Creating a tone of voice for website digital content that is best for a client base will indicate to customers how you are communicating with them. More than half (53.3%) of website traffic is driven by organic search. Read more to learn about identifying and implementing a tone of voice for businesses as a web design company.
Identify Your Tone of Voice
Before you can begin creating content the company must decide on the voice of a brand. Ask what tone is best for the website design and brand as a whole. Keep in mind the client and potential clients that a business is trying to reach. You can help craft this by looking at these four dimensions of the tone of voice:
- serious vs. funny
- enthusiastic vs. matter-of-fact
- casual vs. formal
- irreverent vs. respectful
Choose one from each bullet point to create guidelines by which to write. To make sure this is working, grab a few different samples of content from a website and assign tone descriptors to them. Ask employees to identify the tone being used in the writing. You can also use a product reaction test for the tone of voice. This will test the implementation of tone in digital marketing posts.
After you identify the correct tone, pick from the list of tone descriptors from nngroup.com below to zero in on the exact tone:
- Authoritative
- Caring
- Cheerful
- Coarse
- Conservative
- Conversational
- Casual
- Dry
- Edgy
- Enthusiastic
- Formal
- Frank
- Friendly
- Fun
- Funny
- Humorous
- Informative
- Irreverent
- Matter-of-fact
- Nostalgic
- Passionate
- Playful
- Professional
- Provocative
- Quirky
- Respectful
- Romantic
- Sarcastic
- Serious
- Smart
- Snarky
- Sympathetic
- Trendy
- Trustworthy
- Unapologetic
- Upbeat
- Witty
Why is Tone of Voice Important?
Having a definitive tone of voice will help businesses connect with their clients. It can make clients feel that a business cares for them and their needs. This, in turn, creates a level of trust between the brand and the client that can be built upon. When a tone of voice is consistent it can help improve your revenue. Having a consistent tone gives the business a personality for consumers to identify. This all helps to keep a brand memorable and keep consumers coming back for more.
Making conscious decisions about tone of voice in the process of website design can elevate the services that digital marketing companies provide. To reap the most benefits keep a uniform tone across all content and the website for a business.