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Focus on Client Needs – The whole point of writing content for your clients is to provide value whether on their website, via their print marketing materials or on a billboard.
#1. Know their needs – spend time with your client obtaining relevant industry information, current marketing materials and noting their business insight into the industry (if it’s unfamiliar) and lastly, their company’s goals & desires.
#2. Know & Convey How Your Services Can Make Their Company Better – Be clear yourself and then convey to the client the benefits your services can provide them. Most importantly here is to establish a trustworthy relationship with them by making sure they know that:
- they have a professional who has the talent and experience to fulfill their needs. Provide references and previous examples of your work if needed. AND
- by connecting that experience & expertise to their content needs and how you can improve their professional credibility and financial line.
Stay Focused! – We may have our own ideas about a particular industry, political topic or the like, but you are being hired to do the job THEY want you to do. You have been hired to 
write about this client’s business, needs, ideas and standpoints-not your own. No matter how well you may write, you need to keep your writing focused on their area of expertise, products and/or services.
The Key to Keywords
#1. Remember to talk & write in the same industry language of your customers. A good tactic to employ here is to do some keyword research.
#2. Figure out how your customers (and their competition) think and how to write from that same level of expertise. See more from one of my previous articles http://bit.ly/Nsuub4 .
#3. Use a business based thesaurus. Here you will find other related words for a particular term that will showcase your assumed business prowess as well as increasing your clients SEO success.
I hope these few tidbits have been helpful. I’d love to hear what’s in your content writing toolbox and what tools you employ that I can add to sharpen my own content writing skills.
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Getting creative on websites can sometimes feel constrained due to traditional layouts and verbiage, and most certainly when it comes to navigation bar and menus. Many of us think that we need to have the standard, cookie-cutter menu navigation bars that have become the “norm” for almost all websites. You know the type:
~Home~ ~Our Services (or Our Products)~ ~About Us~ ~Contact Us~
Most are similar in wording and format. I’m not saying that there is anything WRONG with this per se but if you can, know that outside of conventional thinking and web design, you can get creative without compromising easy navigation of your site.
Websites are certainly your worldwide face but even the prettiest of girls can use a little makeup. Sometimes that’s demure or other times an unexpected shocking red lipstick drives home a certain affect. So can your website. Don’t be afraid to try and incorporate some artistic menu design ideas. I had a ball researching some pretty interesting and witty design elements for menu navigations.
I thought this was a great use of the industry-driven design even with the typical wording. Another idea would have been to use the bricks themselves as the navigation bar.
You don’t see many vertical layouts for navigation bars so this really stood out to me. I bet it does the same for the current and prospective clients too!
Most of us would enjoy seeing a fun and innovative menu layout. This one made me comment out loud when I saw it “oh, that’s different”!
Don’t be afraid to use representative artwork and images either with or in-lieu of typical or generic menu names. It gives a personalized look to customary naming conventions.
When to keep it standard vs. using Atypical menu choices
I would say this is probably governed by the industry you’re in. If you are let’s say a law firm, then maybe you wouldn’t use the layout above but creative wording can be your breakout of the blue suit moment. Don’t be afraid to use your thesaurus here as long as you don’t compromise the ease of use and appropriate industry jargon. Example: I’m a recent law school graduate looking to work at “JP Law Firm” and upon reviewing their website, I see a menu item titled “The Brief” (which is a legal term for a written document presented in court arguing why the party to the case should prevail). It would not be a tough leap to guess they were using that instead of “About Us”. It’s a witty play on words which can be a little amusing and personally, I’d be impressed by the break away. Not everything needs to be starched and buttoned up. So with this said:
What’s your menu
design du jour?
Focus on Client Needs – The whole point of writing content for your clients is to provide value whether on their website, via their print marketing materials or on a billboard.
write about this client’s business, needs, ideas and standpoints-not your own. No matter how well you may write, you need to keep your writing focused on their area of expertise, products and/or services.
