Content is king— be it for your website, your company’s marketing materials, brochures, or flyers, or anything written that represents your business. Applying Atlanta Graphic Design’s 5 C’s of Effective Content can mean the difference between successfully connecting with your target audience and potential clients, and literally being written off.
1. Be Customer-focused — All keywords and content should be geared toward the way your ideal prospects and customers are thinking when they search online. Be direct and address what they’re looking for, in the exact phrasing that they would use. Solve their needs with simple solutions that ease their “pain,” provide relief or answers, and delight them. Show how you can help them in the best way imaginable, which will answer their questions about your capabilities before they have to ask. Make it easy for potential clients to learn more about your product or services or decide to make a purchase.
2. Be Competitive — The copy should include keywords that help people find your website first in search engines, and demonstrate how you offer the BEST solutions among all available. This involves coordinating SEO (search engine optimization) keywords woven into all places that help with search engine results: headline, subhead, body text, captions for graphic designs and links, as well as behind the scenes content that search engines may display in their results (page title <title>, meta description, etc.). Don’t forget to create a unique promise or a value message that will set you apart from other similar companies. In today’s crowded virtual space, your potential client’s attention span is short and uncompromising; make it your business to be a dynamic stand-out.
3. Be Clear — On each page of your website, messages are presented in a certain path that should follow a user-friendly website flow. That flow should clearly and quickly answers the following questions for your users:
- Where am I?
- Who are you?
- What do you offer?
- How does it help me?
- How do I navigate this site?
- Where do I go next?
- How do I make a purchase, sign up for a newsletter, etc.?
4. Be Conversion-optimized — Messages on your website are written to prompt clicks that lead to sign-ups, leads, or sales. Consider each message a “call to action” for every potential client and user who visits your website. We frequently recommend this approach to Atlanta Graphic Design’s clients. This means every page must have:
- A clear promise
- Persuasive benefits delivered via honest, helpful messages
- Proof and credibility to support the promise
- Appealing offers
- Hyperlinks for quick access to other pages
- Messages that delight and over-deliver on expectations whenever possible, so prospects will buy now … and come back again and again.
5. Be Consistent — Your website pages should be connected across the site with a smooth flow and logical messaging that uses a consistent voice that establishes your company’s brand as a trusted authority for your product or service. (If you aren’t sure how to proceed with this step, consider reaching out to a professional web or graphic designer.) The tone should be appropriate for your brand and for your audience. The same fonts should be used throughout your website and your style for headlines, subheads, sentences, and bullets/call-outs (the information hierarchy) should all follow the same format. Make sure you use a similar look and graphic style for offers and calls to action on each web page.
