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There is no formula to great writing. At least I am not able to define a set of easy steps to follow to create great content for a site as I am still learning the ropes. I do know that the act of writing is very intimidating to many owners of small business and personal websites. Before ever putting a pen to paper, they face writers’ block. Obtaining the confidence to get started involves understanding what you are looking for in the result. Setting a framework of what you want to say allows you to start filling in the holes easily.

A recent issue of A List Apart contained two articles on content and writing. The first, on anorexic writing, reinforces some important points.

• A site’s heart is in the content and you need the heart before you can build the body (design).
• Avoid “copy”, marketing speak full of buzzwords. Give your content a personal touch with emotion and spirit to connect with your reader.
• Use alt text for images that describes the image in an emotional context instead of impersonal descriptions of the image.
• Speak to the individual, not to a mass crowd.

After reading this article, you may be even more paralysed to start writing. It can be difficult writing for a small business, non-profit or small civic organization site when it lacks a personal connection for the writer. The tendency is to eliminate any personal connection in the words and stick to an adjective-ridden listing of what we already know, or worse, political speak to answer the question without actually answering it. We fall into this tendency because a vast majority of what we see in any marketing material follows this methodology.

So why should flowery adjectives and pats on your own back that your “products are the best” be avoided in your content? Because they do not answer your visitors’ questions. How many times have you gone to a site wanting to find specific information about a product or service, ready to commit if you could only confirm a compatibility or price or size option only to be unable to do so? For me it has been plenty. Small organizations cannot afford salaries to staff call centres to support customer queries, so your web site is your competitive advantage. Making sure all information is easily available on your site is how your exploit that competitive advantage.

Instead of trying to convince visitors of your goal with self-proclaimed greatness, why not show them? Think about the differences you would like to highlight between you and your competitors. Then explain it. Maybe it is your service and after-sales care. Maybe it is your location. Focus on whatever is your differentiating factor; a small town may highlight lifestyle and economic factors versus the big city. Avoid explaining you are great in these respects (a relative and biased opinion), but explain indirectly with examples and commentary. The easiest way to accomplish this is to create a personal connection with the reader.

Writing personable content that is intended for strangers is a difficult thing to do for non-writers. It can be very uncomfortable exposing yourself that way. But a personal, emotional style connects the reader with you, allowing them to feel and identify with you and your writing, opening them up to trust what you are saying when it does not read like the standard marketing mis-truths they are used to.

Accomplishing a personal connection does not require you to write a personal journal or blog. Your site copy can contain that personal touch. First, speak to the reader. Explain your passion, your successes and where you are heading. This may be the reason for starting your crafts store and your plans and dreams for the future or community news and changes. Let the visitor feel your passion and excitement about new endeavours such as new products, goals reached or events. This is further explained in Copywriting for eCommerce on vitamin.com.

The second A List Apart article on better writing brings up the key questions about your visitors: who are they, what do they want to know and what do they want to do. This will help you decide what content is required and what the personality of your site should be. A site for men will have a different personal connection than a site for women. Expanding your questions list to ask how you want visitors to feel and how you would converse with them face-to-face allows to define further your style and goals for your content. Once this framework is established, it becomes much easier to fill in the holes.

Finally, nothing is a substitute for practice. You may throw away your first draft completely. As you write more and firm up the voice for your site, your writing will improve and the connections you make through the web will be the result.

The Official Google Webmaster Central Blog recently posted on the Best Uses of Flash. Coming from the dominant leader in web search technologies, their recommendations are important for each site owner to understand and consider.

To summarize their post, Flash is best used to enhance sites with rich media, not to replace navigation and content. This is important not only for your visitors but for search engines, which can only index non-Flash, non-image navigation and text content. Index of this content is what will help surfers find your site.

In addition to thinking like your visitors, you should also think of your visitors’ experience. A full Flash only site can be inaccessible to surfers with slow connections, people with disabilities (Flash content can cause difficulty with screen readers, and there are other considerations to understand to make Flash as accessible as possible), and people who have not installed or are blocking Flash content. Instead of slowing down your visitors by requiring the Flash plugin be installed and Flash content loaded to see any part of the site, use Flash only where rich media is needed, but provide the main content of the site in HTML. At a bare minimum, provide a HTML alternative site to the Flash version; however, this requires additional work to create and maintain two sites.

At feddy.ca, I recommend clients follow these guidelines when implementing Flash content. I do not develop Flash content, but if that is part of your site plan, we can help you find a developer or implement your developer’s Flash content on your site in an appropriate way.