How to Write Content for Your Website
Oftentimes the hardest part of creating a new website is writing content for it. No one knows your business better than you, therefore, you are the best person to write about it for your website. The content on your site is going to influence how successful your site is in your overall digital marketing strategy.
The experts agree that "content is king," meaning your website can be beautifully designed, load quickly and be mobile-friendly, but if it doesn't contain quality content, none of it matters. Search Engines (such as Google or Bing) look at the content when they decide where to rank your website on the SERPs (Search Engine Results Page). If your friend asks you where to go for good Mexican food, you're not going to send them to a Chinese restaurant. Neither would Google.
Both search engines and consumers want to visit websites with good quality content. It must be relevant and meaningful to your end-user. Sometimes that is easier said than done. Let's break it down into three key steps for writing quality content:
1. Identify what your business is about.
The first step is to identify and write down what your business does. If someone walks up to you at the store and asks you what you do, what do you tell them? Try to summarize it in 1-2 sentences.
2. What's the problem?
First, identify your audience. Are they primarily men or women, or both? Is there a specific age range you're targeting? Geographic area? Interest group? Now, think about what problem your target audience has. Are they looking for a specific product or service? What do they value when making decisions? We'll expand on this in the next step.
3. Solve that problem.
How does your business solve the consumer’s problem? Imagine you're looking for a car mechanic. You go to Google and type in "car mechanic near me." (Just a side note, but 92% of people click on the results on the first page.) You click on the first result.
Practical Tips:
It doesn't need to be long: People on the internet have short attention spans. Boil all key points down to a few sentences.
Utilize Structure and Visual Hierarchy: Most people glance at articles and rarely read the whole thing. Keep your main points in your headings.
Dedicated pages: For every service or topic that you would like to rank for, write one page solely on that subject.
Steer clear of technical jargon: If I tell you that you can increase your SERP rankings by acquiring back-links from high authority URLs, did you understand what I just said? Your clients can feel the same way. Have someone outside of your field of expertise proofread your content for you.
Include an about or team page: Everyone loves a story. People want to connect with people. Including a page about how your business got started or showing photos of the team behind the scenes really can show your website visitors that your are genuine and authentic.