Writing for the Web
Writing content for your website is fundamentally different from other types of content you may be used to generating. Aside from being a huge factor for search engines, it’s also read completely differently from most print material. Informatics is here to help you understand how to effectively focus on these two key areas of writing content for the web
Keywords
Keywords are the search terms that are relevant to your content. When a user sets out to find subject matter on the internet, they head to popular search engines such as Google or Bing and type in the words that they feel describe what they are looking for. In order for that user to get to your website you need to incorporate those words or phrases into your content.
To begin, you need to identify what those keywords or phrases are. A keyword worksheet is a great way to ascertain the words and phrases that best describe your organization or service, and therefore the most likely words or phrases to be used by potential visitors. Informatics has a proven keyword worksheet and we would be happy to help you fine-tune your web content.
Once you have distinguished your top keywords and phrases it’s time to incorporate them into your web content. The more keywords in your content, the more likely you’ll show up in search engine results. Be careful though! Blatant overuse of keywords and phrases is recognizable by search engines and can adversely affect your search engine rankings.
Keep It Simple
Internet content is quickly scanned and processed. In fact, 79% of web users only scan content. This means your content should accommodate this type of interaction. Place the most pertinent information towards the top, and place less important information further down the page.
Ways to streamline content:
- Introduce one idea per paragraph
- Use shorter sentences and short paragraphs
- Employ the newspapers “inverted pyramid” structure
It may seem difficult to stick to shorter paragraphs and shorter content overall, but it is most ideal for your users. Consider reorganizing your content in a more negotiable way. Users want to interact with the internet, so providing links and secondary navigation is a great way to keep content concise and still allow your user to find the information they want.
Formatting
It’s not only about what’s in your content, but how your content is displayed. If you want users to read your content you need to showcase it like a presentation. This means utilizing a clear visual hierarchy, with large headers, bulleted lists, distinct secondary headers, evenly spaced body content, and plenty of white space.
You should also consider how your content would interact with the other elements on your webpage. Will you use a sidebar? Will you use pull quotes? All of your page elements need to work together to form a cohesive, visual experience.
Conclusion
The web is primarily a visual medium, and the structure and accessibility of your content will go a long way to grabbing and keeping a visitors attention. If you have any questions about writing for the web or other internet concepts please feel free to contact Informatics today!