Jack of all Trades and Masters of None
Websites are magic, right? At least that’s what a lot of us feel when we don’t look at them too critically. Plug in a URL, or do a google search, and suddenly the data, information, trivia, memes, or videos are right there for you to enjoy.
But while the website keeps it there for us, and presents it to us when we ask, someone must put it there. They shape it, design it, write it, upload it, and code it. It might be one person or, like us at 360South, a team of creatives and technicians. Creating engaging websites that attract users and convey your message is a skill, it encompasses ideas of engagement, tone, clarity, and design. A well-designed website keeps us as users engaged without us even realising it, it makes us want to stay on the site longer or click through to the next page when the design decides it is time to.
But there is a website for EVERYTHING. Every perceivable topic or service needs to be represented in the best possible way by its design, to be unique but accessible. The era of loud and clunky websites overwhelming users with bells and whistles is over. Your website needs to be purposeful, accessible and considered to make an impact in the current climate. And one of the best ways to make sure your website rises above? Accuracy, Specificity and Excellence.
I’m 360South’s copywriter, my background is in theatre and the arts. I'm a big geek so if you ask me to write a couple of thousand words on the mechanics of Shakespearean staging in the 1700s or outline a new guide on how to get into Dungeons and Dragons and I can do it in my sleep. However, last week at 360South I was writing about auto-repair intricacies, and I don’t even have my driver’s licence.
What do I, our designers, videographers, and photographers know about the product or service we’re building a website for? Well, often...not a whole lot.
Get out what you put in
Filled with confidence in us yet? You should be!
Your website designer knows how to build a website, your copywriter knows how to pitch your product or service in a way that keeps the user engaged and wanting to learn more and your photographer knows how to showcase everything. And if, as the client, you give them nothing then all those things will still be true. Your designer will create an excellent user experience for your website visitors, your copywriter will research similar products or look at previous copy and create a tone, and your photographer will shoot whatever is available and make it look great.
But you don’t want acceptable, and we don’t want acceptable. We want Accuracy, Specificity and Excellence. So, you get out what you put in. Don’t know how to write copy? You don’t need to, but you have data, you have statistics, facts, and history. The more raw information you give your design team, the more thread they have on hand to spin your tapestry. A website without your input is a tapestry in greyscale, but each bit of information you give us, no matter how small or trivial, is another colour for us to weave.
Does someone in your office always want to tell folks the latest data on how well they did but no one wants to hear it? Your website’s copywriter wants to hear it.
Does your CEO wax lyrical about starting the company with two sticks and a ball of string while their leadership team pretend to listen to the story for the 10th time? We want to hear it for the first time.
Don’t get me wrong, we won’t use every single piece of information thrown our way. But every piece adds more opportunity to your website’s final production.
When you commission an expert, we aren’t working for you, we’re working with you. Your website should reflect your wants and needs as a trader or company, so collaboration will be at the top of the priority list unless you choose to set and forget the job!
Want to see how we’ve worked with folks before? Find out more.
