Category: Writing Tips

In order to make a sale, the text on your website needs to written with purpose. It needs to punch through the online clutter and deliver a clear message to your audience. When writing a page of website content, I use a multi-step process. First, I contact a business owner to learn about his or her business. Second, I follow up with online research to learn more about the industry. Third, I identify keywords, key phrases, and key concepts. Finally, I begin writing. As you can see, a website page isn’t whipped together willy-nilly. It requires a clear strategy. Here’s my approach to writing a web page.

State your solutions to their pain points

I start by answering the question: “What challenges do your clients face?” I put myself in the shoes of the client and clearly state their pain points. Then I offer a solution that really makes sense Here’s an example from a Writer to the Rescue client: “I’d rather put my head in a blender than write a video script.” Writer to the Rescue is passionate about writing and content marketing. The Wonder Writer will take your vision and ideas and craft a video script that’s camera ready within a week.

Use keywords to improve SEO

I follow up with a product description, instructions for use, and examples of how it makes life better. To improve search engine optimization (SEO), I weave keywords into the website page. I also highlight keywords in subheadings to give the keywords more weight. When someone types in a query, Google or another search engine will index the Internet to find a suitable answer. I want my web page to rank as high as possible, so people are more likely to click-through to my website.

End with a call to action

Each web page ends with a recap of the main point and a call to action. Here’s an example: “Contact Writer to the Rescue today for a quote.” For better conversions, this call to action links to my contact page.

Write web pages with intention

To keep the reader engaged, a web page needs to have a tone that’s understandable and conversational. It should be free of grammatical and spelling errors that undermine your professional reputation.

To improve readability, I intentionally use:

• Active voice
• Transitions
• Readable sentences
• Short paragraphs

Increase traffic to website

A well-written website page increases traffic to a website and keeps visitors engaged longer. Bounce rates go down, and conversions go up. For strategically written website content, contact me for a free quote, 920-639-1865.

If your website content is too short, too wordy, too repetitive, or lacks critical information, it may appear that you don’t want people’s business. Your text needs to show that you are the one to trust for your product or service. Quality website content can express your values, explain the benefits of working with you, and set a precedent

of high expectations. Having clear, well-conceived content on your website is one indication of how well your business operates. The more readable the content, the more inviting it is for visitors to do business with you.

Website content needs to resonate with readers

When developing written content, consider how to make your message resonate with your readers. You want readers to have a comfortable experience. You want to give them the information they need, and make it easy for them to find. People aren’t going to your website for leisure reading; they’re looking for details about your brand. What are your hours? Your phone number? Your products and services? Most importantly, how do these products and services work for me?

Make a good first impression

Headings and subheadings contribute to a solid first impression. Website content also needs to impress returning visitors. Visitors gain confidence in you as a trusted source of information. They know they will be satisfied they have the information they need when they visit your site.

Foster relationships

You want to encourage visitors to stay connected. Building a relationship with readers improves their overall experience with your company. You want to create a positive experience they’ll remember. A visit to your website should lead to conversions like online orders, phone calls, or in-person consultations. Website content that is sparse (or long-winded), poorly written, or outdated casts a negative light on your business. The better your information, the more inviting it is to readers. Your readers will be confident that they’ll find what they need and the products and services they can rely on as well.

Is it time for fresh content on your website? Contact the Wonder Writer today.

What to know a secret?

I have discovered something that is super helpful in content marketing. To get to the heart of what makes a business tick, I read the reviews left by their clients. In just a few sentences, I learn what sets them apart from their competition.

My husband and I never book a resort without reading the reviews. People read reviews before purchasing all sorts of products and services. Everyone knows the power of word-of-mouth advertising, and an online review is word-of-mouth on a colossal scale. Reviews carry more credibility that advertisements because the reviewers are not on the payroll.

How is your business positioned?

Your best qualities come out in a review. Pretend you run a lawn care business. There are only so many ways to cut a lawn and apply fertilizer and weed killer. When your clients leave reviews saying you work fast and are affordable, you start to see why people like working with you. Price is important to these clients. When others say you’re reliable and answer their questions, then you know they appreciate your customer service.

In the world of marketing, this is known as positioning. The market perceives your business as a cheaper alternative to other lawn care services and perceives your staff as more approachable and quicker than others.
Sometimes your worst qualities come out in a review and knock you down, but bad reviews can provide valuable, albeit painful, feedback.

How can a review surprise you?

Reviews sometimes tell you what you don’t know about yourself. One of the reviewers said Writer to the Rescue cut through the clutter of the information he provided. I didn’t recognize this as one of my strengths. Now it has become a selling point.

Testimonials are useful because they can identify gaps in your branding. These gaps show up in reviews that leave you thinking: “That’s what they like about me? I really want them to like this instead!”

How can reviews improve your SEO?

When writing website content, I like to read through reviews to become familiar with the jargon of the industry. It is a great way to learn the keywords people use and can be worked into the content. These keywords are important to improving your Google ranking, otherwise known as Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The robots that index the internet pick these key words to add to their database. When someone types these keywords into a search bar, relevant websites rank higher on search results pages.

How should I ask for a review?

The best way to ask for a review is to email customers, thank them for their business, ask for a review, and provide a link to your Google account. It’s as simple as that.

So now you know one of my secrets to content writing. After reading reviews, I know the features that distinguish my clients from the competition and promote these features to their target market. Contact me to find out how to use this secret to your advantage. As the Wonder Writer at Writer to the Rescue, I write website content, blogs, news releases, and a wide range of marketing materials.

 

 

If you believe your employees are your greatest asset, then the Staff Page of your website needs to reflect this belief. The Staff Page gives you a platform to showcase the people who make your business tick. Web visitors can identify who’s who by looking at the photos of key people posted on the page. These photos build an association between the individual and the brand they represent. Each photo should be accompanied by a professional biography that is written with flair. A catchy biography keeps visitors engaged and interested in learning more about you and your brand. That interest can lead to conversion in the form of sales and brand loyalty.

Professional bios are easy as 1, 2, 3

Here is the three-step process I use to write an employee bio.

1. I begin with brainstorming. I make a list of things that are important, like job responsibilities, current and past employment, hobbies, accomplishments, and interesting facts.
2. I narrow the list to several key ideas.
3. I take these ideas and work some magic on them to transform the ordinary into something extraordinary.

Focus on a strength

Here’s an example from my own professional bio. In the brainstorming phase, I identified writing as one of my top skills. Then I came up with the following:

“Joan Koehne has been correcting people’s grammar since she was a kid. Since then, she’s turned this annoying tendency into a career…”

Recognize your hard work

In the brainstorming phase, key words should pop out to describe employment, past and present. Adding employment history reveals the scope of career experience and highlights some sought-after skills.

Here’s how I wove my work experience into my bio:

“Joan … now works as editor of a weekly community newspaper in Oconto Falls, where she’s a prolific writer and passionate photojournalist. Before covering this beat, she had a rewarding gig as a substitute teacher and religious education facilitator.”

Emphasize lifelong learning

Aside from work experience, education is another topic to incorporate into a bio.  Earning a degree demonstrates knowledge and proficiency in a particular subject area, so it’s important to include college studies in a bio. Formal schooling isn’t the only path to wisdom, so expertise learned in nontraditional settings should be considered, also.

Here’s my example showing how I integrated my college degree and current studies into my bio:

“Joan is a college graduate, earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and recently hit the books again, this time as a social media marketing student at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College.”

Blow your horn

Do any awards or recognition appear on the brainstorming list? A professional bio allows employees to blow their own horn without sounding pompous.

After graduation, I added this line to my bio:

“A 2017 college graduate, Joan achieved highest honors and the Marketing Student of the Year award.”

What’s your happy place?

I add personality to casual professional bios by showing what brings the person happiness. Here I tell what a person is passionate about outside of work: hobbies, interests, community involvement.

This is how I concluded my bio:

“She’s crazy about her husband, her two kids (Can they really be that smart and be my children?), the Milwaukee Brewers and her Catholic faith.”

Match style with audience

I wrote the bio above while I was a marketing student at NWTC as a way to introduce myself to other students and to my instructor. My bio was written in a casual style to match my audience in a college setting. Once I graduated from NWTC and started a business, my professional bio needed updating.

Here’s another sample of my professional bio, written for the Staff Page of on the website of Packerland Websites and used as my blog signature:

“Once a mild-mannered reporter and editor, Joan Koehne has taken on the persona of her alter ego, Wonder Writer, and is saving the world one word at a time. In 2017 she went up, up and away to launch a writing services business, Writer to the Rescue, a division of Packerland Websites. A 2017 college graduate, Joan achieved highest honors and the Marketing Student of the Year award.”

The professional bio I send to news outlets to accompany news releases is short and formal:

“Joan Koehne is a former newspaper editor who co-owns Writer to the Rescue, a Green Bay-area writing services company that specializes in website content, blog articles and news releases. To learn more, visit WriterToTheRescue.com.”

Let’s get started

Writing professional bios is one of the services I offer clients of Writer to the Rescue, a division of Packerland Websites. Employees need professional bios that “sell” them to their audience. I can help make that happen. Contact me today to get started on a professional bio for yourself and your key employees.