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.
.gif "Keywords for Search from SEOMOZ")
With Thanks to SEOMOZ
I could write many thousands of articles on how to write excellent content but in reality there are really only a few simple rules.
- Write Often: Writing every day is really hard. But it is a habit and you can develop it and it will yield benefits.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!
- Research Your Topics. Research is everything. The Internet has tons of information out there and you should use it well.
- 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.
- 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.
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