website WRITING
Create clear and effective content for your site, with the right tone of voice
Long and detailed? Short and snappy? Something in the middle? Whatever you want to put on your website, you'll want it to be clear, logical and pleasing to read. It should also meet your readers right where they are, in a style that feels uniquely yours. And of course it needs to be optimised for the eagle-eyed search engines, with carefully considered internal and external links and just the right keywords.
​
I tackle every kind of website writing, from snippets (like product copy) to full overhauls. I also write a lot of websites from scratch, often when clients aren’t quite sure what they need to say. That’s fine – in fact more than fine – because it’s an opportunity to really dig into your company and what it does well.
At the set-up meeting, I’ll ask you lots of questions about the business or service you’re focusing on. You might like to point me towards colleagues or clients to interview. You can also throw all kinds of existing material at me: brochures, letters, press releases, research papers, scribbled thoughts on the back of a postcard. All these things are really helpful for understanding your business and building the right tone and content for your site.
Site plans
from scratch…
Great content for a new website really starts with a great structure. That means working out exactly which sections your site needs, how they’ll interact and complement each other, and what you need to include (and, just as crucially, leave out). I often create Site Plans for clients, and I can happily add this to the writing project. This is a key time to identify the human interest in your service, too: a Stories section with customer interviews, perhaps, or a series of case studies that show people exactly what it’s like to choose you and your business.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Brief
Email me some ideas for your blogs. They don’t have to be highly refined, with all the bells and whistles. It can just be a rough list of topics and titles. A total ideas-dump. I’ll look over the list and turn them into blog angles for your readers.
PHONE CALL
Once you have my list of titles, you can review it and arrange a call-back. I’ll ask you lots of questions about the topic. You’re the expert. My job is to draw out the detail and turn it into language that will connect with your readers. We can cover off several articles during this conversation.
WRITE-UP
I’ll write the articles, with a headline and keywords that sell the blog content and draws your audience into the things you really want them to know. There are no strict rules on length, but there’s a balance between informing and exhausting your audience. I usually recommend 500 to 700 words.
REVIEW
Once they’re ready, I’ll send them over. You can read through and make edits and tweaks if you feel necessary, or ask me to redraft them. We can do this by email. Or I can send you a link to edit on Google Docs.
PUBLISH!
When you’re happy with the pieces, they’re ready to go. You can upload them to your website yourself, or we can do that for you as part of a regular maintenance package.