Website content is hard. Within 15 seconds, you have to convince your readers that your content is worth their time. And that’s no simple feat. Here’s our definitive guide on how to write website content.
Beyond that, your content needs to be well researched, grammatically correct, visually interesting, optimally formatted and simple enough for all readers to understand. You need to sound professional without talking down to your reader. And then optimize it for search engines, targeting your specific demographic.
It’s a lot.
Nonetheless, website content can be a huge help for your business, and is definitely worth the hassle. If you need any more convincing, we’ve dedicated an entire post to the benefits of writing a blog. So, today we’re sharing our top tips for writing website content.
Before you write your content, there are a couple of things you need to take into consideration:
What is your purpose?
- Is your website trying to sell a product or service?
- Will website traffic increase advertising revenue?
- Is the purpose to attract new clients or subscribers, or to generate leads?
Who are your target audience?
How old are they? What are their interests? What are they searching for online?
How can you beat your competitors?
Knowing your competition can be a good way of gauging what does and doesn’t work for businesses in your industry. Check out what the top-ranking competitors are doing differently from the lower ranking ones, and consider how you could incorporate those elements into your own content.
Particularly, find the key-words that they’re including, and, along with the key-words your target audience would be searching, integrate these words into your text. In general, you should aim for a 1-2% keyword density, meaning if you wrote 1000 words, your key-words should be in there around 10-20 times.
While you’re writing, make sure to:
Grab your readers attention straight away
Did you know that 7.5 million blog posts are published every day?
With the sheer volume of content being posted, your readers need to be convinced that your post is the oneworth their time.
Starting with a question, a story premise, or an interesting fact can be a great way to draw people in. Keep in mind that you want to be capturing the attention of your target audience, so mention something that would interest them.
Simplify the reading experience
There are a couple of factors that decipher whether or not content is easy and enjoyable to read. Outside of the content itself- that is, the information and how well it is written- the way it’s formatted, the inclusion of images, the colours and the fonts can play a huge part in keeping your readers around. To read more about the best fonts for optimal readability, click here or here.
Most people skim read, so it’s important your text is scannable. To accomplish this, you should have clear headings and descriptive sub-headings, as well as bullet points for important pieces of information, and remember to space your paragraphs based on their content. Having images related to the different topics in your piece is another sure-fire way to optimise the layout for skim reading.
Having infographics or interactive content is another option to consider, as readers tend to be much more interested in this kind of media. That being said, creating this kind of content can be expensive and time consuming.
Find a balance between professionalism and personalisation
Web content is a difficult sector to navigate because people want well researched, reliable information from an expert, but they also want to be spoken to as a friend. Finding your voice- the right vocabulary and tone- is integral to securing readers.
Of course, your content should be free of spelling, grammar and punctuation errors, and should be informed and trustworthy. (If this is an area of difficulty, consider using software like Grammarly or ProWritingAid) But, adding a personal touch can be just as important as having error free content.
To do this, you should use the active voice instead of the passive, and directly address the reader:
- Use “you” to address your reader
- Use “we” speaking as the company
- Use “I” to speak from personal experience and to voice opinions
Here are a few examples of how to do this:
Instead of… You should say…
Our products are available for order now You can order our products now
Accountants & Co strives for excellence We strive for excellence
As the manager, Jen believes… As the manager, I believe…
And of course, it goes beyond the technical stuff. You should be using your website content as a way to grow a community, start a conversation, and share tips and stories with your readers. Remember, you and your reader have plenty in common, and treating them like a friend and equal is super important.
Re-direct the attention to your business
The process of making website content is so long and arduous that it can be easy to forget the reason you’re actually doing it. However, you need to remember the purpose of your content.
Was it to sell a product? Attract new subscribers? Increase traffic for ad revenue?
Once you’ve grabbed the reader’s attention and informed them on the subject, you need to drive them to act. Depending on your content and your purpose, there are a couple different ways this could look:
A power tool company writing a blog on the easiest way to hang wall art:
“After deciding where to put the art, and drawing up the parameters, you’ll need a drill to insert the screw into the walls. We recommend the DeWalt 18V XR Compact Combi Drill, as it’s compact, quiet, and long-lasting. It can be found online, or in store at Bunnings, Mitre 10 and Beyond Tools. Find your closest supplier here.“
This is a good example because it’s directly addressing the readers problem, providing a solution, and simplifying the process for them with a clear call to action (CTA). Not only is the exact make and model that will best for their situation linked, it also provides an in-store option because realistically, readers searching for this content will want to get it done that day, and not have to wait for shipping.
Chances are, if readers are searching the topic you’re discussing, they could benefit from your services or products. So, without pushing it too hard, remember to include a CTA that relates to the topic of your blog.
When you’re done writing:
When you’re all done writing, remember to triple check for errors, add in key-words where you can, and optimise for search engines with readable URLs and images that are sized to load quickly. All in all, your content should be something that you would like to read, because like we said before, you and your potential readers aren’t all that different.
Need a little help? Method offers SEO services that include a blog post every week, fortnight, or month, written by one of our content writers. We’ll handle the content; you just reap the benefits, and get your site ranking on Google. Call us today to discuss how we could help your business grow.
