Content Writing: How to Find the Right Words for Your Website

Writing content for your website can be a tricky business if you’re not sure where to begin. You need to know who your audience is, the proper tone and voice, length, structure, and syntax amongst other things. In order to ensure your words are the right words, you need to first identify what “good content” is for your website.

The Importance of Fresh Content

Your website’s content should be continuously evolving, growing, and adapting to the needs of your site and your audience. Content that remains largely static is damaging to your site for a number of reasons – least of which is the impact it has on Search Engine Optimization.

Google, in particular, places a large emphasis on frequently updated content. Google is constantly refining algorithms and tools that enable them to identify and promote new website content fast. If your site is lacking new content, you are being left behind.

The Formula for “Good”

So, what makes content “good”? If you search the internet for one minute, you’ll probably come across at least three different articles that claim to have the ‘secret formula’ for creating content that draws in readers and makes your analytics skyrocket. Unfortunately, there is no fool-proof, instant formula to immediately improve site traffic. Every website is unique and your approach to content creation should be unique as well.

Here are 6 key factors you will want to keep in mind as you prepare to write content.

Audience. Who are your audiences? Who do you want to address?

The answers to these two questions may not necessarily be the same. Perhaps you’re a manufacturer whose typical website audience is male, but you’ve recently introduced a new product that may appeal more to a female demographic. Writing content that reaches both your existing and desired audiences means finding a balance between the two. This will increase the value of your overall readership while ensuring the content you’re creating holds true value.

Structure. Small paragraphs, simple sentences, and images matter. Remember, pictures are also a form of content!

Break paragraphs up and keep sentences relatively short – this makes content more accessible; especially on mobile devices. Pay attention to your site’s traffic stats; you may be surprised at how many people access your website from mobile devices. Consider what your content might look like on a mobile display in order to ensure readability.

Language. Keep your content jargon-free. Using big words may make you appear smart, but if people don’t understand what you’re saying, they’re going to stop reading.

The exception to this rule is when you’re using jargon that is highly specific to your audience. For example, if your audience is largely made up of engineers who are familiar with austenitization and the azimuthal quantum number, then great – keep using those terms. However, if your audience is made up of high schoolers learning about engineering for the first time, you will need to adjust the language accordingly.

Tone. Professional, conversational, or somewhere in-between?

Today, many companies are searching for that perfect balance between conversational and professional – but that may not be the case for your organization. Find the tone that’s best suited for your company and then use it throughout all content on your site so your website displays one singular, consistent message and tone.

Editing. Edit, edit, edit. Remember, if you’re claiming to be professional, you have to look the part.

This may seem like an obvious step, but you’d be surprised at how frequently editing seems to slip through the cracks; especially if a single piece of content is being created by multiple writers and passing from person to person within a company.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The “silent” content partner.

SEO is search engine-specific content. Consider search engines as one of your audiences. After all, if search engines don’t recognize and crawl your content, no one is going to be able to search it. Every piece of content you publish on your website should have metadata titles, descriptions, and alt text associated with it. Consider this the hidden pièce de résistance.

Writing content that is successful in attracting and retaining your audiences depends entirely on how well you consider the six factors above. Content writing not for you? No fear – Media Genesis has decades of experience helping clients perfect their online presence; content included. Reach out to us at (248) 687-7888 or inquiry@mediaG.com for more information.