Writing for Web: How to Get the Most Out of Your Website Content
Writing for websites can be a daunting undertaking to those who are new to the medium. The process seems simple in practice, but many soon discover that there is more to
it than first meets the eye. A blend of factors go into considering a good content strategy. Between good marketing and design practices, writing for Search Engine Optimization, and informing your audience in an engaging way, the process of writing effectively can get a little hectic especially when considering all of the potentiel web tools at your disposal for presenting information. We’ll go over some of the finer details and give some guidance on how to get the most out of your content.
First off, an important rule of thumb to remember is that content should fit the purpose of the page. A home page, for instance, has the purpose of establishing what the website is about and guides users to relevant information and resources. Because of this, a front page should often follow a less-is-more strategy of phrases, keywords, links, images, and diagrams that help users to quickly understand your business at face-value and to generate searches for some of your more important keywords. You may put in a short introductory synopsis to the brand, company, or institution, but straying away from long-form text is recommended in this situation. Doing so can cause an overwhelming first impression or distract site visitors from navigating further into the site. Similarly, you wouldn’t overload a Contact Us page with content, as the purpose of that page is to seamlessly direct users to contact information, so clutter should be avoided.
On the other side of the coin, informational pages such as About Us pages, product pages, FAQs, or articles can be a lot more long-winded. One mistake websites can make is that they apply a less-is-more philosophy to the entire site which can deny site visitors from being able to find out important information and can miss potentiel SEO opportunities. Informational pages are important because that’s where you can focus on more specific subject matter that can help your site become relevant to different niches within your field of expertise. For example, writing about a specific product can draw users to the site who are searching for that product through Google or another search engine. Informational pages are important for generating SEO, building credibility for your website, and informing visitors.
However, even with informational pages, it can still be good to organize information in a way that is easy to navigate and digest. You will often see website content broken up with bulleted lists, images, section titles, and website implementations that can make a visitor’s life easier. For example, on FAQ pages, we often utilize a website tool called a drop down to only present relevant information. The way it works is that the questions are displayed for the reader to browse, but the answers are hidden until a user clicks on the question they’re interested in. Once they click on the question, the answer is displayed below. This avoids clutter and allows a visitor to go directly to the information they’re looking for.
On the subject of SEO, there are a few things to be aware of when writing for the web. The first is that page titles matter quite a bit. Titles are given specific priority in search engines, as they are considered the most important keyword/phrase for the page. Titles should be under 60 characters long to fit within Google’s teaser text that can be found when searching on their site. It is important to pick relevant and descriptive keywords for each page as this helps pull visitors to the site.
Another important thing to remember is that you don’t want to use the same keywords too often. It might sound like you can game the system by utilizing keywords more than the competition. However, keyword stuffing can actually hurt your SEO potentiel, as search engines can identify a page as spammy and actually knock it down in search results. To counter this, you’ll want a focused, yet well-rounded set of keywords that open up the possibility of different keyword combinations being found. This should actually come naturally for a skilled writer, as repeating words can create a sense of boredom even when SEO isn’t a factor. Using a good diversity of words while making sure those words are relevant to your site can be a huge advantage and act as a double whammy for both SEO and engaging writing.
Finally, it is important to talk about in-text hyperlinks, a tool that is largely unique to websites. Using links within text can be good for both establishing your credibility with search engines and in helping users to find further information about a subject either externally or within another part of your site. This is a tool that should be used somewhat sparingly, as too many links in long-form text can be overwhelming as well, but, in small doses, they can show a user references or get them to stay on your site by taking them to a page they may have not found otherwise. Using hyperlinks in meaningful ways can be just another way to build up your website’s reputation with both search engines and site visitors.
That is basically the goal of content on a website, to build out what subjects are relevant, build credibility within these subjects, assist in easy navigation, and ultimately drive users to trust your services enough to utilize them. A strong understanding of a page’s intent can go a long way towards knowing how best to write a section, and following steps to write respectable, yet, relevant copy can also go a long way towards driving traffic to your site. Follow these guidelines, and you’ll be climbing the search engine rankings in no time.
