Content Writing for Technology Products
If you are content writing for your own business website and your product is technology based, it will pay you to remember that not everyone speaks your lingo!
A company recently asked us to rewrite their business website content into plain English. The products offered were not only “high tech” but “high ticket” items and potential clients were telling the sales staff that despite reading the company’s website, they could not understand how the product could be applied to their situation. It occurred to the company executives that although some people were taking the time to call them for further information, many more must be simply clicking off their website. Needless to say, it also occurred to them that this was probably costing them a very large amount of money!
A quick look at the website revealed the problem. The content appeared to have been written by the PhD level software and technology developers. Despite having a very reasonable knowledge of the subject area myself – from a user’s point of view - my eyes were glazing over with disinterest after the first few sentences. The content was overly technical and filled with jargon that only the development experts would understand. The website content failed to do something else that is crucial – tell the website’s readers what the product could actually do for them!
As online readers, we’re very impatient. We want an instant answer to our questions and there are usually so many sites to look at that if one doesn’t hold our interest, we quickly move on to the next. If it all looks just too hard, we’re gone in a flash – over to one of your competitor’s websites. Telling us in plain English how we will benefit from your product is the best way to hold our attention!
We all use modern technology to varying degrees but the fact is that a large percentage of us don’t understand how that technology actually works. Whether your product is targeted at domestic users or government procurement officers, most fall into the “average person” category. We don’t usually want to know the technical ins and outs – we want to know what it does, what we will gain from using it and of course, how easy it will be for us to use!
If you have decided to do your own website content writing because you doubt that a professional content writer can do it justice, ask a few “average” people to read your content before you finalize it. You may have tremendous expertise in your own field but when it comes to content writing, the chances are you want your content to appeal to the “average person” and not to your peers.
