If you want the words on your website to work harder, these simple instructions are written with you in mind:
Homepage
Tell your clients why they should choose you. You need one really good line that gets straight to the point. The formula can be something like this:
I help [the clients I want to attract] overcome [their problem/pain] by [what I do] so that they [achieve their goal].
Don’t try to appeal to everyone. Make your perfect potential clients feel like you’re reading their mind.
About us / Who we are / Practice profile
Make it about your ideal clients as much as it’s about you, and balance out the ‘we’ with ‘you’. You can use these three waymarkers to make it meaningful:
Beginning: your why (or purpose) – this should resonate with the clients you want
Middle: your how – the ways you help your clients to overcome their problems
End: your what – the effect of your work on your clients/communities
Bio
Look at yourself from the point of view of your potential clients:
What will you bring to their project? Tell us your skills.
What shows you can do the job? Tell us your experience
What are your credentials? Now you’ve got our interest, reassure us with your qualifications.
This structure is basically a traditional bio turned on its head. It’s simple and effective.
Projects / What we do / Our work
Think of it as a project story, not a project description. That’ll get you in the right frame of mind to engage your readers. In a sense, it’s the same story as your practice profile, just more specific:
Beginning: why (the inspiration behind the project, the brief)
Middle: how (how you helped your clients and used your skills to overcome a challenge)
End: what (the success of the project, the effect of your work on your clients/the community)
Blog / News / Journal
This is your website’s beating heart, so keep it alive. Set off at a pace you can sustain, and make it easy for yourself. Short pieces are fine. Even a couple of lines and a link to a social-media post is fine.
Keep in mind why you’re doing it (to share your expertise, to tell potential clients about all the different things you’re interested in…) so that there’s a sense of purpose and momentum behind the effort you put in.
Get in touch / Contact
Be approachable and welcoming. Say you’re always happy to talk about potential projects if that’s the case. Make it a positive invitation to pick up the phone or send an email.
On that note: if you’d like more help, get in touch. I’m offering six free content audits – we’ll look at each page of your existing website, and I’ll tell you what’s working and what’s not. I’ll also give you easy ways of freshening up each page. I have just six slots available, and it’s first come, first helped!