How we built our website (part 2) ∩｡• ᵕ •｡∩ ♡
Lessons on finding your authentic writing voice and other blogging insights
Just last month I was here getting hyped over 3k views and here we are finishing the month with just under 5,000 wonderful people! I’m honoured to have that many people visiting our website, just myself and Tom built it with Squarespace and we put our heart and soul into it – and now I’m sharing that journey in these lessons on how we did it. Let’s jump right in before I brag so hard my arrogance meter breaks off.
Quick disclaimer we’re not web developers by any stretch, just a couple of writers, there’s not going to be any WE did this ONE THING to double our traffic!!! Because I hate that kind of content, and also I’m not really sure how we got here if I’m totally honest with you. There’s no “one thing” we did — we did a lot of stuff. We worked bloody tirelessly for a whole year while travelling at the same time and I’m not sure what people are coming to our site for yet.
That’s why you’ll only be getting chilled lessons, where I’m just going to show you where the Nomadic Writers website was, where it is now, and the whys and what-fors. If that’s vague enough for you then let’s go!
Building out the content
The next step after we put together the site was building out our content. This was the part Tom and myself were most familiar with as two content writers who’d worked for years in the biz – it was technically the easiest bit for us.
And yet it was the absolute hardest part, as we had to shed a lot of stuff. In fact, working in town for a corporate company, we found it challenging to get out of our “corporate voice” – something I’m still trying to shrug off. Those things stick to you like a frickin’ bad batch of garlic — if you know you know.
I had to reconnect to who I truly was, which definitely isn’t a corporate life person. Hell I sometimes wonder what it means just to be a person on this planet. I grew up pretty humbly in a flat with my single mum above a dry cleaners, and boy is it small even by London standards.
I’ve gone through so many bloody jobs in my 31 years, from lifeguard (not glamorous), to waitressing at Wimbledon, all the way to a 5-year content career. I was a bit of an outcast in the content writing world really — I had no writing degree, no English literature; I just taught myself for free on the internet in my room.
I’d never set foot in the corporate world before and boy are there a lot of f*cking rules to adhere to! While it offered me the skills, and money to go travelling, that I’m forever grateful for — it also offered me the pain of sniffing armpits on the tube in the morning. No more armpits for this gal thanks.
Like with anything, our website content was a trial and error process, but I knew I wanted it to be inherently us. I’m still not fully sure what that means but I guess I just want it to be honest, as I’ve spent too much of my time trying to be in perfect control, to show and present a version of myself that feels lame compared to the wonderful wackiness I’m capable of. This website and its content was to shine as innately me.
Right, I’ve waffled enough, let’s break down some content basics:
Do NOT check on the competition until you’ve written your first draft (at least).
Write it authentically and rework it as much or as little as feels right to you.
Don’t strive for perfect grammar unless you aim to be the next Forbes, Amazon, newspaper, or like a business that is selling a product. If you’re just a writer then the emotion sometimes exceeds what grammar is capable of.
You’ll typically need a Homepage, About, Product/Service page, and Contact. Anything on top of that adds joy, like a blog, portfolio, resources page, etc.
Think of your website as telling a story, where the reader gets to choose what page to interact with next.
Don’t focus on being a “brand” or “expert,” instead focus in on what you’re passionate about, what you are familiar with (like have you actually travelled to those places you write about) and write about what you know personally.
So that’s some of my thoughts on content, but lets talk secret sauce: website creativity and how you make it more you…
So how do you make a website with content that is distinctly you?
I can’t tell you that, nobody bloody can. For me, it was about a mixture of looking at how I communicate verbally, in messages, and what feels right in the moment. Knowing your values helps big time, as I knew that I personally hated pop-up ads and seeing websites covered in ads — I knew I wanted to make something more honest rather than peddling out copies of the top-ranking articles.
If you’re coming at these lessons with not much writing experience then you need to just start! Don’t wait until you’ve “got the skills” or until you “are the master of your destiny” as that sh*t takes time. Start a free blog on Wix or Squarespace and just practice! Learn on the internet from those you love reading from, and just practice writing authentically. You won’t always get it right, and it’s not a quick path to success — just keep giving it your best shot.
I feel with anything creative it’s always evolving with you — our About Us page has changed so much for example. The content went from super formal *cough* corporate-cringe *cough* to where it is now, which I’m still not fully happy with. It’s still missing something but I’m sure I’ll find what that is at some point. I also love cute stuff, like that little cat and the little text faces – it has absolutely nothing to do with anything other than – I like it. It’s probably not everyone's thing, but I think it’s really cute!
∩｡• ᵕ •｡∩ ♡
And that little text face there is too hehe.
How to find a blog tone of voice
It couldn’t be simpler, finding your tone of voice involves learning to listen to yourself. How do you sound when you speak, how do you think, and what do you believe? That is your tone of voice — it’s literally your real voice. It’s why you hear some people say to those writers that have a talent “I can almost hear you say that” – that’s what I strive for, to sound unapologetically me.
Oddly, learning to become a writer is about more than just writing some words down in hopes to get people to do your twisted bidding, but instead finding yourself interwoven in between the words – slowly getting closer to a more honest version of yourself that you’re willing to vulnerably share with people.
Being vulnerable and showing that part of you that you hide away is often the toughest but most rewarding part of the job, in my opinion. For example, I admit I don’t have this thing we call life figured out yet. I’m building a website, shaping this Substack, interested in arts and practicing painting, lifting weights, and sculpting with clay – I do all that to find a strange sense of solace, a peace that I strive for that goes beyond earning money, a happiness I seek beyond the material.
Before I get too existential on you, I’d like you to learn to listen to yourself and kindly encourage yourself to find what feels good to you. If writing feels right, then show up for it consistently (or even inconsistently in the beginning). Just keep choosing yourself.
Content to start with
The home page is a good one to start with as it sets the tone for how people interact with your website. I hate that first impressions matter both in real life and online, but they do. You can use it to briefly let them in on what you provide, what value people have to gain, and you get a chance to wow them.
I’m terrible at first impressions in the real world, accidentally bringing a fist-bump to a hand-shake situation or answering a bland “yeah” to a question someone asked me, or my personal favourite at the moment a “yeah you too” response when it really doesn’t fit the situation. But, that’s why we love the internet.
So I wanted to pack a feeling punch with our home page, I wanted my colours to feel warm and write an opening that felt both professional, but also revealed our silly natures – at the moment it reads like this:
“We write high-quality content that ranks organically as we focus on our readers more than algorithms. We’re based in London and spend our spare moments travelling to keep our travel blog fresh.
♪ヽ( ⌒o⌒)人(⌒-⌒ )v ♪
We love sharing our travel tips, nature knowledge, life insights, and gaming fun with you either through our blog and on our Nomadic Substack — where you can subscribe and get free extra content or choose to support us and get even more content!”
In a sense, I wanted the first paragraph to show what we do, and then the second to show who we are. Adding a cute emoji in between because look how sweet they are! This has come a long way since our homepage inception, we began with this on our homepage back in November 2023:
“We travel about South East Asia and are two freelance content writers. We write for websites in multiple niches, including our own travel blog.
Writing engaging articles that inform, lead, and help your readers is our mission. With over a decade of content writing experience combined and a shared spirit for exploration, we are Nomadic Writers.”
While this was a fine opening, it felt a bit devoid of personality. Let’s be honest it read like a plain piece of bread covered in nothing but butter. I don’t know why but I had this idea that to come across as professional enough I had to make it lame, which I think a lot of companies feel they need to fit into some neat box.
But we as humans will never be able to squish ourselves into society’s boxes. So why bother?
The ever-changing self
What I noticed is that a part of my website I’ll be satisfied with one day, will need changes in a few months time. Not for an algorithm, but because it no longer sits right with me. I’m not sure why, but the only thing I can think is that people are always changing. And when I change or grow in some way, and I don’t see it reflected in the website, I’ll need to change it all!
Does anyone else get that weird sense of nope this is all horrible, start again please! And then I overhaul everything until it’s right again… I wonder what that says about me.
So theoretically in a year’s time from writing this, my website will have gone through so many overhauls to make it fit my new perspective on things. It’s like the process of distilling (at least what I imagine distilling is like) where you start with a flavour in your words and slowly purify it until it resonates with you completely.
Let’s distill this lesson a bit shall we…
Answering your questions on crafting your About Us page
I’ll do my best to answer any more questions you have in the comments section, but for now these are the ones I’ve received this last year:
Q. Should the About Us feel more personal?
Ours is like a blend of personal and professional at the moment, although I might make it more and more personal over time as I give less of a hoot. We share what we do and we explain it clearly – not too much fuss. But we have relaxed imagery on it like the cute cat in the header and pictures of us we took on our travels. I think in mine I’m folding laundry at an Airbnb we were in so it’s pretty personal, but I also felt I looked like a boss folding that laundry (▀̿Ĺ̯▀̿ ̿)
Q. Shouldn’t I remove the Us and make it more about how I can offer services/ products to people?
It depends on your thought process I guess. Lots of corporates love to make the About Us page about “what you provide” rather than “who you are” but ultimately, I find that boring af. It feels like they’re trying too hard to guess a reader's intentions in my opinion. I prefer a personal touch in the websites I visit and hope to replicate that feeling on my own (still a ways to go). It depends on what you want though — for me, my website wasn’t aimed at selling our writing service that much, I didn’t need to do that at all.
Q. How can we find “our story” for our About Us?
Boy… that’s like asking me to tell you who you are and what you want to put out into the world. Big ask when I don’t have a crystal ball… I do have Tarot cards here somewhere though. I’ll do my best to answer this one. I guess what do you want people to know about you and what you provide? My tips are to write it with balance in mind, share some personal stuff about yourselves but also not too much! Protect your personal information somewhat. You could introduce yourself as you would to a person but adding a business flourish at the end? But honestly a hard one to answer without seeing the website tbh. Hope that helps, it felt long winded but it was my best attempt. Maybe I’ll do some discussions about other peoples’ websites, or a thing in the future when I give advice to people about their websites/ newsletters.
Q. Can I just use AI for the About Us?
You most definitely can use AI for your About Us page… that doesn’t at all sound like a terrible idea that will lead you to a bland as bread and butter website… of course you should use a robot to tell people how human you are… love that…
Or you could write it authentically? I opted personally for writing everything myself and it worked out pretty well — and even better when people share this Substack by clicking that tantalizing orange button.
More practical About Us page tips
If you’re really struggling with what to write about yourself, your business, or your blog, then here are some pointers that might help. Do remember though that most people will be following these kinds of pointers and that thinking outside the box on these will help you!
Hone in on your mission statement
Be a little vulnerable with people (as much as is comfortable, remember that over sharing is pretty cringe, so I keep getting told)
Don’t be afraid to share your socials
Add your personal touches to the aesthetic or content (experiment with colour and style)
Add location, contact info early on, and hours of operation can help too (i.e. 9am - 5pm)
Get to the point of what you do, make it as clear as possible
Experiment with the content – don’t be afraid of change
So that’s it for lesson two of this series, thank you for reading my words. It means a lot to me that you’re here as once upon a time I was writing for 0 people. Around a year ago I started writing and sometimes it still feels like I speak to the void, but I find deep comfort knowing that somewhere in that wide world, you’re here too.
Let me know at what stage you’re at with writing or building a business in the comments, and I’ll see you in there.