Written website content the forgotten business asset
Posted on Fri Feb 08
Tagged: Marketing | Leave your comments
Although written website content is one of the most important factors in online communication, most business website owners are either unaware of, or misunderstand, its potential value.
It's true that many things work together to make a website a commercial success. It's also true that anyone who runs a business has other things to think about besides their website. While taking all that into account, I think there are three basic concepts the general business community needs to grasp
- the web is a medium for written communication
- words have a powerful influence on website performance
- written content is an asset
It's human nature to overlook things to which we're constantly exposed. For example, you probably wouldn't realise how much advertising for fast food or alcohol you see every day unless someone pointed it out to you. Something similar happens to our perceptions when we use the web. The most common activity on the web is reading. We do it so much that we stop being aware of it. We forget that communication on the web depends on the written word.
On a typical business website, those "forgotten" words have got several big tasks to perform, such as
- providing understandable labels on navigation menus
- helping people find you in search engines
- motivating and persuading
- informing and educating
- building trust
With careful planning, execution and management, your website should give you a long-term return on the money you put into it. Although your accountant may not suggest including it on your balance sheet, it's an asset. A long-term investment, a major part of which is words.
Getting it right isn't easy. The irony of course is that if written content is easy to read, it looks as if it was easy to write. It's not. Simply copy-pasting from your brochure or catalogue is never a clever idea, because people read printed material differently to the way they read web content.
Like other assets you own, your website needs maintenance. Remember all those websites that have annoyed you with links that no longer work, ancient news items or outdated product information? Now that's one type of written content that people do notice, for all the wrong reasons.
