Browsing Category: "content"
It’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 copy 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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While doing some research for an upcoming content project, I did a little poking around the About Us sections of some Fortune 100 companies.
Would you be surprised to learn that some of the biggest companies in the world use nondescript and innocuous language to describe themselves? I wouldn’t. It’s a comfortable place for many companies (and their copywriters) to be.
Phrases like “serving you in over 100 countries around the world,” “making great products for generations,” “dedicated to supporting,” and “our commitment to providing” say nothing of worth to your target audience. Worse, that kind of language does zip, zilch, nada to differentiate you from your competitors. Besides, who even talks like that in the real world?
Seth Godin says in marketing, if something makes you nervous, it’s probably a good idea. I say in copywriting, if you could write your Company Overview or About Us page in your sleep, rest assured that your audience will snooze, too, when they read it. If they read it.
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While I’m a proponent of proper punctuation and a serious stickler about spelling, I also know that conversational copy is a much more compelling read.
If you’ve been stuck in the world of long, complex sentences, it’s time for a change. And, conversely, if you’ve been writing like you’re texting your BFF instead of talking with your customers, throw in an actual sentence now and then.
The combination of varying sentence lengths and types will mimic real-life dialogue, making your copy not only more fun to read but also worth the time it takes to read it.
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I’m a creative communications opinionator. I tell people what I think of their marcom, newsletters, press releases and web content based on my 23 years of professional experience in featuring writing, PR and interactive copywriting.
Which is why I was thrilled to be asked my opinion for this year’s Web Marketing Association WebAwards. I gave a critical eye and honest opinion of more than two dozen interactive sites.
Some were for well-known brands. Some were not. But throughout the judging process I saw the good, the bad and the ugly.
So where did the bad and the ugly go wrong? Many in design and navigation, but most with content.
Although I’ve blogged about content mistakes before, let’s look at the top three things that make web content suck – and how to avoid them.
Mistake #1 – Not Being Conversational
Although brochureware sites are oh-so-1997, some companies still employ the technique. Or, worse, they write as though they are some kind of 1970s esoteric marketer:
“Welcome to our virtual oasis on the worldwide web, where you are free to browse at your leisure from the comfort of your home or office.”
Who talks like that? Nobody.
The whole idea behind “conversational” is that it’s an informal exchange of dialogue. You say something. They say something. See how it works?
Of course, your site visitor won’t talk back (well, they may on Twitter or Facebook) but you can act as if you’re having a real conversation. You can approach your content as though you’re talking to real people about things that matter to them.
Mistake #2 – Being Too Wordy
This isn’t a long vs. short copy question. No, too wordy, simply means using more words than you have to in order to say something.
My husband is famous for being, um, shall we say a bit windy? He’ll say something. Then say it again. And again. And yet again.
Unfortunately, the punch of what he originally said (which is usually quite smart) gets lost in the retelling.
Say what needs to be said. Then stop. This goes for the home page as well as the FAQs.
Mistake #3 – Not Being Relevant
I already wrote a six-part series on relevant content, so let me remind you that great web content (i.e., non-sucky web content) has to mean something to the reader.
Web content should answer all the questions a site visitor could have – and then some. I call these the unarticulated needs.
Lose the fluff and tell the reader what they want to know.
How does your copy fare? For more tips on getting great copy, take my quiz, the Get Great Copy Reality Check.