• By Cathy Goodwin
• Published 08/24/2009
• Writing for the Web

Creating a website is just your first step in the online marketing process. Once you create a website, you will need to develop content for your website pages and your blog. When you develop a website, it is tempting to start with a web design and maybe a business logo. But in fact your first step needs to be your content. Content is the product of a process known as “copywriting.” You don’t have to be a rocket scientist (or even a professional copywriter) to create compelling content that attracts clients. You just have to master these 3 challenges. Copywriters always begin by asking, “Where does your target market feel the most pain?” You need to attract your clients’ attention immediately begin with a focus on our target market. What problem does your target face? What’s keeping them awake at night? What makes them so desperate they will pay for what you offer?

Appeal to your reader’s emotions. Opening with a line like, “Every business needs to earn a profit,” or, “Feeling confident is essential to any entrepreneur’s success” will put your readers to sleep. Instead focus on y

our client’s challenge or pain. Second, don’t hide your content behind a wall of graphics. Recently I reviewed a website where the content was placed on what looked like a lined, spiral-bound notebook with yellow pages. As a reader, I appreciated the effects of the graphics. But I had trouble seeing the words and even more trouble remembering them. One marketer put a graphic of a big clock on her page, taking up most of the upper right corner. It was memorable and beautiful. But I can’t remember what the site was about. Time management? I don’t think so. Organization? Leadership? Something like that, I think. I sure can’t remember the name of the site or the marketers.

You are now ready to move into the third element of website copywriting: hook your clients and keep them reading. Add suspense to your website by telling stories. For instance, when writing about clients, ask your clients to tell a story about working with you. They might say something like, “Before I called, I didn’t know what to do about this problem. We worked together and I liked your 5-point system. Now I no longer face this struggle, but I also have moved in new directions and learned valuable lessons.”