How to Produce Great Website Content

Want to write great website content but you’re not sure how? To some people writing comes naturally while others have a hard time to draft just one article. Believe me, with time it gets easier. Or sometimes you are simply in the writing mode while at other times you are not. We all face writer’s block at times and when you get to that make sure that you stick to your schedule – that is the best way to overcome it.

But when you are back to writing, you need to make sure that it engages your readers. If your articles don’t entertain or give away good information nobody will read them. There is simply too much stuff out there. But wait, there is light on the horizon even if you are not the next Hemingway (I’m not either) 😉 There are only a handful things that differentiate great content from not so great content. Learn to master these few tactics and improve your content.

Write conversationally

Conversational content is content that is written in a friendly tone. Conversational content almost personal – as if you were writing your article, blog post or report specifically for the person reading it in informal language. Instead of saying, “Business people write content”  you would say, “You write content”. Be personal, get in touch with your audience because those are the people who will follow you through thick and thin. It is not about the search engines but the people. The search engines are the tool to get people to your website. But you need to convince those to actually make them stay.

Conversational content often breaks a few grammar rules when it makes sense. For example, you might write an incomplete sentence for impact. You might use ellipses to create effect and to draw the eye through your article.

Make sure when you break grammar rules that there is a reason for it. Breaking them just to break them is – well, maybe fun and a bit rebellious, but it is not productive.

Embrace your personality and voice

Your personality and voice are one of your biggest assets. They help differentiate you from the rest. They help you create and strengthen your brand and make your site unique. If you are sarcastic naturally, then your content can and should be sarcastic too, if it is relevant and appropriate. If you are more a sentimental person then your content will reflect that too. It is much easier to embrace your personality than to fight it. And it makes great content. So accept your personality and let it flow into your content.

Study the content and writers you like and read often. How do they share their voice and personality? If you don’t know your personality yet try to copy them – with a bit practice you’ll find your own tone 😀

Make sure your content is easy to read and understand

Let’s quickly talk about formatting here. In some articles there are so many underlined, bulleted, and bolded words that you are not sure where your eye is supposed to go and, even worse, stick. Instead of enhancing the reading process, it makes it more difficult. It is distracting. Be aware that especially online many people just skim through your article. If it contains good tips and is worth reading, they will go ahead and read it from top to bottom. Simple formatting is best. Simple formatting may include bold or underlined subheadings. You might have either bullets or numbers but probably not both. (Sometimes both are okay depending on the article content and information.) Just make sure that your formatting underlines what is important and doesn’t distract the reader.

Pay attention to the content you find easy to read and the content that seems distracting. Is there too much formatting? Not enough? When the article isn’t easy to read, what would you do to fix it? What would make it easier to read?

It is well worth to learn how to write properly. The better your content, the faster your business will grow.

If you feel unsure and need help check out Karon Thackston’s Copywriting Course.

I’m a member myself so you can check out the review and see what’s inside the course here.

Filed in: Article Writing • Blog
Tagged with: content • copywriting