The content of your website is your #1 sales tool. Pictures,
tools, and other fun stuff can be important in making your site visibly and
functionally appealing, but it is the content that sells. Well written and user
focused content allows your visitors to “find out” more about your
products and services, as well as how your company will be able to meet their
needs.
Content weighs heavily both in terms of how users interact
with your website as well as how visitors (both human and search spiders) are
able to determine what you offer and what each page of your website is about.
While solidly optimized content is important for search engine rankings,
considering the usability of your content is of paramount importance for attaining
good conversion rates.
Voice:
The content of your website should be written in consistent
voice from page to page. This voice needs to be one that is relatively
consistent with your industry and resonates with your target audience.
Active
words:
Active words help the user engage with the content making
them a participant rather than just a passive reader. The site’s content should
be full of active verbs that inspire visitors to take action.
Typographical
errors:
Website should be free of all typographical errors. Both
spelling and grammatical errors can be an indicator that you lack
professionalism. They must be eliminated to maintain overall trustability.
Skimmable
& scannable:
Visitors skim through and scan content to find what
interests them before they actually read each word. As much as possible, use
short paragraphs, headings, bullets and stick to a basic reading level.
Customer
focus:
Present your content in a way that speaks to your visitor’s
overall wants and needs. Focus on them, not on you or your company.
Personality
needs:
Content should use language that speaks to individual
personalities of your visitors. Providing information that certain
personalities “need” helps speak to those visitors more directly and
move them through the conversion process.
Benefits vs.
features:
Present the benefits your visitors will receive. Don’t write
exclusively in terms of what your product or service does, but what benefits
your visitors will get from your product or service.
Spammy
text:
Content should always read naturally and should never feel
“stuffed” with keywords. Never hide content on the page, but us it effectively
as a sales tool.
Calls to
action:
Each page should contain a close and one or more calls to
action. Once you have effectively provided the necessary information, compel
the visitor to take a desired action.
Bonus Tip:
Linking
out:
Whenever possible and only where relevant, link your text
out to other areas of the website as they are mentioned within the body copy.
Selectively link out to external sources that reinforce the information you are
providing.
All too often site owners want to sideline the content. They
feel that pictures, tools and products are the only things that visitors want.
Yes, these are an important part of the sales process, but so is the text.
Properly developed text informs and persuades. It entices and encourages. It
draws and drives.
More than anything else, text sells.
Stoney deGeyter runs a leading search engine marketing business with a small team of seasoned Reno SEO and marketing experts. Stoney pioneered the concept of Destination Search Engine Marketing which is the driving philosophy on how Pole Position marketing helps their clients succeed.
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