Examples of Engaging Web Content

The danger with following best practices without injecting the organization's culture and personality in content development and conversation strategy is that you could be swapping one logo for another and be none the wiser. You don't differentiate yourself from your competition.

Worse, you don't stand out and make an impression, which is a better word for being engaging.

What does good Web content look like? It's well written, is not afraid to show the personality of the organization it speaks for, and it carries value -- information, knowledge, tips, things that make your experience better.

I thought it would be fun to take a look at some of my favorite Web content for inspiration.

What a hoot

This is from the about page at Woot.com. Woot FAQ: a discussion of ill-advised efficiencies, failed idealism, and trampled dreams.

Woot.com is an online store and community that focuses on selling cool stuff cheap. It started as an employee-store slash market-testing type of place for an electronics distributor, but it's taken on a life of its own. We anticipate profitability by 2043 – by then we should be retired; someone smarter might take over and jack up the prices. Until then, we're still the lovable scamps we've always been. But don't take our word for it: see what the online community has to say at this Wikipedia article.

They sell one new item each day until it's sold out. Pretty simple value prop. This is their privacy policy. Evidence that lawyers can have a sense of humor? This is the copy they use to sell the one product on the home page. A good example of using story to build a context in marketing.

Be foolish!

The copy written at The Motley Fool is pretty accessible and it holds the site to its promise to educate, amuse, and enrich. From the about page, the company's name was taken from Shakespeare, whose wise fools both instructed and amused, and could speak the truth to the king -- without getting their heads lopped off.

Here is what they do:

The Motley Fool provides financial solutions for investors of every kind. Our products and services -- whether free or fee-based, online or offline -- are designed to help people take control of their financial lives.

The home page currently greets you with the 10 best stocks of 2010 headline. Under which, you find an approachable style for a sometimes and to too many people still, hard to comprehend, topic.

I'm always on the lookout for the next home run stock. At the end of each year, I like looking back to see what I can learn from the past year's best and worst performing stocks. Let's take a sneak peek at this year's top performing tech stocks.

Be foolish and don't pass up an opportunity to learn something there.

Take your vitamins

I've used this page on Facebook to illustrate how a company can and should clear up confusion about its products in social media. Thank you very much for your questions, they say:

thank you very much for the questions – there has been a fair amount of chatter (including ours, to be fair) around the efforts of an activist group to convince a court and the media that you don’t know what you’re drinking when you drink vitaminwater.

guess what? vitaminwater is just what you think it is. a great tasting beverage. totally hydrating. packed with vitamins.

but wait, they say. it has SUGAR! CALORIES!

well, yes. vitaminwater does have both. it says it on the label. clear as the eye can see. just as the law requires. and for those who are more calorie conscious, we offer you a fabulous beverage option: vitaminwater zero.

so there you have it. choice. freedom. great taste. packed with vitamins.

but you knew that.

drink up.

The note got 340 likes and dozens of positive comments back in August of this year. You may point out it's not sales copy... it is selling, and it does it conversationally, and simply. Take your vitamins, and choose the calorie free options, if you're so inclined.

Seeing (RED)

This one was also suggested by @incognitosum, and for good reason. The value prop is clear, the calls to action at the bottom of the page are simple and compelling -- join (RED) and help eliminate AIDS.

Tactically speaking

On the tactical side, what can you look for in your content to be more engaging and successful? Here's a quick checklist:

• in addition to writing good content, you want to use unique titles and keywords so your page can be found by those who are looking for what you have
• test it to see whether when people come to your page they can find what they were looking for, and remember that time on the page may also mean they could not find it -- you want people to complete tasks: order, subscribe, find out more, etc.
• provide links to deeper information and a call to action -- like "I want one" in the screen shot above, contacting a sales rep, subscribing to a newsletter, finding out more, etc.

What are your favorite Web pages? What do you like about them?

 

If you enjoyed this post from Conversation Agent, subscribe, share and like it.

Comments

[Christina Pappas]

The basis of our company is helping brands increase engagement so I LOVE this post! I think that evolution of content is interesting since you look at some of the examples you list here and they are engaging because they are entertaining. I really feel that we have gone from trying to dive into the information and get value first to wanting to get value from being entertained. Is it the technology we have available today that enable us to be more creative and keep eyeballs on our stuff (and keep coming back)?

What do you think of rich media publications and engagement? Do you see these as providing value to brands who wish to increase engagement and 'control the flow' of their content? Here is a cool example http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/ddfeab7c

[Brian Driggs]

I saw your tweet last night (and at least one RT), but still can't think of any org sites that stand out to me. Just a handful of blogs.

- Conversation Agent
- The Brand Builder Blog
- Scott Gould and Friends

Talk about engaging content? I consider the above mentors. Here are three individuals who are paid to share their knowledge and experience, yet they take the time to share much of this information with people like me - for free - often going so far as to respond to me directly when I ask a question. That's powerful stuff and I don't know that I get that anywhere else.

[Valeria Maltoni]

@Christina - I chose examples that show passion and love for whatever the organization does. I like it when a brand (or person) is unapologetic about who they are. I focused on copy on purpose. I think design and usability do have a strong role in making it pop, but ultimately what we respond to is a human being talking with us. And of course, the experience we have with that product and brand. Good questions on interactivity. I'll mull over them.

@Brian - it was an unfair question without context. Thought I'd give it a shot anyway to see what came up, and I was pleased with the (RED) referral. You're talking about demonstrated intent as well, here. That's interesting.

[Gabriele Maidecchi]

It's often not just about what you write but how you write it. From experience I notice that stuff that is presented in a funny way has got a lot more of attention from the average reader.
Even the most serious of things can be presented in a funny way, with some exceptions of course.
The first example of a website that is sticking in my mind since the first time I saw it is the Sofa website ( http://www.madebysofa.com/ ), presenting for example their own team in a fun way, even adding the office cat in their roster.
If I still remember it after so much time, it really means something.

[Davina K. Brewer]

Valeria, WOOT is one of my favorite examples, I love reading the copy especially the wine info. One thing I've noticed is that sites that are less controversial or that "sell" humor can get away with more. So a Despair.com or Someecards.com can get more creative than some businesses feeling the need to play it safe. FWIW.