If you’re writing for the web, rather than for print, it’s a whole different ballgame.
If someone picks up a book, you know they want to read it, and they’ll most likely start at chapter one and work their way in order to the end.
Writing for the web is not like that. Here are 8 rules to follow to get your content right:
First of all, you need to get found in order for anyone to read anything you’ve written, so before you write a word, you need to do some thorough keyword research to see what keywords in your niche are popular and what your audience is searching for. While you’re there, take a look at your competitors and the keywords they are using.
Then you can create a content strategy around the keywords you want to rank for so that your target audience can discover your site and read all that epic content you’ve created for them.
Having said all that about keywords, while you must include them in your copy if you want to be visible on Google, don’t stuff your keywords in there like you’re being paid thousands for every single one you include.
Write naturally to please your audience and include your keywords in the natural flow of your article, and you’ll not only please your audience, you’ll please the search engines too.
Don’t use complicated language, multi-syllabic words and tons of jargon. Write to suit your audience and how they think.
By all means, if you’re writing about quantum physics for scientists with a PhD, then include the terms that they’d use and all the maths and jargon they’d like. But otherwise, keep it simple.
Use short sentences of no more than twenty words and paragraphs that are no bigger than four or five sentences at the most. And use plain English that your audience can easily get through.
Why? Because unlike when reading a print book, readers on the internet tend to scan rather than read every word, and you need to get your message across quickly or they’ll click away and go elsewhere.
If you’re using self-hosted WordPress for your website, Yoast has a fantastic plugin that will not only check how you’re doing with your SEO but will also check the readability of your content. Check it out here.
