Content is King … Who Is Going to Write Your Website?
In January 1996, Bill Gates wrote an essay titled “Content is King” – published on the Microsoft website. (here it is, in full). It’s a phrase thrown around a lot and yet, so often, written content almost seems to be an afterthought when building a website.
So Why is Written Content So Important?
Content takes a lot of forms. Imagery, video, and even design (to a degree), but by far the most important in making your online presence visible is the text. The AI used to interrogate images is improving fast, but as of now (early 2024), Google image listings rely on “alt” parameters (words), and video content relies on metadata (words).
Google indexes are built out of words.
Right now, written content remains first amongst its more visually appealing peers.
Google will occasionally grant a high rank to a page with very little text, but only in the cases of the biggest brands. Google seeks to show all web users the most relevant websites in response to their queries. The simplest way for it to do that is to “read” the content on the page and compare it with what you’re asking about. If you want your site to perform well in Search Engine Optimisation, you will need quality text.
When we start a website project, one of the first questions we ask is: Who will write your website? Quite often, the question comes as a surprise.
Why Does the Creation of Copy Get Overlooked?
It Isn’t Glamorous
Where an image provides instant impact, one text block resembles another and requires engagement. However, well-written text is unambiguous and persuasive. The arguments you can make with words are detailed and can be more memorable. It is easier to recount text than accurately describe an image.
Text requires very little data to transfer a great deal of information – far less than an image. A picture may speak a thousand words, but it will likely take a great deal more data doing so.
It’s Expensive
An online store we recently completed has over 3,000 products; none of them have product descriptions. We can’t write them; it’s a specialist store, and we don’t know what half of the products even do. But if the client spent even 15 minutes writing a meaningful description per product, an extra 750 hours of time would need to be assigned to the project. The budget just does not exist.
But the SEO opportunity cost of those missing descriptions is huge.
It’s Time Consuming
Creating copy is the most significant hidden cost of most websites. But in the days of print design (where space was strictly limited), we would never start work without the copy. With the flexibility of the web page, the urgency is often lost. It is almost impossible to create a balanced page design without knowing the extent of each element to appear on it. Better planned content creates better design.
Further, the fact that it does take time and effort to write forces you to decide what the copy is actually for and what it needs to achieve. Doing so focuses on the efforts of the page, the website and sometimes even you, the client!
The earlier you plan the content (even if not written) in an online project, the more successful the project tends to be.
So, Who Should Write Your Content?
Founders, Owners and CEOs
If you are the business owner, probably not you. You cannot mark your own homework.
Budgets and team sizes may mean the owner/proprietor has to be the person creating the content. As the boss, you’re most likely heavily invested in selling your product and often will know more about it than anyone.
But a client doesn’t need to know how your widget works. They just need to know that it does and whether it will fix their problems. Expert knowledge is less important than you might believe.
In House Teams
Small businesses or startups can use an informal approach, with in-house team members taking on the responsibility of writing website copy. This is an excellent method for small teams; a second pair of eyes helps spot off-putting jargon and trust-damaging errors in the text.
It also helps inform and educate your team members.
Marketing Professionals
If you have a marketing resource, either in-house or contracted, individuals with expertise in branding and messaging could and should be involved in writing website copy. More than anyone, a marketing professional will ensure your copy aligns with and re-enforces your brand and key branding.
Professional Copywriter
If your budget permits, a professional copywriter may well be the most effective choice. Freelance copywriters will be able to see your business as your desired clients do. A good copywriter will write compelling, persuasive content that resonates with the target audience. We are happy to recommend some.
AI?
Everyone’s doing it (including us, sometimes, as a starting point), and there’s no doubt that website owners are benefitting from the free source of grammatically correct content. But there are some key provisos:
- With all due apologies to the military, AI will lie like a trooper. If you don’t know enough to identify when Chat GPT has wandered from the truth, you really shouldn’t be relying on it.
- Google has expressly stated it will prioritise human-first content. AI content may look convincing to you, but there are patterns. Even if Google doesn’t recognise them now, it may do so in future and downgrade your page.
- Bloody hell, AI content is dry. As of 2024, Google Bard is incapable of wit, passion, sarcasm or nuance … and it shows. AI content is not relatable: if you want copy that compels (and you do), then you are going to need to demonstrate empathy.
Key content should probably always come from a human hand.
So Who Should Write Your Website?
Regardless of who is responsible for writing the website copy, it’s essential to clearly understand the brand, target audience and overall marketing strategy … and this starts before any content is written. Once all those precepts are understood, the exact who may be less important. Collaboration between different teams or individuals is often key to creating a cohesive and effective website copy that serves its purpose.