January 25, 2022

How to Write Good Website Content

By: Shelby Dias

The majority of your customers begin their journey with an online search. This means your business website will often be the first impression that you make on them. There are a lot of ways to make a good impression, but one of the simplest ones is with good website content.

Are your potential customers looking for a specific product? You can provide all the information they need. Are they looking for a solution to their problems? You can highlight the benefits of your services. Are they looking for details about your business? You can make it easy for them to contact you.

If you want to put your best foot forward, here are a few things you should keep in mind when it comes to content writing.

Take Time Before You Write

We recommend you always start with a plan. This means defining the purpose of your website content, who it’s for, and what your competitors are doing. Before you start your content creation, take some time to consider the following:

  • The Big Idea: Each page of your website content serves a purpose. Before you start writing, you should consider the intent of each page. Are you trying to get your customer to call or visit your business? Are you trying to get them to make a purchase? You should write with the final objective in mind.
  • Your Audience: If you haven’t already, you should identify your target audience. Think about the type of customer who will be reading your website content — How did they get here? What are their needs? How can you help? What are their objections? You should always write content with your target audience in mind.
  • Your Competitors: We highly recommend taking time to research your competitors’ website content. Consider what they are doing well and what you could be doing better on your own website. Are there questions from customers they leave unanswered? What are differentiators that should be highlighted on your site?
  • SEO Keywords: Knowing which keywords to utilize in your web content is part of knowing your target audience. Take time to research what keywords your potential customers are using to search – and what keywords your competitors are using to be visible in search. You can use tools like Google Ads’ Keyword Planner, Moz, or SEMrush to research keywords and get website content ideas.

Make It Worth Reading

You should write content that your website visitors want to read. Start with the most important information at the top of the page and then follow it with supporting details. This inverted pyramid style of writing encourages scrolling and supports readers who skim the page.

Generally, the most important piece of information will be how your product or service solves a problem your potential customer is having. Your customers care less about the features of your product or service and more about the benefits it offers them.

For example, a towing company may use enclosed trucks to transport classic cars. While this detail is important, it does not immediately communicate a benefit to the customer. Great content immediately communicates a benefit like, “protect your car from the elements.”

After you lead with the benefits near the top of the page, continue with details like:

  • How your product or service will change their situation
  • Product descriptions and features
  • Answers to common questions
  • A clear call to action like “schedule a call” or “add to cart”
  • Social proof like testimonials or case studies
  • Overcome any objections

Make It Easy to Read

If you use simple language and organized content, your website visitors are more likely to understand you. The average American reads at an eighth-grade level. It’s important that you make your text readable so your potential customers of all skill levels can understand it.

You can use the following tips to make your web pages readable:

  • Use Formating: Headlines, subheadlines, bullets, and lists all make your text easier to read. Most of your website visitors will scan the page to see if it mentions the info they are looking for. You can draw attention to your key ideas by using formatting.
  • Use Simple Language: Use short sentences with good spelling and grammar. Provide examples to better explain your point.
  • Avoid Jargon: Most people reading your website are not experts, so they may not understand words that only apply to others in your industry. For example, an insurance agent would use terms like “carrier,” “premium,” or “rider” — but their potential client may not understand.
  • Speak Like a Friend: Write in the same way you would speak to your customers, using terms like “you” or “your.”

You may want to use tools like Grammarly or Hemmingway App to help you write easy-to-understand website content.

Give a Strong Call to Action

You want your reader to take action on every page. Sometimes, this might be navigating to another page on your website. Often, you’ll want them to get in touch with you — schedule a call, request a quote, etc.

You should give your readers the opportunity to take action throughout the page, not just at the end. But as you conclude your content, you should give an even stronger push for the reader to take action since they’ve made it so far.

  • Provide Social Proof: Let the words of your current customers demonstrate how your product or service can positively impact the reader. Awards, case studies, and partnerships will all communicate a similar message.
  • Overcome Objections: If the reader has stayed on the page all the way to the end, it’s likely they have some doubts. For example, a potential customer who is unsure of your pricing may decide on a purchase if there is a money-back guarantee.
  • Create Urgency: Highlight if you only have a limited quantity of products to offer or limited availability for appointments. If there’s no obvious urgency for the customer to do business with you, reiterate their problem and the solution you could provide. Paint a picture of their current situation and the new bliss they could experience with your product or service.

Tips to Optimize for SEO

As you review your website content, make sure you use your primary keywords and related phrases throughout. It’s important that you use keywords naturally. If you stuff the page with too many uses of the same word, search engines may flag your content and rank it poorly.

You should also complete the following steps on every page to help optimize your content for SEO:

  • Use your primary keyword in the page title or headline
  • Use your primary keyword and/or related keywords in subheadings
  • Add keywords to your title tag
  • Write a 1-2 sentence meta description using keywords
  • Optimize image sizing for loading speed and add alt tags
  • Add relevant links to other pages on your site

How Long Does Content Writing Take?

It takes time to create great content for your website. You’ll need to consider who will be writing it and how much time they have available to dedicate to the task. From keyword research to outlining, content writing, and reviewing, it could take an experienced writer 4-6 hours to write one page. And many more hours to complete your entire website.

If you want excellent website content but don’t have the time to DIY, our Best Websites team can help. Our content writers do the heavy lifting when it comes to research and writing for your industry. Schedule a call to learn more.

 

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