Easy Writing Steps For The Web
Websites require a unique style of writing. When you write on your website, you should hold on to the attention of the reader or user with the words you use. To do this, you have to be precise and captivating at the same time. Remember, you are passing information and, importantly, trying to drive traffic to your web page, whether you are doing it for business, fun, or even sharing information you feel is essential for people to know. When writing for the web, know that you are not the most important person involved. People don’t read through websites; they skim through. Most times, only about 20 per cent of the words are usually read. That is why you must make your website easy for users to digest. Read Content marketing strategies to learn about comprehensive and narrow content. Here are simple steps or rules to follow so you can make your webpage more readable and drive more traffic: Know your audience Understanding your audience is essential when writing for the web. First, of course, your already existing audience is your primary audience. Then there is the broader group; the secondary audience extends to every other person who may visit your website through your primary audience. Know what kind of audience you target; in that way, you focus on writing what will arouse interest. Be concise As a website writer, you have to be succinct when writing for the web. Whatever you can say in 30 words shouldn’t be in 55 or 75 in 115. Be concise. Write short, simple sentences. Do not go overboard when you write. Instead, write short, simple sentences and focus on nouns and verbs because they carry your content. The Inverted Pyramid The Inverted Pyramid is a model that every website writer should follow. First, write from the most important to the least. In writing for the web, start from the most important to the more specific, then end with supporting information. Describe your products or services Show your users your products, don’t just tell them about them. Instead, describe your products in a way that will convince purchases. Make what you offer so arousing that your customers will keep coming—more traffic. Nix the jargon Remember that your website can be accessible to even those who are not experts in your field. Therefore, stay away from terms or words that only your colleagues will understand. Avoid insider language, spell out acronyms and provide hyperlinks to other articles where users can get more information. Mix up your word choices Variety is key. Have a glossary of words to use in your writing. This is where synonyms come into play; instead of repeating one word, find its representatives, words that still carry the information you’re conveying. Make text scannable, avoid marketingese. As we established earlier, people don’t read; they skim through texts on the web. Therefore, making your writing difficult to digest will only discourage and send your website’s visitors away. Instead of heavy paragraphs, use bullets or number listings and highlight only when necessary. Use proper case; use the upper and lower case appropriately, and use blood to emphasise. Don’t put all your points into one paragraph; break them down, each paragraph for each issue. Also, divide content into sections with descriptions and subheaders. You can put every category into a subtopic format so users can search for information faster. You can always include “white space”. Space that surrounds paragraphs, images and other elements on your webpage is known as ” white space”. It may seem like a lot of wasted space, but it is vital. White space around text makes it more legible and enjoyable to read. Incorporate multimedia Research shows that most of the human brain is visual; people process visual information faster than text. Easy-to-read charts or graphs are better at explaining complex topics than text alone. So, adding graphics, pictures or images make your page easier to read. Layer website content Help readers find great content by hyperlinking certain words or phrases to other relevant resources, especially those on your website. It will help people stay engaged with your content and move through your site. For example, if you have this sentence on fashion or clothing appearing on your website: ‘Cashmere Sweaters go well with a pair of jeans’. Then, you could hyperlink “Cashmere sweaters” to a page with other blog posts on winter clothing, fashion or anything related. It helps your Search Engine Optimisation when you build those internal links within your site but keep in mind that links should always be relevant and helpful. So don’t overload your text with links; keep to a reasonable number. Leave them wanting more Leave your audience, primary and secondary, wanting more of what you give them. If you want to count your website among good websites, end each page with a strong call-to-action or CTA for short. There should be a contact or connection that could link your readers to more information about your content. For example, an exciting video to watch, a report they could download or even a related blog post they can read. This helps direct readers to other areas of your website and encourages them to promote to friends and family. So use those CTA and start them with verbs like “Download, Share, Join, Sign-up or Learn more”. Make sure to include a link to fulfil the action you like your readers to take. Writing is fun and hard work, but if you put in the work and purpose, it gets easy and satisfying. Read also: A Simple Bit about Content Marketing.
Content Marketing Strategies: Comprehensive or Narrow?
There are many ways to build a content marketing strategy. For example, you could focus on written content, videos, or podcasts. You can target a small audience or expand your marketing wings. Whatever content you decide will determine your brand’s success and search rank. Comprehensive content includes pieces marketed as ultimate guides. It covers a topic in extreme depth, offering a thousand words at a minimum to evaluate readers on that particular topic. For example, a written piece on “Finding your way with SEM” can be considered a broad topic since it discusses SEM, its benefits, importance, and strategies. On the other hand, a topic such as “SEM to generate traffic” is undoubtedly not broad as it will focus on just one element or two of Search Engine Marketing. On the other hand, Narrow content is much shorter and focused on a specific niche topic. When building a content marketing strategy, which should you focus on more? Narrow or comprehensive? Comprehensive If you write an extensive piece, it will help you: Build a ‘Go to’ type of resource. Writing one singular, comprehensive and detailed piece on a given topic gives you the possibility of becoming the dominant, highly relevant resource on that topic. It can also boost your reputation. You become a leading authority. Earn more and better links with helpful content. Links are valuable for increasing your search rankings—a non-negligible advantage. Provide permanent value, which you earn with a dominant resource site. Narrow As said earlier, Narrow content on a specific topic which several writers would think won’t get them to the top of the web search list has its advantages. If you decide to write narrow content, you get to : Thin the competition- many writers target more search visibility for broad and familiar topics, so there won’t be competitors for specific niche topics. Not every web writer would write on topics like ‘Comprehensive or Narrow Marketing Content’ when they’re all looking towards getting more visibility with ‘Guides to SEO’ or others like it. Writing a limited topic also limits your competition, bringing you more attention from users. Seize quick wins that could apply for two reasons. First, narrow content allows you to capitalise on long-tail keywords; a shortcut to earn number one rankings in search engines. Second, it is faster and easier to write. So you spend fewer resources creating. Minimise risk with low stakes- narrow pieces are designed to be affordable to lose. It is devastating when your writing becomes irrelevant or stale. However, when it is a thin piece, one you spent less time and resources to create. You can easily let go with minimal losses and no devastating blow to your content strategy. Utilise adaptability that affords your strategy more flexibility. For example, you can cover news topics faster than your competitors. Comprehensive and Narrow Contents However, whichever you choose, know that you can adopt both types of content to make your website more relevant and increase your search visibility. Both contents will help you: Identify potentially evergreen topics that could both work for comprehensive or narrow content. And they stay fresh or can be renewed anytime to suit your strategy. Build quality and quantity independently. Re-evaluate and regroup your keywords, topics and even strategy. You can also see how much traffic you drive to your site and your search ranking. Comprehensive, Narrow or both, make sure whatever you write is valuable and attractive to your audience. For fantastic, traffic generating, higher search ranking content, our team of content creators and digital marketers are at your service with just a click! Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn for updates on what we do and how we can help you.
A Simple Bit about Content Marketing
Content marketing is a strategic approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent Content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience and ultimately drive profitable customer action. If you are reading this, you are a digital marketer with marketing needs, or maybe you need a re-education on content development and marketing. Uncountable times we hear “content is king” and “content is what makes your business more relevant”. As cliché as that might sound for those of us already in the e-commerce world, it is essential and crucial to any online business. For example, 59% of marketers say their content marketing ROI is excellent or very good, helping them increase leads, conversions and brand loyalty. Instead of selling or offering your products or services, your Content is what will define that which you are giving. Content represents what type of business you are into and what kind of products or services you offer customers. Content tells your brand story, and that’s why you must do whatever it takes to make it relevant, valuable and worth selling. Even Leading Brands Use Content Marketing Don’t think that you must keep trying hard to get there because your business is not on the top list of leading companies. Brands like Microsoft, Cisco Systems, Pepsi, Airtel, Piggy Bank and many other top brands use content marketing to boost their products and services. Why Use Content Marketing for Your Business Content marketing is cost-saving. It saves you all the extra money and funds you may initially spend on marketing. It increases sales. Of course, it does! More Content equals more visibility on Search Engine Result Pages and users’ social media pages. More popularity will lead to an increase in the purchase of your goods and loyal customers. The more they like your products, the more they stay loyal and even refer more customers to you. Then the most basic of all primary reasons for marketing is profit. Content is a profit centre. More sales, higher purchases and increased customers all lead to profit. These are just fundamental reasons to use content marketing. Types of Content Marketing There are many different types of content marketing, including: Blogging Video Podcasting Infographics Email Visual Content EBooks Lead magnets Whitepapers Slide share presentations Quizzes/tools Checklists Courses Webinars Slide decks Free apps Social media posts And many more to use in marketing your business. What you’re reading right now is content marketing. The key is that the Content provides information or entertainment, usually for free, in support of a business goal. Yes, we have a goal. Utilizing Different Types of Content Marketing/Platforms Now, let’s talk about why you need to use different types of Content Marketing. The first thing most people would think of when it comes to content marketing is Blogging, which is excellent. But there’s no disagreement that other means of marketing content also work wonderfully. For instance, podcasts have become widely popular, with episodes and listeners growing to millions. Likewise, YouTube has made its mark in the social media world, growing even better with billions of viewers. Writing an excellent piece for your blog is good and will have many reads and views plus likes but add your Content to another platform. Having your Content on multiple platforms builds your big kingdom of audiences, and publishing many different things allows you to be everywhere your audience is present online. For example, someone may not see your article but could be listening to your podcast on his way home. a young lady may find it easier to understand how to create logos by watching a “how to create Logos” video on YouTube than actually reading a 16 pages guideline on how to do that while someone would prefer to read the “details”. Also, some things fit better in specific formats. So, understand the different benefits of the other platforms and learn how to use them. Finally, don’t stick to just one type of content marketing. Utilizing the many available content marketing types or platforms will also require you to decide on your content type. Then, find the appropriate format for your Content. For instance, you cannot teach pottery on a podcast. It has to be on video. Likewise, you cannot teach mathematics in just theory; there must be examples with workings and solutions. Use platforms that your audience already consumes. By now, you’re thinking of what kind of Content to create. That is why you need to play around with your strengths! Know what your strengths are, know what you can give your best when developing, give your consumers the best Content they can consume and even come back for more. Then, when you see that what you are doing is going great, you can branch out SLOWLY. Do not make the mistake of venturing to other platforms abruptly because you feel you can do great; instead, slowly, slowlyly, see how it works for you and your audience, check out consumer experiences, analyze and if it works, continue. Finally, don’t forget about consistency! Always start what you can continue. Don’t chicken out or lazy out midway, especially if your Content is selling. Start Marketing Content or Just Carry On Now that you have read through and understood what Content Marketing is, you can start creating great, irresistible Content and market them to the fantastic world of digital marketing. We would like you to know that marketing your business online doesn’t have to be so difficult becaue tat is what we do. So why don’t you consult with our digital marketing experts at Raven and Macaw for a long term gains without the pains.