about your product. I will work on the design and development and deliver the message but you are the person who has the passion about it.  I mean I have created a website the Irish Lactation Consultancy Association.  But I don’t care about lactation or the sky above it.  They write their own content and they are happy with that approach.

If you can’t write 3-400 passionate words on your business then I think you might be already in trouble. The website designer isn’t going to do this for you. I have writing skills but I am not going to overnight develop the product knowledge and the energy to write 7-800 words on your business. I will end up referring back to you anyway.  However I bet I could become and expert on your business area and what is happening for the purposes of writing website content pretty quickly by doing solid research and using the many tools out there for developing content.

But I Can’t Write Very Well!

If you can’t write very well then record it and get a content writer to write it for you. Hire a writing professional,  get someone with excellent writing skills to create the content. But in the first instance at least try and create it yourself. Business websites do not win Pulitzer for their flowery language. Simple is good, complex scares people away. If you are still reluctant to do this then use the people above. But I bet you can create at least content that shows you care.

Magic Wand Inc.

Magic Wand Inc doesn’t exist when it comes to creating content.  If you develop the discipline of wiring you can create a rich and useful book of work on your topic.  The fictional graph above is based somewhat on my recent post on how prolific some of the professional bloggers are.  Now the content isn’t the be all and all of your site and internet marketing strategy but without content you are missing a leg on the table.

Search and Keywords

As a regular reader of SEOMOZ their recent blog post  on keywords should be  mentioned in this post.  Keywords and content are a critical part of the pie in search and if you want to be found it makes sense to have content and keywords that people search for with the right mix of keywords and also good articles.  For instance this article is focused on writing content  for your website and how best to approach it.

It isn’t about magic wands as these are for magicians and that isn’t my business.

 

I could write many thousands of articles on how to write excellent content but in reality there are really only a few simple rules.

1. Write Often:  Writing every day is really hard.  But it is a habit and you can develop it and it will yield benefits.
2. Write Well – make sure your spelling is good and your sentences readable.  I make tons of spelling mistakes but a bit of proof reading does show up your errors.
3. Make it Visually Appealing.  Use good graphics and images to show your message.  I took the graphics and presentations in this post from other sources and they were freely available.
4. Write for your Customer.  Think of what the person landing on your page is looking for and write with this in mind,  Ask your customers!
5. Research Your Topics.  Research is everything.  The Internet has tons of information out there and you should use it well.
6. Keep On Trying to Get Better.  Get feedback from people who care and work on improving your writing.  Revisit old articles and make them better.
7. Go Back to Step 1

What do you think?

Update:  One week later despite much prompting he hasn’t written a word of content.  Nor does he want to hire a writer.  It will magically appear for him.

Come Friday I usually try and close up my PC and laptop and I tend to use my iPhone and iPad instead of lugging a laptop around with me.

Often while watching TV during weekend nights I am ,video flicking idly through web pages, social media and online news sites.  With a typical laptop experience I enjoy rich graphics and colour but when using a mobile device my demands different.  I have a smaller screen but I still want an enjoyable experience.  As the device is at my fingertips I also want a light yet rewarding experience online.

Speed of Delivery

Speed of delivery for me is critical.  At night time my kids are often using the Internet as well and more often than not streaming video and games so I want my content quickly and light.  I don’t really want that big image or the flash slide show.  Give me clean typography and crisp text.  I actually want that from my desktop browser as well but I get more finicky when on a smaller screen.  If I am on the move and restricted to 3G or even worse Edge the limited number of HTTP requests can really drag my transfer speed down.

Mobile Theme

Give me the mobile theme.  I really appreciate getting presented the mobile theme and not the full up theme.  I want clearer navigation and crisper menus when on the move.  Get me the message quickly.

If there is an image that contributes to the message then by all means deliver it but deliver it fast!.  People that are using mobile devices are content junkies.  If you can get us good graphics and video at the same speed please do so but not at the expense of speed.

Are You Losing Customers?

Don’t lose valuable customers.  Look around you on the streets and bars and the Smartphone is dominating the market now.  People really don’t use these for calls,  they use them for a host of things and getting online is top of that list.  If you want a ‘lite’ experience and want these people to read your information then think of this  mobile user.  We are an impatient lot.  Much more than the desktop user who can Alt-Tab to another window while your site is loading.

WordPress Mobile Theming

As I thought about this article I realised that I didn’t even have a mobile theme for this blog.  So how long di it take me to remedy the situation?  30 seconds.  I downloaded the WPTouch mobile plugin and installed it in a few seconds and then went to my iPhone to see what it looked like.  And it did exactly what I wanted.  Nice crisp presentation of the blog posts and the date that they were written.  Exactly what a mobile user who was blog hunting would want.  You can do similar work with one of the many free themes that are available for WordPress users.

Detecting Mobile Devices

There are many ways of detecting mobile devices so that when they do come to a static HTML site they get directed to the mobile device.  The above plugin has the code inbuilt to the php and does it transparently which is nice.  However your site may not always be WordPress and need a different design approach and in some cases even a separate site.  However if you don’t have the budget or time for this then the best thing to do is focus on a number of devices and create specific code to recognise the incoming device.

You can then adjust to accommodate  the  screen size to reflect the device.  Use the right CSS can make the mobile browsing experience that bit easier.  Your visitors will thank you

Other Options

Of course you can also get more imaginative and take more time by having a mobile sub domain and a separate site to reflect this or serve different templates (which the plugin above does) or as we are seeing more and more adpopt a more fluid layout.  Fluid is possibly going be what is going to domiante the market as mobile becomes the first device of choice.

Planning Your Site - Flexible Design and Responsive Layout

If you are thinking mobile from day one in your design then your first stop checklist should think of items like CSS choice, and Scaleable Vector Graphics (SVG).  SVG is the new kid on the block and is now a W3C standard that when used well can help you deliver graphics without compromising speed and proportions of images.  It takes a bigger investment in design but if your user community is a mobile one then the payback will be worth it.

Both flexible layout and responsive design deliver the experience irrespective of the design or the actual screen being displayed.  It takes a thoughtful approach and is just not changing fonts but deciding on what the delivery experience is.

Sadly Interent Explorer seems the least responsive on many counts here so again there is the added challenge for the designer to be conscious of the myriad of browser versions that are out there and the risk (or more correctly fact) that depending on the end use, browser and display size your client base will be seeing different content in different orientations and screen sizes.

So Confusing – Where to Begin

Realistically without a significant investment of time (read money) it is difficult to deliver the perfect experience to everybody but some market research of your customer base can help decide where to focus and deliver the best experience there.  Ultimately the mobile market will haea larger and larger piece of the pie so you need to be conscious of this and keep apace with the hcanges.

 

You may ask why should you have a privacy policy.  It sounds all legal eagle and complicated .  But even though you may be dumping your email address all over the internet many other people aren’t as free.  They still (and in some cases are right) think that you might take their email and contact details and use them for the wrong reasons,  And the reason for this is because lots of people do!

Well if you have a contact page and actually are getting contacted then you are at a minimum collecting email addresses.  You should tell people what you are doing with their data.  Some people may worry about what you  with this information.  People hate spam and they don’t want to be getting more crap offer email from you pushing some special offer.

Your WordPress blog privacy policy isn’t meant to be a legal document but if you were to ever use their email address and got a complaint from someone at least you could point to this and say it was there.

I recommend saying in your auto response when someone does contact you what you plan to do with their data  or at least point to a link where they can read some more.

For ecommerce a more rigorous document is needed as you are then handling personal information and even if it is invisible to you you should at least specify this in terms that the layman would understand.

If you are confused then write the words We will not do anything with your data is a good start!.  Then build on this and get a more comprehensive statement over time.  It needn’t come together in one fell swoop and ask others to review it and look at what other sites do and get some ideas.  Jot down a few lines and put the link on your website’s footer.  People may not read it but when they see it they will at least know you were thinking about it and have some responsibility.

But I May Want to Do Something with Their Data!

Well if this is your plan then again state this up front and in your privacy policy.  Also give them an option to opt out.  People will opt out and now you should make the option to Opt In the default so that it isn’t pre-ticked on the form that they use to put in their detail.  It is devious to have a book ticked with an opt in.