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Website Content – Hints & Tips

By February 8, 2018March 9th, 2020Insight, SEO
Website Content Writing

Writing content for a new website can be a daunting task, but with a few tips, anyone can come up with engaging content that is enjoyable and informative to the reader, as well as having excellent Search Engine Optimization (SEO)!

Why is Search Engine Optimization important?

SEO is critical to your website’s visibility in the online world. Search engines rank sites according to how relevant its content is to a search that’s made. Social Media Today collected a number of statistics surrounding SEO and compiled them in a very informative article:

  • 60% of all organic clicks go to the organic top 3 search results
  • Search is the number one driver of traffic to content sites, beating social media by more than 300%
  • Local searches lead 50% of mobile visitors to visit stores within one day

So, what is the key to all great websites and their SEO?

Content.

Before you start to write content for your website, here are a couple of things to keep in mind:

Key Words

It is extremely important to use industry-specific key words and phrases throughout your website. This not only lends credibility to your potential customer, but is also one of the best ways to ensure high Search Engine Visibility. Think about the words your potential customers will type into Google or Bing when searching for a business like yours. Make a list of all these words. Reference it throughout your content writing process, and ensure each of these keywords and phrases appear once or twice on each page.

Sentences

As tempting as it might be to make simple lists of your products and services, this is not great for SEO. Search engines crawl around your site and look for keywords as part of full sentences. They will recognize listed keywords as well, but you will get a higher search engine ranking if they also appear in structured sentences. When creating your content, you may want to list some things, but ensure these lists are prefaced with an introductory paragraph.

Links

Including links to pages within your site is excellent for site navigation and SEO. For example, you might want to include a wrap-up sentence at the end of your Products page such as “Do you have any questions about our products? Feel free to Contact Us today for more information!” and hyperlinking the words “Contact Us” to your Contact page. Keep this in mind when writing content.

It may also be a great idea to hyperlink to outside sources that are reputable, reliable websites. For example, if your company sells auto insurance, you could include a link to a government resource that outlines the laws and requirements surrounding auto insurance for all motorists.

Page-Specific Content

Below are some suggestions for the type of content you might want to write about on each specific page of your new website. These page headings are only suggestions, and you will want to customize your content to fit your company!

Home – This home page should include a general welcome message, around 400-500 words, that quickly summarizes the following:

1. Who You Are

2. What You Do

3. Short ‘mission statement’ or statement of standards, a promise of customer service, etc.

4. An invitation to browse the site – you can even include site navigation instructions, such as “Check out our Products page, look at past examples of our work, or reach out to us for answers to any questions you may have!” < This sentence is a good example of a way to incorporate hyperlinks as mentioned above – it has three opportunities for hyperlinks (Products page, Gallery, and Contact page).

About – This page should elaborate more on who your company is as a whole. Include some information about your history (how did you start up?), your core values, and WHY the user should come to YOU for their product needs. What differentiates you from your competitors? Note – This page is also an excellent place to include some short testimonials/quotations from past customers. Referrals and reviews from real human beings go a very long way with potential new customers.

Products or Services– Introduce your product and service offerings with a paragraph that explains what your company offers. You can mention particular brands, products, or categories of products. This section will vary greatly depending on what kind of business you have. Work with what you offer and keep in mind that well crafted sentences are necessary for Google ranking improvement. Do not simply rely on pictures or lists.

Gallery – This page can house pictures of past projects and serve as your company’s portfolio. It will be relatively self-explanatory, but there should be a paragraph introducing the page, describing some key features viewers will find in your gallery, and inviting users to check out your gallery (for ease of use, and increased SEO.) Keep it relatively short so that the user doesn’t have to scroll to see the gallery.

Blog –Having a blog and regularly make updates to it massively increases your search visibility! It is impossible to stress the importance of adding unique, updated content to your website TOO much. Your blog can involve any topic related to your company, and it will help establish your company as an expert in the industry!

Contact – Your contact page will be self-explanatory as well, so you can get away with just creating a sentence or two encouraging the user to fill out the contact form with any specific questions they may have, or call you directly, etc.

So, what are some key takeaway thoughts for developing content for a website?

It must first be useful and enjoyable to the reader, as well as be search engine friendly and include relevant keywords and key phrases. Most importantly: have fun with it! Don’t be afraid to be silly, entertain your readers, and showcase the passion you have for your business. You are your own company, and view your website as an opportunity to meet people with the personality and information that will make them want to come to you!

Happy Writing!