Sep 25 2007
Lets Get Personal
Back when I started building websites I sort of struggled through most things, never sure if how I was doing things was right or wrong. Nobody handed me an instruction manual at the beginning of all this and I’ve never known if the way I do things is similar to most people or completely out of whack.
One thing I’ve always wondered about is whether to write from a personal point of view, using the ‘I’ word, telling stories and giving opinions. Or whether it’s better to write as though the site is run by a company, using ‘we’ even though the site is run by one person and writing in a more professional manner. I’m not talking about blogs which are mostly personal but regular websites which seem to have a good mix of both styles.
Overall, I find corporate sounding sites pretty dry and uninspiring. I’m sure this style suits many topics but I’m not sure budget travel is one of them. I find the most useful information to be first hand and reading a personal account of someone’s travels complete with all their feelings about what’s going on is a thousand times better to me than the same information written in a guidebook format. The internet offers a great forum for people to tell their stories and offer first hand advice and giving a site a personal touch lets the reader feel like they’re a part of the adventure rather than feeling as though they’re looking in from the outside. If I want information in that form I can buy a guidebook or look up Wikipedia.
However as I start to treat this website building thing more and more like a business I’m wondering if I should lose the chatty writing style and perhaps become a bit more professional. The personal approach is great for getting my thoughts across but I wonder if people are more likely to trust advice from a random backpacker who knows how to build websites or a corporate sort of site with a nameless, faceless type setup.
I prefer sites with a bit of personality and I think I’ll stick with that approach for now because that’s how I prefer to write. What do you think… or am I the only freak to wonder about these sorts of things?
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I've been travelling since January 2008 living off earnings from the web. Follow me as I bum around Asia and beyond, getting up to mischief and working online as I go.
Kirsty - I think there is a middle of the road approach here that will work great. Try to sound professional to a certain extent but keep a lot of the personal aspect too. That will make your site unique - your personal style. Some perhaps may get turned off by it, but I think the majority will come back because it is unique and offers a personal take on things. That is what will differentiate it from the thousands of faceless, bland “professional” sites out there.
i think that you have a lot more potential to be interesting and “quirky” (although I am not sure that is the right word here but I am having a mental block) when you add in personality to the posts.
Given a choice, I want to read something that is a little off color perhaps but which has personality to it than read some boring, over edited, professionally packaged piece that is drained of any life.
My feelings toward a site are more influenced by the quality of the website. I’m perfectly fine with a “one (wo)man show” if I’m impressed with the material or product. Just the same, if a website sucks, I’m not going to be impressed if there’s an actual company behind it.
I have heard this discussion before. I think it depends on the site. Travel works well for a casual, chatty approach.
I have a job site for Japan and the kind of inquiries I sometimes get, people seem to think it is part of some big company.
I have had of people setting up email addresses for “Tom” in accounts and “Sue” in sales even though they didn’t exist. I think it pays to be honest in the long run.