Amy Carroll » Marketing Your Message » Write Engaging Content

Write Engaging Content

If you’re sticking with me, we’re really building up steam! Did you get your website map finished for your website last week? I’d love for you to share so we can celebrate together. Do you have any exciting ideas to share?

You’ve only got one more step before you’re ready to start connecting with your techie folks. Creating written content to engage your visitors might be one of the most challenging and most important steps. Take a look at your website map. Where are the places that require text? At a minimum, you’ll need some “About” information and descriptions of your speaking topics. Here are some additional areas to consider creating content:

  • A statement of faith
  • Free resources
  • An opening blog post introducing the new site

One of the ideas I implemented on my site was an area specially created for event planners. I was tired of emailing my bios, topic descriptions, headshots, etc. to each planner individually, so I have all those pieces collected in one spot on the website. When I have my initial call with an event planner, I let her know everything she’ll need is there. It has made life easier for me, and the planners seem to appreciate the ease of use too!

Just a few words about your writing… Make sure the writing on your website reflects your consistent presence online. If you have a casual presence, I think it’s fine to use a casual voice on your website. One of the words friends and Next Step clients consistently use to describe me is “warm”, so I wanted to convey that on my website. My “Amy’s Story” section is very casual (and hopefully warm!), but I’ve included a link to my professional biosheet as well. If your audience is more corporate or professional, you’ll choose a more formal voice. You want to use your natural, authentic voice so visitors feel they know you personally. For some great examples, read over some of the biosheets from Proverbs 31 Ministries’ speakers.

I found it took a big chunk of time to create the written content for my website, so it was nice to have it in hand when my designer and web developer were ready for it.

Do you have any questions about content for your website? I’m happy to answer them in our comments section today!

Amy

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

2 Comments

  1. Thanks Amy for all the insight and your timing is perfect! For including bios and info for event planners, is it acceptable or preferable to have the info available via link to PDF so it’s printable or is it maybe not necessary to do that?

    Always taking the next step….
    Lori B.

    1. I think you can do it either way. I wanted mine as a PDF so it is easy to print and take to team meetings. I’m actually very thankful not to be paying the cost of color printing! I made just a handful of copies to take to events just in case someone asks me for one in person, but other than that, I’ll let everyone do their own.

      Thanks for the great question, Lori! Hugs to you!