Content Writing for Websites

Like books and newspaper, websites are also very popular source of written content. It requires so much efforts and preparation to write content in order to attract and engage the visitor. If you have doubt about the power of websites. Consider Flipkart, Amazon or ebay; these are big names in retail business without having outlets. What they have are powerful and easy to use websites.

There are some points to ponder before starting. Home page must contain the purpose clearly. If it is a business site, it should highlight the services offered by the company. This page should have links to other pages.

The website must respond to the obvious queries of visitors. Why should I read it? What is offered? How easily it can be availed? Where is the point of contact?

Most of the sites fail to attract the visitor because it doesn’t have the clear information on what ways it can help visitor to ease his life? Relevant images should be included where ever possible.

Provide FAQs, if it involves a process to avail some services.

Some of the sites distracts visitors with flashy ads on the wall and he quits. Don’t even provide information that looks like ads. While writing the content, the target audience should be kept in the mind and only relevant jargons should be used E.g. if a website is to sell medical equipment, don’t use jargons of electronics. It is recommended not to use jargons to the extent possible.

Put the commonly known dummy text Lorem ipsum...at the place-holder where you don't know what will be written or it's yet to be written e.g. company's vision or mission statement. The dummy text helps the designed to focus on layout rather than thiking about the content written. Below Latin text can be written and repeated whereever required:

"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum."

Please understand, it is not a place to showcase writer's vocab power. It is the place to make visitors feels at ease and essential for him to carry on. Respect the audience and don’t try to fool them. Don’t experiment with humor; avoid bias-ness to any caste, creed or community.

Websites must contain the contact information of contact point e.g. mail id and phone number of contact person.

Seeds of thoughts:

Consider that you own a restaurant and you are planning to launch as website for that. Try writing content for myownrestaurant.com.

It should have your menu card with prices, nicely taken pictures, details about the ambiance, specialty if any, other services e.g. home delivery available, order accepted from phone and website both. It should request the customer for feedback also. Try to collect your ideas in the same line and do write.

- Amit Roop