Writing for the Web: Finding Your Voice

Over the years, your web site will grow to contain many pages of content- possibly written by different authors.  And while each author works on a page individually, the site visitor views the site as a whole, reading from one page to the next sequentially.  Maintaining a consistent look and tone throughout the site can be a challenge.  By establishing a “voice” for the site at the beginning, all content authors can write in a consistent manner.

Point Of View (Grammatical Person)

Remember your early school English classes, where you learned the difference between 1st Person and 3rd Person?  Don't worry- there won't be a test! But I would suggest that you identify a Point of View for your website early and then apply it consistently throughout the site.  Let's use myself and Site Caddy as an example:

• 1st Person Singular: When I first started Site Caddy, my goal was to help small to medium sized businesses get online.
• 1st Person Plural: At Site Caddy, we strive to constantly improve on the level of service we provide our clients.
• 3rd Person: Any use of the Site Caddy logo or name is strictly prohibited without prior consent from Green Island Interactive.

For small to medium sized organizations, the 1st person plural form (e.g. “At Site Caddy we strive to…”) is often good for creating a connection with the audience, rather than speaking as an omniscient corporate voice. 

The 1st person singular form is fine for a very small business, or for pages dealing specifically with one person, allowing the author to speak for himself. Also fine for a blog such as this.

I often reserve the 3rd person form for legal or formal pages, as it can sound a bit "corporate".  Remember, we are trying to establish a dialog with our visitor- a connection.

But what's most important is that all authors should stick with the agreed point of view throughout the site.  There may be times when we need to use other persons, but try to remain consistent.

The Tone

For many visitors unfamiliar with your organization, the web site will represent the business.  You need to ensure the site presents your business as professional and trustworthy at all times.  It doesn't have to be stiff, but it should be professional.

When writing in the first person it can be easy to fall into colloquial or informal speech, as if speaking with a friend or revealing more information than necessary.  It is recommended that a professional, corporate tone is maintained at all times, while still striving to build a connection with the reader and portray your business as a group of caring people rather than a faceless corporate body.

But don't be afraid to be energetic! When you're surfing the web, would you prefer to read something exciting or something dull? Don't be afraid to display your enthusiasm for your business- just do it in a professional manner at all times, and make sure all authors do the same.

The Message and the Theme

Writing for any medium can be difficult, and the web presents its own set of challenges.  Not least of these is having multiple authors with diverse viewpoints write in a consistent fashion.  But by establishing a central theme and the core messages for the site in advance, we can create a framework authors can rely on when unsure of the best choice of words.

The Message

As with any other corporate literature, we always need to stay on message.  All authors should be aware of this message and make sure their content is in synch with the message before publishing.

The Theme

I've written a lot of copy for a lot of websites in my time, and it can be tough to pull verbal nuggets of gold out of thin air! How many different ways can you write an "About Us" page?

A theme can help both designers and content authors to both be creative and flow consistently.  Use your theme to influence word choices and design elements. 

Slogan

A theme can help to “pull a site together”, and a unifying slogan/strapline can assist.  It can be used with the logo, in the title bar, in the mission statement, and throughout the copy.  I've always liked General Electric's slogan- "Imagination at Work". They play off this theme constantly throughout their site. It's very positive, but vague enough that it can be reused in many different ways.

Style Guide

It's one thing to create your theme, it's another thing to stick to it- and make sure authors both now and in the future will too.  A style guide is a document in which you can store this information and share it in your business. It's also a good place to record information such as logo use guidelines, trademarks and your color palette. Update your style guide as your branding evolves.

An Example: Johnny's Java Joint (JJJ)

Let's go with my long overused example- a coffee shop.  There are thousands of coffee shops worldwide, and I'm sure they mostly offer the same services.  So how do I write good copy for this site without being the same as every other barista?  How do I get all of my authors on the same page and still give them some creative license? How do you marry the copy with the design?

Let's start with the tone. Let's assume that JJJ is basically a one man operation, but I want to make it "feel" a little bigger on the web. I also want to create a friendly and inviting tone on the site, similar to the atmosphere at the shop. I'm going to go with 1st Person Plural throughout the site, and use phrases like "At Johnny's Java Joint our number one priority is premium coffees from around the world."

Moving on to the message. Let's say we will identify the following core messages we want to reinforce throughout the site. Johnny's Java Joint is:

• A purveryor of fine coffees from around the world
• A friendly place to meet friends
• Environmentally responsible

Now let's craft a catchy slogan to compliment our tone and message... how about "Global Coffee, Local Flavor". It's fairly vague, it speaks to the premium coffee beans we import from around the world, but it sounds like the kind of place you would find in your neighborhood. More importantly (for this example if not for business purposes) it uses great words like Global and Flavor that can be weaved throughout the content of our site.

Let's move on to pick a theme for our site, which the slogan practically does for us.  Our theme will be "Global".  How can we weave this throughout the site?  How about:

• Using terms like Barista and Biscotti instead of Staff and Biscuits
• Incorporating photos of coffee drinkers and shops from around the world
• Incorporating Earth, Conservationism and Sustainability phrases

So let's put this all together into a practical use- writing the home page of our new website. Let's lean heavily on our slogan and theme, establish our message, and create a tone:

"Flavors and aromas can stir powerful memories... a black coffee in Seattle, an Espresso in Rome, or a Cafe Au Lait in Paris. At Johnny's Java Joint, you will find the finest beans and blends from around the globe. Stop in with your friends and let our friendly Baristas help you to create a new memory. Each time you do, we'll make a small donation to help restore the planet."

It's not perfect, but I was able to write it in about 2 minutes by pulling from the business messages and theme.  I'm confident that given a few more minutes, I could craft something quite nice by using the same techniques.

Summary

The content on a website is paramount, yet it often takes a back seat to design and technology concerns. Writing good content for your site can take longer than you expect. Establishing your point of view, tone, message and theme before starting will both save you time and result in a better site.  You will soon find these techniques to be old friends you can lean on when stuck for your next sentence.

And if anyone reads this article and creates a Starbucksy mega-brand with the slogan "Global Coffee, Local Flavor", I would like free coffee and biscotti for life.

Comments

[David Quin]

John,

Excellent piece -- it's good to see someone emphasising the textual content and 'voice' of a website. With all the stress on SEO, content management, design and technical wizardry, this crucial feature of websites gets overlooked.

Most people know they need an expert to do SEO, for example, but because they talk and write English they think they can do that themselves. (Some can.)

Good luck with the work,

David