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Planning a Website? Answer These 3 Questions First.

Last week I met with the Director of a company I am writing web copy for. Their website had been in the ‘design’ phase for a long time while the developers waited for content. Sound familiar? So finally, up to his earlobes in client files he swept best intentions aside and engaged me to get the words together.

mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;” lang=”EN-US”>Going through the process of nutting out the information and strategy behind the words I was reminded how important it is to answer three basic questions before writing your web copy. These are questions that really are marketing 101, nothing new… but they can be very tricky to answer. So what I want to give you here is a reframe that will make them easier to answer.

Question 1: What is the goal of your website?

mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;” lang=”EN-US”>“Oh, well, you know, everyone’s got one”. Came his response. He went on to say that they’d been meaning to get their website done for ages but didn’t think they needed it since they get a lot of word of mouth referrals.

mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;” lang=”EN-US”>Isn’t it a common phenomenon for a website to be a kneejerk reaction. A “well, everyone else has one”. So what! It’s just like any other business expense. It should be quantified and justified.

mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;” lang=”EN-US”>So I asked why he needed a website at all. He paused and started talking about the high proportion of clients who were heading for retirement and would therefore not require their services much longer. He indentified there and then that they therefore needed to attract younger clients, perhaps in the middle of their careers. Clients who will require their services for years to come.

mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;” lang=”EN-US”>“OK”, I said, there’s your reason… New business generation.

mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;” lang=”EN-US”>The goals of your website can be many and varied. Your goal might be to build your list, sell products through an e-commerce facility or to build brand awareness. Whatever it is for you, make sure you’re aware of just what that goal is and that your website is geared to achieve that goal.

mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;” lang=”EN-US”>And no, you don’t HAVE to have a website. It is but one marketing tool… And honestly, if you don’t have a clear goal, careful planning, great content and measurement you might as well put the money into a few long client lunches instead. You will at least get a meal out of that!

Question Two: What is your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?

mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;” lang=”EN-US”>I started by asking him to give me a general overview of his business. He told me what year they started, that they’d moved offices, how much they’d grown, what their core services were… The whole while I was looking for an angle, something I could use to help them stand out in the marketplace.

mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;” lang=”EN-US”>After a while I asked if he knew what his USP. He said he had no idea.

mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;” lang=”EN-US”>This can actually be a very tricky question to answer, especially for yourself. It’s often much easier for someone on the outside to identify it for you.

mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;” lang=”EN-US”>It can be helpful to ask your clients why they do business with you and not your competition.  I asked him what his clients say. He didn’t even have to think about it.

“Oh, they all say they were jack of no one remembering them, their details or even their name. We pride ourselves on personalised service. We know not only the names of our clients but their families, where their kids go to school. We like to form long-term relationships with our clients so we can help them to achieve their goals.”

mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;” lang=”EN-US”>And there it was, his USP, rolling right off his tongue with no further prompting required!

mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;” lang=”EN-US”>It’s important to know your USP when writing your web copy. When this is woven through your web words it distinguishes you from your competition. It becomes the edge that will give you appeal over many a bland rival who hasn’t taken the time to get clear on this.

Question Three: Who is your ideal client?

mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;” lang=”EN-US”>If you don’t know this, how do you know who to address your website to? Who are you talking to? Everyone? You can’t appeal to everyone! In fact here is a great article from Pro Blogger- which compares success in business to popularity in the schoolyard… The point to note is exclusion!

mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;” lang=”EN-US”>I asked my client this question and once again he wasn’t sure. But I already had an inkling from our above discussion concerning his aging client base.

mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;” lang=”EN-US”>His ideal client is someone aged 25 – 45, in the middle of their careers (or businesses). So they’re already well established and therefore have available funds but are far enough away from retirement to create the opportunity for a long-term client relationship which makes up part of their USP.

mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;” lang=”EN-US”>Knowing who your ideal client is makes writing your web copy and deciding what content to have on your website much easier. And it also makes it easier to achieve the goal of your website.

mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;” lang=”EN-US”>Do you see how these three important questions are all interrelated? And dependant on each other?

mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;” lang=”EN-US”>Website Goal + USP + Ideal Client = A website worth having!

LEONIE ORTON Tahoma;” lang=”EN-US”>is a business writer and marketer.
She extracts your thoughts, gives them structure
and then converts them into words that do their
job pretty darn well.  Tahoma;” lang=”EN-US”>here Tahoma;” lang=”EN-US”>Connect with her on Facebook & Twitter