The Secrets to Web Content that Sells

The best web developers understand that a critical part of every website design is the actual web content on every page. This content is what drives viewers to the website, and it is what keeps viewers interested in what the website has to offer. Additionally, web content compels website viewers to take action and either buy something or want to learn more. In order to write excellent web content, it is important to understand the basic fundamentals of writing search engine optimized copy. Here are some guidelines for writing web content that sells.

Web Content Research

Expert web content writers understand that before one word is every written for a website, research must be done first. This research consists of learning more about the niche industry or hobby that the website is about. This means reading up on the industry, as well as finding out what the top competitors are including on their websites. Any business that wants to get ahead in a smart way will take the time to research competitors first. Do this right and you have a great start to creating web content that sells!

Web Content Keywords

When consumers are looking for something on the Internet, they will generally type in a series of keywords into a search engine. These keywords are what lead viewers to particular websites. The websites which have enough of these keywords included in the web content get the best results in the search engines. This is often referred to as search engine optimization, or SEO. When writing content, be sure to use keyword research tools to indentify the top five keyword combinations for the best results for your website.

Web Content Word Counts

Another way to web content success is to make sure that you follow the rules when it comes to the actual word count of your web copy. Many people do not understand that if you do not have at least 250 words on a web page, it will simply be ignored by most major search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Be sure to write at least 250 words for each page. In addition, do not get carried away with your keywords, which will only cause your pages to be dropped entirely!

Web Content Paragraph Structure

Most readers will spend approximately 30 seconds or less reading your web content, so keep your sentences easy to read to keep them interested. Limit each paragraph to no more than 3-4 sentences and make sure that they make overall sense. Each paragraph should start with a compelling sentence and end with another compelling sentence to lead readers to the next paragraph. Remember, you are not writing a novel here, just great web content!

Call to Action in Web Content

Lastly, if you want to write the very best web content, you must include a call to action for your readers. Near the middle to the end of the web content, be sure to ask the reader to take action such as exploring other parts of the website (through imbedded links), pick up the phone to call, make a purchase, or send an email through a web contact form. The goal of the website is to not have people get stuck reading through many pages of content, but rather to take clear action.

As you write your web content, be sure to take the time to proofread it and spell check it so that your website comes off as intelligent and authoritative to readers. The basics of good writing apply to web content and will help your copy to sell to viewers. By following the above tips, your web content will improve and you will get positive results in terms of selling your ideas, services and products on a website marketing platform.

Should You Use Facebook to Talk to Copy Writing Clients?

Facebook has opened up a bright new online community of socially conscious people who are using this website as a platform for sharing information, making new acquaintances and marketing businesses online. While this is a great way to build a following of loyal fans and readers, there is still some etiquette that needs to stay in place when communicating using social media.

A new relatively phenomena has emerged in which copy writers are communicating almost exclusively with clients on facebook, as opposed to traditional telephone or email methods. Writers (and other freelancers) are searching for potential clients on facebook, befriending them, followed by sending introductory messages. On the other side, businesses, web content companies and web developers are seeking out talented copy writers and inviting them to get on board with writing gigs. It’s basically business networking on speed!

But before you get all excited about using facebook to find and communicate with new copy writing clients, here are some things to watch out for:

1. Facebook messaging can lead to miscommunications. Sure, sending off a nice little message to a potential client can be fun, but it can also lead to certain communication snafu’s. For example, some companies prefer to be contacted through other means like email or contact form. Many get bombarded with so many inquiries, they simply block out these messages. Some may even look at your attempts as a form of unsolicited “spam” and you could turn some people off or worse yet – get banned from facebook. Remember, don’t go overboard with your inquiries and research the company fully before attempting initial communication.

2. Facebook is not a sales platform. One of the biggest pet peeves of users of social media is that some people use it as a way to continually pitch their products and services. Nothing is more annoying than allowing someone onto a followers list and then seeing just a bunch of poorly written sales pitches in every micro-feed. Think of it in terms of meeting new people in person for the first time. You wouldn’t immediately launch into a sales speech, would you? Respect others and lay off the overly sales oriented posts. Limit yourself to a sales type post once a week.

3. Beware of links in facebook messages. Unfortunately, we live in a world where scamming others and stealing information run rampant. When getting a facebook message that includes a link to a so-called “opportunity”, use extreme caution. There are an  increased number of scammers sending out links that include malware, viruses and other nasties on facebook, twitter and other social media websites. If something looks fishy, report it to facebook security and don’t allow your computer or personal information to become easy prey.

4. Nothing beats old fashioned forms of communication. I would like to say, from personal experience, that using facebook as a primary means of communication with copy writing clients is not really a good idea. For one, it’s impersonal. Messages don’t always reach the other person in a timely fashion. As much as facebook has become a place to share personal thoughts, these can also backfire and offend some people. Additionally, as a business person you should be using the telephone and email as much as you use facebook to get to know your clients. It’s the sign of a polished, and confident copy writer to be comfortable with all forms of communication, so don’t limit yourself to facebook for this purpose.

What do you think? Do you use facebook to communicate with clients – why or why not?

What I Learned From Blogging Everyday for a Month

During the month of May, I decided to participate in the 2011 WordCount Blogathon, which required posting once a day to ‘A Journey of Words’. For a busy freelance web copy writer, this was no easy task. First of all, I had to dedicate at least 30 minutes daily to writing a blog post. Secondly, I had to come up with topics that would be of interest to my readers. Lastly, I had to stick with something for an entire month, something I have struggled with in the past. But here I am, at the end of this challenge and I did it!

During this time, here’s what I learned:

1. Blogging can be a great way to connect with readers and meet new contacts. Throughout the month, I had the honor of getting comments from a huge audience of fellow bloggers, writers and business owners around the world. A few even agreed to be guest bloggers, which was such a treat. I have to say that the rewards of blogging are many.

2. Blogging teaches discipline as a freelancer. One of the biggest fears I had going into the Blogathon was that I would not have the time to blog daily. Instead, I found that the time I spent blogging taught me a lot about being committed to something bigger than myself. I became more disciplined and stopped letting things distract me from my purpose as a writer.

3. Blogging daily is a great source of free advertising. Over the entire month, I used Google alerts to track my success as a blogger, specifically to see if my name came up often through web searches. You may have noticed that there were specific keywords highlighted in most posts (but not all). These keywords helped my website to rank higher and I got a lot of Google hits on my name and my blog feeds.

Spending time on your blog daily, or at least a few times a week, can be a great way to build a steady following of people, make new friends and build awareness about your business or passions. I fully intend to use my blog as a tool to reach more people and share information in a big way this year.

Now it’s your turn to share – How do you benefit from blogging?

3 Tips for Coming Up with Ideas as a Writer

One of the questions that I get a lot from new writers and clients is, “Where do I find ideas to write about?” For many writers, inspiration comes from different sources. These sources depend on what you are exposed to in an average week, who you talk with, and what kind of media streams into your world.

You may be surprised to learn that I personally do NOT watch television, I seldom have time to sit down and read novels, and I don’t go out looking for topics to write about. Instead, I let the world unravel itself to me. I write about things that I personally encounter through different forms of technology and personal networking combined with a passion for researching.

If you are struggling with coming up with topics for your blog, marketing materials or more…here are 3 simple tips to coming up with interesting things to write about.

Use writing prompts. A great way to come up with topics, especially if you are more of a creative writer, is to employ writing prompts. These are short little intros on topics to write about, sort of like what your English teacher used to assign to you to write essays. Some of my favorite writing prompt websites give you fun writing prompts to get you started. Visit Writer’s Digest Writing Prompts and The One-Minute Writer for some fun, daily writing prompts!

Subscribe to favorite blog and news feeds. If you are a sporadic reader (like me) you can often find writing inspiration through what you read. Blogs and online news sources can give you a lot to think about and inspire new writing. If you have a mobile device, you can even read on the go. Just be sure to credit any sources you find and ask bloggers before you quote from their blog posts.

Look for popular trends. As a web copy writer, you will want to ocassionally create articles and blog posts on popular topics to drive traffic stats up. To do this, focus in on the hot topics and keywords that are creating a buzz on the Internet. Try using Google Trends or Yahoo Buzz Index to locate these topics.

 

Now it’s your turn. How do you come up with ideas to write about? Please be sure to share them below!