‘web content’

How to write web copy to suit search engines and readers – Part 2: Organising your copy

Wednesday, May 4th, 2011 | View on own page?

In part 1, I looked at key phrase research and how to arrive at a selection relevant to your pages. Now it’s time to tackle your page copy and then, as we’ll see in part 3, integrate your phrases.

The look and feel of your website is not just about its design and navigation. The visual appeal of your copy – how it looks on the page – is just as important.

This is because of the way web visitors read online. They scan read looking for signposts that will point them where they want to be. So arranging your copy to make it more attractive and easy to read helps your visitors find their way around. Think in terms of page headlines, concise paragraphs and short sentences.

Now consider the information you want to present. Put yourself in your readers’ position – what is it they’re looking for from your products and services? Write so they can find out what they need, and not to tell them what you want them to know about your business.

Use a personal tone of voice that directly speaks to your visitors. So keep it simple – your visitors will be looking for familiar words and phrases relevant to their search for information. Adopt the first person (I, us, me and we) to address ‘you’ and set aside any marketing-speak or sales jargon. Resist any compulsion to shoe-horn content from printed materials into your site.

Start with a page headline
Keep to one topic per page and start by writing a relevant, primary headline (the one at the top) of around eight words or less. This is the first content your visitors will read. Support this with secondary headers, or subheads, to break up the copy and signpost specific information. Your readers will quickly be able to see where they are and will be less likely to get lost.

Remember scan readers are impatient people; they don’t want to plough through dense explanations or wordy justifications. In their case, less is definitely more so keep sentences punchy and short – no more than, say, 20 words. Organise them into similarly concise paragraphs of two or three sentences, four at the most (remember that visual look).

Writing effectively on your website is all about communicating and driving actions. So write simply, get to the point quickly and stick to it.

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How to write web content to suit search engines and readers – Part 1: Selecting key phrases

Thursday, February 25th, 2010 | View on own page?

To be truly effective, your web content should address two audiences – the search engines and your site visitors. Let’s begin by looking at how to satisfy the first of these here.

Start by planning a web page for each of your services or products. The search engines decide the relevance of a page to a search query by rating the key phrases in your content, so the first task is to research these for each page of your site and then integrate them seamlessly into your copy (more on this next time).

Note we’re talking key phrases here, not single keywords which are far too general and will produce an unmanageable number of search results. In the new Moving Finger site, for example, I’m likely to have a specific page on my newsletter writing services for which a targeted key phrase might be ‘business newsletter copywriting’ (rather than just ‘newsletters’). Not only does this describe a particular aspect of my business making it relevant to the search engines, it’s also one that is likely to be used by searchers to produce a more highly targeted number of prospects.

You can select the most relevant key phrases for each of your pages with research tools such as Wordtracker or Google’s free keyword tool. Alternatively use the services of a search engine optimisation (SEO) expert. Test drive further options by conducting searches using your own key phrases and by asking customers what words they would choose to look for your services. Check out your competitors’ sites as well. You’ll be able to see the key phrases they use in each page’s title tag as well as those featured in the individual page content.

Check competitiveness

The next step is to check the competitiveness of the top ranking key phrases you’ve identified. I’ve found this best left to an SEO specialist but you can also do this yourself using analysis software such as WebCEO.

In basic terms, the competitiveness of any given key phrase is based on the number of pages held in a search engine’s database which have been optimised for that phrase – the more there are, the harder it will be for your page to be ranked for that phrase.

Nevertheless if you’ve researched your potential key phrases well you should be able to identify plenty of relevant alternatives for which the competition is weaker, and which mirror those used by your potential customers.

Focus on these and you will give yourself a realistic chance of achieving decent search engine rankings.

Coming up in part 2: Making your copy readable

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Plan to make your copy a success

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009 | View on own page?

If you’re tasked with the job of preparing some copy for your business, planning what you have to say first before hitting the keyboard will help you make your case and get the job done on time.

At the outset, be clear who you’re writing for and keep your target reader in mind. Are you talking directly to potential customers about a new product or service or trying to interest the news media in the latest developments in your business? If you’re writing for your website then apply this principle to each page.

Note the main points in your story as they come to you. Then read them through and arrange them in the sequence that best makes your case, adding any relevant facts, figures or examples to reinforce what you’re saying. If, like me, you were taught at school to map out an exam answer in pencil before writing in earnest, then you’ll get the idea.

Next review what you have. Is there anything important missing? Does your plan mirror what you want to say?

The rhythm of three

Now it’s time to put the words down on paper, or at least key them into your word processor. Write in step with your plan so your story progresses logically and vary your sentence length to give your copy a sense of rhythm. This will make it sound more compelling to your readers rather than predictable or plodding.

If you’re looking to be particularly persuasive, and get your points over forcefully, then remember the ‘rhythm of three’. This is a simple device – called a tricolon – which is made up of three parallel words, phrases, or clauses in one sentence like Stevie Wonder’s ‘Signed, sealed, delivered’ or Julius Caesar’s ‘I came, I saw, I conquered’. Threes work because they’re memorable and easy on the ear.

Reading your copy back to yourself, or out loud, is a good test of rhythm and structure and should highlight where you may need to edit or sharpen your text so your readers take in what you’ve written.

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How to Produce a Customer Newsletter – Part 2: Creating content

Wednesday, September 24th, 2008 | View on own page?

The first consideration when it comes to newsletter content is always to provide something of value to your readers. To keep this top of mind, view them as paying subscribers who won’t renew unless they get worthwhile information they find useful.

A good starting point is to present and comment on news items relevant to your industry. Your readers are busy people and a helpful digest of what’s going on will save them time and energy in trying to keep up to date. Add your own take on topical developments too.

You can expand this strand by presenting summaries of latest research or industry trends (don’t forget to include links to sources or contacts where additional information can be found), or by reviewing new books or articles.

Involve readers

Involving readers directly is another way of stimulating loyalty. Invite articles in return for a by-line and short profile (publicity for them), or consider profiling your best customers especially if they can demonstrate new ways of using your products and services.

Offer readers participation in a Q&A forum both by asking questions and answering other readers’ problems. Featuring one or two per issue will provide answers that will be of general interest and will give the responder extra kudos as an expert.

Your newsletter is also an excellent means of presenting case studies of the work you’ve completed for customers, or of particular benefits your customers have gained from doing business with you. Showcasing your work from a customer’s perspective will not only be instructive for other readers but will also provide additional insights for others on how they, too, can profit from your products and services.

Here are some other ways to keep your newsletter content alive and kicking:

  • Consider a survey to generate your own exclusive content. Set your readers a question or two per issue (they can email their answers back), or use a software tool like SurveyMonkey which allows a ten question, 100 response survey to be conducted free.
  • Provide background about where and how your products are produced, or how your services are delivered.
  • Form alliances with other related businesses and make reciprocal recommendations regarding their products and services.
  • Include special offers of product and service combinations packaged in a special deal.
  • Run a competition. These are always popular and the prize need not be extravagant – perhaps a half a day of your time, one of your products or a prize sponsored by an alliance partner.

On no account write about new employees unless it materially helps the reader. If their role, or experience, adds to your offer, then fine – but including family and hobby details is just a waste of space, and of your readers’ time.

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