Juliet Fay Copy Writer

15 ideas for fresh new content for your farm enterprise or rural business website

Nov 242011

Capture your audience's attention with fresh content You're walking along the fruit and vegetable display in your local store and you notice the salad leaves are turning yellow at the edges, looking a bit tired and the whole selection is rather limited. In fact some of the trays are empty and you realise there's been nothing new or different here for the last few months.

You walk on by……..

Compare that with another display in another store, where vibrant Little Gem lettuce leaves look crunchy and fresh, plump, red tomatoes are still on the vine and every week there is a 'new season' special: Cornish new potatoes, Welsh leeks or Tydeman's Early Worcester apples.

Which one will you go back to, again and again?

Just like a fruit and vegetable display, your website can either offer fresh new content or quietly fade and become stale and dull.

Fresh new website content is good for your visitors and good for search engine rankings

Any good web developer will tell you that fresh new content is loved by search engines which is good for your site rankings. That makes your site more visible.

Okay so new content is good. What can you add?

15 ideas for new content

Content doesn't have to be created by you. Variety is the key. Here's some ideas to get you started.

FAQ or Frequently Asked Questions page.
Client testimonials (add a photo and always attribute comments), sprinkle liberally throughout your site.
Add your Twitter feed to your website (ask your web developer).
Add your Facebook feed to your website (ask your web developer).
Add a news feed to your website, e.g. if you're near a beach it could be the local surf report, if you offer farming support services, get the Farmers' Weekly news feed on your website (ask your web developer).
News commentary – provide a commentary or layman's explanation of industry news e.g. Financial news, environment news or food or farming news.
Articles – create a library of articles for your target audience. This also helps establish your expertise. Topics for articles can often be found in email questions you get from customers or clients e.g. Which fonts work well on posters?, How do you choose a web developer?
Guest articles – ask other business people to contribute 'how to' or 'top tips' articles especially where their services compliment yours e.g. A door drop business and a PR consultant, a leather hand bag maker and wool clothing designer.
Add links to other good content such as blogs, Facebook groups, non-competing websites that will interest your audience.
Reviews – review books, equipment or services that would be helpful to your target market.
Events – add a calendar and show events of interest to your audience e.g. Food festivals, country shows.
Case studies – particularly good for service providers, a case study talks about the experience of an individual client and gives the before and after comparison. Ideal also for e.g. image consultants, hairdressers, business advisers etc. Use plenty of images or even do a photo story for e.g. A wedding cake maker.
Behind the scenes: record what you do e.g. Making cheese, designing leaflets, advising businesses. Do that with words, images, quotes and/or video.
Surveys – everyone loves a poll. Ask your website developer about polls that can be run on your website. Once you have results, write about how you will use that information to maybe develop your products or launch a new range.
Short e-guides to download from your site (add value by helping people make a buying decision e.g. Tourism sites can add 'Dog friendly beaches in Pembrokeshire', garages, 'Top tips for getting more miles from your tank' etc). A quick search online can usually find e-guides already written for you. Contact the author and ask permission to promote the guide e.g. My e-report, The 8 worst website writing mistakes and how to avoid them, is available for web developers, photographers, graphic designers and busines advisers to use as a giveaway.

Remember content is king, but only if it is fresh and new!

What other new content ideas do you use for your farm enterprise or rural business?

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Why the ‘About Us’ page is a vital tool for risk reduction

Writing for the web No Responses »

Jun 102011

Imagine you walk into a large shed with products laid out neatly on the shelves. There's no sign on the door, no staff in the shop and no indication at all who owns the shop or what it's all about. What would your reaction be? Suspicion, unease.

Imagine the same scenario but this time you are on a farm, farm produce is laid out and on the door is a notice asking you to pay for your goods by using the Honesty Box. How do you feel now? Reassured? You know what's going on. You know who you're buying from even though they're not physically present.

Your website is like an unmanned shop. Potential customers need clues to work out what kind of people run the business. Only then, can they decide if the business has what they want.

The 'About Us' page is the one that does what it says on the tin. It tells the reader who's behind this business.

Whenever I come across an unfamiliar business website, I always look for the About Us page. I'm curious. I want to know who they are, where they are. What they're all about.

I notice the 'About Us' page is being demoted on quite a few websites, relegated to a sub page of the Frequently Asked Questions or left out altogether. This is a mistake. Even with a larger company, the story behind a business is always fascinating. In businesses that come from a personal passion or calling, your story is a vital tool in the selling process.

Although social media sites like Twitter allow your customers to see behind the scenes, they serve a different function from the 'About Us' page. Just like any other static content on your website, the 'About Us' page should be carefully constructed to convey a targeted message.

Establishing trust is an important part of business

People buy from people they like. More than that they buy from people they sense are 'like' them. People who share their values, people they trust. For your 'About Us' page you need to carefully select the salient points in your story that will resonate with your customers.

For instance, a business providing holiday cottages for families with pre-school children, can use the 'About Us' page to make connections with potential guests.

A lovely family who run cottages in North Pembrokeshire have 5 children of their own. Once you know this fact (beautifully demonstrated by the 5 pairs of Crocs), you realise why their site is so perfectly set up for families with pre-school children, Croft Farm & Celtic Cottages.

For business to business services there is still a benefit to explaining the story. Currently there are a number of collaborative ventures involving several different organisations. People like to be reassured, so it is important to explain how the disparate members of a group came together. What is the shared vision? How do they know each other? What is the working arrangement? These are all questions to be answered on the 'About Us' page.

There's another important reason for clearly stating who runs the business. It's about reducing people's risk. Reassuring them. Many people are scared of being ripped off, scared of being the fool that was parted from her money. If you don't tell people who you are, where you're based and a little about what drives your business, it almost looks as if you have something to hide.

What makes a good 'About Us' page?

Choose a good image - a smiling face is powerfully engaging to the right audience. If you set up the business then put your face on it. If the company is 100 years old, then a picture of the founder is good.
Tell your story – we don't need a life history but pick out a memorable fact about yourself that is connected to what you do. E.g. a pastry cook might have fallen in love with iced buns at a local tea shop aged 7.
Convey your passion – what gets you out of bed in the morning? What do you love about what you do? Say it on your 'About Us page'. Take a look at this great example from Melanie McIntosh at Inspire Retail Solutions in British Columbia in Canada.
Keep it personal. Don't be dull and don't be shy.

Go now and spend 10 minutes editing your About Us page.

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Workshops, products and other useful stuff:

New! for 2012 – Business writing for an interactive audience
Currently I am developing a new course for business owners who want to improve their understanding of business writing techniques and get practical help to make writing easier. The course will combine workshops, home study and online support. I am looking for your input to decide on the focus for this first intensive course. The 2 areas under consideration are:
Writing for websites
Writing for blogs
If you are interested in this type of course, I would love to get your input at this development stage. Please add your thoughts to the blog post on my site.
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7 tips for web content with pulling power

copywriting, Writing for the web No Responses »

Apr 222011

Visitors leaving your website without talking to you? Want to add a bit of urgency and impact to your web page? Here's 7 quick tips for you to turn an information page into a compelling sales page:

Present the problem you solve for the client or customer, e.g. How can you get that pile of receipts sorted out without shelling out loadsamoney?
Present the solution – Fast, effective book keeping services that save money off your accountant's bill.
Add a short client or customer testimonial.
Add an image or video showing the work in action if relevant.
Add a sprinkling of relevant key phrases e.g. book keeping services, book keeper Carmarthen
List 3 or 4 main benefits
Add a call to action e.g. Contact us for a quote.

Try it now. Go and do your own critique and re-write one page on your website.

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