What you need to know when planning content for your WordPress website

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The first important thing to note when starting out with your WordPress website is that planning your content first will help with speed and efficiency and with crafting a relevant business website. This is a regular topic covered in my WordPress Training sessions.

Your content is one of the most critical aspects of your WordPress website. Yes, the site should load quickly and be well coded, but the content is the part that is going to set you apart and promote your business. This being the case, without exception, content is going to take you a lot of time to put together. I have been creating websites for over 17 years, and it is always the content that receives the most significant amount of time to either create or collate.

The Journey

Planning the journey for your WordPress website needs to include both your website visitors and your business goals. It's quicker and more efficient to start your website project with pen and paper. You can sketch ideas and change your mind so much more relaxed on paper than if you are working in WordPress.

Using a top-down approach, draw out the journey your WordPress website visitor will take from landing on your website to the final goal YOU want them to make. Draw out the top level pages and map down to your secondary and more in-depth content. This sketch can be simple and basic, only you (and your team) are going to see it, so don't feel precious about how it looks.

Having your journey, structure and information architecture mapped out you are in a stronger position to create a logical WordPress website structure. Information architecture has been around since the beginning of time (see my blog post 'What the greatest Roman architect can teach you about web design') It is a way of creating an organised flow for your website that enables users to find the information they are looking for, easily and quickly.

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The Copy

Every page of your WordPress website should have well-crafted copy. Writing for the web is a specific style that helps readers online to consume content quickly and get the information they want.

Writing for the web requires; clear headlines and relevant subheadings, short, punchy paragraphs, a range of lists and pull-quote, all designed for easy scanning and reading online, no matter what the screen size.

What you write reflects on your business and your brand. Your tone-of-voice is critical. Creating a tone-of-voice document is a worthy exercise to make sure your tone and writing style is consistent. Every paragraph and sentence needs to inform and help your visitors to solve their problem and reach your goal. Professionally written copy for your WordPress website is critical to your success online.

Our go-to copywriter, providing SEO, conversion driven website copy - Katherine Wildman - Haydn Grey

Why your WordPress website isn’t driving new business-copywriting

Photography

In today's image-saturated world your WordPress website needs outstanding and unique photography. So many stock images are seen time and time again, especially in similar sectors. Take the time to shoot unique images for your website. If you don't have that time, then I recommend engaging a professional photographer. To get the most from a professional photographer plan out your photo shoot in advance. Put together a style sheet, some snippets of the type of shots you want, your brand colours and style. Anything that will help your photo shoot go smoothly and provide you with a large number of images you can use on your WordPress website and across your marketing activity.

Our go-to photographers The Bigger Picture

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Graphics

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A WordPress website that is text only can be a challenging experience. The copy is important. Make sure you take the time to plan and consider your WordPress website typography and fonts, these can be critical in creating a unique experience that is in line with the feel and tone of your business and brand.

To compliment your typography style the introduction of unique graphical elements can help guide your visitor through your content. Providing pace and pauses in the text content, making it a pleasure to read. Graphics can guide your visitor to critical areas of content. People consume images faster than text. Use these graphics to lead your audience to the information they need.

Value Downloads

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There are two key things you need to help make sure your business website creates business. Traffic and email addresses. When a visitor lands on your website, are you making the most to engage with them and make contact?

Marketing Funnels are a powerful way of engaging with your audience at the earliest stages. When they are researching and finding the right solution to their problem.

Creating  'valuable downloads' that provide outstanding help is a powerful way of making that first contact with your website visitor. A value download can range from a simple checklist to a multi-page document, as long as it provides specific value to your audience and visitors. Providing download assets is the perfect way of showcasing your expertise, services and how you can help.

If you need help creating a 'value download' and marketing funnel, get in touch, and we can get started with showcasing your expertise.

The Takeaway

Before diving straight into creating your WordPress website, it is critical that you plan your content. From the user's journey, the copy on the page, the images and graphics through to marketing assets such as value downloads. Having this in place at the very start of your WordPress website project will make it so much easier and faster to get your site live and working hard to promote your business.

If you need help planning your WordPress website project, contact me hello@wordpressnortheast.co.uk

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Belinda White | WP North East

Belinda White, WordPress Training Consultant. WordPress Training, WordPress SEO Training - Creative Director at Arttia Creative Limited. Creative designer with over 20 years experience in the UK web and design profession.

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