If you think your product/service/industry is boring …
And there’s nothing you can do to make it more interesting, I have one word for you:
If Greeks can make a piece of cheese fun, then YOU can make your website content more interesting.
Below are 20 actionable and field-tested tips you can begin implementing today to make your site’s content more appealing.
These 20 tips fall into 3 categories — writing, presentation and research.
Writing
Pound for pound, the biggest effect on your content will be obtained through writing. That’s why 14 of these 20 tips are about writing.
1. Clarity over cuteness.
Always opt for clarity over cuteness. You’ll never go wrong being pithy and to the point. But you will lose people if you’re verbose or confusing.
Whether you’re writing a blog post, a sales page or your About page, your mantra should be:
- Does this sentence make sense?
- Does each sentence logically flow into the next?
- Can I say the same thing in fewer words?
- Do any points I’m trying to make need clarification? (Don’t assume your reader will automatically figure it out.)
Never ever just write stuff to fill up a page like we did in high school English class to meet a minimum word count for our book report on The Count of Monte Cristo.
Respect your readers’ time and attention by making every word count. No fluff or filler.
Re-read, rewrite … then rewrite some more to polish your content.
Don’t be afraid to leave material on the cutting room floor. When in doubt, leave it out.
Legendary author Stephen King says this about rewriting:
“When your story is ready for rewrite, cut it to the bone. Get rid of every ounce of excess fat. This is going to hurt; revising a story down to the bare essentials is always a little like murdering children, but it must be done.”
2. Write better headlines.
We all have a massive amount of information to process daily, and headlines help us assess whether or not a piece of content is worthwhile.
You don’t need to write tabloid or clickbait headlines. But your headline needs to get your readers’ attention and give them a reason to keep reading.
Writing headlines is an art and a science. It takes practice to get good at them.
Brian Clark of CopyBlogger has a great headline resource here.
Another great headline resource is Jon Morrow’s Headline Hacks.
3. Use sub-headlines.
Rather than torturing your reader with an entire page of body text that looks like a vehicle lease agreement, break things into sections using sub-headlines.
Sub-headlines make your content less intimidating and they allow your reader to quickly get the gist of your content.
Done well, sub-headlines also keep your reader engaged if their attention starts to drift.
4. Use shorter paragraphs.
Another way to avoid scaring people away from your content is using shorter paragraphs.
I usually keep my paragraphs to 1-2 sentences — 3 sentences tops.
If you have paragraphs in your website content with 3 or more sentences, you can almost always break them into smaller paragraphs with minimal effort and editing.
And your readers will appreciate it. 😉
5. Write like you talk.
Once again, this is where you have to fight what was drilled into our heads in English class about “proper writing”.
Of course you want to use correct spelling and grammar. But you don’t want to be stuffy and rigid.
The best website copy is when you’re using a friendly, conversational tone. However, it’s sometimes easier said than done because we use different parts of our brain for writing vs. talking.
PRO TIP: One of the best ways to create a friendly, conversational tone in your writing is to record yourself. Almost every smartphone has a built-in voice recorder app. Just jot down a few basic ideas, press record and start talking. When you’re done, transcribe your recording, clean it up with some editing and you’re good to go. This is also a great technique for overcoming writer’s block.
6. Use bullet points.
People like nice, concise summaries. We’re all busy and we just want the bottom line.
Bullet points are kind of magical in that readers are trained to look for them because that’s where the writer often puts the juiciest “need to know” material.
Bullet points are also a great place to list features and benefits of your product or service. List as many as possible because you never know which one is going to resonate with your reader and get them to take action.
7. Write longer pieces.
When I encounter a blog post that has maybe 4-5 paragraphs I subconsciously dismiss it because I seriously doubt there’s going to be much value there.
But when I run across a blog post where I have to scroll down a ways to get to the end, I usually sit up and take notice. It might turn out to be a lousy blog post, but the length of the post (at least initially) got me to take a look.
1,000-2,000 words is a good target to shoot for. The average first page listing on Google has 1,890 words.
The piece you’re reading right now has 2,424 words.
8. Add humor.
Have a little fun and see if you can get a chuckle out of your reader. Humor lets your reader know your human.
Besides, life is difficult and challenging and many people are sad, lonely and depressed. Your website content might just be the thing to elicit a silent laugh and brighten their day.
9. Educate people.
The # 1 reason people go on the internet is for information.
If you’re a personal trainer, provide tips on how to get 6-pack abs. If you’re a home improvement specialist, show people how to fix squeaky stairs.
Remember to answer FAQs about how your product or service works, how people can do business with you, etc. Don’t fall victim to the “curse of knowledge” and assume everyone knows what you know and how it all works. They don’t.
10. Provide external references (i.e. links) to data and stats.
Rather than ask your reader to blindly trust everything you’re telling them, provide links to legitimate references they can check out to confirm you’re not just making things up.
External references are also a way of saying, “If you’re not sure what this means or you’d like to dive a little deeper, I’ve done the homework and here’s a link to a reliable reference on this topic.”
11. Use analogies.
One of the best ways to communicate a confusing or complicated subject is to use an analogy.
For example, many clients and prospective clients I speak with are not 100% certain what exactly website hosting is.
I explain that it’s kind of like building a house. Before you can build a house you need a piece of land to build that house on. In order to publish a website on the internet, you need a web server (i.e. website host) on which to build your website on.
When I explain it like that, the response is usually, “Oh, I get it now.”
12. Give your opinion. (But don’t be an arrogant jerk.)
Data is data, but sometimes it’s hard to understand what it all means.
Opinions from a trusted expert can put peoples’ minds at ease by making sense of a complicated issue. Opinions can also let people know they’re not alone in their thinking — especially if it runs contrary to conventional wisdom.
Here’s an example >> Digital marketing “experts” have forever touted infographics as a key component in one’s marketing arsenal because people “love” them.
Newsflash … I hate most infographics.
It usually takes me longer to figure out what they’re trying to communicate with their cute, little graphics than just spitting it out in a simple sentence or two.
In addition, by dumbing down the data with an infographic I feel it devalues the data and gives it less credence.
But hey, that’s just me.
Don’t get me wrong. I like charts, graphs, images and videos. I’m just not a fan of infographics.
13. Talk about what’s important to them.
The cold, hard reality is people don’t care about your product or service. All they care about is what it can do for them.
That means you have to write your content from your readers’ perspective.
If you’re a dentist, a prospective patient doesn’t care if you use lasers instead of drills. Their main concern is, “Does this mean less pain?”
If you own a hair salon, a prospective client doesn’t care what products you use or where your staff got their training. All they care about is, “Can you make me look great?”
Always try to speak in terms of what your product or service does for them — what problem it solves or what outcome it creates.
14. Don’t hold anything back.
Leave it all on the field.
There can be a tendency to think that if you give your readers everything you have, what will you give them next week? Next month? Next year?
Don’t worry about that. Give your absolute best today. Your readers will feel it.
Holding information “in reserve” is a response to the fear that you won’t have anything left to give.
But the reality is there’s always more in the tank, even if you don’t know what that might look like right this second.
Bonus Tip
3 books I highly recommend that really improved my writing:
Stephen King: On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft
William Zinsser: On Writing Well
Strunk & White: The Elements of Style
Presentation
You can make your website content less boring simply by improving how it looks.
15. Use the right images.
Don’t just post random images on your website. Take some time to pick images that amplify and support your writing.
When selecting images, pay close attention to how that image makes you feel. If that feeling is not congruent with the message you’re trying to communicate, ditch that image and look for another.
Try and use images that inject a little energy into your site.
For more information on choosing the right images for your website, I wrote a whole blog post about it which you can read here.
16. Show examples.
You’ve heard it a million times … a picture is worth a 1,000 words.
And I’ll add, “A video is worth 10,000.”
It’s way more interesting to show people what you’re talking about, rather than just writing about it.
If you’re a cosmetic surgeon, show before and after photos. If you own a banquet hall, show pictures of your facility (inside and out), pictures of your staff, pictures of the buffet, etc.
One of my most popular blog posts is How To Ask For A Testimonial. People like it because I show actual examples of what I send to clients to acquire testimonials.
17. Improve your fonts.
Something as simple as what fonts you use on your website can have a huge impact on how people feel about your content.
The # 1 problem I see with written website content is using too small of a font size in the body text. To give you a point of reference, the font size you’re reading right now is 20 pixels. However, many websites use font sizes of 12-14 pixels for their body text … which is way too small.
Another font problem is not having enough contrast between the words and the page background. Specifically, using grey-ish fonts on a white background. Not only is this hard to read, it feels wimpy.
Be bold and show a little personality with your fonts.
No longer are your only font choices Arial, Times New Roman and Courier New. With Google Fonts (which are free) you have hundreds of fonts to choose from.
For more information on the best fonts to use, as well as some good Google Font pairings, here’s a good resource.
Research
Over the past few years, research has been my secret weapon for publishing interesting content that people want to read.
18. Spy on competitors.
Don’t reinvent the wheel.
Your competitors’ websites can be a great source of inspiration for interesting website content as well as how to present that content.
Just so we’re 100% clear, I’m not suggesting you outright copy what others are doing. That’s plagiarism.
But it’s perfectly fine to watch what others are doing and use that to stimulate ideas.
Nearly every interview with a famous recording artist talks about how they were inspired by Elvis or the Beatles or Aretha Franklin or whomever.
Coming up with something totally unique is mentally exhausting and next to impossible. Observe what others in your industry are doing and do it better or with your own twist.
19. Find out what’s selling.
If people want chocolate, don’t sell them kale.
Before you invest a bunch of time, effort or money into developing high-quality website content, you want to be reasonably certain it’s what people want.
Fortunately there are tools to help you discover this.
If you have a Google Ads account, you can use the Google Keyword Planner to see what people are actually searching for on Google.
There are also more advanced tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs to help you discover what’s hot (and what’s not) in your market.
20. Know your audience.
One of the biggest mistakes you can make with your website content is not having a clear idea of who’s reading it.
When you know who your audience is, you’ll naturally use (or not use) language and terminology that resonates with your reader.
Kind of like you intuitively know not swear in front of Grandma. You just know not to use certain words.
The more you know your audience, the better you can tailor your website content to let them know you “get” them.
And the more you connect with your reader, the greater the likelihood they’ll take action or buy your stuff.
Conclusion
If your product or service (or niche) isn’t as entertaining as a Cirque du Soleil show, that doesn’t mean your website content has to be boring.
I’ve just showed you 20 ways to jazz up your content and make it more interesting.
Creating compelling content might not come naturally to you, especially if you’re a down-to-earth, no-frills person (like me). You might have to push yourself out of your comfort zone to give your website content a boost.
But that’s why I wrote this blog post — to give you a checklist of tangible ways to liven up your website content so you don’t have to try and remember everything.
With practice, it’ll eventually become second nature.
