Some of us are afraid of content.
For some, the thought of sitting down in front of a computer and writing is terrifying. Writing brings about memories of grade school writing class where the teacher would hand you back a paper and it would be covered in red marks.
Writing doesn’t have to be scary, though. The truth is that content can be a great asset on something such as a website.
For businesses, a website serves as the main point of information on the web. When consumers prefer to research a company online instead of by calling or having a meeting in person, it is the job of the website to act as the salesperson.
When thinking about your website, consider the typical conversation you have with someone that inquires about your business.
Successful Business Content and Long Web Pages
If you’re in business you have probably had face-to-face conversation with potential clients. Meetings are often setup where you and the other person sit down in a room to discuss what your business has to offer.
In any scenario there are a couple important things occurring.
First, you are introducing yourself on a personal level. Just as with any occasion when you meet someone new, you will introduce yourself and look to make a connection on a personal level.
Second, as a good salesperson, you are looking to show the value your company can provide this person and their associated business. Salespeople ask questions and listen to the concerns and problems potential clients could be experiencing. From there, the salesperson tries to find a solution with their current offering and will then present the offer to potential client if the timing feels right.
Your company website is your online salesperson. When people are looking online for information about their problems they will often stumble on websites just likes yours. It’s important that your website is a better salesperson than the competition’s.
Websites as Salespeople
When you create the content for your website it’s important to think like a salesperson.
The content needs to form a relationship, answer questions and provide a viable option. This is the way your website will convert visitors into customers.
Now, back to being afraid of writing content for a website.
There is an easy way to start writing the content for your website. Close your eyes and visualize yourself having a conversation with a potential customer. Think about the way you start the conversation.
What do your customers express to you as their biggest concerns? Consider your company’s most important value proposition is and focus on that as the starting point for your content. You want each new visitor to your website to understand what your company is within a few moments of opening the page.
It’s like introducing yourself in person.
You might say something like, “Hello. My name is George. I represent George’s Dog Collars. We sell custom-fit collars for border collies.”
That is a descriptive introduction. It lets the person know exactly what your business does.
For your website, you can focus on exactly what it is your business does. In this case you might have a headline like this to start the page:
Custom-Fit Collars for Border Collies
To fill in the content below this is will be important as well.
Long Web Pages
Consider your initial conversations with new customers.
These conversations likely take some time. You put in a few minutes listening to the person, asking them questions about their life as it relates to a certain topic. You then start expressing the ways you think your company’s solution could provide value to this person.
Now, consider your website and its content.
You want your web page to have enough content to sufficiently answer the questions your potential customers typically have. Think about the core issues your customers have and how your business solution provides a satisfying product or service. With your website content you need to express the way your business provides value. Sometimes this can take quite a bit of space on the page.
And that’s alright.
People are willing to read content on long web pages if the content is interesting and valuable to their lives.
Provide enough content on each of your web pages to address the core topic of the page while effectively selling visitors on the value your company can provide to them.
You don’t have to be afraid of writing content. Think about the face-to-face experiences you have with your potential customers. Use these experiences to create your website content. You don’t have to ask questions on your website, but you do have to provide the answers.
Be sure to provide enough content to move the person down your sales funnel. Treat the website and visitor relationship just like a person to person meeting.
Hopefully this allows your website content writing to go a little smoother while providing assurance that it’s alright to use long web pages.
Simple is usually better, but be sure to provide enough content to make the sale.