Writing more engaging website content is a matter of survival for your small business.
If your clients can't see how you can help them solve a problem, why should they waste precious seconds scrolling through your website? Why should people reach out to you for collaboration if you're not communicating value in your blogs, emails, and social posts and reels?
What you write needs to engage your audience to keep them interested in building a connection with them.
What is content?
'Content' is any kind of information or experience that a business (you) shares with the public, intending to get them to take action or build awareness of their brand.
Content is what our customers consume - read, listen to, view to learn more about our brand.
- Website pages
- Blogs
- Emails
- Social media posts and ads
- Google Ads
- Lead magnets
Reasons why creating engaging content can be so hard
- We're in our business, so it's hard to see where others outside our business need more clarity.
- We're so used to industry jargon that we don't realise it confuses people who don't know
- Asking for the sale makes us feel uncomfortable.
(If asking for the sale is hard for you, read this blog about writing sales emails without the hard sell.)
Ways to make it easier to write engaging content
1. Keep your client at the front of your mind.
Every time you write, make sure you keep your customer first.
- What do THEY want to know?
- Why are THEY there reading this information?
- Where do THEY need to go to get their problem solved?
Remember, they're the hero of the story, not you. You're the guide they need.
2. Keep it clear, keep it quick, keep it simple.
Engaging website copy is all about clarity. People get lost if they have to read too many words.
Think about how you'd explain it to your audience if you were sitting next to them having a coffee.
Write the edit, and keep editing.
Don't get sucked in - you're not writing a PhD Thesis!
3. Remember what you want them to remember.
Don't go off on a tangent.
Write down your key take-home message. What's the one thing you want your readers to remember from that email, blog or social post?
Write (record) and then go back and make sure that message is coming through loud and clear.
Tips for laying out your content to keep it engaging
Obviously, content that focuses on your clients will be most engaging (they've got skin in the game).
You can do things when laying out your website page, blogs, and emails to help your clients read your engaging content more easily.
- Make sure you outline your content so there's a clear focus on the page - what is it for, what's its story, what's the action?
- Keep the sentence length short.
- One sentence paragraphs are ok!
- Use subheadings to draw your reader's eye back to the page.
- Make sure the subheadings are relevant and tell a story.
- Break up big blocks of text with bullet points
- Use white space around your content so your reader isn't overwhelmed.
- Cut out jargon, complicated words and industry speak!
- Contracted words (it is = it's) sound more friendly.
- Write as you speak - informal is good for the web.
- Use the power of storytelling to write more engaging copy.
Tools to help you write more engaging content
Grammarly
Grammarly is a great way to check your spelling, writing and grammar before sending content out.
Word Hippo
Lost for a word? Use Word Hippo to find another way of saying what you want to say.
Words to time
Blogs that show the reader how long it takes to read get more connection. Use words to time to estimate reading time based on the number of words in your blog.
Word Tune
Get inspiration from word tune. Get alternative ways of saying 280 words you enter into Word Tune. Great for when you're lacking inspiration.
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And get you engaging, connecting content that attracts a more consistent flow of clients to your business.