Web design is much more than making a website look “flashy” or “catchy”, as some would call it. Ultimately, it is the texts and information on websites that determines whether visitors become customers. Bad if nobody likes to read your texts and worse if no one could really comprehend the value proposition of your website.
So how do you write compelling content for a website?
First off, how does website writing compare with art?
Just as craftsmen need a blueprint from an architect, a website also needs structure.
If you are planning a new website or a relaunch for an existing website, then web design should not be the first consideration — It is important that a content strategy and conception are first gotten right.
People tend to put design first, but in reality, things are different; The layout and navigation of a website are more important than the content it is supposed to convey.
Any website built without respect to content and content structure would struggle to compete. If you are however lucky to work with a good web designer or design agency, then you will automatically be more successful than the rest.
Here is the simple, honest truth; First think about the goals and content of your website before thinking about the appearance.
“Help me make it pop!” Is not always the best idea
If you want to build a website that can attract customers, it is important that you design it with the customer in mind.
Simply ordering “a beautiful website” from the web designer will not get you any further.
Because a pretty design and chic pictures look good, but beyond that, they do not bring any performance benefit if they do not contribute to an overall concept for the website.
After all, you want to do marketing and not colourful pictures.
The communication concept, from which the concept for your online presence is derived, develops from your marketing concept. And the entire content of your website has to be subordinate to this.
Then everything comes up almost automatically. Even creating the website texts.
Think first, then write
At the beginning of the creation of a homepage, there is the question: What does the potential customer need and what can you offer them?
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You should take your time for this step. After all, this is about the important basis for everything that follows.
All the necessary website content is derived from the conception of your online presence. In most cases, the structure of the website is also obvious. And the menu items and sub-items are also logically accessible.
In this phase, you or your copywriter for the website should already put together a rough table of contents for each planned subpage. This helps to assess the subsequent amounts of text and any call-to-action elements.
Creating websites starts with the content
It is important that in the conception phase of your website you do not initially speak to purely graphics-oriented web designers and also not to technicians.
Because graphics and technology are not the most important topics at the beginning.
In the beginning, sit down exclusively with highly conceptual web professionals and develop the basics of the content.
Good full-service web design agencies will make this possible. Or you can go straight to a specialist website copywriter.
Don’t forget to do keyword research
Keyword research is a crucial part of web conception. Unfortunately for some, it is often only done at the very end or forgotten.
There is no point determining keywords afterwards and using them to “optimize” a finished website. It is like dinning with a salt shaker. As a reference, it is often better to add salt your food during the cooking process than to do it after the food is cooked and served. Do you understand?
You have to determine your search terms in the conception phase so that they are available when you start writing the web texts.
That doesn’t mean you end up writing for search engines like Google. You write specifically for the searches your prospects use to find answers to pressing problems on Google.
Have texts written for the website or write it yourself?
Once the concept is in place, there are two options for creating the content for your website: You can either write the content yourself or you can contract the task to a copywriter.
Having your website copy and microcopy written by a copywriter skilled in developing content for websites is an all-round carefree solution.
On the other hand, creating your own website texts yourself can be useful if a lot of your very special knowledge has to flow into the texts.
There is also a mixed method that I often use: I first let customers write texts and then revise them in order to optimize them for the Internet. This reduces the client’s copywriting costs whilst still resulting in the highest quality of the texts on their website.
Whatever you decide to do, only use highly relevant and purposeful texts on your website. In other words, make sure your texts contribute to your website’s goals.
Don’t write yourself if you have no idea
The best website copy comes from those who are really deep into a topic.
Therefore, if you are not so fit on a topic yourself, it is preferable to have the appropriate employees or other specialists write to you.
Your job comes afterwards: Check whether the content is really written for the target group and have corrections carried out if necessary.
Writing the content for a website can be an exciting task, but it could quickly become a chore if you aren’t built for it. So, If you would like us to help you write or rewrite your website’s content, click HERE and select Website Content Development in the Project Type field.