Website writing doesn’t do anything without putting some thought into what you’re going to write and how to write it. A website’s success is usually a direct result of its published content.
The results are better the better the content is and the more interesting it is.
However, there are key differences between writing for a website and other forms of content creation, especially when it comes to blogs and niche websites.
Most Internet users won’t even bother reading your whole post.
People online seldom read all of a post.
Instead, they expect content that’s easy to scan for headings with plenty of white space. They expect clear and concise content.
In this article, I will cover the fundamentals of website writing. If you aren’t going to blog interesting things that people want to read, then why bother?
These content writing tips are the fundamentals of writing content for a website that will hold the attention of readers:
Basic Principals of All Good Content for a Website
What Makes Good Website Content?
Readable and popular content on the web usually flies in the face of everything you learned about writing in school.
It’s important to remember that unless you’re writing a fiction book, readers seldom read every line you write in your blog post.
Instead, they scroll down the page looking for what interests them while scanning for what captures their attention.
With that in mind, these are the basics to adhere to for every piece of content you write:
- Simple. The average reader online reads at an 8th grade level.Always consider yourself as the expert explaining in easy to understand terms.
- Scannable. Seldom do we read an entire post, but scan for important information.
- Short and direct sentences. Keeping sentences short and direct keeps the content informative and to the point.
- Avoids walls of text. Online readers avoid walls of text. Learn to write paragraphs with 1-3 sentences for the best results.
- White space for easy reading. Use plenty of headings, bullet points, and bold text. Allow adequate line and paragraph spacing for plenty of white space.
Your content needs to be easy to understand, easy to read, and filled with valuable information. Below are tips to help you write the best quality content possible for your website.
How To Write Content For A Website?
The first goal of website content is to keep your readers interested and engaged. Here are two essentials for keeping readers on your page:
1. Keep Content Relevant and Informative
✪ Relevancy
- Keep your website focused. All your content must relate to the overall website topic. You don’t want a website about dog houses and write about your last vacation.
- Write your title first. Writing the title before you start helps keep content focused. Make adjustments to the title when you’re finished, but the relationship between the title and content must prevail.
- Don’t let your writing wander. Make sure post content focuses from start to end on the post title. It’s easy to wander off the topic while writing.
- Use Outlines. Very simple outlines keep you focused. A basic outline can consist of the intended headings and subheadings.
✪ Informative
Even if your content is structured and easy to read, if it’s not answering the readers’ questions, it doesn’t matter. And if it doesn’t matter, the reader won’t stay long, and won’t be back.
Writing website content for niche sites and marketing means answering questions.
As an example, researching topics for niche sites looks like this to me:
- First, I “Google” a keyword phrase. Next, I look for promising headlines and meta descriptions.
- When I click on websites and find content that doesn’t live up to the title, I immediately click off the website. (So do most other people)
The first step to reader engagement is reliable information.
2. Most Important Content First
“Getting to the point” means answering the question at the beginning of the post. Get to the point and then write supporting content.
Write a couple of introductory paragraphs and then get straight to the point.
Try to include your primary keyword in the first paragraph. This lets your reader know immediately what your post is about.
If your title is “The Four Best Website Content Writing Editors,” consider listing them immediately after the introduction like this:
- Grammarly
- Prowritingaid
- Hemingway
- Whitesmoke
Now, the rest of the post will be supporting content. Make each list item a heading, followed by your review.
3. Use Common Words
It may be a hard truth for you, but most people online aren’t interested in your mastery of the Englis language. When people are shopping or looking for information, they don’t want six-syllable words.
Write in a friendly and down-to-earth style. Using the pronouns “you” and “I” helps engage your audience.
The best policy is to write as if you are writing to someone you talk to every day.
Common Mistakes When Writing Content for a Website
1. Editing While You Write
Writing a paragraph or a sentence and going over it multiple times to edit it to perfection is a trap you want to avoid.
This is a common newbie mistake that is difficult to break. But face it: it’s a waste of time and counterproductive.
Writing and editing should never be done at the same time. You can always edit your writing once you’ve completed the article.
Writing and editing are two entirely different functions, and should be kept separate. For quality website content writing, finish the writing process first. Once it’s done, you edit your content until you think it’s great.
2. Not Segmenting Your Writing Activities
The more content you post on your website, the more likely visitors are to find it.
The more quality articles you can chunk out in a week, or month, the better off your website will be.
The best way to increase the number of articles you’re writing each week is to segment to process.
Segmenting the process is one of the best content writing tips because it makes writing and publishing to your website much faster.
Here’s what I mean by segmenting your writing to be more productive.
For example, if you intend to write five articles on weight loss, you can:
- Day One. Find 5 primary keywords, one for each post.
- Day Two. Create tentative titles for each post. Create a new post in WordPress for each keyword, insert title in title box and hit “Save Draft” (NOT PUBLISH).
- Day Three. Do the research for each, making notes, headings (H2) and subheadings (H3) for each in the corresponding post you saved. Hit “Save Draft” (NOT PUBLISH).
- Day Four. Write introduction, supporting content for each heading and subheading, and summary.
- Day Five. Re-read each post. This is the time to edit to your satisfaction, decide on categories, add internal links, and either publish them all or set the publish dates for each.
This streamlines your content writing and publishing, allowing you to publish 5 articles a week. Even if it takes you longer at first, or forever, you will get much more proficient at turning out good content over time.
3. Failing to Create Outlines for Your Website Content
This is another mistake. You must have an outline. Whether a novel, an article, a listicle, etc., you absolutely must outline it. Writing down a brief list of points or headings will help you stay on track and prevent you from digressing.
One great way to plan out the content for a website is to just choose the headings you’ll use.
As you research your topic or keyword, you can:
- Keep a WordPress editor open in a browser tab where your post will be written and write notes, and headings that you notice along the way
- Take notes on your computer notepad
- Hand write notes as you go
Because the best blog post will rarely have more than 300 words under a single subheading and can be much shorter, subheadings make great bullet points for an outline.
4. Not Removing Distractions When Writing
Generally, it’s best to write in a quiet place that’s free from distractions.
Nowadays, many writers mention that they prefer to write in cafes and coffee shops. In fact, there is even a website that recreates the ambient sounds of a café so that people can listen to it and write better.
It may seem strange, but ultimately, you need to find out what works for you.
Ideally, silence is golden and you should do your best to make sure that nothing interrupts your train of thought while writing.
How to remove distractions when writing content
- Tell your family members not to disturb you and close the door
- Place your mobile phone on silent or in another room if you have to
- Turn off all social media or temporarily disconnect your internet connection
When you write, you write. Starve your distractions and feed your focus. Keep writing until you’re done for the day and then you may pick up wherever you left off with other tasks and commitments.
Summary
What I’ve given you is the bare basics everyone needs to use to write actionable content online.
Most websites depend on content for their very life, so you either write your own or hire someone to write for you. You will learn that most successful websites pay writers for content.
However, until you’ve written a fair amount for yourself, you won’t know how to instruct your writers. And no matter how much you read about how to write content for a website, it really takes you writing