3 Quick Tips for Writing for the Web

If you've even surfed the Internet for just 20 minutes, you've probably come across a website that had poorly written content. What's worse is bad copy seems to be most common on websites that have a purpose of selling a product or service.

So how can you avoid such a debacle on your own website?

Write for People

This is the most common mistake you will find. People get so caught up in trying to rank well for certain keywords that they overuse them on their website. Pages with bad copy written in this manner tend to read unnaturally. It is bad to write content overladen with keywords for two reasons: you will lose visitors, and the search engines are getting smarter.

You should write your content in the same manner that you would tell it face-to-face to someone that you are trying to compel to purchase your product or service. Not only is this easier for your website visitors to read, but the search engines will be less likely to penalize you for unnatural content.

Write for Your Target Audience

I see this mainly on cutting-edge technology websites. You've probably seen it, too. Some people get so caught up in using industry buzzwords that they cloud the message they are trying to convey. Others try to use as many adjectives as possible. Both of these mistakes can seriously hurt your ability to sell your product or service to an audience even if they are already prepared to purchase your product or service.

Your visitor doesn't want to have to open up his desk reference of industry jargon to understand what you are trying to say. They also do not want to wade through confusing (and often misused) adjectives. They want to know what you're selling, why they need it, and why they need it from you.

Write for Sharing

If you're trying to figure out the balance between writing for people and writing for search engines, why not consider doing both at the same time? If you focus on writing quality content that your visitors might want to share with their friends or colleagues, then you'll be a success among people and search engines.

Link building is still a cornerstone of search engine optimization. However, natural links are what the search engines prefer to see. If your content is worth sharing, then it will be worth linking. If it's worth linking, it will likely be linked in a natural manner (such as a blog post). If it is linked in a natural manner, the search engines will also likely index it for the context of the link. This is the best of both worlds.

So get out there and examine the content on your website. Think about it from an uninformed (or maybe slightly informed) user's point of view. Find ways to make your copy better and implement them. If you need help writing good copy, then your money could be very well-spent on a freelance copywriter.