No matter what your business is, your web content needs to shine a light on your company. Updated visuals like color schemes, the page design, and even your social presence are all still necessary, but without the proper copy, your website won’t get much traction. Writing good content is a crucial business skill, especially these days. In the days of quarantine, your web presence is more important than ever. While you’re unable to put on the charm face to face with your customers, you have to draw them in through your writing.

Any good blog or report or website page has a lot of moving parts, so it is often best to jot down your outline before you start writing. There are three major components you need to consider before crafting your copy – the three c’s; company, customer, and competitor.

Company

Before you can tell the masses that you are trustworthy and your products or services are worth the purchase, you must understand who you are as a company. “Well, I’m a book publisher.” That’s great, but that’s what you do, not who you are. Without a completed sense of who you are as a company and what you stand for, you can’t confidently sell your product.

If you believe yourself to be one of the many businesses in the boat of misunderstanding, start from the very beginning. Why did you start your business venture? List the reasons why you see your company as a leader in your field, and be sure to show that in your web copy. This is a great time to perform a content audit on any existing information to make sure it’s all serving the same purpose.

Customer

The main reason you’re writing is to gain an audience. So you need to know who your audience is. Who are they? What do they need? What do they want? Look into the purchasing history of your customers, and remember they are the most important part of your business. If you have no customers, you have no business right?

Once you have the answers to these questions, research trends. That will be the map to where your audience is coming from, and where they are going to consume the most content.

Competitor

An often overlooked piece to the puzzle is your competitors. This is part of that customer map we were talking about. To know where your consumers come from, you have to know who else they are consulting, aka, your competitors. If you’re selling blankets in the winter, how are you going to stand out? Look at the top results when you search your product. How are they connecting with their audience? What does their branding look like? Now, the most important question. How can you do it better?