IT ALL BOILS DOWN TO THIS
One of the things Faith in Families Foundation does as one of numerous services offered to other foun-dations and trusts in New Zealand in the realm of ICT development is to improve the perception of the public as it relates to their persona. It is an im-portant aspect of effective communications and it starts with such basic things as writing and pub-lishing good copy in a consistent way.
Skilled content developers are the Ninja’s of the Web. They are adept at merg-ing into the background, blending with the page and concealing their where-abouts. Those that really understand copywriting for search engine optimisation are almost ethereal. A good web content writer barely even exists in the eyes of readers.
Take the case of some recent work done by Faith in Families Foundation for the Awhi Foundation chaired by Sam Chapman, a well-known and respected expert in holistic transformation development for high-need low-support individuals, whānau and communities. While still as a work-in-progress at present, consider-ing the volume of material and breadth of work required to complete a new branding image and communications strategy, the Awhi Foundation is now able to utilise new ‘touch points’ on the Web to get its core messages read and its presence felt through The Chapman Chronicles website, it’s Chapman Chroni-cles Community Page and the Sam Chapman’s Facebook Page which, barely two months ago, it didn’t have.
Of course, it also helps to have around the valuable expertise and assistance of Faith in Families Foundation’s ICT partner and advisers Digital Summit Limited to assist it with the intricacies and complexities of website design and develop-ment execution and the seamless integration of Social Media magic that now give all these three touch points their special user-centric touch and feel ex-perience.
On the Web, search engines are all about relevance. But these engines are not artificial intelligence. Rather, they are readers. They read massive amounts of information in a blink of an eye finding the most relevant information they can in order to supply search users with what they really need.
Text is search engine food. So you have to feed them with good quality content. Over time, your website will be rewarded with better and faster indexing. It doesn’t mean, however, that you have to fill each page of your website with thousands of words either. Quality of content, more than quantity, is the main consideration.
Content developers exist to deliver the very best, the cleanest, most useful and most meaningful search returns on user queries. They are not just good copywriters but are well-read, well-travelled and also experienced at managing brand profiles as they are in using the latest available tools on the Web at their disposal to deliver their output.
Relevant search engine returns equals increased exposure that leads to a reader’s awareness, interest, desire and action. It is a valuable currency held in esteem by search engines. Developing relevant content is about creating care-fully crafted copy for a target customer, group or constituency.
HAVE A JOB TO DO
Once content is published on your website the copy MUST engage. It must inform, it must interest, entertain and most of all, through appropriate calls to action, it must work to modify the behaviour of persons reading it.
Your website copy isn’t just there to fill up space – it has a job to do. It’s there to get stuff done for you. Loud, in-your-face or overtly hard-selling copy fails. Why? People abhor feeling like they’re being pushed. They immediately see the warning signals and find ways to avoid intrusive sales pitches – usually by leaving the offending site immediately. That applies to search engines too.
The mark of good content developers is that they first take a number of steps back to figure out exactly what your audience is like and what these people want to see on your website before you think about what the search engines want to see.
The audience is more important. They are the ones that are going to interact with you in one or other ways, not search engines. Search engines are just there to display only the information you supply in the best possible light.
Development of relevant content for the Web isn’t about trying to force yourself on others. It’s all about the reader – the only reason why copy even exists. It’s their needs, their interests, desires and motivations that really good con-tent works at to engage.
A creative content developer entertains and empathises using wit, some wis-dom and civility. They influence without detection. It’s almost as if they’re not there.
Creating great content is no magic trick. It’s just good writing.
Karl Quirino
Co-Founder-Faith in Families
Visit Site
This is the total number of vi-sits people have made to indi-vidual published web pages on this site as of a week ago.
This article ‘It’s Not About You’ was cited in The Community Well.NZ Demo Website.
Wow! This is the best piece I’ve come across about creative writing and what works. Whoever wrote it deserves an award. Right on!
Here in Espana we also have charitable foundations but yours is much more advanced. I am learning much about how to introduce improvements just reading about what you have published in your website. Muchas gracias!
I have to agree with with your points of view about how important it is for foundations to express voice for those communities they serve. Your foundation is exceptional in this regard.
After browsing through your website, I am left with an impression that, by adopting 21st Century technologies particuarly those involving the Internet and the Web, much can be done to serve the needs of your communities in New Zealand and elsewhere. It is an excellent model that you are introducing. I wish you all well on all these efforts.
You are indeed a top-class writer, Karl. Your foundation is fortunate to have you as a resource express its various points of view exceptionally well on so many topics and subjects that deal with issues concerning community development. I am in full agreement with most of what your foundation has to say. Keep up the good work.