You’ve got your website built. You have your layout done, color scheme taken care of and pretty images scattered throughout. It looks great! Or, maybe you’re working on a brand new site, or a site re-design and things are still not set in stone, but they’re coming along nicely. You’re being told the website has been developed around key user experience (UX) concepts. Your customers are going to love it.
You’ve got one piece of the puzzle. Now, what does your website actually say or convey to your audience? Does your content inspire trust, convey your company’s brand and voice, answer questions, navigate the user easily or is it simply pretty to look at?
Don’t get me wrong, you want your website design to be aesthetically pleasing. If it’s not, even the best content can be over-looked. The two need to work together. But, I’m not a designer; I’m focusing on the content side of your website and why it matters.
So, why is your web content so important? As discussed in Why Your Content Matters, I touched on why having great content helps you and betters your business by helping to:
- Build a stronger loyalty from your customers/audience
- Extend your overall reach
- Create brand awareness
- Drive deeper engagement
- Increase sales opportunities and revenue
- Show you as a thought leader in your industry
- Create a better user experience (UX)
What to Consider When Creating Content
Not all content is created equal. You want your content to have quality and value. You need to keep in mind a few considerations:
- The purpose of the content
- The audience you’re writing to
- What your audience wants or needs to know
- Where – website, social media, print
- Humanize your words
Understand the Purpose
Have you ever been to a website and left wondering, “what on earth are they even about?” It’s likely because the content had no direct purpose. It may have vaguely described products and services, provided plenty of random information, but without real purpose or direction.
Don’t just put words out there to fill up space. Make sure they have meaning. Is your content about educating, providing information, entertaining? It could be all three depending on what you’re talking about. You could entertain to create a human side then offer education information to develop a connection, later provide detailed information that seals a deal. Your content purpose could be helping to answer questions when your customers have them or if they need help. Know the purpose and create the content based on that objective.
Know Your Audience
When you know who you’re writing to, you’ll be providing the content that they find most useful. If you’re trying to speak to 20-somethings about insurance, talk to them in their language with their age and knowledge base of insurance in mind. You might be able to use completely different, even more technical terms to someone older because they’re far more familiar with insurance and how to navigate that system. Understand who your audience is, what they’re after and how they speak.
Show that You Care
Make your audience feel like you truly care – that you understand what they want and need. How does that work for website content though? Simple, you make the UX easy. Make sure your content is meaningful and to the point. Give them what they want or need to know, what they’re looking for, even what they don’t know they want or need and do so easily. Help your users along their buyer’s journey without making them feel like they’re simply being marketed to.
I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. – Maya Angelou
Know the Place for the Type of Content
In this article, I’m specifically talking about website content. And it is important to differentiate that what you put on a brochure may not translate to what you need to put on your website and vice versa. Each location is a different vehicle for your content. When you need to haul a load of kids to soccer practice, you don’t use a sports coupe.
Have a Conversation
Your content should be about having a conversation. It’s another way to humanize your company, develop trust and learn more about what your customers truly want and need. You know those conversations that feel one-sided, where you’re being spoken to but not heard? Yeah, don’t do that. Don’t let your website content become a one-sided sales pitch. While it is a type of marketing, don’t make it traditional marketing.
“Traditional marketing talks at people. Content marketing talks with them.” Doug Kessler
You don’t like that, why would your audience? Having a conversation is as simple as anticipating what your customers (or potential customers) want to know or understand and answering that for them. Don’t say, “you need THIS.” Rather, talk with them more like, “hey, you might be looking for this thing, and I understand why, let’s talk about it.”
Takeaway
Good website UX is more than page layout and design, it’s also about quality content. The two aspects work together to help your customers find what they need easily, inspire trust and loyalty, convey your brand’s voice and develop lasting relationships. Humanize your website with thoughtful, meaningful, conversational content.