Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Web Designers Have to Pull Teeth

I love everything about my job.

That was a lie.

There's one part of my job that I do not enjoy. It is not fun. It is the one thing I dread.

It's helping my clients provide/write the content for their website.

Getting the written web content from a client is like pulling teeth. Do dentists dread pulling teeth? Maybe they love it. I don't know.

It is very hard for web designers to get the content for a website from their client. I'm just being honest. Usually the client feels the same way about the content part of the website. They are too busy with other things in their business to take the time out of their schedule and write verbiage for their website.

Unless you are a professional writer, writing is probably not something that you do very often. It takes time and can be tedious. And it requires grammar. And spelling.

While writing and pulling teeth are not fun, here are a few ideas to make writing content for your website a little easier.

1. Examine your competition

Notice I did not say "Copy your competition". You want to stand out from your competition, and sound different. But if you're stuck in your writing, looking at what other people have said will help you. It may even give you an idea of what you DON'T want to talk about.

2. Write a practice draft

A lot of times people are afraid of writing and have a hard time getting started. Try just writing something with no intention of actually using it. Tell yourself you will throw it away as soon as you write it. Maybe you end up liking it and keeping it? Or maybe it's just a good start for when you're actually writing for real.

3. Make lists

Writing for a website shouldn't be blocks of paragraphs. Lists are the way to go. They are easier for the web user to scan quickly, which is what the web is all about.

Make lists of things your company is good at, lists of services you offer, lists of whatever you can think of. It may not need much if any explanation.

4. Ask your web designer for help

Many web designers have a lot of experience in writing content for websites. They may not know a lot about your business, but if you can provide them with your lists from #3, they may be able to take it from there.

Fresh Look Web Design often helps our clients with writing the content for their website. Sometimes if we have to do a lot of writing we will charge for it, and sometimes it's just a little editing and we do not charge. The benefit of finishing the website is incentive enough for us that we are motivated to help you!