Tips for Writing Compelling Content to Attract Clients Online

Attracting clients online calls for compelling content. Use these tips to create messages through your website content that makes visitors want to say yes to your offerings.

Marketing online is all about content. Websites have designs and images but ultimately through the written or spoken word, must send a strong message to visitors.

Online Marketing Requires Compelling Content

Compelling content will inspire readers who land on your pages to take an action. One way to create content that sells is to imagine that the visitors who arrive on your website or blog have one or more of these three questions in mind:

• Whether this service professional understands their problem and feels their pain
• Whether the professional service works with clients who resemble them demographically as well as psychologically.
• Whether the service provider is the best resource to help currently

Ingredients of Compelling Content

Storytelling. Another way to create content is to tell stories. Stories can be about the business owner’s history. For example, a business owner who is a dog trainer may have grown up with dogs since the age of five. This business owner might add stories about problem dogs who were helped with special techniques.

Edge. Compelling content might also include edgy copy. There are many definitions of edgy copy. It is easiest to think of copy with an edge as the difference between tomato juice and vodka and a perfectly mixed Bloody Mary.

Authenticity. Business owners can also strive for content that comes across as genuine, not a cookie-cutter page straight from the hype factory. This approach resembles talking to a good friend in a coffee shop or neighbourhood bar.

It is tempting to use strong language in copywriting to add a touch of “edge.” Business owners can write their content or hire a professional agency to do it for them, so they sound just like Tony Soprano of the famous HBO television series.

Business owners might want to test their audiences before applying these strong examples of controversial language. It is also possible to be authentic with the opposite language style: feminine, sorority style as in, “Hey girlfriend…” It is also possible to sound authentic when using ultra-technical language.

Surprise. Another ingredient of compelling content might be surprised. To apply surprise, think of readers who have just clicked through ten, twenty, or even fifty websites. They may stop when they arrive at an entirely different site. Perhaps the headline throws out a fact that is not commonly known. Or maybe the layout, image, and colours are not typical for the industry. For example, if your site is about boxing, a soft feminine flowery design, probably won’t cut it.

Specifics. Another way to create compelling content is to present specific examples. Instead of discussing “canine massage on medium size dogs,” the marketer can discuss a specific breed of dog (or even an extremely specific dog) who benefited from a particular form of massage. A fitness consultant can present an example of a client who now races up a flight of stairs that left him puffing a month ago.

Multi-sensory. Another technique involves getting the reader involved beyond the sense of sight or hearing. A mention of “chocolate chip cookies,” “fresh-brewed hot coffee,” or “stroll along the sandy beach on a clear morning” can invoke the reader’s senses of smell, taste, and even touch.

Useful. Provide your readers with valuable information that is quick to read. Like most people, your visitors are likely to be short on time. All that is important to them is what is in it for them. The content must either be helpful, teach or entertain them. It also helps if the content is scannable, as they may be reading while on the go or doing something else.

Use uncomplicated words so users do not skip the sentence and lost the gist of the article. Write direct short sentences. As much as possible, use an active voice over passive, and keep your paragraphs short with no more than five sentences as large blocks of text are off-putting. So, make it manageable and a quick read. Bear in mind, when it comes to online content, less is usually more.