Creating content is essential to the success of the site. It will determine how much information a user has to read on the rest of site, it’s responsible for telling them what they can find across the sites content and lets them get used to the tone which your site is written and laid out in.
The following is a check list of all the things which you need to consider BEFORE writing the introduction content on your “home” or “about” page;
- Decide on your sites overall “tense”: It’s a good idea for your site to have one universal tense running throughout. If you’re going to be saying “our range can offer you competitive prices” then this is the tense you should stick with. This applies to all businesses and sectors.
- Decide on your contents level of formality: Just as the tense for your site needs to be universal so does your formality. Depending on the style and purpose of your business or company your site will have a unique level of formality. For example you might decide that your bathroom company needs a friendly family tone, then this is the formality you need to keep throughout your site regardless of the information you’re delivering.
- Begin to develop your overall tone: The overall tone of your site is a combination of the pre determined tense, formality and the way in which you display your content, plus other less obvious methods which all come together to create a tone for your site. This tone is what will give your site its personality, which in turn is what you will be using to strengthen your brand and increase trusts and authority.
- Develop brand authority through quality writing: Regardless of the formality and tone of your writing the content needs to be fairly to the point and clear of needless jargon and meaningless terms. These irritate likeminded business people in the same sector and confuse others. Confusing people who visit your site is the ultimate mistake to make, a confused reader is a “back clicking” reader.
Remember:
Home pages generally need to be to the point; they also need to be fairly sales orientated, but subtlety so with at least one “call to action”. They need to create and then re-enforce brand strength and trust, but without discouraging people from moving on to more specific pages.
After creating and enforcing your sites tone the main focus of your “home” and “about” pages are to inform users what there is to be found on the site. You need to inform readers and users about the specifics of your business and what they can expect from you and your site in general.
The Web Vitality home page is a great example of how each of these things can be brought together:
“Based in the heart of Manchester City Centre are a team of truly unique individuals with a shared passion for the mystical art of digital marketing.” Which tells the reader what we do, where we’re based, what the tone is and that we’re formal and knowledgeable without being boring and still maintaining a sense of humour.
This is a lot to fit in perfectly in a single sentence but it’s a great idea to this for an opening statement; simple, easy to read, informative and to the point.
This should be the format for your entire home page and about pages, with every base covered but as quickly and simply as possible.