I’m doing a site audit for a client of mine and naturally it includes a few thoughts on web copy.
While looking for some small business sites within her industry as good examples to share, I was shocked at the number of poorly done web sites from Boston to Seattle.
There were plenty of hideously designed and whiz-bang-whistle, super-flashy sites that took too long to load, but the biggest thing I noticed was how rotten much of the copy is out there. Seriously. Stinky. Rotten.
A good share of it started with something like this:
As a ______ specializing in _______, I know _______. Our well-trained, highly competent staff will _______. We take every measure to ensure that ___________. As a leading ________, we’re proud to offer ___________.
Aargh.
Investing time and money into a new web site is a challenge, especially for small businesses. I know, it’s something that challenges me, too, as I work to do great work for my clients and have work-life balance. (Finding the right WordPress partner has been a nightmare, but I digress.)
At the very least, though, schedule a semi-annual review of your content. Do an honest assessment of it. Better yet, have someone else do a more objective evaluation. What content should stay? What should go? What should be refreshed? How can you make it happen with your internal teams or an outside partner, such as a freelance web copywriter.
Remember that the web is a significant channel for reaching, communicating and transacting with your customers and potential customers. Strategic, optimized, consistent, on-brand copy will help you leverage the web’s inherent power to influence and persuade. And that, dear readers, is priceless.
P.S. I’m planning my own web site makeover in 2010. Are you?
No CommentsI’m constantly asking my clients who they’re trying to reach. When it comes to effectively communicating, you must know who you’re talking to. You wouldn’t talk to a first-grader the same way you would talk with a college professor, right?
Here’s a tip for getting inside the mind of your audience:
Go to where your customers are and silently observe. Watch what they do and how they do it. Read the emails they send customer service. Eavesdrop on their conversations with each other.
Refrain from making assumptions. Resist the urge to lead. Don’t ask questions (just this once). Simply watch and listen.
I promise you’ll come away with a new perspective about what their proverbial “pain points” are, but you’ll also have fresh insight into what motivates and excites them.
No CommentsI’m feeling lazy today.
It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen.
And today is one of those days. Perhaps I’m feeling this way because I’ve just come off several high-energy, fast-turnaround projects that required a lot of focus and creativity.
The projects were grand, for sure, but they drained me in a way. At least temporarily.
So now it’s time to put something back. It’s time for me to get re-energized.
And, for me, the way to do that is to give into the laziness just a bit.
I ticked away at a couple of small projects earlier today, put my ‘out of office’ on and now I’m refueling my creative juices by NOT working, by NOT writing, by NOT honing my craft.
Instead, I’m baking pumpkin scones, doing some deep cleaning and going for a walk with my husband.
On a work day?!!??!!
Yep. And guilt free, I might add.
Because I know that when I take time (a day, a half day or even an hour) to refuel, I come back rested, refreshed and renewed. I come back with so much more to give physically, mentally and creatively.
I come back ready to write. And write well.
When’s the last time you were lazy in order to get more productive?
No CommentsIt’s nice to be back blogging, in part, because I enjoy sharing ideas but also because it means I have some breathing room in my schedule. Which leads me to what I want to share here: do you give yourself enough time to write?
Just about everyone underestimates the amount of time needed to write well.
Sure, Stephen King or John Irving can bang out novel after novel after novel. But they are the exception, not the rule.
I believe that writing even a thoughtful email should take a certain amount of time. And certainly writing web content requires more than a day or a week.
One of the projects I’ve been working on are some fast turnaround presentations for a major health care company. We typically have a week to distill the message, craft the story, create visuals and produce what is essentially a mini movie. It’s a very compressed timeframe. And while we’ve done a really good job, it could have been less painful for all involved if we had extended our project timeline just a bit.
Sometimes a project dictates a short timeframe. But most times, we self-impose time limits. Perhaps we do this because we don’t want to disappoint the client, the boss, the coworker. Perhaps we do this because we (or others) don’t value our contribution. Or perhaps we do this because we simply don’t know how much time something will take. (Trust me, it will invariably take longer than you think.)
Honestly? I’m a fast writer. Quite fast, in fact. But that doesn’t mean I don’t need a fair amount of prep time, which could include doing research, conducting interviews, brainstorming, noodling, whatever I need to in order to get as much information in me as possible. In fact, I believe I’m a fast writer because I do so much upfront work. It makes the writing process so much easier when I’m well prepared.
Let me encourage you to allow adequate lead time for all your writing.
I recommend keeping track of how long various writing projects take you. It’s a necessity for me to log my exact hours since I juggle multiple clients and projects at any given time. But the other important reason I do it is because it helps me more accurately estimate needed hours for similar, future projects.
It’s also good to build in at least part of a day so you can set your writing aside and come back fresh in the morning for one last round of revising and proofing.
And, lastly, I find it challenging to write for hours and hours on end. I prefer to chunk my writing time with breaks in between, which means I need to allow perhaps two days instead of one for a small project, or fours hours instead of two.
Do you agree that it takes time to write well? Do you allow yourself the time? Do you feel resistance when you do ask for extra time?
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