So you’ve got the crash hot website, the perfect calling card for your business. Fantastic! There’s just one problem you’ve got to fill it with engaging content that not only showcases what you do but gives potential clients a sense of who you are and how your business can help them. I’ve stared down the barrel of empty web pages…. often, so I feel your pain.

Where do you start and what is the best way to position yourself digitally? I found some useful tips in The Little Black Book of Business Writing whilst browsing at the airport recently (why are all the best books right there under your nose to tempt you just before you fly?). This handy little volume is an easy read and has sections devoted to different areas of business writing from proposals to resumes, minutes to media releases.
So what did the Little Black Book have to say about writing website copy?
1. Avoid slabs of text, use short paragraphs, catchy headings and incorporate graphics.

2. Never stop talking, don’t lose your voice. Write your side of a terrific conversation

3. Tell a story with elegant simplicity rather than by enumerating accomplishments.

4. Don’t waffle and use generalities, use compelling real world examples.

5. Break your business story into five or six categories-your tabs and use them to position you.

6. Greet your reader and show them the way in. Tell them who you are, what you think and how you define yourself and your work.

7. Don’t feel you have to say everything. Your website should start a conversation not stop it.

8. Make prices, dates, places and details easy to find using dot points and colour.

“Use writing to do business,
not to sound like you’re doing business.”

Great advice!
What’s worked for you? What challenges do you face when writing your service descriptions or website copy?

Image by Image Abstraction.