No matter how technically capable you are, there are areas of your site that require a creative touch. You can plan and research all you like, but when it comes down to it, some things have to come from a spark of inspiration and the unconscious wisdom of intuition. One of these things is your content.
As anyone soon finds out when they undergo search engine optimisation, the content on a website plays a vital role. Although the other areas of the site provide necessary support, content is essentially what engages your audience and sells your products. Without decent content, no online business can really flourish. Strangely enough, it is this aspect of content that often leads to its downfall.
Too many websites feature content that is thinly veiled advertising material. This kind of content is simply not that effective on the net. Put yourself in the average internet user’s place for a few moments. When they come to your site, are they looking for the slick copy of an advertising brochure, or are they looking for good, solid information?
The answer is almost always the latter. No-one enjoys knowing that they are being sold to. At the same time, the purpose of the content for all websites is to sell something, whether it is a product or a point of view. The point at which the needs of the audience and the needs of the business meet is where good web writing exists.
Good web copy knows its audience
Content for the web needs to have a light touch. The advice in SEO circles about content writing usually skips over this fact, harping on about the need for short sentences and bullet points. These things are important, yes, but the thing web content needs most of all is to correctly address its audience.
The research stages of a search engine optimisation campaign should give every business an idea of the types of personalities contained in their target user groups. The sort of keywords that come up during keyword research can tell you whether your users like a casual or a business-like approach, whether they use slang, can cope with technical ideas, or need simple wording.
It is important to have these things foremost in your mind when designing content for your site. Content that is written with a firm idea of its audience tends to be much more readable. Things like short sentences tend to flow on more easily from this point of view as well. Even if you’re sourcing your content writing from a professional, and you can talk to us about this at SEO Consult Australia, it’s vital to bear your audience in mind when designing.
All web content needs to walk a fine line between informative writing and advertising copy. Every site wants to sell its wares, whatever they happen to be, in its content. The temptation to go the hard sell once you’ve got internet users onto your website is strong, but you must resist it.
