I have been aproached twice this week by people who are trying to work out why their website content isn’t working. Here is how I approach writing good content.
Here are some simple guidelines which I try to follow and which you will recognise in other sites. I hope they make sense, if you want to talk any of them through then please give me a call.
1. Hierarchy of content
You will never be able to get everything across to everyone so it’s very important to decide on the key aspects of what you want to achieve from each page. Then decide on a hierarchy.
- Make a big deal about key aspects on the landing page but keep it relatively brief and link to another more in depth page.
- You will then have space for features and other items which are useful once someone is interested.
2. Images, white space and construction
Use images to not only communicate a theme or message and attract the eye but also to create space for the eyes to breathe. This can also be achieved with white space. Give the eye space to rest.
3. Style sheets
- Set out your style sheets so that the eye is clearly drawn to the headers.
- Do you have an accent colour which will stand out on the page.
4. Pitching the Headers
Try and stay away from the ‘Who we are’, ‘About Us’ , ‘Our Products’ and ‘Our services’ kind of headers. Instead focus on what you are offering in your products or where your services stand out.
For example instead of ‘Our Products’ choose something that your product does which will remove a well felt aggravation from it’s user’s life. Then you can follow that with an explanation.
For example ‘Complete email security made easy’, ‘Is your anti-virus catching everything’ or ‘Do you carry out regular audits or inspections’
Alternatively focus on what the product does:
‘Audit software, Site Inspection…’
I have tried to keep this very brief as a quick guideline for thinking about the content which goes into your website. The content is probably the most important part of your website, getting the right headings and the right body text can dramatically help your visitors find what they are looking for (and hopefully what you are offering).
