7 Tips for Interviewing a Client and Writing Web Content

Development
Dec 2009

One of my more recent challenges was to interview a new client and get all the information I would need to write the content for his new website. What made this difficult was his profession- I knew absolutely nothing about his field of work. After encountering this a few times, I have devised 7 tips on how to conduct a quality interview with a client whose field of work is foreign, and how to write highly valuable web content. These tips cover what to do before the interview, during the interview, and during the writing process.

1. READ

Get ahold of any information you can to make yourself familiar with your client’s field. This can include pamphlets, books, brochures, websites, blogs and advertisements. When reading information on competitors’ websites, it is important to see how they break up their information and organize their navigation. This will definitely come in handy for tip 4.

2. RESEARCH

This step may go hand in hand with reading, but there is a little more to it. This is the time that you start to notice a familiar pattern in certain terms, keywords and lingo that may only pertain to a particular field. For example, one website I worked on was for security cameras, and there was a lot of information from different companies about on-site surveillance. So it was important for me to familiarize myself with on-site surveillances, what companies offered it, the differences in systems and the benefits of each.

3. RECORD

Keep a note pad with you, and write down your discoveries. Make note of any new phrase or word you haven’t heard before; write down patterns in how competitors’ sites are set up and how you will set up your own; and note new ideas you may come up with or information you think other sites lack but you would want to include.

4. REORGANIZE

Now that you have read, researched and made plenty of notes, it is important before the initial interview that you reorganize all of your notes into well-thought out questions. Start at the beginning and ask your client to tell you a little about themselves. This not only opens the line of communication, it also gives a good launching point in the interview and lets each of you feel a little more comfortable with each other. (Feel free even to offer a little information on yourself.) Then ask your client to tell you about his company and the history. You may get a really interesting story to incorporate somewhere in the site. From there, continue to ask open-ended questions with questions related to the company and the website. If your questions are written down and organized well, the interview will flow seamlessly.

5. REITERATE

After the interview, when you begin writing the web content, be sure to reiterate important points on various pages. For example, if a client’s company’s strongest point is its commitment to customer service, be sure to inject such comments in several places- appropriate places, of course. If a customer’s company’s strongest point is its safety record, make a point to mention that on several different pages, as well.

6. REPRESENT

Keep in mind during the interview, after the interview, and while writing web content that you represent your client and his company in a very valuable way. You are the intercessor, the mediator between his company and his customers. It is your job to find out what information is most important to convey to customers and present it in the most appealing way possible. Your client will be more than thrilled when you deliver content that will aide in the success of his business.

7. REVIEW

REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! The last thing you want to do is misrepresent a client or give incorrect information on a website that can cause endless headache for you and your client. Make sure when you are finished writing your content that you still compare it with competitors’ sites, and make sure the tone and quality is comparative to theirs. Walk away from the project for a day or two and come back to it with fresh eyes. You are more likely to catch mistakes or find an area that can be improved before you turn it in to your client.

The more you conduct interviews and write content, the easier these tips will be to follow. Pretty soon, they will flow naturally, and your work will definitely show for it!

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