Coach Coen

Archive for the ‘Writing your website text’ Category

Are you struggling to articulate what you do and what you have to offer? This is not uncommon, especially for coaches. After all, a good coach can coach most people on most topics

When writing for your website you need to grab people’s attention quickly. “If you’re alive I am the coach for you” just isn’t good enough

As I wrote before, you need to grab your website visitors quickly

How you work, what you have to offer and who you work best with is unique. Being so close to it may make it difficult for you to see what about your approach is attractive to potential clients, and what words to use

The best people to ask are your clients. Contact them and ask them what they got from working with you, how they describe what you do to their friends or colleagues, and what is particularly attractive about what you do

Do this by phone, email or face to face – and make sure you write down their exact words. Don’t start summarising your findings in your own words – this is about discovering the words that your clients use

And finally, when explaining your services, first list the benefits, then explain the features that provide these benefits. You need to generate interest first (what’s in it for me), before establishing credibility (so this is how it works)

Does your website pass the drive-by test?

Imagine your home page is a roadside billboard. It has two seconds to grab the attention of your target audience, before they’re gone forever

I am currently working with a client to convert their website to WordPress. They are using the opportunity to review and revise their website text. I realised they offer some excellent services, but that it takes too much work to find out to discover this

On your website make sure the first pages visitors meet (such as your home page and the “about” page) grab your target audience quickly. On the rest of your website write as much as you like, with full background information to your services, long articles to display your expertise and plenty of valuable information

To pass the drive-by test:

• Know who your website is for. The text (meaning), the words, the images, colours and layout all need to work together to show your visitor that this website is for her, or for who she is aspiring to be. A website selling health products needs to show images of health. A website aimed at executives needs to use the same language that executives use
• Quickly and clearly show or describe the benefits of your service or product