What Most Webmasters Don’t Know About Their Failing Website Content
Imagine your website content was so effective that every targeted visitor wanted to find out more information about your business.
Now wake up, because sadly, this is often not the case, even though it is entirely achievable.
How do I know this? I encounter dozens of websites on a weekly basis that not only fail to meet my standards, but also turn people away upon first visit.
“Why is my content so bad?”
If you are at all concerned that your website content isn’t up to par, you may want to continue reading.
Here are some reasons why webmasters have low-performing website content:
Design First
Most marketers spend the majority of their time and resources on website design. While design is an integral component of gaining leads and selling more products, if accompanied by poor-performing website content, the design is a waste. Design and content go hand-in-hand.
Lack of Knowledge
Many webmasters are not even aware that solid website copy is one of the components to successful marketing. Some are new to the internet marketing game and others never put two and two together. Your website content is the messaging that leads your visitors to take a desired action. It can make or break your online business.
Good Writing, Poor Content
If you write novels for a living, this doesn’t automatically translate into writing great website content. While grammar and word usage are one part of the formula, website content is completely different from other forms of prose.
If you write your website content with a novel-like approach, you will lose visitors within the first few seconds. They need their attention captivated fast!
Proper formatting of your website content is crucial for high conversions. Short paragraphs, bulleted lists, bolded emphasis and more, are essential to keeping visitors interested.
Purposeless Content
Even the best formatted content won’t keep visitors unless it speaks directly to them. Your website content is not a place to shout out how wonderful you think your products are. Your goal is to simply get users to take the next step, whether it to visit your product page, contact you, or opt in to your email list.
Each page has a specific purpose and must be targeted effectively. For brevity, I will target just the home page and list some common mistakes:
The home page is the most important because it is your first impression and where visitors will decide whether they want to leave or stay. Most webmasters fail to engage visitors on this page.
Some problems I encounter:
Trying to sell the farm – The goal of your home page is not the finish line unless you are writing content for a landing page. Your content should wet your visitors’ appetite enough so they desire to continue searching through your site. Just sell them on the next step, not the entire “kit and kaboodle.”
Target Audience – If you don’t know your exact market, you will never grab their attention. Before you write your home page content, identify the answers to these questions:
What are the main desires of your target audience as it relates to your industry?
What are their pain points?
What solutions do they need?
How can your product/services solve their problems?
What are their ages, income levels, status?
Too much content – In an attempt to squeeze in as much information as possible, webmasters clutter their home pages with excess content. Even if it is formatted correctly, it is still too much for visitors to take in. Resist the urge to add more and more. Less is more with website content.
Work on making what you already have MORE effective before adding any more content.
Quality trumps quality!
Where to Start?
If you notice any of these mistakes on your own website content, rectify them immediately!
In future articles I will discuss website content writing in more detail with detailed tips you can apply to your website right away. If you have some specific questions about your website content, feel free to list them in the comments below.
Happy Writing!