Website Content: Giving the Grand Tour
Welcome to Day Three of our series on Writing Website Content. In case you missed them, please read Should You Specialize in Website Content (our first post in the series) and Questions to Ask Buyers About Website Content (post number two).
And now… Please feel free to enjoy and comment on post number three – Giving the Grand Tour:
When you decided to be a writer, did you realize how many different types of jobs were available? More importantly, did you realize that to be a great web content writer, you had to learn about sales and marketing?
You can be a good writer without knowing much about marketing, but you’ll never make it as a writer on the web. A website is just a gateway to a bigger goal, and that goal involves compelling people to take some sort of action.
This is where most website content writers go wrong. They don’t provoke the proper reaction from site visitors. Some website content doesn’t even provoke a reaction at all.
My Name is Writer, and I’ll Be Your Guide Today…
Visitors who land on a website need to be intrigued in an instant. If they’re not going to have a good time and they feel unsure about exploring, they’re going to pack back into the car and head off on the Internet highway to the next attraction.
It’s not enough to write website content that gives a general overview, some vague suggestions and a loose wrap-up that hopefully stirs unimpressed visitors.
The website content writer has the extremely important job of being the site tour guide for all visitors. A writer’s words have to tell people what the site is about, what attractions to explore, and provide direction for visitors who want to talk to management.
The Interview
Think of the type of qualities you’d want in a good tour guide. What words would you want to see on the resume of your ideal employee? You’d probably think of qualifications like:
• Friendly and informative
• Professional at all times
• Able to communicate clearly and concisely
• Interesting and entertaining
• Resourceful with good initiative
Now think of a great website, one that truly gives you everything you want. Think of a site that would convince you to explore further or learn more. See the similarities between that site and your ideal tour guide?
Know Your Job
When you prepare yourself to write website content, know your job as a tour guide. Where are you supposed to lead visitors? Is there a specific page that people should visit? A promotion they could benefit from? A special discount to take advantage of? An opt-in for a newsletter they should join?
Know where you should guide visitors and find ways to keep them moving deeper into the site – not moving on to the next site.
Also, think of the words you’ll use in your tour guide presentation. Have you chosen informative, friendly words? Does your content have a nice, professional style? Have you written clear, concise sentences that say more with less?
Speaking of sentences, there are many specific writing tips that can help your website be the best attraction in town. Tune in for our next post on writing website content, and learn how to craft the words that pack a punch.
31 Responses to “Website Content: Giving the Grand Tour”
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Knowing how to grab an audience is the secret to all marketing practices. A lot has to do with understanding basic psychology and how the human mind works.
We tempt, advocate, outrage and inform our readers in many ways, choosing the words we do. I think that this “craft” cannot be taught in the traditional sense. It has to come naturally. One either has it or has not.
Personally I write from the heart. I don’t study my copy as to whether it matches the mood of my readers since I’m a strong believer of like attracts like. We can’t please everybody every time and writing for ourselves on a blog for example differs tremendously than writing for a client with a guideline and deadline attached.
Monika Mundell’s last blog post..That Magical Number 8
I’m with Monika on this one, I write from the heart and see how it goes. Of course, right now I’m not selling anything, so…
…we’ll see how that works in the future. I think though that what I do want to eventually sell will be well served by that method. Knowing yourself and what you want to accomplish helps a lot. I really think you have to believe it yourself, before you can make someone else believe it.
(I used to work in sales, and it was a lot easier to sell stuff if you actually thought the product was a good product.)
Brett Legree’s last blog post..canada 2, greece 0. a story about running.
@ Brett: you are right you know. I think writing for blogs is different than writing for a sales page. To be honest both of them are web content writing, so right now I’m a little confused as to whether James means writing for a website that sells or as a general idea on content writing.
Monika Mundell’s last blog post..That Magical Number 8
@ Monika – As the post title mentions, this series focuses on writing website content. It doesn’t matter if the website is oriented at selling a product or a service, informing, or simply profiling an organization or business. It’s all the same.
Web content writing encompasses all writing on the web. WebSITE content involves writing for a website or blogsite.
Not all websites sell. But they all follow the same general pattern.
Make sense?
James Chartrand – Men with Pens’s last blog post..Website Content: Giving the Grand Tour
In any case, I’m really pumped to read the next article in this series as it sounds like it will be very useful indeed… you want to grab the reader’s attention right away, and the right choice of words is the way to do it.
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post..canada 2, greece 0. a story about running.
@ James: Yes it does. I wasn’t 100% sure what you meant by webSITE, but now I do. Thanks for clarifying this for me.
Monika Mundell’s last blog post..Namaste – Your Path To Business Enlightenment
@James I’d add that every page of the site needs to intrigue the visitor. You never know where someone is going to land when they come into your site. They may come in through the front door, but more often than not it’s a search result that sends them deep into the site.
In addition to writing compelling and useful content, I try to keep in mind the evergreen concept. Nothing says Back Button like dated content.
Jamie Grove – How Not To Write’s last blog post..How to Use Writer’s Block to Fuel Your Writing
I’m in the “from the heart” camp. Intellectually I know that I could be far more calculating and focused in my efforts, designing every post with the goal of driving more sales.
If my business were different, I might do that. If I had partners and employees, I’d probably have to do that. If my business wasn’t doing well, I’d certainly feel silly if I weren’t doing that.
But as it is.. I write whatever I feel like writing, whether it has any business value to me or not. I write stuff that I know darn well could “turn off” prospective customers, and sometimes I do hesitate slightly before posting those things, but then I think “I have my own business so that I can be true to myself” and I let it rip.
Every now and then I do something with a motive behind it. It never comes out well
Tony Lawrence’s last blog post..Sales Calls for Tech folk by Anthony Lawrence
@ Tony, Monika and Brett – When you are a paid writer hired by companies, you do not have the luxury of writing from the heart. In fact, that’s probably the worst angle to take.
When you are a hired website content writer, it is your JOB to follow the format and rules to create a gateway to action.
Even for your own site, you cannot just write from the heart as you think is fine if you want results. Website content just doesn’t work like that, guys. Blogs do. Websites don’t. Sorry.
@ Jamie – Very good point. Excellent. Should’ve said it myself.
James Chartrand – Men with Pens’s last blog post..Website Content: Giving the Grand Tour
@James,
Oh, I totally understand that part! If I wrote what I’m writing today at my “paying job” from the heart, I wouldn’t be working here tomorrow…
(no need to apologize, as I said, I am keen to read what you have to say tomorrow as I’m new to this, and want to learn)
Brett Legree’s last blog post..canada 2, greece 0. a story about running.
James,
Thanks for pointing out the difference between blogging and web content writing – a distinction that not everyone understands.
Laura Spencer’s last blog post..Of Note: Words For Hire
Smiling here. This is brilliant. Love the analogy….point out where the heart comes in on this? …nope not me….not gonna do it….James will just argue….this is a post about webSITE content…clarity and precision… yeah, and a friendly tour guide, it’s really helpful…do NOT point out to him…..no don’t….
Janice C Cartier’s last blog post..Anatomy Lesson
Jamie,
“Nothing says Back Button like dated content.” That is SO well-put.
James,
I totally agree with you here and I’m enjoying reading the series, though since you are the writing pro I don’t want to say much… web content writing (with the exception of personal blogging) isn’t a “from the heart” thing for one reason.
Though like attracts like, you the professional writer are not trying to attract like—either “like you,” or “like your client.” You are trying to attract business—leads who become paying customers—when you write content. If your customers (or your client’s customers) were just like you, they wouldn’t need to purchase from you. There is some difference, some pain point, that your writing has to address. You guide them through a site, hold their attention, and help them dream of possibilities, until they discover the solution to their pain is right there.
Even when we are very similar… say, I love great coffee and on weekends I make the finest stuff in the world in my $1200 espresso machine (not me, but you get the point)… there is still a difference… I have no time on a weekday, that’s my pain point… that leads me to a purchase from Starbucks.
The same holds true on the Internet. Your customers are not just like you, and writing to that difference is finding the sweet spot.
Not bad for not wanting to say much.
Regards,
Kelly
Kelly’s last blog post..Inspiration Points: Planning, Prepwork, & the Payoff
James, great way to bring up the idea of conversion without calling it such. Love the tour guide analogy.
Michael Martine – Remarkablogger’s last blog post..Remarkablogger in Top 50 Internet Business Blogs
@Kelly: Brilliant comment. You get a gold star and a cookie. Oh, and a cup of Starbucks.
Well, James, if you can tell me where my website stops and my blog begins, I’ve got a shiny nickel for you.
I understand that when you are writing for someone else you need to “follow the format and rules to create a gateway to action.”
I do NOT agree with “you cannot just write from the heart as you think is fine if you want results.”
My website gets results. It brings me business, it brings me advertising income. I suppose you could argue that I’d get more if I toed the company line, but I don’t think I would.
Am I right that you argued previously that you can’t mix advertising with a business website? I think so – if so, that’s two things we disagree on: I can and do mix advertising in with my business promotion and I can and do write about whatever I want.
I understand your point. I’d even recommend that most people do exactly as you say if they expect to be successful. But I haven’t needed to, and I bet I’m not unique. Rules CAN be broken.
Tony Lawrence’s last blog post..Kerio Troubleshooting by Anthony Lawrence
@ Tony – Now I’m the one disappointed in you. Apply some critical thinking: Without knowing the results of a properly formatted and properly stylized website, you cannot know whether what you have now offers better, worse or the same.
You get results now, yes. What sort of results would you get if you had a website like I propose? Give me a proper comparison, and we’ll talk. Rules can be broken, sure – but they should be broken for a reason, not just because they’re there.
As for me previously arguing that you can’t mix advertising with a business website, I’m not sure where that came from. Yes, you can. We do.
When you say you don’t agree with my statement that you cannot write from the heart if you want results, I have to point out that you picked the statement and used it out of context.
You can get results – good, bad, poor, excellent – on any site writing from the heart. Yes, of course.
When you are *in the business of writing website content for a living for others*, you cannot use writing from the heart as a successful method. You’d be fired, Tony, and you know it.
Debate with me, sure, but keep things in context, hm?
@ Michael – Thank you
I wanted to be a tour guide in another life. I think it’d be a blast.
@ Kelly – That was a fantastic comment, and please don’t hold back on commenting because of the subject. This topic crosses all sorts of mediums – one could say a website is the customer service representative that works 24/7 as much as the tour guide pointing out attractions.
@ Laura – Tell me about it
@Kelly Thanks!
When “Nothing says Back Button like dated content.” popped out, I thought I might keep it to myself for a bit and love it up. Fits with James’s swell post better than on my site.
Jamie Grove – How Not To Write’s last blog post..How to Use Writer’s Block to Fuel Your Writing
I’m not disagreeing with your “You’d be fired, Tony, and you know it.” statement. That’s obviously true.
“What sort of results would you get if you had a website like I propose?”
Well, as it happens, I think I know the answer to that. My site was once very focused and all roads led to the desired result: business for me.
I started changing that maybe five years ago or so. A little bit at first, and then looser and looser as I realized that it didn’t matter: I still got the business. Nobody cared that I wrote about stuff unrelated to what I do, they only cared that they had found someone who might be able to solve their problem.
I don’t follow why you say I picked this out of context. You said:
“Even for your own site, you cannot just write from the heart as you think is fine if you want results. Website content just doesn’t work like that, guys. Blogs do. Websites don’t. Sorry.”
And I said that at my site I do write whatever the heck I want, and it works.
Again, I think your advice is very good. I think most people running a business website would ignore that at their peril. But some people can get away with breaking all the rules.
I guess that wasn’t you that told me I couldn’t carry advertising because it sent a mixed message.. so we’re down to one disagreement – and it’s a qualified disagreement at that.
So, for the record: you are right. Except that I can be wrong and still get results and I’m sure at least some other people could too. Well, heck and be darned, I can sure think of someone else who fits that mold of writing whatever the heck she falooting thinks on her business site.. gosh darn it, there’s another exception, right?
And I’d make the case that if Naomi had followed the “rules”, not one of us would have the faintest faloofing clue who she was. She’d be an unknown little business consultant starving to death in a cold apartment.. so in her case, not following the straight and narrow probably MADE her business.
But Naomi’s are few and far between. Yes, most folks need to stick to the plan.
Tony Lawrence’s last blog post..Kerio Troubleshooting by Anthony Lawrence
Harry,
Send me the espresso machine and we’ll call it even. I never do Starbucks.
James,
I know a thing or two about attracting and keeping customers. I just let other folks do the writing when it gets specialized.
Looking forward to magical word-crafting tips!
Regards,
Kelly
Kelly’s last blog post..Inspiration Points: Planning, Prepwork, & the Payoff
Hey, James, on a completely unrelated note, I saw this article today and thought of you…
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/home/chi-men_knitting.1may11,0,5304115.story
–Deb’s last blog post..MM: Simply Capital!
@ Deb – YES! That’s me!! I feel better now, honestly.
@ Kelly – As long as I have your attention, that’s all that counts.
@ Tony – Actually, if you analyze Naomi’s blog, you’ll notice that she follows a great deal of rules. She is not that unconventional at all – people perceive her to be so because she says fuck.
Fuck. So do I. Am I unconventional?
James,
Was there any doubt that you have my attention?
Kelly’s last blog post..Inspiration Points: Planning, Prepwork, & the Payoff
You know, it’s really intriguing to me how we all read and soak in information. I definitely know I’m in a hangout of content writers who all have blogs when I read the comment section here.
Something I get from the comment section here is everyone reads most every post with “their blog” or “blog writing” in mind. I have a completely different angle. Unless the post says “for blog” I automatically assume we’re talking about a website (static and blog integrated).
I love this blog and all those who comment here because I learn a lot about content writing (as I am not a content writer, but rather a web designer / web entrepreneur).
@ Tony – here’s a great analogy for what I see James is trying to get across. I invest in real estate part time. There’s a HUGE difference and angle I take when it comes to buying a house for me to live in, one to rent, and one to flip.
You absolutely cannot buy a house to flip, for example, and renovate it with your tastes in mind. You have to design it for your buyers (customers). If you design your flip (or your website) for you, you’re going to miss a huge market and turn a lot of people away.
In the end, this post is about designing a website where you lead people where it’s necessary to get them to do what you desire. Usually, just talking from the heart isn’t the best approach.
….just my 2 cents in the discussion
John Hoff – eVentureBiz’s last blog post..Tell Me About You
James- Been painting, but this evening I took another bit of the “Grand Tour” around MwP when I had some time. Got to read a couple more finely honed pieces, one on hurricanes that I had missed which was an excellent piece. I clicked on a lot of buttons. I think one of the key points about this post is the intent when writing content for WebSite is a kinetic one. Multi-dimensional if you will. The function is tightly intelligently considered with the form. And there is no doing that well without understanding the many disciplines informing your decisions there. So questions, questions must be asked, intentions understood, your tour guide must be an interpreter.
No small feat to do it so well.
Janice C Cartier’s last blog post..Anatomy Lesson
@ John – We like you too
@ Janice – I loved that hurricane one. When I write like that, I’m superman.
Hm. Except I can’t fly.
In the zone on that one for sure. G’night. : )
Janice C Cartier’s last blog post..Anatomy Lesson
I am just getting into this and the number of things to write about becomes overwhelming at times for me. Right now I just try to concentrate on what I know and like to write about.
Mike’s last blog post..Niche Store Writer
@ Mike – Smart plan. Write what you know until you feel comfortable. But also write properly so that the work doesn’t land back on your desk
@ James: I totally hear you. When I said I write from the heart I meant predominantly on my blog. This vehicle (the blog) is also the single most responsible entity (besides my shining talent of course
) that has brought me many clients and later on referrals.
In regards to following client guidelines, I totally agree. Otherwise I might as well still slave away behind the stove.
Monika Mundell’s last blog post..Client Testimonials – Freelance Writing Guide