As part of creating a website you need to fill the site with original content that tells people what you're about and persuades them to get in touch with your business or take whatever next action you'd like them to take. This might seem intimidating if you don't consider yourself a writer, but getting a simple website up and running isn't too much of a challenge when you follow a tried and tested approach.
Planning Your Website
What Content Do You Need?
Users have expectations of what should be on a website, so your site's structure should make sense to both visitors and search engines like Google. While some pages are common across most websites — like the homepage and contact page — others will depend on what the purpose of your website is. You may want individual pages for each of your products and services, category pages to cover multiple products, or just a few pages to introduce your brand and offers.
What Are Similar Sites Doing?
It's always useful to check what competitors and leaders in your industry are doing with their own websites and content, so you can see what works and what doesn't.
Never copy text from other sites directly. Not only will this make you look untrustworthy and unprofessional, it will also be detected by Google and harm your search engine ranking.
Planning Content
What's the Purpose of the Page?
Every page on your website should have a clear function and goal. The copy on the page should guide your audience towards the action you want them to take. Some pages may be aimed at conversions — whether that's making a purchase, contacting you, or something else — while others provide information to keep users engaged or break down barriers to making a sale.
Common Page Types
The most common types of pages on websites are:
- Homepage — introduces your business and offers at a glance, with suggested next steps for users
- About page — more detailed information about your company and values to overcome objections
- Product/service pages — highlight features and benefits to encourage transactions
- Contact page — encourages users to get in touch through various methods
- Blog — news, updates, useful tips and a way to grow your website with fresh content
- Landing pages — specially designed pages used in marketing to attract more customers and sales
Create an Outline
To make sure your page covers everything and flows well, map out sections such as headings and subheadings, features and benefits, objections and responses, quotes and testimonials, and calls to action. Most successful web pages follow the 'inverted pyramid' model — putting the most important information first and using the rest of the content to explain more.
Writing Style
Keep It Simple
Short sentences that use simple language are more appealing to the average internet user. Only use complex technical terms if you're sure your audience will understand them, and don't clutter the page with unnecessary paragraphs for the sake of filling space.
Help Readers Scan Your Content
- 1Keep paragraphs short
- 2Break up the content with relevant subheadings
- 3Use bullet points or numbers for lists
- 4Highlight key information in bold
Keep It Relevant
Put yourself in your readers' shoes to make sure your content tells them what they want to know and answers the questions they might have. When introducing products, services, and other offers, focus on benefits rather than features. People want to know how you can help them — they don't always need the technical details.
Be Persuasive
Even if you're not hard selling a product, you still want the reader to reach the end and take the next step. Writing in the second person (addressing the reader as 'you') makes copy more personal. Use active rather than passive voice to encourage action, and back up your claims with statistics or social proof such as testimonials from satisfied customers.
Page Elements
Headings and Subheadings
The heading is the most important element on the page for attracting readers. It needs to target your primary keyword and entice readers to click through from search engines and social media. Subheadings break up a page into manageable chunks and provide opportunities to rank for more keywords.
Calls to Action
Every page should have a clear goal for the user, whether it's following a link or contacting your company. The action needs to be clear and persuasive. Avoid giving too many options, as this can cause second-guessing and result in no action being taken at all.
Images and Video
Pages perform better when they include relevant, attractive images. Video is even more engaging, as long as it's relevant to the content. Make sure image files are well optimised so they don't slow down page loading times, and ensure you have the right to use images before publishing. See Adding and Editing Images and Files for more on working with media.
Advanced Tips
Writing for Your Target Audience
It helps to have a specific person in mind when writing content. If you haven't researched your audience before, important things to know include their background (age, gender, industry, education level), what problems they want to solve, what interests and appeals to them, and their previous experiences with businesses like yours. Pull together these traits to create one or more example customer personas.
Using Keywords
Keywords are still at the heart of SEO. Keyword research shows what words and phrases people enter in search engines to find websites like yours. Use a free tool such as Google Ads Keyword Planner for detailed insights about keywords and popular variations you should be targeting. Keywords should be used naturally throughout your content but carry more weight in titles, headings, and image descriptions. See Keywords for more detail.
Don't overuse keywords to try to game the system. Search engines got wise to keyword stuffing a very long time ago and websites that use it are penalised.
Where to Include Keywords
- 1Page titles
- 2Subheadings
- 3The first 100 and last 100 words of the content
- 4Title tags and meta descriptions
- 5Alt text for images
Do You Need a Copywriter?
Good online writing takes practice, and many businesses delegate this task to an agency or freelancer with experienced copywriters who know how to write persuasive content. The more detailed information you provide to a copywriter about what you want — including examples, tone of voice, and target audience — the better the result will be.
Search engines favour websites that are updated regularly. Adding more pages or publishing a regular blog will help you attract more searches and improve your page rank.
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