It might be 2017 but website content still can’t write itself
As web designers we work with a lot of new website projects, website migrations and redesigns. We’ve worked on literally hundreds of websites over the last 10 years. The technology has changed drastically; the tools for building are better than they’ve ever been. So what’s the number one issue that is still just as problematic today as it was back when we started? The website’s content. It’s the number one reason for delayed or poorly performing websites—sometimes it’s put the brakes on websites for up to a year while we’ve waited for a client to get content to us.
I recently read an excellent article from Rebecca Gill over at Web Savvy Marketing in which she describes website content as the elephant in the room. I couldn’t agree more.
Whether you’ve just spent thousands of dollars on a custom website build or you’re using an off-the-shelf stock website theme, you’ll ultimately have to address the elephant in the room. Your elephant, my friend, is writing website content.
It’s the one thing, and monumental task, that stands in the way of your pretty new website going live. For many of our clients writing content becomes the project bottleneck, the roadblock, and the ultimate showstopper.
Rebecca identifies some common challenges people face when writing content:
- Time constraints
- Unrealistic expectations
- Lack of a plan
- Assigning the writing to the wrong staff member
- Inability to write
- Writing with too much jargon
We’ve definitely seen all these issues (and sometimes all of them at once) when dealing with website content that has been sent to us.
So how can I shoo the elephant out and get better at writing website content?
It all boils down to being honest with yourself about where you are at and what your capabilities are, and then sitting down to create a solid content plan. Rebecca outlines some excellent strategies to help you break the writer’s block and start moving forward.
Read the full article over on Web Savvy Marketing’s blog
Writing Website Content: Addressing the Elephant in the Room
