I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Content is king! Good content is key to making your website engaging, yet many people struggle to maintain a regular content flow. One trap that writers sometimes fall into is to focus on themselves and write about things that are of interest to them, rather than asking the question:
Will my readers be interested in this?
Ask yourself some questions:
- What is the focus of my article?
- Does it position my business in the right way?
- Am I delivering useful knowledge to my readers?
It’s a fact; if you want to be successful in business, you need to be good at what you do and know more than your customers about your product or service range. You can use this knowledge to demonstrate your expertise. It is OK if sometimes you are talking about your market rather than you, in fact it’s good! But isn’t it easier to talk about yourself? Not necessarily. Sometimes changing just one word in an article can make a real difference…. I was recently with BSA client Joshua Greaves (manufacturers of industrial mixers – www.greaves.co.uk) and we were reviewing an article on his website. Here is the original wording:
Greaves Technology flies high In the drive to improve aircraft efficiency (yet lower manufacturing cost) mixing composite resin is a key focus for aerospace designers while reviewing construction materials. By producing composite applications for the main outboard components, weight is hugely reduced. Production techniques are now available to offer this reduction and increase strength with even better quality. The net result is improved fuel efficiency and reduced component costs. Composite technology constantly evolves to deliver these benefits but consistency is a paramount factor, regardless of the technology. Greaves has partnered a number of leading Aerospace manufacturers by developing and supplying high specification resin reactors. These four latest machines are specified for agitation, full vacuum to high pressure and thermal induction jackets with internal cooling coil. Contact parts are polished to ensure good evacuation following a batch therefore eliminating debris traps.
From the title it is clear the article is about the company but suggests that the article is about what is going on technically within the business (i.e. it is inward looking). The discussion we were having was whether the article could better (and more immediately) demonstrate Greaves’ expertise in the aerospace composites sector. After some thought, we realised that changing just one word could have a profound effect on the impact of the article. We changed the title to:
Composite Technology flies high
By changing ‘Greaves’ to ‘Composite’ we shifted the emphasis from the company to the market. It was now an article looking at technical developments in the composites sector. Sure, Greaves’ work partnering with leading aerospace manufacturers is still in there, effectively positioning the company in the market but the article has wider appeal (admittedly in a niche market!) You can see the final article here So what does this mean for you? When you are writing your next news/blog article, review your content, take a step back and be ready to refocus to concentrate on your customers rather than yourself. Modest amendments can have a significant impact.
Thanks to Edward Greaves for permission to use his article as our example.