10 Tips to Write the Content for Your Website

Building your website is more than just eye-catching design. Afterall, a website would look pretty empty without any words. But coming up with those words, or copy as we call it, isn’t always just as simple as jotting down a few sentences. You know your business inside and out, and even still, it can be a daunting task to put down the important details on paper (or the computer screen), because, what are you even supposed to say?

After a couple years of designing websites and helping clients hone in on their copywriting homework, I’ve come up with a handful of tips to help you get started. And if you’ve purchased, or are thinking of purchasing, one of our Website Templates, we’ve made it super easy to plug your own content into one of our fun designs, but you still have to do the work of actually writing your content!

My biggest tip? As with most things in life, JUST START! It doesn’t have to be perfect, but sometimes waiting for the perfect moment of inspiration means that it never gets done (speaking as someone who has spent 30+ years perfecting the art of procrastination in the name of waiting for the moons to align, trust me!). Just start writing and see what you come up with. Then, you can always go back to edit and refine.

I know a “just do it” encouragement only goes so far, so in addition, here are my 10 favorite tips for creating the content for your website…

01. Know Your Audience

If you’ve followed me for long, you’re probably rolling your eyes saying “of course she did”, because this is usually my number one in any list I create. But that’s simply because, IT’S IMPORTANT! Also it sounds stupid simple, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t think about their audience when they’re creating or producing content. They may think, “well, it makes sense to me…” but, it’s not about you really, it’s about your audience.

What are they interested in? What types of questions are they likely to ask about your services/product/offerings? What types of information do they need to take the next step you want them to? You need to make sure your content is both accessible and interesting to your audience(s). Also, the more your audience feels like you understand them and their needs, the more likely they are to stick around and eventually work with you or invest in your product.

02. Start By Listing Out The Pages You’ll Need In Your Navigation

Now that you’ve got your visitors at top of mind, what are they going to want quick access to? What do you want them to have quick access to? Try to limit your navigation to 6 or fewer pages - and remember they should highlight your main offerings or moneymakers!

For example, in our Wild & Rooted Template, the main pages in the navigation are: About, Offerings, Testimonials, Blog, and Contact.

Because it’s a template made with coaches in mind, a visitor who might be seeking a coach would want to read about the coach, read about others’ experiences with the coach, browse the offerings, and also read up on the educational content that coach is putting out there. Then, hopefully, they’d want to reach out and contact the coach. You see what I mean?

So then, once you’ve listed out your primary pages, we recommend having small snippets or intros to each of those sections on your homepage. That way, a visitor can stay on your homepage and be introduced to each topic/area of your website without leaving the page. Once you’ve got those snippets, you’ve already done the heavy lifting really!

03. Include an Introduction of Each Main Page on Your Homepage

Once you’ve listed out your primary pages, we recommend having small snippets or intros to each of those sections on your homepage. That way, a visitor can stay on your homepage and be introduced to each topic/area of your website without having to leave the page (wouldn’t want them to get lost!) - it will also help them to determine what offering is best for them. And the best part? Once you’ve got those snippets, you’ve already done most of the heavy lifting!

04. Guide Your Visitors By Knowing Your Goals

In the same spirit of the point above, you want to guide your visitors to your hot content, and you don’t want them to be confused as to why they’re there. Want them to read your blog? Why? Is it to build trust and offer education? Great! Then best not to add sales-y content on your blog page, stick to that page’s mission. Same goes with your services or sales pages. Always keep your goals in mind. Want them to purchase a product? Tell them why they need it. Want them to contact you? Make it easy to get in touch. You get the point…people don’t want to click 100 links to find what they’re there for, and neither do you because - well, they won’t!

05. Keep It Short And Simple

When in doubt, cut it out! Please, for the sake of all that is good, don’t be like the recipe blogger that makes you read bout her weekend camping experience and struggle at parent-teacher’s conferences before learning how to make that bomb quiche. You want your website content to get straight to the point. You only have a few seconds to keep someone’s attention, so make it count. People don’t have the time to read every little detail, they just want the good stuff. Write your most important sentence first, and remember that your website is a marketing tool, not an information warehouse.

06. Avoid Jargon

I’ve been guilty of this, so I’m sharing my lessons! There are plenty of industry terms that you may have known for years and that now come second nature to you. But remember, they are not all common terms that everyone knows. My example is something like “submark”. As a brand designer, of course I know what a submark is, but many of my clients do not. And so when I list it as an inclusion to my service, a potential client may think, “well, I don’t know what that even is so clearly I don’t need it.” You will turn people off if your copy is filled with industry terms that only you know. Keep your language common and, again, write to your ideal client.

07. Focus On The Benefits

It’s easy to start writing about our business and have it turn into this essay of why we’re the greatest and how all of our special qualities make us the perfect fit for someone. And while it’s surely important to share about yourself and your business to an extent, your content will be much, much stronger if you focus on how your product, service, offering, or blog will benefit your audience rather than just how cool you are (which, I’m totally sure you are).

Think about these questions when you’re writing your content, and you can even consider using the answers and headings, because, they’ll work!

• What problems are you helping your audience/client solve? (People respond to pain. We want a fix. So if you highlight how you help solve a pain point, this can go really far.)

• How does your product, service, or content help your audience achieve their goals, desires, or dreams?

• How will your product of offering improve your audience’s lives?

• What will they feel or experience after they have worked with you/used your product?

08. Have Clear Calls To Action (and lots of them)

I’ve had people ask me, “do we really need all of those “book now” buttons? And the answer, is Yes! Here’s the truth: people are more likely to book your service/buy your product/inquire if it’s easy and convenient to do so. Understanding your goals is key here. Know what you want them to do, and then not only guide them there (point #3) but then make it super easy for them to act. It’s not too much to have a Call To Action in each section of your website. After all, maybe the sentence that convinces me to act is halfway down the page. If I have to go searching for a way to buy/book/contact, I probably will get distracted/frustrated and move on.

09. Make Your Content Scannable

People don’t read every word. I mean sure, sometimes they do, if they’re already really interested in you and what you offer. But someone who is just visiting your site for the first time will be scanning to find something that sparks their interest. Use of bullet points, numbered lists, and catchy headers will make your content a lot easier to read and to convey the pertinent information before someone gets bored and leaves. Also, try to keep your content and paragraphs organized. Stick to one idea per paragraph and try no to ramble.

10. Have A Friend Proofread

I don’t have to tell you that the interwebs are full of people just waiting to spot a grammatical error to criticize. But beyond grammatical and spelling errors, you want your content to make sense. Ask a friend or relative, someone who isn’t in your same industry, to proofread your content and give you feedback. This will help to ensure that your content makes sense and isn’t missing any important information.