Writing for the Web – 3
Simple Strategies to Make Your Content Stand Out
By Amanda Wray
Amanda Wray is the communications director for a national nonprofit organization and a professional writer. Her previous experience includes reporting on sustainability and dining services for the Utah Statesman. She also covered politics and community events in Providence, Utah while writing for the Hard News Café.
In addition,
Wray is launching a content creation and web design business that teaches professional
bloggers writing and tech skills.
She is currently
enrolled at Weber State University pursuing a master’s degree in Professional
Communication. Ultimately, Wray hopes to be a full-time travel
blogger.
A native of
Melba, Idaho, she received a bachelor of science degree in journalism and
communication from Utah State University and graduated Magna Cum Laude.
Her hobbies include
travelling, writing and eating. Married for two years, she and her husband
enjoy backpacking in the Utah wilderness and exploring national parks.
In the
last minute, nearly 1,400 blog posts were published.
For a
content creator, that may sound like bad news. How can you compete and generate
tons of traffic when the statistics aren’t in your favor? I’ve had those same
fears.
While
preparing to launch a content creation and web design business, I’ve researched
the most effective strategies to write for the web, and I have good news: Making
your content stand out is simple and doable. It will take some work, but your
readers will come back wanting more when you learn to write better than before,
to write for your audience and to write for the web. I’ll be using these
strategies in my own business, and I hope you will, too!
Check
out the simple strategies for making your content shine:
1.
Write
Better than Before
It may seem obvious, but good writing attracts readers. You need to write better than you did
yesterday to compete. Writing well can be learned. It’s not some “fine art”
that someone is born with. Like any skill, practice makes better. Using these three
methods, your writing will improve.
· Write every day
If
you’ve been blogging or publishing for a while, go back and look at your first posts.
Does that make you cringe a little? You’re not alone. You become a better
writer by writing; it’s as simple as that. It takes hard work, and one of the
first things you should do is make it a habit.
For Ann Handley, marketing expert and author of “Everybody Writes: Your
Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content,” committing to writing is like committing
to her gym trainer. It is painful at first until you “build muscle.”
Best-selling
author Jeff Goins suggested three steps to creating a writing habit in “Start Writing Daily,” which included:
1. Pick a space
2. Set a time
3. Choose a goal
Each
day, write at the same spot at the same time, and compose the same number of
words. In Goins’ opinion, writing for 30 minutes daily is more
beneficial than a marathon session that lasts all of Saturday. As you “build
muscle,” writing becomes easier. Handley adds that setting a word-count goal
works better than setting an amount of time. Creating a writing habit improves your writing
and with so much competing for your reader’s attention, you can’t afford NOT to
write better.
· Use a consistent style
The
thing about style is that nobody notices it until you don’t have it. Then it’s
painfully evident and ruins your credibility as a writer.
It
doesn’t matter what style you choose to follow - AP, APA, Chicago, MLA or AMA.
As a trained journalist, I live by the AP Stylebook, but style is your choice. Consider the damage if you don’t:
Readers
notice when you use the serial comma in one paragraph but not the next, or you
refer to the United States as U.S. in some instances but US in others. Or you
sometimes use courtesy titles like Mr. and Mrs. but other times refer to people
by first or last name. Even worse, your audience notices if you switch verb
tense or go from first to third person in the same piece. It’s distracting to
your reader, and it’s time to cut it out.
The
point is: Pick a style and stick to it. Your readers will thank you
for consistency in grammar, usage and punctuation.
·
Cut
the clutter and simplify to say what you mean
“Clutter is the disease of American
writing.”
Have you ever received a company email or read a brochure that used so
many big words, buzzwords or jargon that you didn’t even understand what they
were trying to say? Yeah, me too. As a professional writing for the web, DON’T DO THAT.
Clutter is everything in our writing that isn’t necessary. Be clear and
concise. I love Handley’s lament for today’s business language:
“Our writing and content are still littered with revolutionary,
value-added, impactful, cutting-edge, best-of-breed, go-to ideated words
designed to leverage and incentivize and synergize the current paradigm.”
If you want to write better, be clear about what you’re trying to say by
using appropriate words. Some general rules for simplifying include:
- Avoid adverbs
- Avoid “buzzwords” and jargon
- Use active voice
- If you wouldn’t say it out loud, don’t
say it in writing
- Use short words in place of long words
- Don’t pad your writing
For me (and most Americans), simplicity is hard. My academic and
professional background taught me to use my vocabulary to impress and show
expertise. But we see enough of that content without creating it ourselves. Focus
on using just words that are necessary to convey your message.
2. Write for Your Audience
Your audience is the only reason your
content matters. Without them, your writing is useless. Everything you write should be for them, and
following these three tips will help you focus on your readers.
·
Be
useful and to the point
What are
your audience’s needs and goals? Everything you create should support those needs and goals. As you’re writing content, put the goal of the
piece at the top of your document and continually check to see if what you’re
writing aligns with it. If not, get back on track.
“Good writing serves the reader,” Handley
writes. “Good writing anticipates the questions that readers might have as
they’re reading a piece, and it answers them.”
Content marketing focuses on being useful to
your audience. Give them the information they need, and answer their questions.
But don’t be exhaustive in one piece. One of the benefits of writing for the
web is that you can link to other sources. (We’ll discuss linking in detail
below.)
If you think a reader may have a question but
you don’t have the space or time to answer in detail, link the text to another
source that explains the concept in detail.
Using this technique, you get to the point
and empower the reader to “choose his or her own adventure” if they need more
information. What could be more useful than that?
·
Tell
stories
It’s critical to make your content useful
for your readers, but stories are what make your content memorable. People resonate
with stories.
In Fizzle’s “10 Fast Ways to Become a
Better Writer (Even When You’re Burning the Midnight Oil and Can’t Afford an
Editor Just Yet),” Sarah Peck writes:
[Stories] are, in fact, how we wire
information into our brains. Great writers on the web
today hook readers in with stories, creating fictional (or narrative
non-fictional) scenes with detail, specificity, and color.
Typically we’re taught how to write fictional stories,
but writing stories about your business or product is an essential, powerful and
difficult skill. As a master of marketing, Handley offers fantastic advice for
storytelling for business:
Storytelling as it applies to business isn’t about
spinning a yarn or fairy tale. Rather, it’s about how your business (or its
products or services) exist in the real world: who you are and what you do for
the benefit of others, and how you add value to people’s lives, ease their
troubles, help shoulder their burdens, and meet their needs. At its heart, a
compelling brand story is a kind of gift that gives your audience a way to
connect with you as one person to another, and to view your business as what it
is: a living, breathing entity run by real people offering real value. … Your
content is not about storytelling, it’s about telling a true story well.
Part III of Handley’s “Everybody Writes” focuses on writing stories, and I highly recommend it
as a resource. She also indicates the components of a compelling story:
- It’s true
- It’s human
- It’s original
- It serves the customer
As you write for the web, consider the stories that connect
with your audience. Humanize your business, and make it clear WHY you matter to
your readers.
· Make it conversational
“Never
say anything in writing that you wouldn’t comfortably say in conversation,” wrote William Zissner, a lifelong journalist and nonfiction writer. He was
an advocate for simplicity and clarity in writing.
This may seem obvious, but too often I see
“professional” writers showing off their expertise by using big or unnecessary
words. Quit trying to sound smart by making your reader feel dumb. The reader
won’t like it, and your content will be wordy and unnatural.
Speaking
of wordy, let’s examine the first line of congrats I just received for making
it onto Dean’s List:
“Congratulations on this noteworthy achievement! This is an
accomplishment of which you can be proud.”
Just read that out loud. Imagine if
I responded to the university with the same style:
“I very much appreciate your
sincere congratulatory praise of my remarkable achievement. This impressive
accomplishment garners great personal pride and pride in my superior
university. Go Wildcats!”
All the email needed to say was,
“Congratulations on your achievement! You should be proud.”
This option is seven words shorter,
more clear and straight to the point. For me, it also feels more like it’s
coming from another person (the dean) rather than an institutional robot. This
goes back to connecting with your audience. Conversational writing is more
inviting for readers, so write the way you talk.
How do you do it? Write your
content to a specific person. That may be your mother, a friend or a customer
you’re fond of. As Handley states, “By framing your writing as a conversation
with someone specific, you become more … well, conversational."
3.
Write
for the Web
Every writing platform has its
rules, and it’s critical to use these three hacks to improve your web writing. Otherwise,
it may get lost in the millions of posts published online each week.
·
Write for Search Engine Optimization
SEO can seem daunting. You may think: There are so many posts out there, how can I ever compete in search
engine rankings? But the truth is, you can. And it’s not that difficult.
To start, plan your content with SEO keywords in mind. Consider what you
might search on Google, Bing or even Pinterest to find information on your
topic. If you’ve written your goal at the top of your document like I suggested
earlier, look for keywords in it. You can also use web tools like Google Trends
or Moz Keyword Research. (For more information on keyword research, check out
Moz’s “Beginner’s Guide
to SEO.”)
Now make sure those words are incorporated into your writing in the
right places. According to Mad Lemmings, you should add your keywords into
your:
- URL
- First image alt tag
- Post or page heading
- First 100 words
The earlier you add those keywords, the better. Consider this post’s
title: Writing for the Web – 3 Simple Strategies to Make Your Content Stand Out.
I often see posts written the other way: 12 Rules the Pros Follow When Writing
for the Web. I intentionally put “Writing for the Web” at the beginning of my
title to help my SEO.
Another SEO tip is to write longer pieces. MarketProfs reported longer
posts rank better, get more shares, get more backlinks and convert better.
Their advice: publish posts between 1,500-3,000 words. Handley, on the other
hand, says blog posts should always have fewer than 1,500 words (the ideal
length). Consider your audience, content and goals to determine the best length
for your material.
Just remember, good rankings drive more traffic to your site, but good
writing keeps it there.
·
Format
for readability
There’s
nothing that makes me leave a website faster than a giant, unbroken body of
text (except maybe a video ad that starts playing automatically). Don’t do it.
Part of great writing is presentation.
Make your
content inviting for readers. Writing for the web isn’t like writing for Mrs.
Walker in 10th grade English class. You don’t need five to seven sentence
paragraphs with big, academic terms. You need short, catchy and readable
content.
MarketProfs states, “The future will belong
to publishers who can present content beautifully.” (Click here to read the full article.)
How do you make your written content
prettier? Keep these rules in mind:
- Remember bullet points are your friend
- Use images and graphics
- Don’t put more than three sentences in
a paragraph
- Keep sentences short
- Use headings and subheadings
- Use lots of white space
- Highlight key points in bold or
italics
Also remember that half of your visitors are viewing your website on
their handheld device. If you don’t follow the rules above, people won’t stay
on your page long enough to read it – no matter how good your writing is.
·
Use
links
We live
in a digital era, so a blog post doesn’t have to be comprehensive. Link
headings, words or quotes to other sources. This gives your readers the
opportunity to read more about a topic or check out a source. You should also
give credit back to the author of anything you reference or use in your
content.
For
example, I didn’t go into detail on SEO in this post, but I linked it to
another blog post that can give you that information. I’ve also referenced
several great writing sources and linked to those.
Another
great technique is to link to your own content. Backlinks generate more traffic,
establish your credibility and create devoted readers. If you’ve already
covered a topic in-depth, be sure to add a link any time you mention it. It may
be just what your reader is looking for.
Expert Advice
Kirsten Oliphant is a professional
writer, blogger and podcaster for her two websites: http://kirstenoliphant.com/ and http://createifwriting.com/. She graduated with a MFA in Fiction
from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2007. Now mother to
five, Oliphant blogs on her personal site and teaches authentic platform
building for writers, bloggers and creative types.
Oliphant writes for the web across
many platforms, including her websites, blogs, social channels and podcasts.
During an interview, she offered several tips on writing better than yesterday,
writing for your audience and writing for the web.
1. Find your online voice
For Oliphant, writing online is all
about having the right voice. When she writes fiction, it’s a much more
immersive experience than when writing for the web. But her nonfiction voice is
like her speaking voice. The way she writes, however, differs by platform
because her audience is a little different on each.
“It’s important to ask yourself: How
personal do I get? What are off-limit topics for me? What tone am I going to
use?” she said. “All of these things represent you and draw a certain audience
in, so I suggest writing a style guide.”
Creating a style guide for your online
writing voice is one of the first steps Oliphant encourages online publishers
to take. She developed a free resource to help writers on any platform define
their voices. It’s called, “Creating
Your Persona Guidelines: Developing the Rules to Keep Your Writing Voice Consistent.”
2.
When writing, make it your priority
As the mother to five, Oliphant has plenty of distractions when she’s writing. To improve her efficiency and quality of writing, she makes writing her priority while she’s doing it.
“I have to really shut everything else
off or I lose my place. I can’t have Netflix going on in the background,” she said.
“You should close out of all of your tabs and programs to focus your attention
on writing and be distraction-free.”
She also writes when she has the least
distractions at home. For Oliphant, that means spending her evenings writing
while her kids are in bed. She says it’s easier to get things done when she can
focus.
3.
Read your work out loud
Oliphant considers herself a “clean writer” but still takes time to edit her content before she publishes it. Her biggest advice is to read everything out loud. While writing for her campus literary magazine during grad school, she caught a mistake even after a story had gone through several edits.
“I was on the fifth reading once, and
I caught a huge mistake,” Oliphant said. “It’s amazing what skilled people miss,
so reading out loud is a really big trick.”
For larger content, such as e-books,
she suggests hiring an editor or sharing with trusted friends for review.
4.
Publish consistently
When Oliphant started blogging, she was publishing several times a day. But people read blogs differently now, she says.
“People don’t as often just go to yourblogname.com
and see what’s new,” she said. “People tend to read blogs when they see a link
posted on social media, and they click through. Or they’re subscribed to your email
list and you send an email out with your post for the week.”
You don’t have to blog every single
day, according to Oliphant. She says the key is to publish consistently and to
publish quality content every time. For her, that’s a weekly post. For you, it
should be whatever timetable allows you to produce compelling and useful
content for your audience.
As Zissner said, “Writing is hard
work. A clear sentence is no accident. Very few sentences come out right the
first time, or even the third time. Remember this in moments of despair. If you
find that writing is hard, it’s because it is hard.”
For more advice on writing for the
web, check out these great resources:
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