Initial Welcome Message for new site

What to say/Not to say

[richardtape]

Afternoon all,

Working on a bank holiday again (for the Brits amongst us)! Quicky this one...

I'm just starting to write content for a new personal site which will eventually be made into a small business. Without going into specifics, initially people wishing to use the site will not be charged at all but have the option to upgrade to some sort of premium package for which they pay a small amount up front. Once I have built a community and hopefully a decent reputation (I must admit I'm really very excited about this idea as it's original and unique to my niche - fingers crossed eh?) I then intend to ask people to pay a (very) small amount (a matter of a few pounds) to use the site's major functions, but keep items like forums and the-like free-of-charge.

What I would like to know is what to say on the very front page in the very first "welcome" note. I'm pretty crap at writing bumf like this, so any generic/specific text is very welcome!

As always, thanks in advance,

RT

[netguy]

>>what to say on the very front page?

RT, what you 'don't' want to say is 'Welcome.' Such an introduction is a waste of time for the visitor, and does nothing for you from an SEO standpoint.

Try to make your headline compelling, short, and to the point - using your primary keyword(s) along the way. I would put an emphasis on what your site provides for free, then after you have your audience hooked on its benefits, you can introduce the extended, for-pay benefits your site additionally offers behind the homepage.

As long as you can provide enough 'taste' for the free entree, many will come back and pay for the dessert. ;)

Steve

[richardtape]

Excellent. Thanks Steve. I think what I might do is leave out of the for-pay stuff completely from the home page, and only introduce it when they begin signing up for the free part of the site. I will probably see how this works. If not many people go for 'the desert' then I will then begin to introduce the for-pay stuff on the home page. I have already budgeted for several hundred "freeby" accounts which will hopefully be the nest of my community. Then, as word-of-mouth spreads I can start the more premium ideas.

Anyway, thanks again. Anyone else want to chip in with more ideas on what/what not to say?

Cheers,

RT

[lancer]

Best is if you write informative, short, to-the-point info about exactly what your website is providing.

[edited by: rogerd at 1:29 pm (utc) on Aug. 31, 2004]
[edit reason] No URLs, please... [/edit]

[rogerd]

It's important to know your audience - if the nature of your site generates lots of repeat traffic, you may spend less space "welcoming" and more on "what's new" or similar. If your site is geared toward one-time visitors, you'll want a more extensive explanation. Either way, though, make navigation easy so that both first-time and repeat visitors can find what they need.

[richardtape]

rogerd, that is a very good point I had considered. Thanks for that. My audience will be split into 2 categories I think. The first will be regular repeat visitors which will be using the community aspect of the site, and the other will be less regular repeat visitors. As the site is a completely new idea and will go live with all the new ideas in place, I think I will start out with a generic statement about the idea behind the site, then once I have some repeat visitors I will change the "welcome" to incorporate the 'new' things on the site.

Once again, thank you for the ideas so far.

Cheers,

RT