Creating an website that gets results: Getting started with written content

What is content and why do I need it?

Content is the images, logos, and text (writing) on your website. 

Whether you are making the site yourself or having a designer design it, you will need content. A designer can’t create your site without the content they’re building it with. It would be like trying to grout a brick wall without the bricks. While some design agencies/freelancers include this, many don’t and you will generally pay a premium for this.

Ways to create the written content

Since reading on a screen is very different from reading text in a book or magazine, writing for a website (content writing) is different from other forms of writing. To complicate matters still further, reading on a phone is very different from reading on a computer so ideally, your text should either work on both or be different depending on the reader’s screen size.

Before you start creating written content for your website, you will need to decide how you’re going to handle creating it and make sure that you know exactly what your designer needs, including formatting (number and types of sections, what each section is to be about, size of each section, etc.). 

Some designers may provide tips and tricks along with visuals to give you an idea of how your content will be used on your site and how to write it to be more effective.

Write it yourself

If you have the necessary time and skill, writing the content for your website yourself is a great option. This allows you to give your unique voice to the content of your site, and ensures it truly reflects your brand. If you decide to write your content yourself, you’ll want to know at least the basics of writing for search engine optimization and how to write effectively for websites.

Hire a content writer / copywriter

Although hiring a content writer can be expensive, your time is valuable and hiring a content writer can save you a lot of time and frustration. This is assuming you don’t spend too much time trying to find a great one at a good price or get burned by a bad one. 

You need to be aware that once you find a good content writer they will still need your input to make content that fits you and your business. Expect them to ask questions about what you offer, what makes you stand out from your competition, and your target audience. Make sure to give your content writer any guidelines your graphic designer gives you.

Use AI

Though you can use AI to write all your content, it isn’t magic. It will still take effort if you want AI to be effective, and it can take time to learn how to get AI to work for you. Creating good prompts for AI can be challenging, but, as a rule of thumb, the more info you give it, generally the better the output it will give you. 

Generated content often sounds good until you actually think about it. ALWAYS proofread AI before you use AI content, especially any facts it gives you as it can sound like it knows what it’s talking about when it’s really just bluffing. 

Think of an AI as a poor content writer who doesn’t know what questions to ask you and only cares about making it sound good without double checking their work. If you decide to use AI, I recommend using it to get past writer’s block and rewriting what it says in your own words. As it doesn’t know the right questions to ask you, you will need to know what makes effective content as if you were writing it yourself.