Writing good content will make readers stay longer on your website and will encourage them to keep returning, says Owen Bell.
The most important goal of web writing is for your article or website to be found. The copy must contain keywords relevant to the search criteria that are used when someone is looking for your product or service.
Keywords
Keyword research will help to identify the relevant keywords and keyword phrases to use in your content. This keywords need to be used as often as possible without the copy sounding unnatural. Recommended key word density is two words per hundred
Start with a bang
Grab your audience’s attention by writing a compelling heading and starting with your most important message in the introduction. Your content should have the following structure.
•· Header
•· Introduction
•· Body
•· Conclusion
Use the conclusion to summarise the main points and use some of your keywords again.
Stickiness
Good web writing will increase the stickiness of your site, which is the amount of time someone stays on your site. Web copy that is easy to scan will increase the stickiness of your site. Scan ability will be improved by doing the following
- Chunking – writing shorter paragraphs
- Use bullet points to break up the copy and highlight certain things
- Use headings and sub headings
Headlines and Headings
Headlines will appear as search results for search engines. It’s important that your headline gets the point across of your article in limited words. They need to engage your audience and compel them to read more about the story. Some tips for headlines are-
- Include your main keyword in the headline
- Make them easy to read
- Don’t sound like and advert
- Be simple and direct and use active voice
Write for your audience
It’s important to know your target audience and to write web copy that is relevant to that audience. Your copy needs to inform and educate and even entertain your readers. Keywords are important but so is correct grammar and spelling. Your content might be full of good information but if it is poorly written your readers will not return.
Call to action
It’s a good idea to include a call to action within your content, such as readers signing up to your newsletter or taking part in an online poll. The web is an interactive medium and creating a call to action will increase the time spent on your web pages.
Web content needs to be written properly to attract search engine traffic. Good online content will also increase the stickiness of your site and make people return. Keywords are important and need to be placed in the web copy as much as possible. The copy must contain a compelling heading to engage your audience. Sub headings and bullet points should be used to break up the copy and make it easier to scan.
About the Author:
Owen Bell is a recent graduate of the Writing for the Web Course at www.sawriterscollege.co.za, and can be found blogging at http://owenbell4.wordpress.com/
