How to Decide on Your Website Content

Whether you’re creating a new website or revising your current one, the content (text, images, video, etc.) is the most important part. People visit your website for the content, not for the design or functionality. In working with our clients, we’ve found that this process works well for thinking about your website content.

People who visityour site are subconsciously asking themselves, “What’s In It For Me?” (WIIFM). Your content needs to answer this question repeatedly and in various ways.  This will change the way you describe your company, products, and services.

For example, rather than writing, “ABC Inc. sells the best children’s toys,” you might write, “Looking for toys your kids will love for years? Our toys, including the popular Galloping George, have been bestsellers since 1989.” The first example is flatly informative, while the second tells the visitor what’s in it for them (toys their kids will love).

If you already have a website or any other marketing (brochures, magazine ads, social media accounts, etc.), review these and ask two questions:

• What has worked so far?
• What hasn’t worked so far?

When reviewing anything digital (website, social media, digital ads), review your analytics. These stats can be very insightful, and can help you be more objective than subjective when determining effectiveness.

As you review what you already have, apply Essentialism to separate what’s important from what’s not. Aim for “less, but better.”

Create a document and record your findings.

Find 5 (or more) of your competitors’ websites, and/or websites that are similar to what you’re trying to create.

Find the content that seems most effective at reaching your target audience. Remember, don’t look for what appeals to you; look for what appeals to your target audience. Ask, “What’s In It For Me?” from their perspective. Evaluate these:

• Text
  • Body text
  • Headings
  • Navigation (menu, sidebars, footer, etc.)
  • Calls-to-action (CTAs), such as “contact us for a free quote,” or, “start a free trial”
• Images
• Videos

In the document you created earlier, paste links to the effective content you found. Then, paste the text and images, and paste links to the videos. This way, you can quickly and easily review content from several websites.

Now that your document is full of ideas for your content, it’s time to refine it. Although you could do this yourself, it’s best to work with professionals who specialize in web content. Why?

• They understand how to write concise, persuasive copy (text) that includes the right keywords (valuable for both visitors and search engine optimization, or SEO).
• They understand how to use images and video effectively.
• They understand how content will best fit within the structure of your website (for example, which content to use on which pages).

So, this is the point at which we recommend sharing your document with us so we can we can begin refining it to fit your website goals.