7 Questions to Guide Your Website Content

A seasoned mediator I’m helping create a stronger online presence asked me this question today: How do I know what content is going to resonate best for people in the niche I’m trying to reach? Great question. And the mediator in me couldn’t resist offering seven more questions by way of an answer.

If you’re building a new website for marketing your ADR practice or upgrading your old one, you want content that sets you apart from other mediation services in your market and tells your clients something that’s special about you, the value you offer, and what kind of relationship you offer. First, set aside some focused “think” time (I give myself a business retreat day once a month, set calls to go directly to voicemail, and use the time to think about the big-picture questions that guide my business and my practice of ADR). Write out your answers to these seven questions and use those answers to guide content decisions for your website:

1. What would make someone in my market niche want to spend real time on my website?
2. What subjects do people in my market niche care most about and how can I link my website content to those subjects?
3. What benefits and values do I offer my clients and how do I make that explicit in my marketing materials (hint: benefits are different than features)?
4. What mechanisms can I offer that help create a two-way conversation with people who visit my website (hint: think mini-polls, audio, requests for ideas and feedback, offers of periodic informational sessions)?
5. What offer can I make that would encourage visitors to be willing to leave their email address so that I can stay in touch and build a relationship with them over time?
6. If I were to try building a relationship through my website instead of selling myself and my services, what would I do differently on my site?
7. What websites do I benefit from or visit regularly, and what are they doing that I’m not?