The StyleSheet - For businesses that use the internet

Creating Great Web Site Content

Posted July 15, 2008 By Nick Weynand |

If you’re about to embark on a Web site redesign, chances are your biggest piece of homework will be coming up with content. Whether you’re repurposing content from your existing site or creating content from scratch, there are a few simple rules that will make your content great.

Keep your content brief

You’re not writing a book, a magazine or a brochure. The average visitor will spend only a few seconds on a Web page before they decide if they are going to find the information they need. Even after they decide to stay on a Web page, visitors generally scan content instead of reading through it all. You should make every effort to get your point across in as few words as possible. Don’t get caught up in putting everything you can on the Web. Instead, boil your content down to what’s really important.

Use good headings

As visitors scan a page of content, they look for “trigger” words that will stand out as the information they are looking for. Section your content into short segments, and use headings to title each segment. The headings should stand out and contain the trigger words that you think a visitor will be looking for.

Use bulleted lists

Whenever possible, use bulleted lists to organize your content. Bulleted lists stand out much more than paragraphs of text and are a quick way to convey brief information.

Embed key phrases

If you want to obtain good search engine ranking, one thing you should do is write your content to include key phrases that you think people will be looking for. Embed these key phrases multiple times throughout your content, but don’t go overboard. Your content should still be clear and easy to read.

Ask people to take action

Do you want your visitors just to look around your site or do you want them to do something? If you want them to do something, it doesn’t hurt to ask. Embed calls to action in the content you write. Examples include “contact us for a quote” and “visit our online store”. The action that you want your visitors to take should never be hard to find.

Write often

Good content is updated often. Make an effort to consistently add new content – whether it’s news about your company or a new service that you’re offering. Fresh content keeps readers coming back and is good for your search engine placement.

If you’re just starting a new Web site project, you’ve got a lot of work ahead of you. However, if you follow these tips your content will be easier to write and more effective. If you haven’t updated your Web site’s content in a while, use these tips to give it a refresh.

« Return to current issue

Let's get the discussion going. Please comment on this article.

Leave a Comment

Name (required)

E-mail Address (will not be published) (required)

Website