You know that having relevant, original content on your website is important, but if the thought of creating content makes you break out into a cold sweat, don’t worry—it’s easier then you think.
When you are writing content for your website, whether it is a blog post, an article, or something else, keep the following tips in mind:
- Outline Your Purpose: What do you want your readers to learn as a result of reading your content? Don’t just start typing blindly and hope that they will be able to follow your haphazard train of thought. Readers, particularly online readers, are impatient and expect you to get straight to the point.
- Know Your Audience: The best way to do this is to assume that they know nothing about the product, service, or topic that you are writing about. In other words, don’t include complicated technical terms without explaining them, and don’t use jargon or buzz words that the average person may not understand. Make your writing accessible and appealing to everyone.
- Revise: Once you’ve finished a piece of content, go back through it and eliminate unnecessary words. Run spell and grammar check to make sure that you haven’t made an obvious error that will make you (and your site and blog) look like an amateur. If you think that your writing is absolutely perfect as is and needs no revisions, get a second opinion from someone you trust before you post your content live on your website or blog.
- The Point: Clever phrases and pithy prose might be fun to read, but the average person will appreciate a writer who gets straight to the point in as few words as possible, while providing relevant information and tips that the reader needs to know.
Time to Get Your Own Blog?
Give us a call today to get a blog for your website that will help drive traffic and increase your search rankings.
About the author: Jeune Ortiz is VP of Marketing and Creative Director at future-ink. With more than 20 years of experience in graphic design and marketing, Jeune brings extensive knowledge and creativity to each website and internet marketing solution to grow your business.
Share/Save
3 Comments
Jane Beale | June 3, 2010
Thank you for making these important points! I read quite a few blogs, all of which I need the information from but occasionally they ramble or the point is hard to pull out. As a blog writer myself these kind of reminders are really helpful!
Chelsea | June 18, 2010
Great tips! I would also add that it’s important to have layout that is reader-friendly. For instance, your use of numbered points and bold titles in this post helps your reader to pick out vital information right away.
People don’t like to read huge blocks of texts. They want to be told right away what they should know. I would keep sentences and paragraphs short. It’s important to keep in mind that most people read at a 7th grade level.
Images are also important! They are what the audience notices first, and interesting/relevant images helps to illustrate the topic and draw the reader in.
KimWells | July 22, 2010
A 7th grade level? That’s a little frightening.