Writing content for your websites pages is different that writing for any other medium. There are some simple facts you should be aware of before you put pen to paper. It can take some time to get the balance right so be aware that you are going to be fine tuning your content for some time.

Write for your visitors and not for the search engines. Search engines are a consideration but you want to communicate with the people who arrive on your site. You want to inform them and motivate them to take action. Fortunately text written specifically for your visitors will also be search engine friendly.

Inject your personality into your writing and try to connect with your visitors. This connection will make your visitors feel at home on your site. Informal, friendly, conversational language works best. You want your visitors to feel like they belong.

Another important thing to remember about writing for the web is that people scan what you write; they don’t read it from start to finish. This is a very important fact. Therefore what your write should be easily read and easily scanned.

To help make your site easy to scan:

• Employ a easy to understand, attention grabbing heading

• Start with the conclusion or summary (inverted pyramid writing style)

• Do not bury your message

• Include sub-headings that if scanned tell a story

• Incorporate only one idea per paragraph – make them self contained

• Highlight important words and phrases

• Use bullet-point lists

• Keep your language simple

Your writing should help to build credibility for your business. To do this you should build trust for your visitor.

Establish credibility by:

• Customer Lists

• Testimonials

• Case Studies

• Articles and White Papers

• About Us Page

Use language that informs your visitors. Make sure the language does not exaggerate or over sell your offering. Any type of hype tends to make visitors suspicious. Avoid marketing language and focus more on an editorial style.

Even on a highly technical site it is best to keep your language simple. Remember that all visitors to your site will not be as knowledgeable as you are! Try to put yourself in your visitor’s shoes. Be empathetic towards your visitors and address their needs. What information are they looking for? How con I describe things to really make them understand?

The goal of your writing is to inform and also persuade people. The key is to know and understand the people to whom you are writing. Once you understand them then it is a process of writing in a clear and understandable manner directly to them. As this is not an overnight process it is essential that you monitor your results. You need to know what is and what is not working. This way you can continue to refine your message over time.