While content has many applications, ranging from social media to marketing and beyond, website content is by far one of the most common things that people want to learn how to write.
Designed to attract reader attention, provide value, and offer information, website content is the foundation of all content around the web, and it’s essential to know how to write content for a website in a fast, effective, and compelling way.
To be as useful and impactful as possible, website content can’t be rushed, sloppy, or completed with only a half-hearted effort. Instead, it needs to shine with relevance and value.
Here’s everything you need to do to learn how to write content for a website, and distinguish yourself from the crowd, in a nutshell guide in my #howtowrite series.
Focus on Value First – Always
Think, for a moment, about why people interact with website content.
They’re coming to a website to find out something about a company, a product, or a service. Maybe they’re a new customer looking to learn more about what a company provides. Maybe they heard about a cool new product and wanted to learn more for themselves.
Maybe they’re looking for a specific product and they want to do their research before they commit to buying. No matter what the case may be, website content is an essential vehicle for value and relevance, and it’s critical to provide this accordingly to customers.
With this in mind, website content must feature a few elements that are different and more pronounced than other types of content.
For example, it’s got to be more in-depth than social content, more professional than some blog content, and more personal than most marketing material out there.
To put it another way, people want to learn about your company, your brand and your mission through your written material, and it’s the job of website content job to do just that.
How to Write Content for a Website: 7 Steps to Compelling Material
If you’re setting out to write website content, but you’re not sure where to begin, start with these tips:
1. Be original.
When we say “original,” here, we mean it in both senses of the word.
On one hand, the content you publish on your website should be original in that it doesn’t appear anywhere else on the web.
While this may sound like a simple concept, 29% of sites currently feature duplicate meta content, so it’s wise to pay special attention to the fact that everything on your site is original, and that you’re not lifting pieces from yourself or from anyone else.
Secondly, the content on your site should be original in that contains your unique brand voice, outlook, and mission. Again, people come to your site looking for relevance and information and the best way to provide them with this is to be as relevant as possible.
2. Create strong headlines.
If you didn’t know it by now, strong headlines are the center of all things content, even (and especially) on your website. While the purpose of headlines is indeed to drive interest, headlines are also a good place to think about how best to provide relevance and information.
Ideally, people should be able to visit your site, look at your headline, and understand what the purpose of a page is and what types of information they can expect to find there.
With this in mind, creating your best headlines will go a long way toward making your content more informative, and can help boost the engagement and conversion rates of your pages.
Looking at your competitors and using BuzzSumo to search most shared content topics in your industry is a great way to be inspired and start a list of fantastic topics.
3. Provide relevant links, prices, and information.
The more information on a website, the better. If you’re writing a pricing page, for example, input links to related services and provide your users with all of the information they may need to make smart decisions.
While some people believe that including things like pricing on websites isn’t a good idea, customers are often grateful to have as much information as possible, and this small step can go a long way toward boosting the functionality and relevance of your site.
We have a Transparent Pricing page on our website, which clients have always said they appreciate:
4. Seek to provide answers in your website content.
When you write social media or blog content, a part of the process is knowing your audience well enough to address their fears, concerns and priorities. With website content, knowing your target audience is equally important, only you have to know them well enough to anticipate their questions and answer them before the customers have a chance to ask themselves.
When you do this, it helps show your readers that you understand their issues and that you’re willing to take a step into their shoes. It’s also a great way to make your pages more engaging, actionable, and targeted.
5. Be accurate.
Everything featured on your website should be accurate and current. Pricing information, for example, should always be up-to-date. You shouldn’t feature outdated services or bygone facts on your website, and it’s absolutely essential to ensure that the information you do provide is as accurate and interesting as possible.
In addition to helping your readers connect on a deeper level with your material, this will also provide a better user experience and a more exciting website for them.
6. Add images and video to your website pages.
A picture is worth a thousand words, and visual enhancement can work wonders for your website. With this in mind, consider recording a short product video and placing it on your product page or enhancing your “bio” or “about us” sections with images of your team, your workspace, your products, and your past successes.
These things provide a personal touch to a website, and can go a long way toward making the process more exciting and relatable for your users.
7. Keep it current.
Google loves fresh content, and this is especially essential for your website. Be sure that you’re not incurring google penalties by keeping all of your name, address, and phone number information up-to-date. This will help you provide the best experience to your readers, and can go a long way toward helping you rank well, also.
Learn How to Write Content for a Website Today
Website content is the cornerstone of all online material.
To ensure that you’re off on a great start with your website content, simply follow the tips in our blog today. In addition to providing you with new approaches to crafting compelling website content, these approaches will also allow you to put your own spin on the writing process.
Social media has become a massively valuable platform in recent years.
With millions of active monthly users, an incredibly diverse base of users, and reach to virtually every corner of the earth, it’s clear why the various platforms in the social media family, ranging from Facebook to LinkedIn, have stood out as such valuable and relevant places to share content.
But how, exactly, do you craft content that performs well on these diverse and different platforms?
In one of my first #howtowrite series, I’m here to share with you!
Read on.
How to Write Content for Social Media: 10 Tips
Since social media is such a varied and unique environment, it’s critical to ensure that you’re writing the right content at the right time. Here’s how:
1. Optimize what you write according to the platform you write it for.
Twitter is different from Facebook, which is different from Google+, which is different from Twitter! To make the most of writing content for social media, it’s critical that you take the additional time and effort needed to also optimize the content you write for the various social platforms for which you write it.
For example, do you know which of your readers frequent which platform? Do you know how long content should be for said platform, or how to present your content so that it performs the best it can on a given platform? If not, now is the time to learn. Optimizing content for the platform you publish it on is critical, and it’s essential to master this skill accordingly.
Images are as critical for social media content as they are anywhere else. To make the most of your social content, fill it up with images once you’ve written it. Beautiful stock photos, in-depth screenshots, and even personal pictures can go a long way toward improving your content and making it feel more approachable and friendly for your readers.
To understand why this is so important to good social media content, think for a moment about how you regard posts with images vs. posts without images in your own social media news feeds. Which are more likely to get your clicks? If you answered “posts with images,” you’re not alone.
While people only remember 10% of what they read, they remember 65% of what they see, and pairing a relevant visual with your social media content can help it stick in your readers’ heads.
3. Keep your audience in mind.
Your audience is critical when it comes to social media content, and if you don’t know who they are there’s no way you’re going to be able to address them properly. With this in mind, do everything you can to build targeted personas, research your audience, and develop a solid understanding of who they are and what they care about.
In addition to allowing you to tailor your content more effectively, this step will also help to ensure that the posts you publish on social media will have a wide, broad reach with the potential to extend well beyond your audience.
4. Keep it about other people.
Social media can be an echo chamber for narcissism, so it’s important to keep your content focused on other people. If you’re one of the many social media users who finds it tough to contend with other users who publish self-centric posts on a regular basis, take heed.
Instead, keep your posts broad and externally-focused for the best result.
5. Become a master of headlines.
Social media headlines are critical to your click-through-rate, and they can make or break the success of your content. With this in mind, follow the best practices for stellar headlines. In addition to earning you more clicks, a simple tip like this can easily boost the success rate of all of your social media content and ensure that you’re as close as possible to going viral online.
6. Experiment with different content types.
Social media is a great place for all sorts of content types, ranging from articles and blog posts to videos and infographics. To build a well-rounded and unique content strategy, try your hand at all of them.
In addition to giving your fans something to look forward to, this approach will also help expand your content horizons and teach you what works best with your audience and what doesn’t!
7. Address your readers.
Social media works best when its personal, so don’t be afraid to address your readers directly. The personal “you” makes more of a splash in the news feed than anything else, so it’s smart to include it.
8. Cover trending topics.
Social media is an excellent place to tap into current events and web-wide trends. In addition to the fact that these things will generally perform well with readers, social media content has a relatively short lifespan, so using it to cover current events is a great move.
With this in mind, don’t hesitate to look to trending hashtags, news sources, and industry events to come up with topics for your next batch of social media content.
9. Keep it concrete.
Social media isn’t a place to get obscure and experimental with your headlines or your content. Since people skim through social media feeds so quickly, concrete, tangible, unique headlines and topics will perform the best. Don’t forget to give your readers something they can hold onto.
10. Don’t make promises you can’t keep.
If readers click your title expecting one thing and they get another, they’re bound to be disappointed, and rightfully so! With this in mind, make sure your headline and the content beneath it deliver what’s promised, and don’t be surprised if your CTR drops when this stops happening.
Learn how to Write for Social Media & Gain Serious Brand Attention
Social media continues to grow, and learning how to write content for social media is more critical today than it’s ever been before.
When you ace your social media content, it’s easy to attract readers, develop your brand identity, and spread ideas worth sharing.
It’s also a great way to build an ongoing following that supports the goals and long-term objectives of your company.
In school, my days were spent waxing poetic about Russian authors and attempting casual leans with boys in skinny jeans and black turtleneck sweaters.
It’s understandable, then, that when I graduated and became a full-time copywriter, I got some raised eyebrows from the Foucault-worshipers of my alma matter. I’ve actually had some of my art-school friends tell me, in no uncertain terms, that being a copywriter is “selling out,” and that it’s certainly a “disappointing waste of creativity.”
I, however, respectfully (and vehemently) disagree.
While many people regard copywriting as a boring industry that’s as devoid of creativity as Joan Rivers was facial expressions, this simply is not true.
In fact, I’d argue that being a great creative copywriter requires an entirely different type of creativity – one that very few people master. Copywriting requires rabbit-from-a-hat sleight of hand, and it takes a massive level of creativity to muster that.
After a few years of writing marketing copy, though, creativity can atrophy a bit – especially for writers who haven’t found a copywriting niche they love. If we’re to succeed as creative copywriters, though, we need to find ways to continue being as creative as possible. That’s what I’m here to talk about today.
Creativity & the Copywriter: A Love Story
Without creativity, there can be no great copywriting.
While copywriting is synonymous with marketing, marketing is changing faster than the speed of light. Because of this, people who sacrifice creativity in the name of mass-produced, boring material risk getting lost in the stampede of companies, consumers, and search engines who want something different.
Today, more than 27 million pieces of content are shared online every single day, and there’s no sign that this trend will slow anytime soon. In light of this, the only way that marketers, writers, and brands can get noticed is to be creative.
Instead, they rose to the top by being creative in every aspect of their marketing – from their visuals to their copy – and it’s because of this creativity that they continue to stand out as some of the most unique brands in existence.
As brands like this prove, you can’t climb the ladder without creativity. People get bored and leave if you fill their pages with boring content, and your chances of staying afloat on the content sea decrease every single time you sacrifice creativity in the name of traditionality.
How to Be a Creative Copywriter: 5 Essential Tips
So…creativity matters. What next?
Even if you are a creative person with an artistic background and unique ideas, creativity suffers fatigue, just like everything else. Fortunately, these five tips can help you be a more creative copywriter, starting right now.
1. Channel Your Inner Don Draper
If you watched the hit series Mad Men, you know that Donald Draper is an idol to the marketing world. If you want to succeed as a creative copywriter, one of the best things you can do is channel him. Feel free, however, to leave the alcoholism and adultery out of the picture.
Instead, what you want to channel is Draper’s ability to identify a story in any campaign.
It doesn’t matter if you’re writing ad copy for an insurance company or helping a startup build their website content – identifying the story within the campaign is the most essential thing you can do to keep your creativity alive.
Fortunately, there are dozens of ways to do this. Put yourself in the company’s shoes: why are they passionate about what they do? How do their products make the world a better place? If that doesn’t shake anything loose, put yourself in the customer’s shoes: how will this product help you enjoy your life more? What would draw you to the company in question?
Within every campaign, content order, and keyword sheet, there’s a story, and it’s up to you as a creative copywriter to draw it out.
Don’t believe me?
Consider this meme. It pretty much tells you everything you need to know about why channeling your inner Don Draper is so critical to good copywriting:
2. Take a hint from print copy
While many people believe that print copy and digital copy exist on different planets, they overlap more frequently than people understand. You can come out on top as a creative copywriter simply by taking some hints from the world of print copy.
Since I’m a lit major, here’s the example I’ll give you: the opening lines of major novels. And since I already mentioned my love of Russian authors, here’s the one I’ll call out: Lolita. Considered by many to be one of the greatest novels of all time, Lolita opens like this:
“Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta. She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms, she was always Lolita.”
Is that literary? You betcha. A little too clunky for marketing copy? Absolutely. But is it compelling? It is, without a doubt, one of the most compelling things I’ve ever read.
While Lolita is a great example, there are others like it. Consider “Call me Ishmael,” or “As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous vermin.” Both of these are equally attention-grabbing, and there’s a lot that a modern-day copywriter can learn from them.
While we’ve all heard that the headline and opening sentence of a piece of copy are two of its most critical parts, too many copywriters bulldoze through these things with no style or grace.
As this selection of opening lines demonstrates, however, to take that approach is to cheat yourself and your reader out of some good material. And to smack creativity in the face as you do it.
While it’s true that times have changed, copywriters can still learn from books. With this in mind, incorporate some elegance, fantasy, alliteration, and magic into your opening lines. We’re confronted with so much short, harsh copy that fleshing out your opening lines and making them beautiful and informative is the ultimate gift to both yourself and your readers.
3. Write a “show up and throw up” draft
This term, while colorful, is not my own. It was coined by Ann Handley, in her book Everybody Writes. If there’s anything that gets in the way of creativity, it’s too much self-editing. Because of this, it’s essential that every first draft be a “show up and throw up” draft.
What’s this mean? It’s simple. You show up at your computer, you sit down, and you throw up all of your ideas, connections, and awkward phrases onto the page, and whatever you do, you do not go back and re-read, edit, or alter until it’s all done. You don’t even stop to correct your spelling. You just write.
This approach serves a few purposes. First of all, it’s incredibly freeing. In an industry where we’re often under immense pressure to deliver professional, shareable content, giving yourself permission to just show up and write is the ultimate act of kindness. Secondly, it removes all of the artificial roadblocks, barriers, and obstacles you put in your own way and allows your real creativity to escape.
The next time you sit down to write, give this approach a try. Once you’ve completed your first draft, walk away. After a day or so has passed, come back to the piece and edit it. More likely than not, you’ll find that your own insights and creativity surprise you.
4. Build an inspiration board
People do it when they’re planning parties or decorating homes, so why not develop an inspiration board when you’re working to become a creative copywriter?
Here’s what you need to do: build a Pinterest board dedicated solely to the content that inspires you. Once you’ve constructed the board, give yourself a few days to cruise around the web and collect the things you love.
At the end of the few days, take a second look at your inspiration board. You’ll likely see a series of patterns, approaches, and voices you can adapt to make your copywriting more creative.
5. Check in on a regular basis
We’ve all had the experience of writing something and cringing, knowing that it’s simply not that great. Instead of letting these moments go, though, stop to check in with them. This is where creativity begins to atrophy and catching these moments as they happen in mid-stride will help you stop them once and for all.
Instead of just finishing the piece and walking away, put yourself in the reader’s or company’s shoes. How can you take that “blah” passage and make it moving? In addition to making you a more creative copywriter, this will also help you deliver better content for all of your clients.
The Case for Creativity in the World of Content
While writing the next great American novel isn’t on my immediate to-do list, I do believe that creativity plays a critical role in online copywriting.
Creative copywriters are mastering an art form that is different, yes, but no less magical than the creativity present in books like Lolita or Moby Dick.
As copywriters, we’re not sellouts: we’re creative people doing the tough, tough job of taking dreams, ideas, and emotions from companies in all industries and turning them into material that’s virtually universal. If that’s not magic, I don’t know what is.
Want to hire Ashley to write your content? Head on over to the Content Shop!
It’s natural that even the best copywriters make mistakes.
What you should know, though, is that some mistakes are more dangerous than others.
If you’re a professional copywriter, avoiding the ten deadly mistakes that most copywriters make can benefit your career and help you earn clients.
Copywriters Beware: The 10 Worst Mistakes of Online Copywriting
Read on to learn more.
1. Plagiarism
Believe it or not, plagiarism can happen… even if you don’t mean for it to.
According to Google, plagiarism is simply, “the practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own.”
While most copywriters believe that plagiarism only happens when you copy, word-for-word, an entire article from someone else’s page, it can be much more insidious than that.
In many cases, plagiarism can happen when copywriters are tired, busy, or stressed, and as a result, aren’t paying enough attention to properly citing their sources or re-phrasing ideas they’ve gleaned from other online content.
Unfortunately, plagiarism is deadly no matter how it happens. Google isn’t particularly concerned about why you plagiarized a piece, and they’re happy to de-rank yours or your client’s content if they stumble upon copied text.
Because of this, it’s essential to keep a close eye out for plagiarism.
One of the best ways to do this is to use an online plagiarism checker, like Grammarly or Copyscape. While it may seem like one more step in your copywriting pursuits, it’s a valuable one that can protect you from serious trouble down the line.
We’re currently building the world’s MOST POWERFUL online duplicate content checker (plagiarism finder)! Check it out and sign up to test it at beta.Copyfind.com!
2. Taking pictures directly from the search results
Including a colored visual in a piece of content increases a person’s willingness to read it by a whopping 80%, so it’s understandable that you want to include images and videos in your content.
Be careful how you do it, though, since simply pulling visuals directly from the search engine results page could easily wind up in a lawsuit.
Online content is protected by copyright laws, and violating these laws by using someone else’s work without their express permission can result in a significant problem.
Because of this, it’s critical to be careful about the visuals you use.
To be on the safe side, pull visuals from high-quality stock image sites like Pexels or take your own screenshots or pictures.
Whatever you do, be sure that the images you include are clear, quality, and relevant to your text. This keeps them interesting rather than confusing.
No matter how precise you are, typos are inevitable, and failing to read through your content before you publish it results in mediocre results that damage your personal brand.
While most copywriters believe that a simple once-over with the Microsoft Word spelling & grammar checker is sufficient, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
While this software will help you catch misspelled words, it won’t often catch misused words (“there” instead of “their,” for example) or chunky, confusing writing.
Because of this, it’s critical to read back through everything yourself. Proofreading is a skill that’s essential to the success of copywriters everywhere, and it can indeed spell the difference between quality content and a disappointing turnout.
For added confidence, you may even want to run your content through a grammar-checking software like Grammarly, which will pick up on things like passive voice and misused commas. While this is a simple tip, it can help your content stand out from all the rest.
4. Getting the voice wrong
In many ways, copywriters are masters of transformation.
In addition to being able to write well and produce content quickly, they must also be able to transform their voice to cater to a client’s specifications: formal one day, conversational the next.
Unfortunately, many copywriters miss the mark on this.
Developing a myriad of voices is a little bit like bodybuilding – it requires time, effort, and some degree of skill.
If you haven’t taken the time to develop your various voices and tones, you’re going to lose clients to the copywriters who have.
Because of this, it’s essential to master a variety of voices and to ensure that the one you’re currently writing in is indeed the one that your client wants.
5. Being too wordy
Modern copywriters know that less is more, and it shows in their online content.
Today, brands want simple, succinct content that helps them convey a brand message and connect with their consumers.
They’re less interested than ever in verbose, drawn-out content that loses the marketing message and makes it difficult for readers to discern meaning.
Because of this, today’s copywriters need to focus on keeping it short and to-the-point.
Content that is too wordy makes it difficult for the reader to focus and, over time, can result in decreased conversions and leads for the client.
Because of this, simplicity is key and the copywriters who know how to cut the fat are the ones who will ultimately succeed in the world of online content creation.
6. Forgetting the CTA
Aside from the headline and opening sentence, a call-to-action is one of the most important lines in a piece of content.
When copywriters forget to include it, then, the entire piece of content loses its authoritativeness and fails to adhere to the goals of the sales funnel.
Meant to drive users to action, a call-to-action is a simple line that essentially tells viewers what to do next – be it click, download, share, or buy.
Without it, readers are less likely to take a given action and the success of the content declines rapidly.
In light of this, copywriters must know how to craft compelling, clickable CTAs that drive readers to want to act. This improves the efficiency of the content and helps to ensure that it performs the way a client wants it to.
7. Writing so-so headlines
So-so headlines do nothing to pull the audience in, and they can easily result in the content being completely overlooked by a significant portion of readers. The horror!
Because of this, modern copywriters must strive for compelling, attention-grabbing headlines that draw people in and inspire interest.
Here are some of the traits that make up an award-winning headline:
It’s informative and concise
It contains power words that evoke emotion in the reader
It is optimized for keywords and current meta content standards
It showcases the brand voice and helps readers connect with the company
When copywriters take the time to foster these skills, they’re better able to serve their clients and ensure that the content they’re populating the web with is worth its weight in gold.
8. Ugly, poorly-formatted content
For copywriters, it’s all about brains and good looks.
In addition to being relevant, informative, and valuable, good online copy also needs to be laid out in a way that invites readers in rather than sending them running for the hills.
This means utilizing H1, H2, and H3 headers, breaking long blocks of text up into shorter pieces and using bulleted or numbered lists to showcase important points.
When copywriters understand how readers make their way through content, these things fall into place much easier and the online copy performs better and meets user needs more efficiently.
9. Rushing
Rushing can kill the best content, from the best copywriters.
When you rush, you’re more likely to make mistakes that impact the relevance and authority of your content.
This, in turn, decreases the trust readers will have in you and makes it more difficult for people to connect with your material.
Because of this, it’s essential to take your time and understand that deliberate content is good content. All good copywriters know that.
10. Not optimizing for SEO
Long-tail keywords and good meta content can make a huge difference in the way a blog post performs in Google’s SERPs, and it’s wise for copywriters to understand this.
By optimizing online copy for SEO, copywriters can help their content earn the attention it deserves.
This helps produce leads and secure a good spot in Google’s ranking mechanism.
Contact us for the Best Copywriters with the Best Skills
Finding skilled copywriters can be tough, and it’s all too common for copywriters to make these ten deadly mistakes.
Luckily, Express Writers is here to help. If you’re looking for expert copywriters for all of your online content needs, give us a shout today. Our skilled team is happy to help!
You sit down at your computer one fine morning, coffee cup in hand, and begin to make your online rounds.
You check all the usual things: social media, analytics, blogs, and email – until you gasp in horror and stop in your tracks.
Someone has left you a negative online review!
While this is a shocking and upsetting experience, you’re not alone.
Ever heard the saying… Haters Gon’ Hate?
The truth is that any business that works with customers on a regular basis is bound to get a bad online review or two, and while it’s never a fun situation to be in the middle of, a negative online review doesn’t have to be a catastrophe.
HelpScout reports that for every one customer who lodges a complaint, 26 customers stay silent.
Kind of sucky: but a fact.
Although it feels bad when it happens, you won’t be (anything close to) scarred for life.
By the end of today’s post, you’ll actually learn that it could be a good thing! And negative online reviews have happened to us too: so I can tell you, personally, that you’ll come out of the fire refined.
5 Key Tips You Can Put to Immediate Use in Handling A Negative Online Review
In five steps, here’s a simple breakdown of what to do post-apocalypse (after you’ve received that yucky online review).
You’re a business owner: you work hard for your company, and it’s understandable that finding a negative online review would make you feel hurt, sad, and even angry. If this happens, though, the first thing to do is to stay calm. Nothing good ever came from blowing up at a negative online review, and you’re liable to do irreparable damage to your company if this is the path you choose.
As a general rule, it takes 12 good experiences with a company to make up for one negative experience, so you could be digging yourself a big hole with your customers if you fly off the handle before thinking through things.
Instead of being reactionary, take a step back from the review and give yourself a bit of time to consider the situation.
Begin by sizing up the content of the review.
Is it factually correct? Is there a way to address or resolve the problem for the customer? Does the review offer insight into something your company could do well to fix, anyway?
For example, if a customer at your restaurant complains that it took 30 minutes to get a glass of water after sitting down, and you were indeed tragically understaffed that night, there’s a simple solution. In this case, the correct path would be to apologize to the customer and offer a comped or discounted meal the next time they return. Once you’ve addressed the complaint, you could even consider hiring more staff or implementing different protocols to prevent that type of situation from happening again.
If the report is factually inaccurate, however, your approach will be different. While malicious reviews don’t happen very often, they do happen. Luckily, there’s a way to deal with them. If someone is making dishonest or defamatory statements about your company, it’s within your rights to ask the third-party review site to remove the comment.
This is true regardless of whether the review is on Yelp, Facebook, or Google. Keep in mind that getting reviews removed can be an extensive and arduous process, so it’s one to undertake carefully. First of all, you’ll need to provide proof that shows the review is factually inaccurate. If you can’t do this or can’t wait for the third-party site to decide on the review, set the record straight in the comments section below the review.
Just remember to be neutral and professional to avoid making the situation worse.
Take it from Amy’s Baking Company – which won catastrophic web-wide recognition when the owners repeatedly and aggressively lashed out at a displeased reviewers on Yelp.
As if the above wasn’t bad enough…
So, there you go on a brief rundown of what not to do.
Now, let’s look at best next action steps.
2. Take Action/Offer a Solution
Customers don’t often go out of their way to write negative reviews for no reason, so it’s in your best interest to heed the review and do everything in your power to rectify the situation.
Your first case of action here is to determine if this is a legitimate customer – because you can only service the legit negativity. We hate to say it, but yes, there are people out there who will leave fake negative reviewers (are either paid by competitors, are the competitor themselves, are are acting out of personal angst).
If you know this is a stranger, and not a legitimate complainer: well, here’s one scenario you could take inspiration from.
I’m going to tell you a little story.
The Story of Jane, Bill, & Will: (Or, the Art of Handling the Fake Negative Review)
Let me run you through a story about what we’ll call Bill the Fake Reviewer Writer.
Bill heard of a made-up negative story about a company, word-of-mouth, from Jane. Jane was fired from her company just that week. At Jane’s very frequent pushing, Bill went and published a fake review on Jane’s company. He was amped up by Jane and wrote a lot of angry words, calling the company names and even going as far as to put libel on the company owner.
It was a weekend and late in the evening. Still, the company social manager was online and saw the angry posts being left by Bill; he alerted the company CEO within minutes of it happening. Let’s call that CEO Will.
Will took a breather (see #1). After ten minutes, he immediately replied to Bill, cordially starting with hello. Then he stated facts: 1) we’ve never served you and 2) please provide proof on and who is spreading information about the things you’re currently stating.
Bill couldn’t, told by Jane to not mention her name of course, and wouldn’t. Instigated by anger, he continued writing back angry comments.
Some of Will’s other employees jumped online and posted good reviews when they saw what was going on in their Facebook feed; Bill jumped on all their reviews and attacked them all.
Will took another breather (and maybe a cup of cold water). He came back and assessed the situation.
Bill was:
not a current, past (and definitely not future) client of Will’s company
not an employee of Will’s company
was stating everything based on hearsay, without factual information
was using names and saying phrases that were by now, most definitely, reputation-harming libel
Will had a good lawyer, and at this point, Bill was just posting like crazy on the company Facebook page, in the amounts of several hateful comments per few minutes.
Will decided to:
leave a final post to Bill stating Bill’s angry posts were becoming libel, an admissible tort in court, and that Bill would be hearing from Will’s lawyer
ban Bill from the company page
Within ten minutes after acting on this decision, Bill withdrew and deleted every comment he posted, and Will had the peace of mind knowing Bill couldn’t post again (banned) and that had he continued acting out, Will could have most definitely put his lawyer in touch.
What if It’s a Legit Customer?
If you’re not in Will’s situation, and if it’s a legitimate customer you know has a complaint about a real purchase, offer a rectification immediately.
Personally reach out and make a solution that you know they can’t refuse (free XYZ next time they come in, free mailed replacement, etc.). Just the outreach alone will mean a lot–not every company does that anymore.
Keep in mind that most customers complain because they truly had a disappointing experience with your company. While this is difficult to swallow, working together with the client to fix the situation can mend the bridges that were in danger of being burned. While it won’t necessarily erase the customer’s initial experience, it can shift their impression of your company and encourage them to come back and do business with you once more.
3. Your Business Will Keep Thriving
Let’s go back to the stat I shared early on:
HelpScout reports that for every one customer who lodges a complaint, 26 customers stay silent.
That means this is probably one out of 27 happy customers who is unhappy.
So, good going! Your business is thriving!
React to the complaint (if it’s a legit one: see #2) as if it’s a lesson from your worst critic. If a customer complains about something in your company, the best thing you can do is consider whether the review is shining a light on cracks in your business model–and learn from it.
To put this another way, it’s wise actually to be grateful for clients who complain. If they’re highlighting something specific – like slow turnaround times or poor work – it’s critical to use this feedback to improve your company and ensure that your relationships with other customers don’t suffer for it.
Negative reviews don’t always have to be a negative experience. Instead, you can use the information you gain from them to make your business stronger and more resilient in the long term.
Keep your head up–you have other happy customers out there, and your services are valuable. Don’t let this one get you down!
4. Take Your Reviews Offline
If you encounter a negative online review, and it passed our step #2 and is a legitimate complaint, one of the best things you can consider doing is to move the conversation to a more private venue.
This is important for two reasons: first of all, conducting a conversation in the public forum of a third-party review site isn’t always great for business – especially if your customer is angry or the conversation is strained. Even if your intention is not to fight viciously with your customer (and it shouldn’t be), you’re still wise to take the conversation offline.
By offering a personal email or contact number where the customer can reach out to you, you make the experience more personal and show that you genuinely do care about your company and the service you offer your clients.
Nine times out of ten, providing a customer with a personal email to reach you by shifts the tone of the conversation hugely. In addition to taking the exchange out of the public eye, it also demonstrates to the customer that you’re engaged and will take the needed steps to fix the issue.
5. Embrace Your Bad Reviews & Learn From Them
Sound like a funny fifth step? Stay with me.
There are more than 6 billion people on the planet, and if you did business with every single one of them, it’s virtually guaranteed that at least a few of them wouldn’t like your company, for one reason or another.
To put this another way, a negative online review doesn’t mean you suck. It just means there was a misstep or that there’s a weak spot in your business strategy.
Because of this, I advocate embracing your negative online reviews. The fact that a customer took the time to write a review of your company can be a boon if you let it and the feedback gained from customer reviews can be invaluable if you use it correctly.
With this in mind, respond quickly, comprehensively, and compassionately to your online reviews. While it’s not uncommon for a customer to be displeased, very few customers stay that way when met with a company that responds openly to negative reviews.
By reaching out directly to the customer, offering a resolution, and ensuring that you’ve done everything in your power to smooth things over, it’s easy to take negative online reviews and turn them into loyal customers.
Andrew’s Success Story: Bad Reviews Can Be a Business Opportunity
He saw a bunch of one-star reviews on his company, read them, and summarized from them that prices were too high and portions too small.
Andrew went and rehashed his menu, changed his prices, and invited his one-star reviewers back.
After they saw the improvements, they changed most of their ratings into five-stars.
Andrew’s business is now thriving!
Be like Andrew–learn from the negativity your customers share with you, change structures based on criticism, and think of them as your biggest “new” customer base! It’s an awesome, honest tactic.
Responding Well to Your Negative Online Review: A Critical Business Move
Negative online reviews are bound to happen, but they don’t have to ruin your company. By responding fully and compassionately to online reviews, you can secure a spot for yourself as a reputable, compassionate, attentive business that puts customer service first.
While it’s never enjoyable to find a negative online review about your company, you can use these reviews to grow your business if you approach them correctly.
Customers that complain are offering valuable insight into your company, practices, and service, and listening to them is the best and most efficient way to boost your reputation and serve all of your customers better – from beginning to end.
So while it’s natural to recoil at negative online reviews, the moral of the story is that you do not want to be like Amy’s Baking Company.
By treating negative online reviews and reviewers with respect, reverence, and concern, you can smooth out small flare-ups before they become full-fledged wildfires.
This, in turn, helps you keep your company’s reputation intact for years to come.
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