Website content: If the message is wrong, nothing else matters

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Saying the right thing to the right customer at the right time is the essence of advertising. If you don’t have a message that interests the audience, it doesn’t really matter how loudly you scream. Conversely, even if it’s not super loud, I’m likely to zero in on a message that “speaks” to me because I’m already looking for it.

Maybe that’s why experienced copywriters say “Once you’ve written your headline, you’ve spent 80 cents of your dollar.”

Bad messaging is often the biggest culprit in poor website performance, but unfortunately it’s also one of the easiest aspects to overlook. There are lots of excuses for this, but none that matter. At the end of the day, your brand needs to speak directly to your customers needs or message will become irrelevant. When that happens, don’t blame sales. Don’t blame marketing. Don’t blame operations. Instead, ask yourself the hard question “Are we building something that people truly want to buy? And are we telling them about it using language they care about?” If not, you’re fighting a losing battle. Beautiful websites are beautiful, highly functional websites are cool, but well written sites make impact.

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