The first impression you make on your visitors when they arrive at your website is crucial, but this is often more focused on the design aspects, which are the very first things that your visitors take in. What do you do once that initial impression is over? Does your website have the kind of copy that encourages your readers to stick around?

If you can’t keep your readers' attention then nothing else that you’ve done on your website really matters, and with the enormous amounts of competition available online, if you can’t keep your visitors interested, another website that potentially can is just a click away.

So, how can you help keep your readers attention?

1. Use Images. Images can create very strong emotional reactions in readers, leaving them open to the effects of your persuasive copy. With a great image you can capture your readers’ attention and build interest before they’ve even started to read your copy.  By creating an emotional connection between a picture and your copy, you’ve already engage your readers interest on a deeper level than your copy alone could.
2. Tell a Story.  Nothing illustrates a point like a compelling story. Content that is filled with specific real-life details is much more compelling than discussing general concepts and the more you can relate your copy to your reader by highlighting the similarities between them and your product, the more likely you are to encourage them to continue reading. 
3. Ask Questions.  Many copywriters will use questions to help relate website readers’ pain points with a company’s product or services. Asking questions can help to draw the reader in by helping them relate their problems with the solutions you offer, helping them to paint a picture and engaging their curiosity, after all, chances are that if you ask a question that’s relevant your readers are going to stick around to find out the answer. 
4. Include Internal Links. Including hyperlinks within your copy to other areas of your website can help your visitors navigate more easily, and can entice them to explore your website in more depth. If a reader arrives at a page and while reading sees a hyperlink to another area of your site that they find interesting it is easy for them to continue to browse the copy that your site has to offer. 
5. Avoid Using a Passive Voice. Using a passive voice results in your copy have more words than necessary while an active voice can help your copy be direct and authoritative.  Avoiding flowery copy and getting right to the point, is a good way to get the important information on your site across to your visitors and this is a key step in keeping their attention.

Here’s an example of active versus passive voice:

Passive: “The ball was thrown by the boy.”
Active: “The boy threw the ball.”

Grabbing your readers’ attention and encouraging them to stick around starts with having “sticky” website copy. Using these simple tricks to enhance your current web copywriting practices can help you increase the chances that your visitors will stay on your site rather than clicking away.

Your website’s copy is one of the most important aspects of your sales and marketing strategies. Content that is well written and user-friendly, encourages your visitors to interact with the copy on your website and hopefully to take the action you’re asking them to take.

You content is an important factor in your visitors’ interaction with your company online. If your copy is difficult to read or understand, if your visitors feel like it doesn’t relate to them or they can’t easily distinguish your offer, or value proposition then it isn’t d oing all that it can to help your online lead generation.

Here are our tips for making your content more user-friendly:

1. Keep voice consistent. Having a voice that is consistent across all your pages and which resonates with your target audience is one of the best ways to keep your content easy to understand. If you’re voice is constantly changing, or it doesn’t appeal to your key audience then it won’t be an effective selling tool.
2. Use active verbs. Using active words in your copy is essential to engage your visitors and encourage them to take action. Don’t let your readers be passive, instead encourage them to participate with your content by using active verbs. 
3. Check for errors. Your website should be free of all typographical and grammatical errors, but, no one is perfect. Make sure that you have you copy read, and re-read by multiple people to try and ensure that you catch every error before your content goes live. 
4. Don’t ask for too much commitment. Long blocks of copy require too much of a commitment on the part of your audience to get the information they’re looking for, or a better understanding of your offer. By keeping text skimmable using brief paragraphs, clear headings and bulleted lists you can encourage engagement by making it easy for them to get the gist of your copy. 
5. Keep your focus on your customer. Your content needs to be targeted towards your customers’ wants and needs rather than your company. Remember, you’re trying to sell to them, and prattling on about your company doesn’t encourage anyone’s interest. Make them feel like you understand their situation, their pain points and that you have the solutions to solve them. 
6. Explain benefits verified by features. Including product or service features which are verified by benefits, is an important way to make your content more user-friendly. If you’re not sure what the difference is between a feature and a benefit, of you’d like to read a little more on this topic, you can check out our blog post, “Product Marketing Tips: Writing Features Vs. Benefits Part 1”
7. Avoid keyword stuffing. It’s important when you’re writing your website’s copy that you’re aware of using your targeted keywords. However, keyword stuffing (over-using your keyword for SEO purposes) makes copy difficult to read and understand.  This tactic might help you SEO, but it won’t help your site’s usability, and once visitors arrive at your site, you still need to convince them that your product or service is right for them.  
8. Create clear calls-to-action.  Your calls-to-action represent the actions that you you’re your visitors to take once they get to your site.  Whether your call-to-action is a text link, a button or any other graphic or copy, optimizing them for effectiveness has a huge effect on whether or not your visitors will do what you want them to do on your site. Each page on your website should have at least one call-to-action and they should be clear about what they’re asking. If you want to learn more about optimizing your website’s calls-to-action you can read about it here.
9. Use links in your copy for ease-of-use. Using links within your copy to relevant areas of your website can make it easier for users to follow your copy. You can also use this technique to link to outside references that reinforce your points.

Image by Aturkus on Flickr.

Writing web copy is hard.

It's not just hard because it takes a lot of work, or because it's a continual, constant process. It's also hard because the amount of information available on the web means that to have any real impact your content needs to be really good and it needs to differentiate itself from the crowd.

Consistently writing fresh, engaging web copy, whether it's for you're website's homepage or your blog, can be a difficult task, and believe us, keeping up your creativity levels from day to day is no walk in the park.

But, before you get to scared away by the dire opening to today's post, it's time for the light in the dark. We have tips! Lots and lots of tips for writing that killer content that will leave your competitors in your metaphorical, internet dust and we want to share!

So, without further ado, here are our tips for creating killer B2B web copy:

1. Create content strategically. Every piece of web copy that you write needs to support your overall business strategy.  Your copy should be an active part of your overall web strategy, not just an afterthought. When writing copy, you need to keep the "big picture" in mind and make sure that your copy is a relevant piece of the puzzle. 
2. Write content that is actionable. Guess what? Copy that is useful encourages your readers to take action. If, after reading your copy, your readers aren't inspired to do something (even if it is just to change their mind) your copy is essentially useless.
3. Choose simple words. Demonstrating the size of your vocabulary isn't a necessary part of communicating the value of your products and services. People want the web copy they read to be easy to understand and absorb. Use simple words, be direct and you will be more successful.
4. Keep it short but sweet. This relates to the point above. Your visitors want your web copy to communicate your point in the smallest amount of words possible. Asking for too large a time commitment is a surefire way to lose readers. That's not to say that all copy benefits from being concise, but if you feel your copy absolutely needs further explanation, have a "read more" link for those visitors that are truly interested.
5. Write with confidence. You have confidence in your products or services, now you need to convey it. Confidence doesn't instill itself and without it, no one will pursue a business relationship with you. Tell your readers in no uncertain terms how you stand behind what you're offering (hint: explaining your company's guarantees is a great way to do this).
   
6. Make sure they know why you're special.  What sets you apart from your competition? Communicating your unique selling proposition is one of the most important ways to explain why your visitors should buy from you and it can instantly make your copy more effective.
7. Write informally. Often, businesses are too concerned with creating copy that is "professional" rather than "appealing." Unfortunately, these companies don't realize that if your copy isn't appealing, then it doesn't matter how professional it is. Your visitors want to read things that are easy and enjoyable to consume and one of the best ways to do this is to write copy that has a personal, informal tone. A common trick for this is to write the way that you speak.
   
8. Use their pain. This might sound a little sadistic but using your customers pain points in your copy is one of the best ways to explain that you understand their issues. If your visitors don't believe that you understand their personal problem then why would they continue to interact with your copy?
   
9. Set up a need. Once you've convinced a reader that you understand their pain then you can create a need that compels them to continue reading. Implying to to your readers that you have the solution to those problems and that they are going to miss out if they don’t keep reading is an important part of engaging your audience. 
10. Edit Ruthlessly. The first draft of any web copy is often complete garbage. Be completely cutthroat in your editing and shorten, delete or even rewrite everything that doesn't immediately jump out at you as compelling. We absolutely, 100% advocate getting someone else to read your copy before you publish it. Believe us, no matter how good a writer you are, you're still going to have a biased opinion on the copy you've written because you know what you're trying to say. 

Image by Leo Reynolds on Flickr.

Publishing your pricing for your products or services can be a bit of a touchy issue for many B2B companies. There is always a fear that putting your pricing “out-there” on your website can scare potential customers away if the price isn’t right, or that it will allow your competition to use that information against you. We’re here to tell you that, we don’t believe that. We actually think that publishing your pricing on your website can have significant benefits for your organization, we have our pricing published and it has helped us discover some of the key ways that it has helped our website conversion rates.

Web usability expert, Jakob Neilsen, has stated that not publishing prices on your B2B website is one of the number one mistakes that company’s make and,  according to Jakob, “Price is the most specific piece of info [sic] that customers use to understand the nature of an offering, and not providing it makes people feel lost and reduces their understanding of a product line.”

We agree with Jakob and to help you understand why we agree, here's our list of 4 ways that publishing your pricing actually helps increase your website conversion rates:

1. It builds trust and brand confidence. If you publish your pricing on your website, it shows that you’re not afraid to stand by your products. If you are willing to publish a price (whether it is on the high or low end of the spectrum for your industry) it shows that you believe your products are worth that price. Displaying your prices with confidence breeds that feeling in potential customers.
2. It allows you to comment on your pricing. Publishing your pricing gives you the opportunity to explain how your prices are built-up. You are able to tell your customers which features they get for which price, differentiating your products within the market and keeping the buying cycle as simple as possible. Nothing is worse than reading about a product and finding out you can’t get what you want for a price you can pay.
3. It makes your promotions' value obvious. Publishing your pricing allows you to put on effective price-based promotions. Offering someone $200.00 off your products (for example) has little or no relevance if they have no idea how much your products cost in the first place. Communicating the value of your promotions can increase the leads they bring in. 
4. It forces your leads to qualify themselves. If a lead comes to your website and can’t find the pricing, they may take the time to contact your sales team for further information, only to find out that they don’t have the budget for your products or services. This wastes valuable sales cycles and time. By publishing your pricing, potential customers have the ability to qualify themselves as hot leads (if they like your pricing) or to go somewhere else if your pricing doesn’t work for their budget. Don’t be afraid of scaring people off! Customers that aren’t able to afford your products, or who are looking for the cheapest solution on the market, tend to be the ones who leave as soon as some less expensive option comes along.  

Hopefully, most of you have come to the realization by now that compelling content is an essential aspect to any effective website. It can help bring traffic to your site, it can help maximize the conversions you get from that traffic, and better yet, it can turn those leads into repeat, loyal visitors.

The ideas behind why you should create compelling content are well recognized, but how to do it? That’s where content strategy gets a little trickier.
 
There are hundreds of tips we could give you on how you can create content that draws customers to your site and then entices them to return, but rather than run through the entire list, we’ve picked the ones that we think are the most important aspects of a sustainable, content marketing strategy.

1. Understand what your customers want to read and then give it to them. If you give your readers something they want to read and educate them at the same time,  then it encourages them to return because it is in their best interests to do so.
2. Be committed to keeping your content fresh. It’s not just about having current content that draws a customer in once. You need to create content consistently so that they will keep coming back to see what else you have in store for them. 
3. Establish yourself as an expert, but don't self-promote. Does that sound like a paradox? It doesn’t have to be. Offer your visitors educational content that demonstrates your expertise but doesn’t blatantly self promote your products or services. 
4. Keep it short and sweet! Most of your visitors probably don’t have time to read your 10 page research paper. What they are looking for is concise, easy-to-read, tidbit style content that can give them the information they need at a glance, and without too much of a commitment on their part. This isn’t to say that those papers don’t have their uses, but the majority of your visitors are probably looking for content they can access and consume quickly and easily.
5. Put ownership in the right place. Content creation has become a collaborative effort (especially if your company uses a web content management system). This cooperative structure means that you can have the content writing spread among different owners, and put it in the hands of the people who are most qualified to write about specific subjects. For example, if you want to create a piece of content demonstrating how your customer service team deals with customer inquiries, why not have one of your customer service representatives write it, rather than a member of your marketing team?  When people write about topics that interest them, or that they have experience with,  they usually write content that is inherently more compelling to their audience. 
6. Plan ahead—way ahead. Remember, you’re not creating content because you want to land a sale in the first conversation like a used car salesman. You’re building a community of visitors, based around your content, who come to you because they trust you to inform them, educate them and answer their questions and in the long run, this will lead to relationships that drive sales.

Hopefully you found this post helpful. Make sure to check out the other posts in this series:

Start Fresh in 2010: A How to Guide on Redesigning Your Website for the New Year
Website Redesign How to Step 1: The Website Audit
Website Redesign How to Step 2: Website Design

We just finished our webinar, "Marqui's Recipe for Compelling Content" and we think it was a definite success.

This was the first webinar that I co-presented since coming to Marqui, and as a web content specialist here, many of the pains marketers face creating content hit really close to home for me. I hope that you all found our tips and insights helpful, and that our strategy pointers work for you as well as they work for us!

Content creation can be a major pain point for a lot of marketers, and we know from personal experience that creating a successful strategy for content can be a difficult and time-consuming task. To help out we decided to give a webinar which discusses the web content ecosystem and some tips for how you can create a sustainable content strategy that works.

The webinar focused on several major aspects of content creation:

1. What is the value of compelling content?
2. What does compelling content look like?
3. The common content creation challenges most marketers face.
4. Our recipe and ingredients for compelling content which included: frequency, consistency, consumption and expertise among others.

If you were unable to make the webinar, the recording is now available in our resource section.

If you did attend, please take a moment and let us know how we did. We love to hear from you!

One of the most important aspects of any marketing strategy is proper content management.

By developing sustainable creation strategies and understanding your visitors, you can engage your customers in meaningful conversations and help build relationships with prospects.

To help you develop a successful content creation strategy, we're holding a live webinar on Thursday March 18th at 10:30 am PST. During the webinar we're going to cover ways that you can:

• Create content your visitors want to read
• Engage your customers in a dialogue with meaningful content
• Ensure that your content is always "fresh" 
• Develop a plan to maintain your ongoing content creation efforts

You can register for the webinar here.