Writing Content For a Website: Write These 3 Pages First

Award-winning writer Kathy Widenhouse has helped hundreds of nonprofits and writers produce successful content and has gained 600K+ views for her writing tutorials. She is the author of 9 books. See more of Kathy’s content here.

Writing content for a website – particularly if it’s a new site – can be an overwhelming project.

Where should you start? What are the “must-have” pages?

Think about what YOU need to know when you land on a website. 

The best place to start with writing content for a website is to write the first few pages that your reader needs the most and build from there.

Write these three pages first.

1. Homepage

Think about what you do when you land on a new website for the first time. 

If you’re like me, you want to know that you’re in the right place to get the information you need. You’re  on the web in order to get information. You don’t want to have to guess or wade through a bunch of gobbledygook in order to find it.

Your homepage’s job is to make it easy for visitors to understand what you do or what you offer so they know they’re in the right place. Be sure your homepage gives this information:

• What is your product or service?
• Who is the particular group of people or industry that you serve?
• Why is your product or service unique? What special need does it fill or problem does it solve?
• What is the next step that the reader should take?

(You may find this Homepage Content Tutorial helpful.)

2. About page

Your About page, ironically, is not really about you at all. It’s about how you can solve a problem for your reader. The purpose of your About page is to share your story with a focus on how you solve a problem your potential customers are facing. Along the way, you can share your story. 

If your reader could only know one or two things about what you can do for her, what would those be? Use your About page to …

• Open with a summary sentence. This is a good one. I’m [your name] and I am a [your title/ vocation] who works with [your target market/ ideal client] helping them [how you serve].
• Explain why you do what you do. This is your big WHY. Tell the story of the problem or challenge you faced and what you did
• Describe what you can do for the reader. What services or products do you offer? What is it like to partner with you?
• Extend an invitation. Invite your reader to get information she needs with a call to action to fill out a contact form, opt in for your freebie, follow you on social media, reach out with an email or phone call – whatever step that shows you want to help her.

(Here are 10 Writing Tips for Your Website About Page)

3. Contact page

A good Contact page makes it easy for readers to find you.

When you are writing content for a website Contact page, briefly summarize what you do and explain how readers can connect with you. Give them the following information:

• Where they can find you: list your physical address and if you have a commercial location, include images of the exterior, a map, and/or directions. List your social media channels. 
• When they can find you: list your hours of operation, if applicable
• How they can find you: list the ways your readers can contact you, including phone, email, fax. Specify if one of these is your preferred method of contact. Indicate the response time they should expect.

What Pages Should You Write After The First Three?

Once you finish writing content for a website's first 3 pages, what’s next?

If you’re writing content for a website that’s a commercial business, then your Services/Products page is next. If you’re writing a ministry or nonprofit site, then write a page that outlines its Programs.

What page would you write after that? 

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