Bore Your Readers with Mindless Drivel, or Tell a Story and Engage Them

Does your “About Us” page tell a story? If not, you’re wasting a webpage.

Whenever I go through the website of a potential client, I make notes on what I see. What they’re saying. What they’re not saying.

I always visit the About page too.

After the homepage, it’s the most frustrating. Because 9 times out of 10, it’s just like all the others.

Is Your About Page “Unique Like Everyone Else’s?”

The core purpose of an About page is to tell readers what you do. And who’s doing it.

You’re introducing the people you think customers should know about. Who they’ll have a working relationship with.

The sort of information that shows you’re a good fit for them.

Thing is, most companies wind up wasting the page.

They throw up some names, add bios, and think that’s enough. All that does is create a clone of every other About page.

Worse still, a lot of these pages are written using the same thoughtless, jargon-choked statements.

Here, some examples. Any of these look familiar?

“We are committed to the highest quality service.”
So’s everyone else. Meaningless claim.

“We’re constantly upgrading our skills.”
So you don’t have any time for work, then?

“Real people who pick up when you call.”
(Ever notice that when they say this, it’s really hard to get a callback?)

“Your best choice for XYZ.”
Bold claim. Got any proof?
Oh, and see my “thought leader” post about why this type of thinking is bunk.

“Redefining quality service through world-class innovations.”
Wow. You took 7 words to say nothing at all.

An About Alternative: Tell Your Readers a Story

Chances are, “About Us” is the 2nd or 3rd most-visited page on your site. So why not give people content people would enjoy reading?

Like a story. You do know your company’s story right? How the business came to be, where the people came from, what motivated them to join your company?

This is the place to tell it.

Your story is your guiding principle. The sails for your ship.

Here’s an example of what I mean. This is an “About Story” I wrote up for a 2-man software startup. It was completely redone before it went live, so this version should be safe to post. (Some details altered/removed, of course.)

LicenseHound is a software license tracker app for Windows and Linux. Made by Jeff B and Mel C.

Jeff and Mel met through a mutual graphic-designer friend. Jeff wanted to start a side business doing specialty programming in C#. Mel worked for an SEO agency.

They hung out for a while, beat each other at videos games, and talked their way through lots of ideas. Eventually they found one they both liked. So they pooled their talents to make the app, and a website to sell it.

It’s now on the Android Market. (That’s probably how you got here.)

Welcome! Head to the App Details page to see how LicenseHound works.

I see this happening more & more with startups and newer companies.

For instance: “What is Spotify?”

This is a prime example of Clear Content. The About page tells you exactly what to expect from Spotify’s service. They show it to you with images & word paintings. And they encourage you to try it all out.

Another About Us example is MailChimp.

That giant monkey might scare a kid or two, but the content is great. Short, lively, and it talks casually about which customers are a good fit for them.

Both these examples also link off to subpages, too. Getting more specific. Guiding the reader on to further information.

In other words, they start telling you their story.

Does your About page do that?

Next post, I’ll share a framework to help you write your own “About Us” Story.

I took a break from a new post to listen to Content Talks. Episode 9, with Mike Monteiro, to be precise.

The topic was the business of design. But along the way, they mentioned UnSuck-It.com.

I’d never heard of it before. (Which, given this blog, is outright bizarre!)

So of course I checked it out. The site is a database of witty common-sense alternatives for jargon terms. Rewritten – “unsucked” – so they make sense.

I am ecstatic to see this. Not only did we badly need this out there, but it means I don’t have to build it myself! (I did have a similar idea in my notes.)

Whoever wrote the ‘unsucked’ explanations deserves a medal. Lots of great sarcasm to quash any jargon-user’s (self-)righteous fury.

I’ll quote a few examples:

Gamification

-Unsucked: “A popular product strategy fantasy about turning every mundane task into Farmville.”
My Comment: While balancing work and play is healthy, the fact that ‘gamification’ exists worries me.

Red Flag

-Unsucked: “Concern.”
My Comment: If you’re in Texas, you can use this. (It’s in the state business code, I think.) Everywhere else? It’s just a concern.

Social Media Strategy

-Unsucked: “Typing into text areas.”
My Comment: Heehee! Hey, wait a second…

Solution

-Unsucked: “Software. Please, just call it software.”
My Comment: Yes! We even have extra add-ons to make it clearer! Software program, software application…a “solution” is what you reach after USING the software!

Take It to the Next Level

-Unsucked: “Improve it.”
My Comment: Hatred of this term has sustained me for years.

“Unsuck” Your Content Before Posting It

I happily recommend this site to everyone writing content. If you’re using a term that’s listed on UnSuck-It.com, reconsider.

Can you be clearer? Chances are you can. Then your content won’t suck.

Next time I’ll write on content development for startups. (Product’s not the only thing you’ll need to work out!) Watch for it soon.

While you wait, why not follow me on Twitter or add Blue Ferret’s Clear Content Writing to your RSS?

The Hidden Dangers of Using Jargon, Example 4

Last week the Content Strategy Google Group (of which I’m a member) discussed the term “thought leadership.”

Everyone in the group (and most people reading this) pegged ‘Thought Leader’ as jargon. Even a client rejected it for a category header.

“My problem is everyone in my industry (other than us) seems to use that term, so my firm is rejecting that outright.”

So, what should they use instead?
Some group members proposed alternatives, like:

• Knowledge Center
• Reader Resources
• [Subject] White Papers
• Our Publications (I kind of like this one)

Then the conversation swung toward Thought Leadership’s underlying problem: The implications you make if you use the term ‘thought leader.’

Has Anyone Ever Done Business with a “Thought Follower”?

When used, Thought Leadership claims a hierarchical position. Namely, the top.

But nobody claims a “thought follower” position, do they? Of course not. No one would.

Well, we can’t ALL be Thought Leaders. What do we do?

“Thought Leader” as a jargon term tries to claim the high ground. Like everyone else. So the classification goes flat. Being a Thought Leader among thousands is kind of useless, isn’t it?

In the group discussion, one person pointed out that this whole thing is meaningless. Why? Because readers aren’t interested in these kinds of classifications.

At all.

They just want to find information on a specific topic.

Which is the only thing that really matters. Are you able to deliver information on that topic? If yes, then you don’t become a thought leader to the reader.
You become a resource.

Be a Resource Instead of a Thought Leader

If “Thought Leadership” implies a hierarchy that doesn’t really exist, how should we classify ourselves? What will the reader respond to?

If you have the information they’re looking for on a topic, you become a resource to them. So, aim for that!

Try being a resource instead. It’s more specific, and more valuable. For example, you could be:

“A resource for financial management software for HR consultancies.”

This fosters more of a collaborative space online, not an arbitrary hierarchy. Resources share information & audience attention with other resources, instead of competing for every last second.

One resource aids another. One website sends traffic to others. People find more and more information as they go – noting the businesses that PROVIDE those resources.

Readers don’t look for thought leaders. They look for specific resources.

Do YOU go looking for thought leaders? I don’t. I look for information from Kristina Halvorson (for Content Strategy), or John Jantsch (for B2B marketing), or Brian Clark (for Web writing techniques & Internet marketing strategies) or Steve Slaunwhite (for the business of copywriting).

Because these people have made resources of their websites. And by extension, their businesses. Last I checked, none of them are hurting either!

There’s no high ground in the term “thought leader.” Readers don’t care. They DO care about good resources. Look at social media – people share resources all the time, every day. Isn’t that a more powerful marketing approach than using jargon?

Look at your content. Ask yourself: “Is this something the reader can use? How? When?” If your content answers those questions, you have the makings of a resource.

What could your business be a resource for? A product you made? A specific audience? A region?

(DISCLAIMER: I wrote this post as a comment on the CS group discussion. These opinions are my own and are NOT intended as a reflection of the group. It was a great discussion!)

I finally decided on what I want to call my “best practice alternative” concept.

I’ll call them Business Operating Guidelines. Or…

BOGs.

This is important because, for one, it’s an easy-to-recognize acronym. Two, it tweaks the brain a little bit.

Admit it, when you read “BOG” you thought of some large murky messy patch of land with lots of vegetation and mud that wants to eat you.

(Come to think of it, that’s a lot like the content on most websites.)

So, to poke a little fun at all the Confusing Content out there, I’m naming my Business Operating Guidelines concept BOGs.

BOGs are an alternative to this scenario:
1. Company puts the phrase “best practices” in their website content.
2. Company doesn’t bother adding details of how they actually work with customers.
3. Company wonders why people ask them how they operate. Over and over.

By creating your own BOGs, your own operating guidelines, you can differentiate yourself in your industry. And carve out the beginnings of trust with your audience.

Next week I’ll post a how-to on creating your own BOGs. And how to avoid getting BOGged down in the details.

(Sorry, had to.)

What do you think? Decent enough term to add to the business lexicon?

The Hidden Dangers of Using Jargon, Example 3

Most of my clients are in tech. So you can bet I’ve seen this next term aaaall the time.

Integrated. You’ve seen this too, I’ll bet. It started out in IT copy, with the common perception of “one or more software applications working together.”

Integrated software (MS Office). Integrated database (built into a CMS). Simple, right? It actually makes sense there. You know what to expect.

But now, it shows up everywhere. “Integrated” archive systems. “Integrated” project delivery. I don’t even know what that second one is supposed to mean!

All this variance means one thing. The term “integrated” is now overused. And that’s harmful to your website.

What’s the Harm? How About Mind-Boggling Your Reader?

The hidden danger in using “integrated” is that you force your reader’s thought process to jam on the brakes.

When you overuse a jargon term, it loses the word’s original effectiveness. Especially when taken outside its original industry context. Meaning changes, depending on the new context.

And even that context may not always be clear. So your reader has to stop and think.

Which means you’re dangerously close to losing them.

Integrated Sales Metrics Forecaster? I Just Wanted a Forum Builder. Run Away!

“…integrated software that leans and automates operational, administrative and logistic processes, saving thousands of dollars.”

I didn’t make that up. It came from an actual website. Someone wrote it into their content.

Readers see this sort of thing and think either:

“I don’t know what they mean here.”
OR
“Wait, what? That doesn’t make sense [from my point of view]!”

Either way, what happens?
Their train of thought is derailed.

This is a hidden danger to YOU, not to them. They can just hit Back & look elsewhere.

You have just suffered a lost reader. Who came out negative in this equation?

I Know It Hurts, but Write it Out Anyway

Instead of writing:
“XYZ is an integrated solution for data corruption scenarios, blah-blah-blah…”

Try the long approach in your content. For instance,
“X is a collection of software applications for tackling the data corruption problem.
Application #1 handles file backups…
Application #2 performs a system scan…”
Etc.

You’ll need to write a few more lines. Maybe. But your content will be that much clearer.

The reader’s brain won’t crash into the front of their skull. It’ll just keep chugging down the page.

What’s another example of mind-boggling jargon you’d love to eradicate?