How to write relevant and successful content for the web

Do you often wonder what to include and what to leave out when writing content for your online readers? It is easy to write good and engaging content if you know your audience and are clear about what they are looking for when they visit your website.

PREPARE AND PLAN BEFORE YOU START WRITING:

1. Know your reader. 2. Know your business. 3. Understand the purpose of the content.

It is also a good idea to:

• Define page topic. If there is more than one, you should put them in different pages.

• Define the page purpose (to engage, to inform, to entertain, etc.) Think about the page users to define the content. • Define the user’s needs and goals. (What’s the ultimate goal?) • Define the keywords (use them in the page title, in the heading, subheadings, links, bullet points, etc.) • Select the dinamic content> audio, video, images, etc.

WRITING THE CONTENT:

Plan and structure the page AND the website so that the content is:

1. Relevant. 2. Useful. 3. Accurate. 4. Incredible. 5. Up-to-date. 6. Consistent in style and language. 7. Findable across the website. 8. Scannable (F-shape) thanks to the use of Headings, Links and Chuncks of content.

Writing style:

1. Consistent 2. Right reading level for the audience (not too technical/ not too simple). 3. Write in plain English. 4. Tone of the voice (formal, informal) and the brand we are writing for. 5. Use the active voice (not the passive). 6. Use the present tense (instead of the past or future tenses).

Keywords!!

Find which ones to use by:

1. Talking to our users. 2. Web analytics.

Use keywords, synonyms and words for the website topic's semantic field throughout the content! Page navigation:

Identify:

1. Page title. 2. Headings. 3. Subheadings. 4. Use lists when possible. 5. Include relevant links. 6. Use visual items: maps, charts, audio, video, diagrams, etc.

Usability:

1. Forms: make labels relevant and concise. 2. Accessibility for users with disabilities. 3. Errors:

a. Content writer writes the message, NOT the developer! b. Give a solution or relevant information. c. Personalise them.

SEO:

1. Keyword research. 2. Findable content. 3. Links. 4. Metatags.

Spell and grammar check:

1. ALWAYS get someone to review the content for you.

This is a summary of the course given by Frankie Madden at Open2Study where she got into detail about what I've summarised above. She was a great teacher and what I learned has been really useful for my work so thank you, Frankie!

Here you are a clip where Frankie explains some of the sections above in a more specific manner:

I'd love to hear how you make your words engage your target audience so please send your comments through the box below. If you found this post useful, please share it on Twitter or Linkedin at tag me @SenseTr!