Writing content for your small business website

Writing content for your website is probably the last thing on your to-do list and you know it won’t get done unless you do it. Furthermore, if you had the time, you probably wouldn’t know where to start. Well, you can take a deep breath because I have jotted down some helpful tips for your to get started, and before long—check off that task from your list.

How-To Approach Writing Your Content

Needs of Your Consumer: Think of your website as a tool for your consumers to educate themselves on who you are, what you offer, and how your products will satisfy their need(s). The best way to do this is to clearly communicate your product offerings, provide your best sample work, and potentially even provide helpful video content.

Writing Style: Let your writing take on a personality that best represents your business and your brand. Your brand’s personality is one thing that can set you apart from your competitors. Once you have decided on which style best suits your brand, make sure to carry it throughout each element of written copy.

Consistent Voice: As you write the content to your new small business website, I would encourage you to consider the tone of voice that you are writing in. If your brand voice is helpful in nature and has an energy about it, then you should try to keep that consistent throughout the website copy. If your brand voice is informative and clear, then be sure that each sentence of website copy is written in the same voice.

Types of Content

Homepage: Your homepage typically will be the first page your audience will see. Most consumers will decide within less than a minute if they want to invest any more time looking at the rest of your site. Your homepage should include:

• An Introduction  – Who you are
• Product Highlight – How your products solves your customers problem
• Call to Action – How the consumer can purchase or make contact with you.

Your homepage should be engaging, informative and easy to navigate. In the same way, it shouldn’t have any unnecessary information. If it adds a barrier to purchase, that will simply confuse your customer and cause them to to to another website. Make sure you are only asking one thing of your customer. For instance, you could ask them to call for more info, purchase a product or read a blog post. Whatever you decide it should be clear.

About Page: Take advantage of your business’ “About” page to show off what is unique about your product offerings. What makes you different than the rest of your competitors? Some things to highlight:

• What your business believes in
• Which customers typically benefit most from your product/service
• How your business is positively affecting its customer and community through testimonials

If you don’t have an edge that sets you apart, then people will be less inclined to purchase from you. Another thing to keep in mind is that your customers are all about themselves. The more you can show how your product or service makes their life better, the better off you will be. When writing content for your about page, don’t be afraid to let your personality come through because today’s buyers desire authenticity. Just keep in mind that it is more about the company than it is about the personal life of the owner.

Goods and Services: I’m certain that you will either have an e-commerce store on your site or a services page. Typically, this is the reason that people come to your site. Today’s educated consumers are looking for easy to access information about your products so that they can compare their options. It is imperative to have:

• A quality product description
• An Engaging product photo
• Informative product reviews

If you don’t have the necessary information for your customer to research and compare, they will count your brand out. Photos of your goods and services are important; they have the ability to persuade. Having photos that don’t look professional can quickly lower the perception of your products.

Contact Page: Give your audience a way to contact you. This is a fail-safe way of building trust in your customers. A contact page is nearly on every website that exsists on the internet (if they don’t, then there may be some shady stuff going down–don’t say I didn’t warn you). By providing your audience with:

• Physical location
• Phone number
• Email address
• Hours of opperation

you will increase your visibility metrics with major search engines. Some small business websites are even integrating live chat features. This helps them to address any questions or concerns about their product offerings.

Warranties and Legal Words: Lastly, I would ask you to consider including a page that outlines your product warranty, returns and privacy policies. Including this information on your website is essential to building a subconscious trust in your consumers. Let’s face it: it’s just good practice. If you need help with writing a privacy policy,you can checkout this site. They will ask you a series of questions about your business and how you plan on handling the information you collect from your site visitors (customers). Once going through the questions, it will auto-generate a fully compliant legal document that will communicate to your policy.

Conclusion

Don’t put off writing any longer. Look at other websites for inspiration and how they are communicating. Remember: the purpose of writing content for your site is to market your products is is tool for your consumers to use in making a decision to purchase. If you have any questions or would like help with writing your website content, feel free to comment or contact me. I would love to hear about the project you are working on. Good luck and happy writing!