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The struggles and benefits of writing

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10th Aug 2015
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Writing is hard work. Not physically, of course, it largely means sitting still for long periods, tippy-tapping on a keyboard.

But it does have a propensity for cultivating self-doubt, as evidenced recently on AnyAnswers when Glennzy asked, “Why is it so difficult to write website content?

Karen Reyburn of The Profitable Firm (and Practice Excellence Awards 2015 judge) answered, “because its more than just words”.

A simple solution to filling your website with content is to hire a professional. There are many excellent ones. But writing isn’t just about your website. Having a distinctive online presence can be valuable.

“I’ve spent years teaching accountants about the power of being a visible expert,” Reyburn says. “Writing regularly and well is a great way to do it.”

According to Reyburn, the best content stems from seeing what issues your clients have and giving them insights to things that may be going wrong. The accountant’s close working relationship with clients puts them in a unique position to help.

 “Whatever you come up with to address that problem or that client or that industry or that niche will be better than a bog standard formula,” explains Reyburn.

Inspiration is one thing, but committing your ideas to page is another challenge entirely. According to AccountingWEB editor-in-chief John Stokdyk, the old journalist’s mantra remains true: “good writing is rewriting”.

“The magic doesn’t happen when you’re putting the words down on the page,” explains Stokdyk. “Really effective copy only happens when you start reviewing and revising it.”

The ultimate aim, says Reyburn, is authenticity. “I always tell accountants the best content sounds like you and provides your clients with relevant, helpful information about the problems that they have.”

Regular AccountingWEB blogger Satwaki Chanda says he aims to write “the type of articles that I myself would like to read if I were learning the subject for the first time”. It helps to remember that concepts which are simple and mundane to accountants, are often abstruse to the public. Accountants begin from an advantageous position.

Avoid trying to come up with just a set number of words on a subject, especially when trying to populate a website. There’s more to it than that, says Reyburn. Fewer, but more focused and well targeted words is her mantra.

A website’s content should be seen as an element of good design, she says. A well designed website will give the writer a tidy framework to work within. “Websites these days are very image heavy, and very much about headlines and key messages and calls to action,” she explains.

“A website landing page might only have 3-4 sentences in terms of actual words, but the work to prepare the layout, identify where the button should go, choose an image, and then write the words that fit around it.”

Ultimately, Reyburn advises against focusing on what other accountants are doing. “A lot of my clients ask,  ‘What are other accountants putting on their website?’ That’s not relevant to you. If you’re site looks like theirs, that’s not helpful – to you or the client,” she says.

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By yardleystar
14th Aug 2015 12:40

Writing web site content

Writing is not as easy as many people believe. The process for a niche web site is harder - I know because I write on tax, finance and other topics for many clients as a full time freelance journalist.

You need to develop personas - the profile of your target audience, then have a list of key words to feed search engines then a steady flow of relevant copy matched to both. 

Marketing flannel won't do it - inbound marketing is the way to build good, unique and relevant web site content with a mixture of news, how to's and guides.

The other problem is stop-go sites. You need a schedule and a budget and once you start, you need to stick to it across a blog, LinkedIn, Google+, Facebook and Twitter while reviewing results and tweaking key words and content to improve analytics.

Building a web presence won't happen overnight and you can't buy one throwing money at Google Ads.

The problem for most accountants is they have a restricted geographical market place mainly constrained to local clients, so the pool they are fishing in is small and the cost of acquisition high.

This makes the job of attracting clients even harder and the expectation of realistic results needs matching to the size of the target market.

A budget of around £350 a month will buy two 400 words articles a week which is a basic marketing package. Accountants need to consider how many clients they need to attract to cover a £4,200 a year outlay.

They may get cheaper articles but they will probably be of poorer quality for search engine optimisation (SEO)

By the way - we don't maintain content on the Yardleystar web site for this reason before you Google it!

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By SarahLittle
02nd Oct 2015 07:30

Writing isn't an easy process as many people  think. Especially if we are talking about writing for website. Content is a key element and the first thing which attracts attention. I can recommend the writing service which I used for my dissertation, but I think that they also can help with writing a content for any website. Read bestdissertation review and choose the service you like the most.

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