Your website should be as sexy & entertaining as the Old Spice Man.
What is a website, anyway?
A website, it is has been said, is a virtual store. It’s where people go to find out about you and your products. It needs to look good, have something new every time people take a look at it, and its content should invite people to engage.
Having a static website with neither fresh content nor space for consumer interaction is like having an unstaffed shop with the lights off and the stock locked away.
In addition to the store analogy, I would suggest that a website is also a broadcasting channel. It is your mouth-piece for spreading your message and showcasing your expertise. It can contain onsite blogs, articles and think pieces. It is where you will use your keywords in a rich and structured way.
Of course, the website is no longer an isolated outpost in the virtual world. Social media and social bookmarking act as signposts pointing to where you are. By inviting comments, retweets and sharing on facebook, social bookmarking and other social media, you can spread your message further. By posting a call to action, you are telling people what you want them to do. If you’ve done a good job with your copy, you will find that they respond positively.
Just so you know, I won’t retweet an article that has issues with sentence structure, grammar, focus or is, quite frankly, a great pile of waffle without substance.
Working your website for all it’s worth
People who spend a lot of time online learn the knack of skim reading for headings, captions and bullet points – which is pretty much how I read a magazine or newspaper.
If you get the headings and captions right, you may draw them in for more in-depth scouting. Make sure that the points you want to make are clearly visible and digestible.
My advice is to treat your website like a magazine for your ‘community’. To be able to do this, you need to know a few things:
- What is the product/ service that you want to sell?
- Who is most likely to be looking for your product/ service?
- What else might they be interested in?
- What image do you want to project about your business?
- What are the important keywords that people would use to search for someone like you?
Keywords are, as everyone knows, quite important. And to my understanding, if you want to get a good ranking on Google, you can pay for SEO and adwords. But if you’re on a budget, a better option for you is to work those keywords into your blogs, articles and main body text on your website. In this way, if someone is searching for your keywords, the chances of finding you are greater.
Some examples and how I’d work them
In both of these examples, we can see ways to attract and keep people at our website. At the same time we can soft-sell our products and expertise, as well as give value to affiliates (who can reciprocate in kind).
Example 1: the women’s fashion store
If you have a women’s fashion store, your audience will be women. But what sort of women? Perhaps it is geared towards working women, the style being feminine yet suitable for corporate business meetings. Your target market might then have interests in the realm of: business, travel, stress management, time management and looking good. On your website and other media you could discuss these topics, and use photos of your fashion items to illustrate your articles.
Providing value to this audience could come through suggesting how to dress for the days of the week, or perhaps providing photos of the best little black dress for every figure type, including accessories – from the in-store stock, of course. If the clothing store had an affiliation with a shoe store, they might include suggested shoes for each outfit, and the shoe store could reciprocate in kind.
Example 2: the gluten-free product manufacturer
People interested in gluten-free products might be coeliacs. They might just as easily be friends or parents of individuals with gluten intolerance looking for catering options. Or they could simply be looking to detox or go on an elimination diet to rule out allergens as factors in chronic conditions such as eczma and asthma.
This being the case, the person writing for this manufacturer’s website and other media would be looking to engage and provide value to all of these people. This could take the form of weekly menu suggestions and recipes. On the side would be a weekly shopping list with check-out trolley links. It might also include other health tips. Having affiliations with alternative health care practitioners, who are willing to pop in a short ‘healthy tip’ blurb every now again, would add value to everyone involved.
The checklist
- Write a heading that hooks the reader in
- The article should have a beginning, middle and end
- Answer who, what, when, where and why in a compelling way
- Work those keywords
- Make sure that it reads as credible and sincere
- Keep it relevant
In a nutshell
To keep our consumers tuned to our channel, we need to keep our message interesting and relevant. If we consider the examples provided, weather, seasons and the calendar date will all have an impact. Consider how these things impact on how we dress, what we eat and how we spend our leisure time.
Is it Spring? The Spring Racing Carnival and school holidays are around the corner. Is it Summer? Well here come Christmas, New Year’s Eve and (yet again) the school holidays. We’ll dress and eat lighter. We’ll go out more. We’ll entertain more.
How is your business adapting to these changes in target market activity? How does the copy you write for your online media reflect this? How have you dressed your ‘windows’ today?
Questions? Comments? Feel free to reply to this post. Otherwise a Retweet or Facebook Share (buttons below), would be greatly appreciated.
And if you need help with your website copy - whether it be with writing, proof-reading or editing – contact me on 0411 324 200 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 0411 324 200 end_of_the_skype_highlighting, suzy.imonline@gmail.com, or through any of my social media (click the buttons).
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