Writing for the web. An overview.

Writing great content for your website is no easy task and it is imperative to keep in mind that your content is why users come to your website.

Steps to begin

• Create a tone - whether it's fun, creative, corporate, professional or playful. It is important to first decide the tone you want your content to portray and keep it consistent once the decision is made.
• Identify objectives - before writing your content, you need to identify what you would like your content to accomplish (inform, sell, sign up, etc).
• Drafting - write out everything you want to say on each page. Try not to worry about the final version, just get it down on paper.
• Edit - your users do not want to spend hours reading about "your company" and why they should choose "you." Cut down your content to be as easy to read and concise as possible (bullet points are encouraged, long paragraphs are not).

Note: Your website is not the place to cram all of your marketing language. It should be focused on providing your audience with the right information in a concise manner.

Tip: Users typically decide whether or not to stay on your website in a matter of 4 seconds. Don't bore them with the typical content. Be interesting.

What about SEO?

"Solid search engine optimazation can be accomplished with proper copywriting, code, and structure. With these three things in place, SEO just kind of happens. Search engines are smart..."
- Forty Agency

Search Engine Optimization is an incredibly popular topic amongst businesses, ultimately because if your website is at the top of rankings, you make sales. The best way to create seo-friendly content is:

• Engage with your users. If you try and use a keyword in every other sentence in hopes of driving more users to your website you're doing it wrong. It will be obvious not only to the user but to the search engine as well. Just write naturally.
• Provide the users with quality content. If you write good, intuitive information that is useful to the users, search engines will recognize that and your rankings will likely climb.