The better the experience you provide, the more people will want to visit you again and again.
Remember that there are millions of products available to buy on the web, but only the odd surfer goes online to specifically look for a product. It stands to reason then, that if you gear your site to simply sell your product and do nothing else, you won't be very successful.
But what constitutes good content? Well the first trick is to be sure that your content will have specific appeal to your target audience.
Next you want opinionated content which shows your company’s personality. It must be interesting, lively, informative, easy to understand and presented in plain English. Even if yours is a technical or complex product, avoid jargon. Try to describe it as you would if discussing it in the pub rather than during a technical seminar.
Needless to say, observe the fine line which sits between alluring descriptions, and text which demeans your proposition and target audience. As a rule of thumb, it’s in describing the benefits – rather than the features of what you do or make - where you must be absolutely clear.
When you begin to write, think only of communicating as effectively as possible with your visitor. Keep the search terms which best describe you in mind, and seek to build in a theme based upon them. After editing a first draft, it’s not a bad idea to lay it aside for a day or two before continuing.
Work at including keywords as close to the top of the page as possible - ideally in the first 100-200 words. Remember that if you're using search engine optimisation, keywords and their use are incredibly important. The top of the page is the part of the article in which web readers expect to find the subject clearly defined. Then comes further explanation and expansion.
And make a point of repeating the keywords towards the end as a sort of ‘theme’ conclusion. Another tip is to check for words you accidentally use so frequently they may have diluted the weight of the keywords. For example, if you have used ‘buildings’ too often, replace some instances with ‘structures’, or perhaps even a product name if it’s not too specific.
Length-wise, opinions differ. One gifted journalist once said that writing for the web as opposed to print media is like the difference between Shreddies and Shredded Wheat. Many professional web writers claim short pages are better. Aim for 300-500 words.
If you feel you're great at creating products but want to leave the words to an expert, there are now a number of competent and affordable journalists who are focusing their efforts on writing website content which captures the attention of both the engines and your more human visitors.
On a belt and braces note, remember to check spelling and grammar before you go live with new content. On the web, even more so than in print, shabby content with misspellings and poor grammar is a massive turn-off – and there are likely to be several thousand alternative suppliers keen to capture the attention – and custom – of your visitor.
Talk to The Web Marketing Group about SEO Content Writing - click here or call 0845 555 5040
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