If you own a website or are considering building one, you've probably already done some research into what makes a good website tick. There are many different aspects to this but the one that often takes people the longest to pull together is the content and its not just about making up enough words to make the screen look busy and important - you need to capture the attention of your reader and hopefully get them to follow through on an action of some type - this might be calling you to enquire about your service, downloading a document to read more about what you do, purcahsing a product or a service, etc.

I have just watched a fantastic 7 minute video clip of an interview with Robert Gerrish who talks with Paul Jones about how 'persuasive writing' can help a business.  I have worked in office environments for years before getting into website design and its amazing just how good writing tips can influence your every day actions from writing an email to request the help of a colleague or some information you require to complete your own tasks, to writing intranet articles to inform staff of important events or even actions you want them to complete, such as being spam-savvy or taking care of their equipment or their own body with workplace health and safety. And of course, it is so important today to have efficient content on your website in the tech-savvy but time-poor world your readers live in.

This article is short and sweet and takes you through 6 steps to persuasive writing.

I recommend anyone who is writing for their website or has to do any type of writing in business in general read this and remind themselves how important the planning of good content is to capture your readers' attention and ensure they follow through on what you want them to do:

1. Get their attention
2. Mention their problem and your solution
3. Build credibility
4. Building desire with 'FBI'
5. Make a low-risk offer
6. Ask for action

This blog post was initiated from reading the regular newsletter created by www.magneto.net.au - I highly recommend signing up to the e-newsletter as I get something out of it nearly every time it arrives in my inbox.  Watch the video here: