Writing Content for Your Ecommerce Website.
If the thought of trying to write content for your ecommerce website leaves you feeling ill, take heart. You don’t have to do it all by yourself. There are services available that will help you, from giving you tips about writing for your specific industry to copywriters who will do it all for you.
But you should think about writing some or all of the content for your website. It not only saves money but also gives your website an authentic voice. If you feel uncertain about grammar and sentence structure, hire an editor to review what you write. That person can smooth out the rough edges in your content while making sure it still sounds like you.
Now that you have decided to write some of the content for your ecommerce website, where should you begin? Don’t worry about headers, tags and keywords. You can deal with those later. Just focus on using the website to tell a story.
What to Say
The story you need to tell will answer a few important questions:
Where are you located? It is not enough to have your location in small print at the bottom of your web page. You should put it in the content and describe your service area. For example, you could say, “Joe’s Copywriting Service, located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, also serves customers in neighboring communities such as Waukesha, Menomonee Falls and New Berlin.” If your business is online only and customer location does not matter, say so. Do not make website visitors guess.
What do you do? Don’t beat around the bush. If you are a criminal defense lawyer, list the kinds of cases you handle or the cases you would most like to handle. If you are an exterminator, discuss the insect infestations you deal with. If you are a tutor, list the topics and be specific. Don’t say that you are a math tutor. Rather, say that you will tutor students in algebra, calculus, number theory, business math or GED math test prep.
Can you solve my problem? This is another way of answering the question about what you do. Talk about the situations that have led customers to your door. You can pose it as a question: Were you arrested for drunk driving? Want to find a light fixture to match your Victorian décor? Hoping to boost your ACT math score? Be specific and give examples of customer problems you solved.
Why are you in this business? Here’s where you tell your story. If you prefer, you can go into the history of your business if it is more than a few years old. Is it a family business? Have you always wanted to make widgets? Did you have an experience that prompted you to explore this type of operation? Be honest, whatever story you tell.
Why should I contact you? Here is where you create the sales pitch. What is your selling proposition? What makes your business different? Is it service? Selection? Price? Quality of product? Convenience? Free parking? Experience? Free shipping? The selling proposition will depend on your business, but you need at least one.
Future blog posts will discuss issues such as headers, linking, keywords, organization and other elements of ecommerce websites. For now, concentrate on telling a story about your business that will encourage website visitors to buy from you. So, pick up that pen. Or open up that laptop. And take the plunge!
