Create Your Site Content the Easy Way

There’s an old saying among authors that states, “Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.” Most site owners are not authors. But, like all professional copywriters, they can suffer from dreadful writer’s block, especially when it comes to creating their own site content. Here’s an easy way to overcome this hindrance to making great content.

If you’re in business, sell a product, or offer a service, you likely already have prepared what is known as an elevator speech. It’s how you briefly answer the question, “What do you do?” While that’s a good place to start writing your site content, it’s not exactly enough to fill a web page.

Ask a Friend

A great way to get fresh ideas about what you do is to ask one of your friends what they think you do. Then ask them what that job entails. Another good question to ask is what benefit they think you provide to others. This kind of back and forth banter will open your eyes to the kind of information your clients need to see about you on your site. It will also give you an indication of how what you do is perceived by others. And, it will give you the opportunity to brainstorm some basic ideas with someone who cares about your success.

Write down everything you both say. You’ll need it to fill up all that content area on your site. And, don’t assume that everyone knows what you do. They don’t. Write it down and make it known.

Step Outside Yourself

Here’s another fun game you can play to alleviate writer’s block, although it may feel a little odd at first. Pretend you know someone who is in the same line of work as you and they are great at it. Now, tell a friend about this person’s business. Tell about how great they are with clients. Tell about how much care they take in producing a great product or how they deliver top-notch service.

Let Your Competition Inspire You

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. An easy way to jumpstart your idea battery is to check out what similar businesses are saying on their site. Now, plagiarism is not flattering. You can’t just take someone else’s copy and slightly tweak it to suit your needs. But, reading both good and poor copy on other sites will give you ideas of you do and don’t want to present your own info.

Layout Matters

Pay attention to how many pages are on their site and what info is on which page. If you click on a page and don’t find what you expect, make a note about where you think that info should be on your site. Also pay attention to how they use pictures on the page because graphics are a great way to draw the eye through the info and break up long blocks of text, which is boring. Splashes of color will do the same thing. You may find that the page doesn’t really have a lot of text on it at all, but it takes up a lot of room and fills it out nicely.

We’ve all been told that it’s not polite to toot our own horn. Well, when it comes to writing site content, it’s okay to put that notion aside and be our own best advocate for a little while. Become your own biggest fan and write away.