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Last week
we discussed content marketing and
how to use content to effectively
market your site. This week, we talk
about how to write good website copy
to attract visitors to your site and
to work with your marketing plan.
I want to let you in on a
little secret. Do
you want your website to be a good
website that does well and brings in
money? Then listen closely. The
secret to good online marketing and
a good website is good
content. Forget about
PageRank and perfect code (well,
don’t forget them, just don’t cling
so tightly to the idea), the best
way to get your site out there and
working for you is to give
people what they want.
It really is that simple. Give
people good and relevant
content and they will come
to your site. Some of the best
ranked sites out there (both paid
for and natural ranks) have good
content. In actual fact, Google’s
search engine robots now look at
good content. Content is king and we
have to learn it, live it and love
it.
I write content everyday
and as I have blundered along, I
have discovered a few useful tips
and tricks as well as some
golden rules that I try to
stick to as much as possible. Using
words to market is not easy, which
is why I’d like to share them with
you.
Rule 1: Write for humans.
Keep your
reader in mind. Always. You
are not writing for search engines,
you are writing to be read.
You need to write so that the
content reads well. It’s
all very well and good putting in
keywords everywhere so that the
search engines love your site, but
sometimes people won’t. For example,
how annoying is this:
Black wattle is classed as an
invader plant species. This invader
plant poses a hazard to our delicate
eco
system. If you see this invader
plant species, please notify your
local municipality or forestry
control office and
we will come and remove this invader
plant.
This little
piece of text is boring to read and
seems too repetitive. Now imagine
this all over a site.
Rule 2: Keep it simple
Plain
language is the key here.
No, I am not saying, “dumb it down”,
you know the people visiting your
site are smart; treat them like
they’re smart. I am saying that you
should keep your language free of
jargon and keep it straightforward
and simple.
Do not try and
hide what you mean behind fancy
words. do not use your about us page
as a company profile that sounds
like you’re applying for a tender,
the Government might be impressed,
your readers won’t be.
Try to keep
your sentences short,
between 10 and 15 words long, 25 at
maximum. Keep your
paragraphs short as well;
try to max out at 4 or 5 sentences.
Try not to make a page of website
content (not articles or blog posts)
longer than 300 words.
If you do find
yourself having to explain a long
list of things, use a list.
Bullet point is best since people
can put the information you’re
giving them into easy to digest
compartments.
Rule 3: Keep your layout clean
Use
headings and paragraphs.
Break up your text into
logical sections so that
you don’t shove a page full of words
in to a reader’s face. If you do,
they will leave and you will lose.
Easy to process content captures
attention and in today’s world of
instant gratification, attention
spans are short.
Make sure that
your paragraphs link to each
other and that the
different paragraphs give
information relevant to the ones
before and lead to the ones after.
Do not repeat yourself, writing the
same thing in three different ways
does not make for good content.
Rule 4: PROOFREAD!
This rule is a
simple and easy rule to follow. Make
sure your grammar and
spelling are correct and
that you form your sentences
properly. Do not rely on
spell check to catch every
mistake. It won’t. It will not pick
up on commonly confused words or
typos that form real words.
It is hard to
be critical of your work, so the
best way to check for these things
is to get someone you know who has a
fairly good grasp of English grammar
to help you out. Or call Jasper
Consultants, we have editors...
Rule 5: Make it relevant
Give
your readers what they want.
Give them the information that they
are looking for. Make it easy for
them to find. Do not make your
readers hunt through thousands and
thousands of words of text before
they find out what it is you do.
Keep your text
simple and informative and you will
convince people to read your blogs
and articles. The way you write the
content for your site will determine
whether or not your online marketing
pays off. Good website
content is also good for
pay-per-click advertising.
If your ads take people to pages
that have relevant information on
them, you are more likely to do well
and see some return on your
investment.
Next week we
will be discussing pay per
click advertising, how it
works and how it is your most
valuable marketing tool online.
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