The internet is a super crowded environment … There are over 2 billion websites and 3.5 billion Google searches every day! so tremendous pressure on everyone in online marketing to be appealing, so tips writing website content will help you get ahead to stand out from the crowd right from the get go. They will also offer you a much better presented website that instils confidence and authority within your target audience. After all your website represents your company and regardless of the great products or services you offer, sloppy content will not do your business any good.

On average your audience stays on your site for approximately 15 seconds or less. That is such a short length of time to make an impression on them to get them to stay longer and to action what you are enticing them there to do, be it click on a button to purchase a product, or read an article with a view to going and starting their own website. So this has got to change.

The tips here will enable you to bring your content on your website up to be a premium authority, recognised by Google and on the first page, attracting your audience to stay on your website longer! Try to use the tips when you are writing, incorporating it whilst you write.

1. Audience

I’m sure you have heard this before. You need to know your audience…. what makes them tick, where they shop, what they do, what they spend their money on, what hobbies and pastimes they have, know what informs and influences them.

Your content will be solving a problem for them but who else might it be reaching ? Have you thought about your secondary audience? There will be a secondary audience that will see your website, product or service so what you write needs to be accessible and interesting to them too. Identifying your secondary audience – they are people not in your demarked audience that would buy your product or service, but exert influence on the primary audience and play a role in the buying process.

For example….

Scenario 1.. Dr Spock is a consultant fetal medicine specialist and he has an appropriate website where newly pregnant women and partners can go to book a scan. The website is styled and blogs are written for this group of patients. He also uses google adwords to target that demographic. But his secondary audience would be the to-be-grandmas, to-be-aunties who will also go to the site to book a scan as a gift. Scans are not cheap!

Scenario 2….

You know those great adverts for breakfast cereals ?

They appeal to kids, the fun of a vampire being tempted away by a bowl of cornflakes, to not realise the time..? Kids see these things on TV, appeal to their parents who are likely to let them have some to try, and by doing so become the secondary audience for this market.

So whilst you have a distinct audience you are writing for, to have your secondary audience in mind when you do content writing will ensure you offer appeal to them too.

2. Spelling/Grammar/Punctuation

This is a given…. When writing an article or post, this has to be one of the most basic features. Showing attention to details such as spelling, grammar and punctuation shows a respect for your own website and therefore you will instil authority and respect from your readers.

Sloppy grammar and punctuation shows a lack of respect for your work and if you don’t have respect, then your audience won’t either. Spelling is slightly different because we all know that there are different ways to spell the same word whether you are from the UK or USA. I’m from the UK but I respect the USA spellings and accept them as being a normal variant. If this is an issue for you, you can use Grammarly which will correct and point out issues as you write.

Write in short sentences – I’m not meaning write as if you are dealing with idiots, but don’t have long, convoluted sentences with complicated words that the majority of your readers might not understand. It’s great to have the ability to use them but you don’t want to be showing off and no one understanding your articles. It’s got to be readable.

If you want to check up on your level of writing, you can choose a post to check, using a readability calculator. It will tell you what level you are writing at and whether it is acceptable for the general level of your audience.

3. Active Voice

When you write, always use an active voice rather than a passive voice. The active voice, just like it sounds gives vigour and life to your articles, whereas a passive voice doesn’t have the ‘oomph’ needed to instil action in your audience. A passive voice doesn’t give intensity to content.

She wrote an award winning novel – Active voice

An award winning novel was written by her – Passive voice

4. Show Your Audience, Don’t Just Tell!

I have to try and remember this. I have a habit of writing paragraph after paragraph and this doesn’t encourage readers to read…. We want to get the reader to go deep into the article, get immersed in the detail and want to know more, want to know how to do what you are writing about or how they can purchase the product you have reviewed. So by using images or video, infographics to show rather than tell, you will get your message across much faster.

I think the world has changed over the last 10 years, we have all turned into wild animals hunting for food and we want that information quickly. We seem so short of time, that everything has to be immediate… Showing your information in a video or infographic adds more interest and get the information. Your audience is looking for that information, do you have it and they will glance through your website trying to find it, so don’t give confusing options. Make the information easy to find, straight off, otherwise, they will click off before they’ve even gotten started. I added this image into an article about online marketing training, showing what is possible to earn money from online marketing.

Don’t go over the top with too many images … a good balance.

5. Make Every Sentence EASY To Read

I touched on this earlier. Put important information at the top of your article, so its seen as soon as the page opens and make the page scannable. Your audience will scan the page to find the information they’re looking for, and if they don’t find it quickly, they will leave.

If you don’t believe this strategy, see what you do next time you open a website you’ve not been on before… what do you do? I know that I scan for the information I’m looking for and if I can’t find it, I’m gone.

Keep your paragraphs, light and easy to read, with highlighted points, or use bullet points – easy to scan.

Use a table of contents, do you like mine at the top?

Add in some spacers when writing, give a break to full-on text, makes it easier for the reader to scan and not feel overwhelmed. It’s not wasted space, but makes things more legible and enjoyable.

Use headings to divide up sections – use subcategories to help catch the readers eye…

H2 Size – Main Heading Size

H3 – Main Subheading

H4 – Secondary Subheadings

Subheadings help your readers navigate your page but also they assist the search engines to find your content also.

Think about highlighting particular words. You may have specific points you want your reader to really hone in on and highlighting certain words will help that..

You may also consider adding in a colour to a section of text. This will also highlight important information you don’t want your reader to miss.

6. Word Choice

We all have certain ways of describing things, and sometimes, it can be a little monotonous. Try to use some variety whilst still keeping the meaning obvious and to the point. Thesaurus.com will give you excellent choices to use, mix it up, make it interesting !

But when it comes to use of terms, keep these consistent… If you call your niche audience, your primary audience or customer, keep it at that. Don’t swap and change them, this may cause confusion.

Along with word choice, stay clear of jargon. If you use acronyms or technical words, explain them as you go along. Make sure you use the right language for the audience you want to attract. That will appeal to your audience and give them confidence in you.

7. Multimedia

Video is a great addition to content for your articles. It take away the need to read! A respite for your audience and an incentive to stay on your page a little longer as it piques their interest in what you are going to show them.

Watch my video about Wealthy Affiliate. I use this on a blogs where I am wanting to show readers the platform I use to support my online business, where I get my training in areas I am not proficient, where I host my website etc… Its a heavy topic but this video really makes light work of it and gets my readers to stay long enough and consider going over to WA to try for themselves.

Conclusion

By utilising the suggestions and tips here, you will make your content much more interesting for your audience, encouraging them to stay on your page for longer and follow your call to action, whatever that may be, but the more you engage with your content, the higher the chance they will follow through with the action you are hoping for.

If you would like to know more about WEALTHY AFFILIATE, click the link below and come see how we could help you with your website.