Along with a well-performing and a well-designed website, it's important to have website content that both informs and spurs your customers to action. At OneLocal, we know there are pieces of your business that are most effectively communicated to your customers by you, such as the history of your business and your motivations for providing your services. Whenever possible, we encourage you to write content for your new website, giving it that extra personal touch. Writing may be daunting at times, but it doesn't have to be!
Here are some general writing tips to help you:
Try not to make paragraphs too long and try to avoid run-on sentences. Ideally, each paragraph should be 2-3 sentences long throughout. This makes it easier for customers to read.
When writing, always ensure that each page's first sentence and first paragraph serves as a description of the page's focus. This not only makes writing easier for customers to read — it also helps improve the page’s SEO performance.
If you’re unsure about which tone to follow for your writing or if you don't know everything about the subject matter, feel free to search Google for similar websites for comparison.
We suggest avoiding making the content too exclamatory (eg. “We offer the leading dental services in Toronto!”). Think of what type of writing style would be taken most seriously on a webpage (we’d say it should be a balanced mix of encouraging, engaging and straightforward).
Aim for 400 words or more, per page! Pages with a higher word count (containing only original content) will have better SEO performance, an important consideration for your website.
Guidelines for an “About Us” Page
Please make sure that all paragraphs are no longer than 3 sentences. Some good topics to cover on an “About Us” page are:
Information about your company’s history (eg. how long the company has been in business, who the founders are, what inspired the company to open/what needs it decided to address upon opening, etc.).
Include and explain your company’s mission statement. For example, what problems does your company aim to solve for its customers? Why would someone require your services? These need to be highlighted.
Mention your service in relation to their location (eg. if you are an HVAC company in Austin, TX, highlighting how you help people set up their air conditioning to deal with the Texas heat lets your customers know you are recognizing the unique needs of your area).
Explain what distinguishes your company from its competitors and/or why customers should choose you. It needs to be highlighted what makes the business unique, as well as trustworthy and believable. This can include breaking down your company’s services once again, highlighting a unique service you offer or underlining your company’s success rate in some way (eg. Do you have a positive track record on Google/Yelp/FB? Have you won any local awards? Have you been in operation for several years? etc.)
Outline your company’s dedication to customer service. Customers are always far more likely to choose a business that shows a desire to put customers’ interests first.
The page should end with a strong call to action (CTA). A Call to Action is usually a short and direct message designed to urge the customer to take the next step in your customer's journey. These may be buttons (ex. "Book now", "Call now", "Learn More") that will put the customer in touch with you by phone or email. Or, these may be statements written to do the same thing (ex. "Call us now at 111-111-1111 to book your appointment!", "Call us at 123-456-7890 for more info!"). To be effective, aim to keep these types of messages to the point, and as direct as possible.
As always, feel free to reach out to your Marketing Specialist for help with any questions you have!