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How to Write SEO Content That Ranks in Google: The Essential Guide to Great SEO Content Writing

March 12, 2019/120 Comments/in Website Content /by Julia McCoy

Are you a marketer, entrepreneur, or agency with content creation and publishing high up on your to-do list?

To truly stand out and make an impact in a sea of over five million blogs published per day, your content needs to be visible online.

Visibility means traffic. And traffic means leads and down the road, even conversions.

But… how do you create content that gets there?

Well, that goes back to the beginning, before you even write your content piece. And it’s called the SEO content strategy behind your awesome content piece.

No matter how long you’ve been in the field of content creation and copywriting, you’ve probably heard of search engine optimization, also known as SEO.

The technique of optimizing content for search engines is critical for ranking highly.

But, here’s the thing: today, you can’t earn Google rankings anymore with just any old content. Organic Google rankings are incredibly hard to earn, with the cannibilization of clicks and zero-click searches up by 30% in the past two years. The crux of earning a spot?

Great content, laser-focused to your audience.

Great SEO content writing requires you to focus on the keywords while making sure your content is still beautifully crafted and reads like a human wrote it. It means knowing what your audience is looking for and optimizing it well.

Unless you know how to optimize your content around the anomaly that is Google’s search engine, you’re fighting a losing battle with SERP-focused content.

But, good news – we’ve compiled plenty of information to guide you on your journey right here, right now. Ready?

Need to learn how to write great #SEO content? Read @JuliaEMcCoy's blog primer to SEO writing Click To Tweet

The 7-Step SEO Content Writing Checklist

Get Familiar with What Works: Effective SEO Content Writing Samples
Complete Your Industry-Specific Keyword Research
Analyze Your Audience and Competitors
Consider SEO Content Writing Services
Format First, Then Write Your Content
Revise and Polish Your Work
Analyze Your Results and Adapt Accordingly

1. Get Inspiration from What Works: SEO Content Writing Samples That Work

When you’re looking to score leads and find followers, Google is an absolute goldmine.

Image from SimilarWeb

The same could arguably be said about any search engine, but Google is easily the top choice. In 2017, Google accounted for just under 80% of all global desktop search traffic.

A part of that traffic can be yours if you have proper SEO content writing practices.

With so many great content types searchable via Google, you have plenty of competition. But you also have plenty of inspiration.

Before we cover step one, we’ll preface it with step zero. Remember this point before starting on anything, and keep it in your mind throughout the entire process.

Be original.

Copying work will alienate your customers and tank your brand. However, there’s nothing wrong with getting inspired by the work of others.

If you look at a lot of the top-ranking content types in any given web search, you’ll see that a lot of SEO content writing looks similar. It isn’t copied, and there is variety, but there’s a certain approach that has been proven to work.

Worried your content is a little too inspired? Luckily, there are handy tools out there you can use to tell if you’re content is original enough, including Copyscape, Copyleaks, and EduBirdie.

Image from Copyscape

If you’re a beginner, think of SEO content writing as a way of crafting content so it reaches the person it’s intended to help. Don’t think of SEO like ‘SEO’; think of the end human reading your content optimized for their search.

Don't think of SEO like SEO; think of the end human reading your content optimized for their search. - @JuliaEMcCoy Click To Tweet

And when you’re looking to put out great content, it pays to see what your competition is doing first. You aren’t just looking to see what they are doing – you want to see what they aren’t doing. If you have an idea they haven’t covered, you can use that to your advantage.

A lot of this involves doing research before you write a single word.

You may decide to write some drafts, or a loose format just to make sure you are starting out with your own, fresh ideas. But when we’re talking about the research portion of SEO content writing, we aren’t just talking about finding out what else is out there.

You need to understand the value of high-volume keywords, industry-specific long-tail terms, and low-competition opportunities to rank higher.

2. Learning SEO Content Guidelines for Keyword Selection

Ranking highly in Google may seem like a far-off, nearly impossible goal. After all, there are countless people pushing for that coveted first-page rank.

It’s easy to see why – over 90% of shared traffic comes from the first page of Google search results.

If you can just get there, you’ll build the buzz you want for your content. You’ll elicit engagement like a pro. You’ll finally have the audience you dream of.

But to get that audience, you have to ask one question – what are they searching for?

And beyond the philosophical interpretation of what they hope to get out of their search results, we’re asking for a much more literal answer. What specific keywords are they searching, via voice or keyboard?

If you have these keywords in your content according to best industry practices, you will rank higher. You may not land on page one overnight, but with perseverance, you’ll climb steadily.

See what happens when we Google the term “finance copy”? We’re ranked in the top spot thanks to proper keyword practices.

Now look at that result again, and see if there’s anything that sticks out about the way it’s written. Let’s look at another example and see what the two have in common.

Not only are the keywords used, but they’re used in the right places. This is one of a few best-practices you’ll want to go by. Keep these in mind when you’re picking keywords for your content.

Use Them Naturally, Not Excessively: Google’s algorithm is smart enough to know when users are stuffing keywords for the sake of it. Use your keywords often (1-3x per 500 words), but use them naturally. Your content should still be conversational, even with keywords in place.
Consider Placement, Not Just Frequency: As we showed, there are some places where your focus keyword should be. These include the main header, at least one subheader, and multiple times in the body depending on your word count.
Use the Proper Tools: You may know some keywords you want to rank for. But if you need a little more inspiration, there are several great tools out there to use, including SEMRush, KWFinder, and Ahrefs.

These tools aren’t just useful for searching up keywords. They’re also handy for learning more about your audience and what they like.

Consider placement, not frequency, when it comes to SEO keyword placement. Your focus keyword should be in the main header, at least one subheader, and multiple times in the body depending on your word count. - @JuliaEMcCoy Click To Tweet

3. Know Your Competitors & Your Audience

The SEO tools we mentioned above are mainly used for keyword research. But some of these tools also have additional functions.

They can show you the trending topics for particular industries, and allow you to see which pieces get the most action. This is a great way to understand your industry, but in terms of the people you are looking to attract and the ones you’re up against.

We already discussed the value of understanding your competitors, but let’s delve into how tools can help. Mangools (the company behind KWFinder) offers a full set of products including a SERP (search engine results page) checker.

Entering the keyword of “gardening tips for beginners,” for example, we can see who ranks in the top spots for that keyword.

If you look at the bottom bar outlined in red, you’ll see a space where you can input your own link and see how your rankings stack up to your competitors’.

Seeing the top content pieces for your industry also lets you know what your audience likes. Your company and brand may be unique, but you will likely share audience members with competitors. Finding out what that audience likes gives you a wealth of information to use moving forward.

When you’re making an SEO content writing checklist, audience research should always be a part of it. Knowing how to use keywords in content writing is a matter of attracting the audience who your content would appeal to most. This is what’s meant by organic traffic.

There are plenty of advantages to focusing on organic traffic through SEO content writing and keyword research.

Over half of all traffic comes from organic searches – that means SEO can be more effective (and more affordable) than paid searches. This traffic also accounts for over 40% of revenue.

Over half of all traffic comes from organic searches – that means SEO can be more effective (and more affordable) than paid searches. - @JuliaEMcCoy on #seocontentwriting Click To Tweet

Image from Sparktoro

With content marketing and SEO being the highest reported source of clients beyond existing clients, there’s never been a better time to invest in this type of strategy.

4. Consider SEO Content Writing Services for Writing & Research

Many people simply want a way to kickstart their website before they begin their quest to rank with their own content.

The solution? Sign up for SEO content writing services. You can pay companies to do your keyword research, your copywriting, and even advanced services like content monitoring – more on that one later. (Psst – we do that!)

Shopping for these services has several advantages.

For one, you get a piece optimized by the professionals to kickstart your site and/or blog. You also get a template you can use to follow moving forward.

Professional writing services are well researched, expertly crafted, and have all the extras you could ask for – including images. Studies suggest posts with images can get more social media shares. For example, roughly 1 image per 75-100 words has proven to be a winning formula in certain forms of copy.

Image from Forbes

One way to improve your SEO content writing skillset is to follow SEO writing exercises based on the pieces you buy. Those who do SEO content writing jobs on a regular basis can also get you your content quicker in most cases.

Consider investing in different content types. You may think of ordering blogs, web pages, eBooks, and anything else you’re looking to create yourself. Better yet, go by the master list to get it all – planning, creation, and promotion.

Another advantage of outsourcing some of your needs is that the pros are more likely trained in the modern landscape of content marketing. This is a changing industry – knowing how to write SEO content in 2018 isn’t necessarily a recipe for success today.

When you learn now certainly won’t be obsolete tomorrow. But if you want content that works right now and in the foreseeable future, delegate to a specialist agency.

Once you have an idea on how the professionals do it, you’ll be on your way to creating similar content. How exactly do those professionals create winning content?

Many people simply want a way to kickstart their website before they begin their quest to rank with their own content. The solution? Sign up for #SEOcontentwriting services. - @JuliaEMcCoy Click To Tweet

5. Why Formatting Matters in SEO Content Writing

When you’re writing your content, what should come first?

You already know you need to be conversational. We’ve covered how important it is to use proper keywords, in the right frequency and places. But what else can impact your content’s success?

The format.

If your post isn’t formatted, your traffic may leave as soon as it arrives. Text blocks can repel even those who were drawn by your expert keyword placement. Most people will stay on a website less than 15 seconds.

Image from CoSchedule

The easier your post is to read, the longer your reader will stick around. And there’s no way to make your post more readable and engaging than by formatting before you start delving into the meat of the writing.

Also known as the outline, this rough draft of your topics and sub-topics will give you a clear path to follow for content that flows well and keeps the reader glued to the page.

When you’re crafting your format, the following are staples for almost any type of writing:

A Well-Structured Header: Your title, or header, will be one of the most important aspects of your piece. Good headers can convince people to click, and convince them to stick around. Not sure if your header is good enough? Consider using tools like the AMI Headliner Analyzer.
Clear Subheaders That Flow: Your subheaders help you divide your piece up into smaller sections, and also give it a direction. Each should cover a different aspect of the topic, and they all should logically flow with one another.
Short, Punchy Paragraphs: While the topic of paragraph length is subject to debate depending on what kind of writing you’re doing. But in most cases, shorter paragraphs are good. They make your sentences punchier, and more impactful. They’re also much easier to read.

SEO content guidelines for writing and formatting may vary depending on your industry and what type of content you’re writing.

The key to mastering SEO content writing that ranks highly lies in writing legitimately good content. It’s memorable. It’s informative. It’s pleasant to the eye. The page looks like a work of art, and the copy itself reads like an expert manuscript.

Your title, or header, will be one of the most important aspects of your piece. Good headers can convince people to click, and convince them to stick around. - @JuliaEMcCoy Click To Tweet

6. Editing, Revising, & Polishing Your Work Before Publishing

Beyond formatting, which occurs before the actual writing is done, there’s another mainstay of good content writing best-practices that comes after the writing is done. If you want your content to succeed, you need to learn to edit like a professional.

Image from PR Daily

Just like formatting, editing practices can sometimes vary depending on what kind of content you’re working on. But the above checklist is an example of how thorough and in-depth you should be if you want your content to rank highly.

Many people are so eager to finish their writing and hit the publish button they rarely take time to read over their work. Others are apprehensive about reading back their own writing due to shyness. But you need to get comfortable editing your writing. The best way to do that? Read it.

If you want to make sure your writing flows, read it out loud. If you wouldn’t feel comfortable reciting it to an audience as is, you may want to touch it up.

There’s also the matter of grammar. Luckily, tools like Grammarly can help you if things like to-too-and-two, or the dreaded passive voice cause you problems.

You don’t just edit to find typos and awkward wording choices, though those are both important to catch. You edit your copy to see if there’s anything you can add.

Are all your points made clear enough? Could you use a few more sources? Does your conclusion encompass everything you said previously, in an impactful, memorable way?

Editing and revising gives you the chance to polish up your post and make sure it is everything it needs to be to rank highly.

As Stephen King once said:

“To write is human, to edit is divine.”

Also remember – all these steps tie in together. A post written according to a well-crafted format will not only read much better. It will be much easier to edit.

7. Study Your Results, Use Them Moving Forward

After you’ve got your post edited and sent out into cyberspace, you’re done – right?

Not quite. Of course, you’re still going to keep writing, and moving toward the high ranking you know you deserve. But you’ll also be tracking your post. The tools we mentioned earlier can help with this.

Image from Mangools SiteProfiler

You can track your site, as well as individual posts to see how well they’re doing. Tools like BuzzSumo can help you track social media shares as well.

When you track your posts, you get a better understanding of whether your current strategies are completely effective. The benefit to this is you can tweak things in the future. SEO content writing isn’t about finding one solution – it’s about framing your creativity with good habits, in perpetuity.

As a content creator chasing rankings, you’ll be keeping track of how each of your posts was different than the last and how that affected their performance.

Maybe you started using long-tail keywords over shorter ones. Perhaps you decided to use more subheaders in one post over another. While simple changes may seem miniscule, monitoring these changes lets you know if you’ve found a winning approach.

Monitoring your content is especially useful when you’re trying out low-competition keywords. Given 15% of daily Google searches have never been searched prior to now (that’s incredible and means there are still killer keywords available for you to find), you don’t want to miss out if you find a killer keyword that helps you jump up in the rankings.

15% of daily Google searches have never been searched prior to now. That's incredible and means there are still killer keywords available for you to find. - @JuliaEMcCoy on #seocontentwriting Click To Tweet

Likewise, monitoring your progress helps keep you involved in the process of SEO content writing. From start to finish, there’s always something to learn.

You may also find certain writing strategies are more beneficial now than they’ve been in the past, or vice versa.

But you may be asking – how can you be expected to handle this? If you’re dedicating your time to writing and research, how can you constantly monitor your content?

Image from Moz

Toolbars and addons like this one can put you on track to monitor your rankings and key metrics constantly. As you load pages, you’ll get the numbers you need in real time. And once you have an idea of how these numbers are moving, you can track them more easily moving forward.

Master SEO Content Writing & Realize Ranking Success

With the billions of Google searches happening every day, it’s easy to think you’ll never improve rankings for your content.

But from what we know about Google’s algorithm, you can put yourself on track to success. All it takes is proper keyword research, an understanding of what constitutes quality content, and a work ethic for tracking your metrics as you go.

All it takes is proper keyword research, an understanding of what constitutes quality content, and a work ethic for tracking your metrics as you go.- @JuliaEMcCoy on #seocontentwriting Click To Tweet

And if you need step-by-step help, my course on SEO writing is currently enrolling new students and could be a huge help to shedding mentored guidance light on your journey.

Once you have the game plan, it gets much more exciting.

You’re no longer just crafting content and setting it loose into the vastness of Google’s search engine. Instead, you’re going by proven metrics to achieve your goal and get your content the attention you know it deserves.

You may not always end up on the front page right away. It may even take a lot of consistency and a lot of diligence.

The more you invest in SEO content writing, the better you’ll do. This doesn’t mean paying for traffic, or even paying for writing services on a regular basis. It means investing your time, your energy, and your patience into the process.

The search engine, particularly Google, remains arguably the greatest tool marketers have at their disposal. In the beginning, we referred to it as a goldmine – but it could be more accurate to call it a treasure trove.

You can see what your competitors are doing, what your audience is reading, and how your own content is faring. But, most importantly, you can see possibilities for ranking potential and all the things that come with it.

Those things include traffic, leads, followers, subscribers, and customers. But, most importantly, good SEO content writing practices bring you results, in every form.

Even if you start slow, it’s okay as long as you keep on the right track. Do the research, get the tools, and put the time in – when your ranking starts climbing, you’ll know it was worth it.

10 Website Copywriting Secrets to Get More Sales

July 17, 2018/35 Comments/in Website Content /by Julia McCoy

Website copywriting matters.

Correction.

Your website copy REALLY matters.

‘Why?’ I hear you ask.

It matters because your business website is the only digital asset you truly own and have control over, making it the single most important online platform you have. Think about that one for a second.

While social media is a key part of an effective content marketing strategy, it involves using another organization’s platform, which means you’ll always be playing by their rules.

In contrast, your website is 100% yours to bend to your will, and a killer site will attract traffic, convert prospects, and keep your customers coming back.

That being said, not all websites are created equal.

There is a real correlation between the success of a business and the effectiveness of its website, particularly the traffic it generates.

In one study by Hubspot, the majority of companies exceeding their revenue goals had more than 10,000 visitors per month to their website. In comparison, 80% of companies not reaching their revenue goals had less than 10,000 visitors.

And you can bet your bottom dollar those visitors weren’t going to the websites by accident. They happened to be there because of great website content.

@JuliaEMcCoy shares her top 10 website #copywriting secrets to gain more traffic and, of course, sales! 📈 Click To Tweet

Why & How Website Content Is The Great Differentiator

We know from experience that website copy, and high-quality content at that, can be what sets a brand apart from its competitors.

Don’t take our word for it, though.

More than 70% of marketers rate relevant content as their most effective way of obtaining website traffic, with content marketing generating three times as many leads as outbound marketing, and costing 62% less.

More than 70% of marketers rate relevant content as their most effective path to site traffic, with content marketing bringing in 3x as many leads as outbound marketing & costing 62% less. @JuliaEMcCoy Click To Tweet

What’s more, small business websites that have blogs experience 126% more lead growth than businesses without, and B2B companies with a blog generate 67% more leads per month than companies that don’t have one.

Not Just Any Old Content Will Do

Like any other product or service, quality matters when it comes to website content.

A recent UK study revealed that 59% of people wouldn’t use a company that had glaring grammatical or spelling mistakes on its website. In addition to this, a whopping 82% of people said they’d be put off by a website that featured content poorly translated into English.

The scary thing is that poor website copywriting, instead of generating sales, can actually cost your business.

That’s right.

Poor quality content can actually turn away customers and create additional costs for your business.

Writing expert and author Josh Bernoff says poor writing costs U.S. businesses $400 billion every year.

From thedailybeast.com/bad-writing-costs-businesses-billions

He names websites and marketing materials as the worst offenders, pointing the finger at lack of clarity, overuse of jargon and poor structure.

Bernoff attributes the massive cost to the time that is wasted correcting and attempting to interpret poor writing.

This figure doesn’t take into account other expected costs to business in terms of lost leads, sales, and reputation.

Did you know? Poor writing costs U.S. businesses $400 billion dollars every year. Read more: Click To Tweet

Using poorly written content on your site can also have a significant effect on how Google ranks your site and your SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

People Don’t Read Your Content

So, here’s the thing.

You may go to the trouble of crafting what you think is beautifully written content, but people aren’t going to ‘read’ it no matter how good it is.

Numerous studies confirm what we already know. We don’t typically read much of the content we see.

We scan or skim it.

I do it. You do it. And so do your website visitors.

Our average attention span is just 8.25 seconds – that’s one second less than a goldfish!

Image Source: Neil Patel

We read at most only 28% of the words on an average web page – 20% is believed to be closer to the truth.

So every single one of your words has to count.

Reduce your content to the smallest number of relevant, and necessary, words possible without sounding stilted.

10 Website Copywriting Secrets to Win More Sales & ROI from Your Online Presence

Want more in-depth tips? Check out my 365-page book on Practical Content Strategy & Marketing. You’ll learn the entire strategy for great web content. Bonus: Module/Section 5 is completely devoted to creation techniques – called Practical Content Creation!

Creating effective website copy is an art.

This is why many businesses turn to professional copywriting services or someone who specializes in online copywriting.

Whether you hire website copywriters or decide to go at it alone, it helps to know the factors and qualities of great website content.

Here are our top web copywriting tips.

1. Know Who You’re Writing For

With more than 200 million pieces of online content created every minute, it can be difficult to stand out.

One of the best strategies to cut through the competition and reach your audience is to create a target persona.

Once you have your target persona clear in your mind, writing your content becomes much easier.

Your target persona will guide what language and tone are most likely to resonate with your audience and inspire them to take action.

2. Create Eye-Catching & Skimmable Content

Since we’ve already established that our attention spans are worse than a goldfish, you should make your website copy skimmable, as well as eye-catching.

Start with an awesome headline. The headline is your hook and helps a reader decide whether they should click and read on. Make your headline clickable with power words.
Use lots of white space around your copy.
Incorporate subheadings and bullet points to break up space and create obvious landing spaces for the reader’s eyes.
Break up text with images. Photos and videos not only break up the text, but also create points of interest for the reader. Use a mix of visually striking images, informational visual content, and even entertaining GIFs where appropriate.
Write concisely. Never pad out your copy. Every word should have a purpose and need to be there. Try to write as concisely as possible.

Read our guide to learn “how to write and format” correctly in your online copy – not the way school taught you.

Our average attention span is just 8.25 seconds – that’s one second less than a goldfish! @JuliaEMcCoy shares how you can create eye-catching and skimmable content and other #copywriting secrets Click To Tweet

3. Keep It Simple

Your website copy is not the best place for showing off an impressive vocabulary.

In 9 times out of 10 times, the simplest word is the best choice.

A famous memo from advertising executive David Ogilvy to his staff on ‘How to Write’ champions the case for keeping it short and simple: ‘Use short words, short sentences and short paragraphs.’

For example, instead of ‘accordingly’, you could say ‘so’, and ‘next to’ is better than ‘adjacent to’.

Additionally, Ogilvy says to ‘never use’ jargon words, or what we may recognize as corporate speak. He cites words like reconceptualize, demassification, attitudinally and judgmentally as no-go terms.

It may be appropriate for some businesses to use some industry jargon, especially if the audience is likely to use the same words, but in most cases, it should be avoided.

How to Write – a memo from #DavidOgilvy pic.twitter.com/RECnDqwx8z

— Ogilvy & Mather (@Ogilvy) October 8, 2013

4. Choose the Right Voice

The voice is how an article sounds and feels. It’s characterized by word choice, language, and style.

It should reflect the voice your business wishes to portray and reflect the voice your audience may use or respond to.

For example, are you trying to sound conversational or formal? Does your language need to appeal to millennials or retirees?

5. Use Punctuation

We’ve already spoken about poor spelling and grammar, but punctuation deserves a special mention.

Bad punctuation can completely change the meaning of a word or sentence.

One of the biggest culprits is ‘its’ versus ‘it’s’ – just remember, ‘it’s’ is short for ‘it is’. Read your copy back with ‘it is’ to see if it makes sense with the apostrophe.

6. Use Active Language

You should avoid passive language where possible.

Passive language focuses on ‘something having been done’, where active language is about ‘doing something’.

For example, passive language: ‘this report was prepared by us’, and ‘it is our recommendation that…’
Active language examples are ‘we prepared this report’ and ‘we recommend that…’.

A trick to making language more active is to use strong verbs or action words up front.

7. Use Keywords

The use of keywords is important in website copy as it’s a critical component of SEO, but they should never be over-used.

Keywords should only appear in your content if they appear naturally – that is, the sentence shouldn’t sound clumsy because of the insertion of a particular keyword.

Google is clear about penalizing content that is ‘stuffed’ with keywords:

If you’re planning on targeting keywords in your content, incorporate them in a natural way. Read our extensive guide on how to find and use keywords for more on this topic.

8. Include a Call-to-Action

Good content should never go to waste.

If you’re going to the trouble of creating great web copy and ensuring your audience reads it, don’t waste the opportunity.

There’s nothing worse than getting excited about what you’re reading, only to get to the end and find there is no answer to ‘what next?’.

This is why you should include a powerful call-to-action or CTA.

Tell your readers what to do next. Implore them to ‘register now’, ‘call us’, ‘sign up’, ‘buy now’, or ‘follow us on Facebook’ – give them something to do.

It’s best practice, though, to limit your CTA to just one. If you only give your reader one action, they are more likely to do it, rather than overwhelming them with too many choices.

Bonus tip: Consider matching your CTA to your content topic. Match the offer and the design.

For example, we usually theme our custom-designed CTAs to our blog topic. In our case study on SEO rankings, we created a CTA that matched the design of the blog header. The CTA offer was also relevant to the topic, which was all about inbound content. In our CTA, we talk about a matching service: the great content we custom write and deliver to our clients.

9. Proofread

It’s always wise to ask a second person to proofread your website copy, as we often miss our own mistakes.

Think about proofreading the content in hard copy, as it’s much harder to spot mistakes on the screen.

10. Hire a Professional Content Writer

As you can see, there’s a lot to consider when writing website copy, which is why hiring a professional content writer is a great option.

Writing Great Web Content: Your Ultimate Guide

July 3, 2018/23 Comments/in Website Content /by Julia McCoy

Fact: There’s too much bad content on the web.

In fact, there’s so much crap, people are having a hard time discerning which sources are legitimate, which facts are actually facts, and who can be trusted.

People’s trust in the mass media has largely eroded, as a Gallup poll has shown. This distrust isn’t random – the internet has largely helped sow these seeds.

So, what happens when you swoop in with accurate, valuable web content?

It’s a light in the dark.

Great web content is a torch that leads the way, setting an example for other content creators.

Best of all, you give readers exactly what they want, need, and crave.

That’s why we’re here with this extensive guide on how to write great web content. Learn how to build this type of lasting, strong web content, right now in today’s “ultimate guide.”

Learn how to build lasting, strong web content, in our ultimate guide on the topic via @JuliaEMcCoy Click To Tweet

The Ultimate Guide: How to Write Great Web Content

7 Ways to Write Great Web Content for Blockbuster Blogs

Make the Headline Sing
1. Appeal to the Human Brain
2. Keep It Clear, but Don’t Insult Their Intelligence
3. Use Better Wording
Give Away Your Best Information in the Intro
1. Start with the Hook
2. Tell Them WHY They Should Care
Organize Your Points
1. Explaining a Concept? Go from Basic to Complicated
2. Writing a Tipsheet? Go from Most-Important to Least-Important
3. Writing a Guide? Go Step-by-Step
Reference and Link to High-Quality Sources
Check Your Research
Write the Right Blog Post Length
Illustrate Your Points with Images

4 Ways to Write Great Web Content for Landing Pages and Web Pages

Write an Actionable Headline
Make the Body Copy Skimmable
Stay Benefit-Focused
Write a CTA That Shouts at the Reader
- Take Cues from the Headline
- Encourage, Inspire, and Motivate the Reader to Act

5 Examples of How to Write Great Web Content (the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly), Plus:

THIS Is How to Write Great Web Content
Examples of Lackluster Web Content – Don’t Make These Mistakes!

When you create great web content, you help set the standard for publishing useful, accurate information online. More in today's guide by @JuliaEMcCoy Click To Tweet

What’s the Anatomy of Great Web Content?

Writing good web content calls for hitting a series of bullseyes.

All of them have to do with satisfying your audience. (No surprise, there.)

No matter which industry you’re writing for, no matter what topic you’re covering, greatness always follows this anatomical structure:

The Brain: Is it educational, informative, or practical?
The Skeleton: Is it well-organized? Does it make sense as a whole?
The Muscle: Does it pull you in? Does it make you want/need to keep reading?
The Heart: Does it entertain you? Does it resonate?

To make sure your web content hits home, include each of these vital parts.

Here’s how.

7 Ways to Write Great Web Content for Blockbuster Blogs

Web content like blogs requires a fair bit of finessing and fiddling to make them truly great.

Take the time to check off each of these boxes, and you’ll be well on your way to web content greatness.

1. Make the Headline Sing

A great piece of web content worth its weight in gold starts with an amazing headline.

We’ve written plenty about how to optimize your headline for SEO, but how do you craft a headline that appeals to readers? How do you create one that’s just plain good?

3 Ways to Write Better Headlines

1. Appeal to the Human Brain

Humans are really predictable.

Luckily, when you’re sitting down to write your headlines, you can bank on this predictability. There are a few things we love to see in headlines, stuff that makes us far more likely to click them or keep scrolling to read the content underneath.

Here’s what we know. Take these points into consideration when you write your headlines. Try to incorporate one (or a few) into your phrase/sentence:

The human brain is attracted to numbers. In fact, a portion of our brain cells is dedicated solely to recognizing and interpreting numerals. When you include them in your headlines, you tap into the human desire to quantify value.
- Examples: “5 Easy Ways to Save Money,” “10 Tips for Baking a Delicious Cake,” “3 Great Reasons to Start a Savings Account”
Humans hate feeling uncertain. Let’s put it this way: uncertainty = anxiety = stress. If you leave your headlines too ambiguous, you’ll stir up that unwanted uncertainty and drive people away. According to a well-known study by Conductor, most people prefer explicit headlines that help them understand what they’re in for if they read your blog or article.

A portion of our brain cells is dedicated solely to recognizing and interpreting numerals. When you include them in your headlines, you tap into the human desire to quantify value. @JuliaEMcCoy Click To Tweet

People are asking questions in search. In particular, more and more people are using voice search to get information, and asking questions in full sentences. Answer them in your headlines! Framing your headlines as answers will also help you rank for popular voice search queries.
- Examples: “How to Jump-Start a Car” “How to Bake a Birthday Cake “Here’s Why You Should Start a Savings Account”

2. Keep It Clear, But Don’t Insult Their Intelligence

When writing headlines, many people forget about a key ingredient: clarity.

Without clarity, your headline will be too confusing to appeal to readers. Plus, it will stir up the uncertainty we mentioned above, which is never a good idea.

Of course, it’s just as easy to go the other direction and come up with a headline that’s way too simplistic and obvious. Case in point:

Instead of stating the obvious, focus on readability.

To help you keep it clear and understandable, consider using a tool that will score the readability of your text, like Readable.io.

Just paste your headline into the textbox, and the tool will automatically give it a letter grade based on how easy it is to read.

The letter grade is based on a bunch of different metrics and scales, including Flesch-Kinkaid.

Another free tool that works similarly is WebpageFX’s Readability Test Tool. Just paste your headline into the “test by direct input” box and click “calculate readability.”

Shoot for a low grade level – that means just about anybody who reads it will understand it.

3. Use Better Wording

Your headline is a short phrase that tells readers what to expect if they choose to read it. However, it’s better to think of it as a pitch rather than a summary.

Think about it: You have only one chance to convince your reader to bite. Suddenly, a trite headline that is nothing but explanatory seems wildly insufficient.

This is why you need to think long and hard about each word you use.

Take, for example, this unassuming headline:

“How to Bake a Cake”

It’s bare-bones at best, and merely states what you’ll learn in the article. Okay. That’s fine, but it doesn’t offer any reason to read more. There are hundreds of millions of articles about this topic on Google. Why should I read this one?

If this is your headline, you’re not giving me a reason to read your blog. You’re literally asking me to pass you up.

Instead, spice things up to show why I should read YOUR post instead of one of the hundreds of millions of other blogs about the exact same topic.

Here are some tips to make your headlines spicier:

Be specific – I don’t have time for generalities; the internet is shouting at me from all directions and my attention is limited. Tell me exactly what I’m in for. (I.e., What kind of cake will I learn to bake? Birthday cake? Chocolate cake? Lemon cake? Fruitcake?)
Use adjectives, but not too many – Adjectives make your headline more enticing and nudge your readers to an emotional reaction. For example, adding positive words like “good,” “great,” “best,” “awesome,” “exciting,” etc. will help create that positive association/emotion. Include at least one adjective to spark the emotion you want readers to feel when they read the actual post.
- However, don’t fall into the trap of stuffing your headline with as many adjectives as possible. According to that Conductor study we already referenced, most people like to see at least one descriptor or superlative in headlines, but no more.

Spice up your verbs – Even if the verb you’re using in your headline seems like the most logical choice, challenge yourself to see if you can find a better one. For example, the headline above uses the verb “bake.” But we could also test out “make,” “create,” “invent,” or “whip up.” (Don’t be afraid to consult a thesaurus to help you find alternatives for boring verbs.)

When I use the above techniques to improve my headline, it transforms:

“How to Bake a Cake” (*yawn*)

OR “How to Whip Up the Best Darn Birthday Cake Ever”

Which blog would YOU want to read?

2. Give Away Your Best Information in the Intro

Once your headline draws them in, you have to keep convincing your readers to stay on your page.

To do it, you have to write the opposite way from what you learned in school.

1. Start with the Hook

Usually, with school papers, we hold our main argument close to our chests and wait until we’re well past the introduction to reveal it.

You can’t do that with online writing.

How do you write content for a website?

You have to start with the hook.

That’s right.

To build strong web content, give away your main point, your best information, at the very beginning. @JuliaEMcCoy Click To Tweet

Then, use the rest of the post to offer supporting facts.

Here’s an example from a fairly recent post on our site (Why Your Content Marketing Must Have Focus).

In the intro, I tell you my main point right away: Lack of focus in content marketing will lead to lower quality content, less revenue, and lost readership. Then, to lead into the rest of the blog, I promise to tell you how to focus your content efforts:

I did not withhold this huge point until later in the blog – I gave it to you right away, and then I promised to prove it AND provide solutions.

2. Tell Them WHY They Should Care

The reason you want to give away your best stuff right off the bat is the online reader’s attention span – it’s short.

They begin reading your blog wondering why they should care about what you’re saying. If you don’t tell them, their mind will wander. They’ll switch tabs. They’ll click the “x” in the top right corner of your page.

So, TELL THEM.

Start with the “why.” Give them a reason to stay on your blog – immediately.

Of course, there are more online writing tricks to keep your readers on your page. Check out my guide to SEO writing.

3. Organize Your Points

As a content creator, it’s your job to guide your reader through your research and thought processes effortlessly.

It shouldn’t feel like work to read your blog posts.

A huge part of making it easy is organizing your points logically. Of course, the best approach to this organization depends on what you’re writing about.

A) Explaining a Concept? Go from Basic to Complicated

Let’s say you’re writing a blog post about string theory, a concept in physics, for people who don’t know what it is.

Where do you start? How do you lay it out for them?

Start broad and basic, and then move to the more complicated aspects.

A great example is this String Theory for Dummies Cheat Sheet. It starts out broad, laying out the basic gist of string theory in the intro:

Then, it dives into features of string theory, from most basic to most complicated:

This technique helps lay the groundwork for your reader, giving them information like rungs on a ladder. Each nugget of knowledge acts as one rung. The higher they climb, the more they’ll understand.

B) Writing a Tipsheet? Go from Most-Important to Least-Important

If you’re writing a series of tips, tricks, or hacks, you don’t need to write them in any specific order – but you should try to give away your most important, best tips first. @JuliaEMcCoy Click To Tweet

Much like how you should start with “why” in your introduction, this technique helps keep your reader on the page.

So, arrange your points with the most interesting or useful tips first, then move to ones that are more general or well-known.

C) Writing a Guide? Go Step-by-Step

Organization-wise, writing a guide is very close to explaining a concept.

For both, you start with the most basic information, then gradually move to the complicated stuff. The main difference is a guide must include different steps or stages to help the reader reach the desired result.

As such, start with the most basic steps first, then finish up with the most complex ones. Don’t forget to use different headings to help organize each step (including numbered lists), and make sure you directly address the reader like you’re coaching them on what to do.

4. Reference and Link to High-Quality Sources

Writing good web content isn’t just about how you organize your thoughts or present your information. It’s also about proving your statements and assertions are accurate and based on research/knowledge.

How do you do this? Make sure you reference and link to high-quality sources.

Here’s when to cite a source and provide a link:

Any time you state a statistic, i.e. “8 out of 10 people will read your blog headline.”
Any time you state a fact that isn’t common knowledge, i.e. “Most online readers don’t read to the end of an article, according to Slate.”
Any time you reference another website, i.e. “Hemingway Editor is a great tool for self-editing.”

If you’re not sure if you should cite and link to a source, here’s a good rule of thumb: When in doubt, cite the source.

How to Judge the Quality of an Internet Source

To help improve your search engine rankings, you should try to link to only high-quality, high-authority websites.

How do you know if a website is high-quality? There’s a quick way to find out:

Download an SEO browser extension, like SEOquake or MozBar.
For every website you want to link to, first check the domain authority (DA) score. The higher the score, the more authoritative the site.
Sites will be scored on a scale from 1-100. In general, any site that scores above 50 is authoritative enough to link to. Moz will score all the listings in search results, making it easy to find authority sources:

4. You can also check the DA of a website directly from their page. It will be listed on the MoBar like so:

Remember: Well-known websites and brands probably don’t need to be checked. (Think The New York Times, Content Marketing Institute, or Forbes.)

5. Check Your Research

Along with vetting your sources, you should also double-check that you’re linking to original sources.

What do I mean by this?

If you cite a statistic from a study, link to the original study, not a recap of the study from a different site, or someone who merely cites the study.

For example, there are lots of stats round-ups like this one:

There are lots and lots of valuable stats listed here about content marketing, but this page itself isn’t the source.

If you want to include some of these stats in your next blog, you have to do some digging to find the original posts.

In an infographic full of stats, it’s usually at the bottom, in small print:

To make it easier to find the stat you want to cite on its original source page, use your browser’s “find” feature. (For Chrome users, just hit “Ctrl + F” on your keyboard. Then enter the statistic or phrase in question to find it on the page.)

You can also search PDFs this way:

Once you find the stat you’re looking for, you can cite the original source. This makes it much easier for your audience to read further about your topic/research. It’s also a better linking practice, which is better for rankings.

6. Write the Right Blog Post Length

Great website content is thorough.

And, usually, thorough = comprehensive = long form.

You’re not skimming the surface of a topic – you’re diving deep into its depths to explore every nook and cranny.

However long it takes to thoroughly explore your topic is exactly the length your blog post should be.

Keep in mind, though, that 74% of blog posts that get read are under 3 minutes long, according to Buffer.

That amounts to at least 1,600 words.

The content that gets the most shares is usually audience-dependent. For example, Buffer found that their most popular posts were 2,500 words and over.

The main point: Despite what you may believe, long-form content does not daunt online readers. Don’t be afraid to go long when you’re figuring out how to write web content.

For more reasons to create long-form content, plus the best ways to do it, check out our long-form content guide.

7. Illustrate Your Points with Images

Here’s another factor inherent in most kinds of powerful, inspirational, great web content:

Images are peppered in with the text.

The best examples of this come from Neil Patel – each post is filled with examples, screenshots, and infographics that expand on points in the text.

It makes sense. Images add visual interest, clarity, and even humor or excitement to web content.

Images alongside the text also make it more fun to read.

Do you agree?

The key is to use images that suit your brand’s tone of voice. If you have a more formal or elegant vibe, you probably wouldn’t use gifs (like the one above) in your blogs. Instead, you might want to stick to graphs, charts, and illustrative images.

However, if your voice is more laid-back, lighthearted, or casual, you can and should add a little humor in measured doses.

For more help on using images in your blog posts, check out our ultimate guide on creating blog images.

How to Write Great Web Content for Landing Pages and Web Pages

Landing pages are a different beast from blog posts.

This type of web content serves a different purpose, so it requires a different approach.

Landing pages serve as a place for visitors to land when they click one of your ads or CTAs elsewhere (in an email, a blog post, etc.).

Directing your traffic to one of these pages can help push them toward the action you want them to complete, like signing up for your newsletter or making a purchase.

Here’s an example of one of our higher-performing landing pages. This one generates a few subscribers daily. This particular page allows you to download our Easy ABC Content Strategy Checklist:

All the content on this page serves to get you primed to do one thing:

Enter your information to get a free download.

As you can see, landing pages are incredibly valuable for traffic-to-lead conversions.

Sound good? Here’s how to write great web content for your own super-powered landing pages.

1. Write an Actionable Headline

Great landing page web content begins and ends with a call-to-action. Start off strong and infuse that into your headline. Here’s how:

Use verbs and power words – Your landing page exists to convince/push the reader to complete the desired Think about what you want visitors to do once they land on your content, then tell them to do it using verbs and power words.

Here’s a good example from HubSpot:

The headline includes a motivating verb: “Get Started”

Here are lots of other suggestions for strong verbs and power words to use in your headline and get things off to a roaring start:

Via CoSchedule

Don’t get too wordy – It’s important to keep landing page headlines concise and to-the-point. If you get too wordy, the direction you want to move readers will become lost.

Here’s a landing page with a headline that’s too long (from none other than Adobe):

Not only is it too wordy, there’s also zero action verbs or motivating language.

Even worse, the CTA simply reads “Submit”.

? Not good.

Use the word “you” – According to a HubSpot study, CTAs that directly address the reader (using the word “you”) are 42% better at converting them. As such, speak to the reader in your web content headline and make it 10x more powerful.

Here’s a great example of web content from Copy Hackers that uses all of the above principles:

2. Make the Body Copy Skimmable

You’ve perfected an actionable, motivating headline for your landing page web content. Now you’re ready to craft your body copy.

There are arguments in favor of both short and long landing page content. According to Crazy Egg, the length you should choose is the one that meshes best with your audience.

However, no matter how long or short you go, you should always strive to make your web content body copy skimmable.

That means a few things:

Short paragraphs
Lots of line breaks
Using numbered and bulleted lists where logical
Using H2s, H3s, and even H4s when necessary

Here’s an example of super-long web content that still manages to be easy-to-read – but only because the content is organized with attention to all of the above principles:

Image via The Daily Egg

As you can imagine, this page would be a nightmare to read without all that organization. For best results, don’t skip this essential part of the web content equation.

3. Stay Benefits-Focused

When writing web content, staying benefits-focused also means staying user-focused.

That’s because benefits convey your product/service features as they relate to the reader.

In other words, when you stay benefits-focused, you’re honing in on what interests your audience. You answer this burning question for them: How will this product/service/etc. positively affect their life?

Here’s an example of benefits-focused web content from the landing page for the Barnes & Noble Membership program. Benefits are underlined in red:

For more insights on how to stay benefits-focused in your web content, read our guide to conversion-friendly landing page copy.

4. Write a CTA That Shouts at the Reader

Web content without a call-to-action is ineffective. Period. When users land on a page, they won’t know what to do unless you direct them. @JuliaEMcCoy Click To Tweet

So, direct them! Here are a few simple ways you can do that.

A) Take Cues from the Headline

The headline you crafted for your landing page web content is perfect to refer back to when writing your CTA.

For a cohesive page, make these two components match or mirror each other. That way, they’ll reinforce the desired action.

Here’s an example of a strong CTA from CoSchedule.

The headline says “It’s time to fire makeshift marketing”. Love it!

Meanwhile, the CTA mirrors the headline: “Kick makeshift marketing to the curb”

The two play off each other, which builds up the CTA nicely. Similar wording helps drive the desired action home.

2. Encourage, Inspire, and Motivate the Reader to Act

A great CTA is truly motivating.

It will direct user action, but it will do so in an encouraging, inspirational way.

Take the CTA above as a great example: “Kick makeshift marketing to the curb”.

When we think of the popular saying “kick it to the curb,” we’re reminded of the freeing feeling of ridding ourselves of stressful or annoying baggage.

When you kick something to the curb, you’re lightening your load. You’re putting a spring back in your step. Now that’s inspiring.

For the CTAs you include in your web content, try the same tactic – put a little inspiration in there.

One of our own CTAs at EW does just that by inspiring you to think of content creation like baking bread or whipping up a fresh dish. To get a fresh final product that will tantalize their audience, all they have to do is step up to our “counter” and order:

Helping your audience to think of taking action in a novel way is a great method to inspire them.

How to Write Great Web Content: 5 Good, Bad, and Ugly Examples

Want to know how to write good content for a website?

Learn by example.

Here are some good ones (and not-so-good ones).

THIS Is How to Write Great Content for your Website

Take inspiration from these blogs and web pages:

1. CoSchedule

CoSchedule regularly nails great content with their comprehensive blog posts. From the headline to the intro, to the organization, the writing, the research, and the value provided, you can’t go wrong studying their posts for a primer on how to write great web content.

2. SmartBlogger

For examples of great blog posts that are fun to read and informative, look to SmartBlogger. This blog, in particular, is well organized and bursting with valuable information.

3. Airstory

Want stellar examples of landing pages and web pages? Check out Airstory’s website – they nail every facet of great web content.

Examples of Lackluster Web Content – Don’t Make These Mistakes!

Bad web content is out there. Here are a few examples to help make the distinction clear.

1. Confusing and distracting

Here’s an example of a landing page gone wrong – there’s no clear headline, no visible call-to-action (you have to hunt for it), and too many little pieces of information screaming for your attention.

Seriously, what am I supposed to do on this webpage?

2. Thin and lackluster

If you’re writing blog content, don’t follow this example. It’s supposed to be a blog post with a recipe for a brownie ice cream sandwich, but the ingredients list unhelpfully calls for “brownies”.

Uh, what?

Plus, the content is nonexistent – there’s no information about what this tastes like, suggestions for serving, tips for decorating, or ideas for variations. We just get super-vague ingredients and instructions.

In short, there’s nothing here of value for me.

The Final Steps for Writing Good Web Content

The anatomy of web content that wins includes brains, muscle, strong bones, and heart – lots and lots of heart.

You get all of that and more when you include all the components we’ve mentioned here in our guide.

Great web content is thorough, well-organized and logical, well-researched, easy to read, and provides that extra something that keeps readers on the page.

After you’ve crafted this kind of content – after you’ve poured in hours of work and painstaking attention to detail – make sure you go over it with a fine-tooth comb.

Write with care, research with detail, and edit, edit, edit.

And remember…

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is outstanding web content that wins over readers.

How to Write Reader & Conversion-Friendly Landing Page Copy

September 26, 2017/0 Comments/in Website Content /by Julia McCoy

A landing page is chock-full of marketing ROI potential.

If you do it right, a landing page has the power to work miracles.

It can pull your visitor toward your brand, continue to pique their interest, and, finally, accomplish the Big One.

It will convince them to hand over their personal contact details.

They’ll become a quantifiable lead.

….*abra-cadabra*….

You can’t get there, though, without knowing how to write good landing page copy.

This is basically copy that expertly guides the visitor, meets their expectations, persuades them, and builds trust with them –all at the same time.

Because this is quite a Task, with a capital “T,” we’re going to divulge some tips for writing landing page copy that can do it all.

First, there’s something you need to understand.

What a Landing Page Is (and What It Isn’t)

Some people use their homepage or contact page as landing pages. This is a huge mistake.

The most common use for a landing page is giving visitors a place to “land” after they click on one of your ads.

You’ve piqued their interest – they want to learn more. You got that click. But, if you take them to your homepage after telling them about an offer or deal in an ad, that’s confusing.

That’s like taking them to an ice cream shop with 100 flavors but abandoning them at the entrance. You’ve given them no reason to try the ice cream – no idea which flavor is the best and no motivation to go inside.

You’ve got to give guidance if you want them to convert.

Your landing page, therefore, is all about the call-to-action. Because you’re trying to get the reader to do something, every other piece of information on the page needs to line up with that CTA.

In short, every element on that page must work hard. No cop-outs or lazy writing, here. Every single sentence is important.

Landing Page Copy, Deconstructed: 5 Elements of a Razor-Sharp Page that Works

Landing page copy is composed of a variety of elements. Each will contribute toward urging your visitor to take you up on the CTA.

Before you begin, though, you must know the answers to the following questions, according to Kissmetrics.

They’ll give your page its direction and purpose:

What am I offering? – You’re directing traffic to this page because you have an offer they can’t refuse. What is it? This is your CTA. Whether it’s “Sign up now!” or “Get your free download!,” it’s the most important part of the page. You must know what it is before you can start writing, according to Copy Hackers.
How will the visitor benefit from the offer? – If you take too long to tell the visitor about the benefits, they’ll fail to care. They’ll leave, because they won’t know what’s in it for them. Tell them, and tell them quickly.
What do visitors need to know to accept the offer? – Make sure they understand the offer inside-out so they’ll have no hesitations about proceeding with the CTA.

Once you’ve got your answers, you can move on to writing the page. The most critical elements are the headline, the description, the benefits, the social proof, and the call-to-action.

1. The Headline

No matter what kind of copy you’re writing, a good headline is indispensable. It’s no different for landing page copy.

Make your headline echo your CTA. – Your visitors need to know exactly what you want them to do, and why they’re on the page, from the first few seconds. Make it abundantly clear and echo your CTA in your headline (and vice-versa). For example, if the offer is a discount on software, your headline should say something about that software. Tying into that, your CTA should be akin to “Get your discounted software today!”

Look at how HubSpot’s headline echoes their CTA on this landing page for one of their products:

Go bold. – If you can make a bold claim in your headline, do it. However, you must be able to back it up. If you can’t provide evidence, don’t say it.
Get to the point. – Avoid filler words and fluff. These deaden your copy and make it harder to read. For instance, here’s a clunky headline: “In Order to Go the Distance, You Can Get a Faster Car.” Omit the filler phrases “in order to” and “you can.” The slimmed-down, leaner headline is more impactful: “Go the Distance. Get a Faster Car.”
Be clear and simple. – Again, confusion is your worst enemy. The point of your entire page should be crystal-clear from the headline on.
Spend enough time on your headline. – Your headline sets the tone for the entire page. Spend enough time on this piece to make sure it’s really good, and the rest of the landing page should follow suit.

2. The Description

The next three elements – the description, the benefits, and the social proof – go hand-in-hand. Often, the description is composed of the latter two elements. The benefits show your prospective lead what’s in it for them. The social proof shows that it does what you say it will do.

Basically, this is the space where you tell the person why they should follow through with the offer. Here is where you can provide evidence for your claims. You can also list compelling statistics, or generally show why what you’re offering is so great for them.

The better your descriptive copy, the better it will lead visitors to the CTA.

Just remember there are some basic best practices to keep in mind:

A) Shorter and simpler are always better. – No matter what, always remember you’re taking up the visitor’s time as long as you have them on your landing page. You must make it worth their while. Unbounce calls this ROTI – “return on time invested.” If visitors feel like you’re waffling, waxing poetic, droning on, or wasting their time, they’ll leave without converting.

B) Break up information into chunks with bullets and sub-headers. – Just like elsewhere on the net, users are skimming and scanning your page, not reading in-depth. Optimize for this tendency and break it up. Use short paragraphs, bulleted lists, and bold sub-headers to both organize and enhance the readability of the page.

For inspiration, take a look at how Adobe Photoshop breaks up their landing page and describes their product:

C) Make the most important facts noticeable. – Again, you’re dealing with short attention spans. If you want your visitors to read the most important facts about your offer (i.e. “Join thousands of people who have already signed up!” or “75% of customers said they saw improvement with XYZ”), you need to use them in sub-headers, highlight them, or some similar tactic. Don’t bury them in your copy, because those things are valuable information that will help a visitor convert.

Check out how Clue, a women’s health tracking app, highlighted one of their stats:

D) Stay on topic. – All of your landing page copy elements must work together for the single purpose. They need to help you achieve that exchange between you and your potential lead: your offer for their contact details. If even one sentence has nothing to do with your CTA, get rid of it. You need to be on topic down to every line, word, and letter.

3. The Benefits

It’s not about you, your product, or your service. It’s about the benefits they can provide to your potential lead.

One big mistake you can make on the landing page is to go on and on about how great your solution is without relating it to the customer. Of course, you think your solution is great – it’s your business. Why should the customer agree? Why should they care?

The truth is, they won’t. Not until you can tell them how great your solution is for them.

This is why you need to be benefits-focused, always, on your landing page. Tell your potential leads exactly how and why your product/service/solution benefits them. Relate it to their lives, their work, their family, their goals – whatever it improves for them on a personal level.

4. The Social Proof

Social proof is arguably the most effective form of evidence you can provide. Social proof is the internet’s version of positive word-of-mouth. It works because people are more likely to trust their peers’ opinions rather than company claims.

Here’s a perfect example of social proof on Interior Define’s landing page for a 15% discount:

Note the inclusion of testimonials. The all-great-and-powerful testimonial is the epitome of social proof. You’ve got a mix that includes a satisfied customer, a glowing review, and a peer recommendation – all in one package.

If you have testimonials, they’re perfect to use on landing pages. This is proof that what you’re claiming is true.

Think of it this way: Your prospects don’t know you from Adam. They have no reason to trust you, unless you give them a reason. Testimonials show them people who do.

Frame a powerful testimonial with copy that highlights it. Make sure you note who the person is, and if you can, put a face to a name.

A good example is how CoSchedule used a testimonial from a trusted authority:

5. The Call-to-Action

We’ve come to the ultimate piece of your landing page.

This is what influences every other element. The CTA is the entire point, and if you don’t have a good one, you need to get back to the drawing board.

Here are some tips on how to craft a strong CTA for your page.

Start with a strong verb. – A strong CTA starts with an equally strong verb. Good ones that inspire action include “try,” “download,” “start,” “get,” “begin,” or “subscribe.”

Starting your CTA with a strong verb is essentially a command, if an informal one.

For instance, for a CTA like “Download your free trial today!”, the “you” is implied – “[You] Download your free trial today!”

This is far harder to resist than saying, for instance, “Our free trial is available now!”

Notice that the first example is user-focused. The second, meanwhile, focuses on you, the brand (“our free trial”), which, again, is not what you want to do.

Photo service Shutterfly uses a line that starts with a sturdy verb: “Make My Book”.

It’s a good CTA because it’s simple, it uses that strong verb, and is in command form. Said verb leads off in no-nonsense fashion (handily, it’s also the name of their custom book-making service):

Use numbers, if applicable. – If you can, make your CTA even sweeter with numbers. For instance, “Download your free trial today and make your workflow 2x as effective!”

This gives your visitors a great reason to follow through.

Show enthusiasm. – An exclamation point after your CTA makes it pop out. That’s because, in general, you should be using this punctuation sparingly, if at all, in the rest of your copy.

Plus, an exclamation point evokes enthusiasm for this great deal you’re offering the prospect. That’s a positive emotion, which may make the person feel more positively about following through.

7. The Whole Picture

If you wrote your landing page copy the right way, you should have had the whole picture in mind while creating each piece.

This is the final big tip: Don’t write your headline, your CTA, your descriptive copy, or any other element in a vacuum.

Always be thinking about how each individual part fits into the whole, like a puzzle piece. Each does a lot of work to contribute to the effectiveness of the picture, but none of them work on their own.

Your great headline won’t convince anyone to convert if your CTA is confusing. Even if you have a fantastic CTA, poor or clunky writing in your descriptive copy will sink the ship.

To create a landing page that’s a useful tool, you have to make sure all the parts work.

Every Detail Contributes to Fantastic Landing Page Copy

Once you’ve got the basic elements of a landing page handled, you’re on track for success.

Your page will not just be a place for visitors to land after clicking an ad, it will be a lead-generating tool that will work overtime for you.

Keep in mind that your landing page is only as good as the time you put into it.

A page you slapped together in 20 minutes will rely on chance to garner leads – You’re probably only worried about how your product or service sounds.

A thoughtfully-constructed page relies on strategy. – You’re jumping into the potential lead’s headspace, trying to understand what matters to them.

You know which path is proven.

Do the work, write like you mean it, and you’ll see results.

Writing landing page copy isn’t easy.

If you need experts to take the reins and handle it, Express Writers is here for you. Try us on for size today for better copy.

Decoding the Life Expectancy of Your Website Content

June 7, 2017/2 Comments/in Website Content /by Julia McCoy

You spend hours, sometimes even days or weeks, creating engaging content that your audience will love.

You post it to your preferred social media platforms and are slowly but surely generating some user engagement.

But then it stops. No more shares, likes, pins, backlinks…nothing.

Since you’ve optimized your content for SEO, your focus now shifts to working towards getting to the first page of the rankings.

But how long does this take? And does there come a point where your content is no longer relevant to search engines or your audience?

Put simply; what is the lifespan of the content you create?

Let’s dive in and find out.

What is the Average Life Expectancy of Your Website Content?

As far as social media goes, content shelf-life is rather short.

But this isn’t that surprising. After all, MarketingProfs estimates that there are over 2 million blog posts written and published every day.

A large portion of those blog posts are then featured on social media platforms, which is why it’s just not possible for content to last long there.

Check out these content lifespan stats from Boost the News…

For a majority of these blog posts, about 74% of them, website traffic related to the post peaks on the day it is published.
Within one week, traffic drops drastically by an average of 90%.
And after one month, the average traffic to the content is a mere 1.7% of the peak total.

Yikes! The life expectancy of your website content is looking rather dire.

So, based on social media engagement and initial website traffic, we’re looking at a content life span between three hours and one week.

That’s pretty disappointing. Especially after you spent about the same amount of time creating the content.

But fortunately, it doesn’t stop there. Search engines provide the ultimate opportunity to extend the life of your content.

And it’s where the majority of your focus should lie.

The 4 Major Factors That Determine the Lifespan of Your Content

Google makes changes to their algorithm at a rate of about 500-600 times per year.

Many of these changes are subtle and go unnoticed. But that wasn’t the case when they introduced their new web indexing system, Caffeine, in June of 2010.

The goal of the new indexing system was to provide 50% fresher results for web searches.

What that meant for website owners was that, in order for their content to stay relevant and featured in search rankings long-term, they needed to take certain actions to make that happen.

And while this ranking modification happened way back in 2010, Google continues to improve their indexing to value fresh content above all else.

But what exactly is ‘fresh content’? And what can you do to make sure your content remains fresh?

Let’s take a look at the four most important factors.

1. The Strength of the Content

In any evaluation of the life expectancy of content, we’d be silly not to mention the importance of the actual strength of the content.

It’s easy to judge the life expectancy of bad content. Maybe, if your headline is good enough and you share it on social media, it’ll last a few hours or even days.

But is that what you’re really going for?

Without great content, there are no backlinks. There is no engagement.

There is nothing but a few hours of curious people clicking the link to your article and promptly leaving your website as they realize that you aren’t delivering what your headline promises.

So, before anything else, you need to put in the work to create amazing, SEO optimized content.

2. Inception Date

Like a lot of things with Google’s algorithms and ranking methods, the influence of the inception date is difficult to measure.

What we do know, however, is that there can be two different types of inception scores.

Justin Briggs, of Briggsby SEO, lays it out like this:

Once the search engines have defined an inception date, it becomes a part of the Freshness Score of the content.

Briggs simplified how this works through this graph:

As you can see, search results initially lean towards the content with the most recent inception date. This is especially true when you’re dealing with queries that are date sensitive (ex. sports scores, data, statistics, etc.).

But, after a certain amount of time has passed, the influence of the inception date is no longer as valuable.

And, at this point, the factors that follow begin to take precedent.

3. Updates to Core Content

As would be expected, regularly updated content receives a higher Freshness Score than content that’s never updated.

But the amount and type of change also directly impacts how much the score changes.

In Google’s 2011 US Patent application on Document Scoring, they mention:

“In order to not update every link’s freshness from a minor edit of a tiny unrelated part of a document, each updated document may be tested for significant changes (e.g., changes to a large portion of the document or changes to many different portions of the document) and a link’s freshness may be updated (or not updated) accordingly.”

As an example, let’s say you put together a blog post in 2014 titled ‘The Ultimate Guide to Facebook Ads’.

If you were to go in today and simply change the link along with the date and time tags, Google would almost certainly ignore the change.

If, however, you were to go in and update the content based on modern day best practices for Facebook Ads, you’d be much more likely to have your Freshness Score positively affected.

And this all makes sense. After all, Google didn’t become the biggest search engine in the world by accident.

They did it by ensuring that user search queries were consistently answered with the best possible results. The only way to do that is to provide updated, relevant results.

At the end of the day, if you want to extend the life of your content, it’s crucial that you update as much as is necessary to ensure that the post reflects what is relevant now.

4. Rate of Link Growth

After analyzing over 1 million Google search results, Backlinko founder Brian Dean concluded:

“Backlinks remain an extremely important ranking factor. We found the number of domains linking to a page correlated with rankings more than any other factor.”

That means, out of all the factors that go into SEO success, backlinks are more important than any of them.

Remember, Google is trying to deliver relevant, updated search results to users.

If they’re finding that your page is continually seeing an increase in its link growth rate, that signals to them that your content is still relevant.

But this goes both ways. As Google’s 2011 patent application for document scoring also states:

“…a downward trend in the number or rate of new links (e.g., based on a comparison or rate of new links in a recent time period versus an older time period) over time could signal to search engine 125 that a document is stale, in which case search engine 125 may decrease the document’s score.”

Once again, this makes sense. More backlinks cause your Freshness Score to increase while receiving less cause it to decrease and become stale over time.

It’s also important to note, however, that the Freshness Score of the site you’re receiving links from plays a major role in how much of an impact backlinks have on ranking.

So going out and utilizing black hat SEO techniques to gain backlinks from any and every site possible isn’t going to extend the life of your content. In fact, it may do more harm than good.

If you want to do it the right way, your first focus should be on updating your content to become more relevant to modern times.

From there, you can utilize white hat SEO techniques to earn backlinks that positively impact the long term ranking of your content.

Keep in mind, as Moz contributor Kristina Kledzik points out, that the effect of link building takes time to make a significant impact in rankings.

As you can see from this graph, Kledzik found that it takes about 10 weeks, on average, to see a one rank jump.

What can be gathered from all of this information is that link building is a long term strategy that, when done correctly, can increase the ranking of your content over time.

And by focusing on generating backlinks from sites with a high Domain Authority, you can speed up the process of increasing your search rankings through this strategy.

The Conclusion: What Really is the Life Expectancy of Your Website Content?

As much as you don’t want to hear this, the only real answer to give here is…it depends.

It would be virtually impossible to crawl through the billions, probably even trillions, of blog posts that have been posted on the web and come up with a concrete answer.

And even if it was possible, the range in the life of different pieces of content would be so great that knowing the average would be irrelevant.

What we can do, however, is tell you what you can do to ensure that your content lasts as long as possible.

The 3 Steps to Extending the Life of Your Content

If you want to give your content a shot at lasting for years instead of hours or days, following these three steps will help.

Step #1 – Create Amazing, SEO Content

As we’ve already mentioned, this step is absolutely vital if you want your content to achieve a lengthy life in search rankings.

Search engines like Google have been working diligently for years to continue to ensure that quality, fresh content is the most important factor in their rankings.

And, as SEO specialist Sujan Patel says, you simply can’t outsmart Google. He goes on to mention:

“Google hires some of the top scientists, engineers, and PhDs in the world every year. The odds of some ‘sneaky trick’ you’ve found on an SEO blog outsmarting this brain trust aren’t very good.”

If you want to give yourself a chance in the long-term game, focus on creating epic content above all else.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Extend the life expectancy of your online content in three simple tips from @ExpWriters!” quote=”Extend the life expectancy of your online content in three simple tips from @ExpWriters!”]

Step #2 – Update Core Content as Often as Necessary

We’ve already touched on the necessity of updating core content to ensure that you maximize its Freshness Score.

But spending your time updating every single post isn’t very efficient. Instead, as Joe Fylan of Elegant Themes suggests, you should:

“Prioritize posts that receive a lot of traffic, are seasonally-relevant, or that have received a lot of shares in the past.”

As far as what to update, Fylan mentions that you should:

“Bring the information up to date, add more content, add nicer images, improve your SEO, and include internal links to newer content.”

Step #3 – Work to Continually Build Quality Backlinks

When you’ve identified the posts that you plan on updating, be sure that you also focus your efforts on continually building quality backlinks to that content.

As we’ve mentioned, content that receives several backlinks early on but starts to taper off as time goes on can, in the eyes of Google, be seen as stale content.

Nathan Gotch, of Gotch SEO, put together a tremendous guide on how to build backlinks in 2017 that can help you accomplish this task consistently.

The Final Word on Decoding the Life Expectancy of Your Website Content

As much as I’d love to give you an exact answer about the life expectancy of your website content and how long you can expect your content to last, it just isn’t possible.

If you’re able to follow the steps outlined above, however, you’ll give your content the best shot at achieving a lifespan that’s several years long.

For help with creating epic content that readers and search engines will love, give our experienced team a shout. We look forward to hearing from you!

Learn How to Improve Your Content Writing: 7 Easy Ways to Buff up Your Content Now

April 5, 2017/20 Comments/in Website Content /by Julia McCoy

What’s the one thing you need to do to master a new skill?

Practice, of course!

This is as true with learning to play tennis as it is mastering content writing: the more you practice, the better you get.

Today, content writing is a critical talent, and mastering it can help you stand out in the crowded online world.

Sound hard? Don’t worry, it’s easier than you might think. Just follow these seven simple tips, and you’ll be on the top of your content writing game in no time at all.

How to Improve Your Content Writing: Why Creating Great Online Content Matters So Much

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for all of 2016 (and maybe the decade before that, as well), you’ve probably interacted with some form of online content.

Whether it was a blog, a webpage, a social media post, or even a product description, online content has touched your life in one way or another.

This industry is nowhere near dying. In fact, it’s the opposite.

Today, online content is one of the primary sources that humans use to communicate with one another.

Sound crazy?

Think about it!

Regardless of what you do for work or fun, chances are that you interact with some form of digital content every day. Do you read blogs? Do you surf the web? Do you shop online? If so, you’re interacting with online content!

According to Adweek:

The average person interacts with 285 pieces of content every single day.
This rounds out to 54,000 words (the length of a novel) and 1,000 different links – consumed daily.
A whopping 63% of that content is written, while 37% is media content.

If that doesn’t put the importance of online content in perspective, I’m not sure what will!

Due to the rise of digital content, and the level of importance that consumers now place on it, learning how to improve your content writing is one of the smartest things you can do.

How to Improve Your Content Writing in 7 Steps

Regardless of whether you’re a marketer, blogger, small business owner, or just an online enthusiast, improving your content writing is one of the best ways to succeed in the digital world.

Here are seven tips to help you head into 2017 strong:

1. Up your image game

For most people, “adding an image” to a blog means plugging in a stock photo for the featured picture.

This is not enough.

Today, images make all the difference in a person’s willingness to read your content. In fact, HubSpot reports that content that includes a relevant image gets a massive 94% more views than content that is only text.

Fortunately, you don’t have to be a professional photographer to add images to your posts. Today, there are dozens of free and high-quality stock image sites you can take advantage of. You can also hire out custom images, or create your own on a site like Canva.

No matter what you do, make sure any images you include in your posts are high-quality – there should be no blurring or odd proportions – and relevant.

2. Dig deeper than average to verify facts and statistics

It’s easy to fill your writing with general statements. It’s much harder, however, to go to the source and find relevant, solid statistics to back up your claims. This is one simple way to beef up your online writing.

Today, it’s easier than ever to find quality statistics for any industry you’re involved in. A simple Google search with the word “statistic” at the end will reveal thousands, if not millions, of hits. Before you go plugging them into your content, however, you need to know how to determine what is a high-quality source and what’s not.

One fantastic, 100% trustworthy tool for determining this is Alexa.

Alexa is an Amazon subsidiary that allows users to access traffic and rank estimates based on mass browsing behavior. Alexa’s ranks are updated daily and the tool offers a quick view of sites that are high-quality and sites that are low-quality – the lower the site ranking number, the better it’s doing online.

To use Alexa, just head to Alexa.com/siteinfo, and type in your target URL. If it ranks over 100,000, it’s a high-quality link that you can include in your content.

Save this handy-dandy visual guide:

3. Add an infographic

Right now, infographics are shared and liked on social media three times as often as any other type of content out there.

For an example of how an infographic can be used in a piece of online content check, out our recent post “Five Tips for Creating Irresistibly Tasty Holiday Content for Your Readers.”

This piece features the five tips as copy and designed into a fun infographic, hand-drawn and custom created in Adobe InDesign by our lead designer.

While we could have just written the tips out, HubSpot’s statistics show that people play close attention to information-carrying images.

Never created an infographic before? It might be best to leave it to a pro.

We offer full-service infographic creation! Visit Infographics in the Content Shop.

Like any image, the infographics you use in your content must always be high-quality, relevant, and professional.

4. Publish a case study

A case study is one piece of content that announces “I have arrived!”

Here’s why: case studies are not something that every content writer produces. They take time, they take expertise, and they take real, demonstrable success that your clients are willing to let you share.

Because of this, they are an incredibly powerful type of online content that can serve to enhance your reputation and help you land more customers.

If you’re interested in publishing a case study, you’ll have to set a time frame and start paying close attention to your results. If you have a specific job or interaction with the client that you believe would be fodder for a case study, reach out to the client and ask for permission to share the details.

Once you’ve done that, hire a professional case study writer to help you get started.

5. Write more often

Malcolm Gladwell, the best-selling author, is commonly quoted as having said that it takes 10,000 hours of “deliberate practice” to become an expert at something. If that’s true, the more you write, the better at it you’ll be.

While there are dozens of technical or professional ways to improve your online copywriting, one of the best things that you can do to get better is simply to write more.

The more you write, the more honed your skills will be, and the more efficient you’ll be at spotting mistakes.

In addition to making you a better writer, writing more often can also help you become more visible online, since it will naturally increase your social shares and enhance your network of readers.

6. Use a headline analyzer to test your titles

One of the simplest and most overlooked tools for writers is the headline analyzer. There are several different models out there, many of which are free.

Designed to test a headline for its concentration of emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and power words, a headline analyzer takes your headline, evaluates it, and lets you know what you need to improve.

If you’re just learning to craft a great headline, a headline analyzer is a fantastic way to catch common mistakes and pivot your writing style accordingly.

Even for writers who are already professionals, a headline analyzer is a fantastic way to improve your online content and learn how to be a better writer across the board.

7. Find out which topics your readers want

Doing some research into trending topics in your industry is another fantastic way to immediately improve your online writing. Use a tool like BuzzSumo to locate trending content in your industry.

If you’d prefer to take it to the “streets,” head to a website like Quora or Reddit to figure out what your audience is talking about and what their questions are.

While most people assume that the topics they come up with are the ones their audience wants to read, the audience is the best resource for figuring out what you should be writing about.

With that in mind go to the places your audience hangs out. See what they are talking about. Once you’ve done that, bring it back to your blog. This is a sure-fire recipe for becoming appealing and compelling online.

Learning to Improve Your Content Writing Just got Easy

There are tons of cheap tips for learning to improve writing on the web.

At the end of the day, however, improving your online copywriting comes down to wanting to do it.

Here at Express Writers, we’re passionate about helping you improve your online writing. With the help of these seven tips, you can become a better online writer, learn more about the digital world around you, and grow your skills in 2017, and beyond!

Still need a bit of help managing your online copy writing needs? Contact Express Writers today to learn more about our team of experienced writers and purchase your content package now.

10 Critical Content Types To Invest In When Launching a New Site

March 22, 2017/5 Comments/in Website Content /by Julia McCoy

When you launch a new website, investing in the right content is critical.

In addition to “beautifying” your site with great copy that supports your company’s goals and talks to your audience, good content helps you gain online exposure in the SERP results, rankings, leads, traffic – and boosts your chances of converting new clients.

But which types of content should you invest in, if you’re just starting out?

It can be tough, with questions like do I start a blog, do I create 11 or 50 pages of web copy, launch social media content (and if so, how?), just to name a few. We’re here to help with a guide on ten critical content types for every new site. Keep reading!

Content By The Numbers: 5 Reasons to Invest in Content

First, let’s explore why you should be considering a long-term investment in content marketing if you’re just launching a site.

Consider a few content marketing statistics:

1. More Than 200 Million People Are Currently Using Ad Blockers.

While this might not seem like it matters much for your site, it means that great content is one of the only ways to access the inboxes and computers of the customers you want to reach.

2. Content Helps To Produce Brand Recall.

In 2015, IBM did a Digital Experience Survey that proved that 56% of content marketers believed that personalized content helped promote a higher engagement rate with customers. The easier your brand is for customers to remember, the easier it will be for you to drive engagement through content.

3. People Spend An Average Of 37 Seconds On Content.

If you want people to spend more time on your website, one of the best ways to do it is to invest in content that makes them feel something. According to Content Marketing Institute, high-quality, relevant content encourages readers to stay on your website longer.

4. Content Marketing Is 62% Less Expensive Than Outbound.

Although many people assume that content is expensive, it’s quite a bit cheaper than traditional advertising and outbound methods. What’s more, it’s also three times as effective.

5. Content Drives Higher Conversion Rates.

When people adopt content for their marketing strategies, they enjoy conversion rates roughly six times as high as those of their competitors.

With these numbers in mind, it’s clear that not only can you not afford to invest in content for your website, but that deciding which content works best with your brand is crucial to overhauling your online marketing strategy.

10 Content Types Every Website Needs

If you’re building a new site, don’t launch it without first ensuring that you have each of these ten types of content:

1. Web Pages

What would a website be without web pages? While many of today’s websites are long-page, one-page sites, it’s still crucial you have some pages for your site. For most companies, an “About Us,” “Contact,” and “Services” page will do, although you may choose to add or subtract pages as you see fit.

Remember that the length of your web pages is an important consideration.

Too long and you risk losing your reader’s attention, especially if you don’t format your pages correctly. Too short, and you risk not providing enough information or detail to be helpful for your readers.

As a general rule, web pages should have at least 300 words of copy on them. While this will be too short to cover most topics, it’s a good benchmark to keep in mind as you start creating the web pages for your new site.

2. Ongoing Blogging

Listen carefully: you need a blog.

Without a blog, your website will not only not perform as well as you’d like it to, but you’ll miss a valuable opportunity to provide your readers with relevance – one of the most coveted and important factors in online marketing.

Although many companies underestimate the importance of a blog, Impact Branding And Design reports that:

Websites with blogs tend to have 434% more indexed pages than their competitors.
What’s more, 47% of customers interact with 3 – 5 pieces of content before they ever talk to a sales rep.

And my favorite blogging stat (Hubspot):

Businesses that publish over 16 blogs/month (4+/weekly) get 3.5x MORE traffic than businesses that publish 0-4 posts.

Wow!

3.5x more traffic than your competitors, just from consistent, volume blogging.

So why are you not already?

Having a library of quality, relevant content can make all the difference between converting a customer and losing them to the sea of other companies vying for their attention. If that weren’t enough to change your mind, B2B marketers that blog regularly earn an average of 67% more leads than marketers who don’t.

Fortunately, it’s easier than ever to integrate a blog with your website. Today, content platforms like WordPress offer built-in blog functionalities that are easy to manage and use, even for beginners. To manage your blog effectively, use its scheduling feature to post consistently and give your readers something to look forward to regularly.

One of our favorite content services is ongoing, consistent blogging maintenance. We write, schedule, create imagery, and publish in our blogging packages.

3. Meta Content

Meta content is an often-overlooked form of online content.

While it doesn’t get as much attention as sexier forms of content like blogs or social media, it serves a crucial role in the online world.

When you Google something, meta content is the snippet of material that appears on the search engine results page or SERPs. Here’s what it looks like:

Meta content works to give you an idea of what information an article contains, and helps you understand what you will learn from a given piece of content.

As such, it’s crucial to get it right. If you don’t know how to write meta content on your own, it’s smart to hire someone who does. When done correctly, meta content will boost your SEO and help improve your click-through rate, both of which can have dramatic and long-lasting impact on the salience on your website

4. Product Descriptions

If you have an e-commerce site where you sell things online, great product descriptions are critical.

Think about it: if a person can’t pick up and touch your product, a product description is the only thing to help them understand the item’s specifications and its value.

To help your product descriptions perform as well as possible, keep them succinct, exciting, detailed, and tailored to your target audience. And to help them rank, use key terms in your product descriptions that are SEO worthy.

Check out this amazing product description from Dollar Shave Club:

Read more about creating great product descriptions.

5. “Contact Us” Content

When it comes to the “contact us” page, lots of marketers get stuck. Although virtually everybody knows to include a contact form or your contact information here, it can be tough to figure out if you need to add any content, and if so, what type.

Contact pages are no different than any other page on your website, though, and they deserve content crafted with love.

With this in mind, consider hiring a writer to help you craft great “contact us” copy. Think of this page as the ultimate call to action: the more compelling your contact us page is, the more likely people will be to reach out.

6. “About Us” Content

One of the most clicked pages of any website is the “about us” page.

When people navigate to your site, they’re naturally curious about who your brand is, and what you do, and they head to your “about us” page to find out.

It’s essential to make this section of your site as informative and authentic as possible. Stop for just a minute, though; you don’t want to make this sound like every other “about us” page out there. While website content serves the purpose of giving your site some structure, it also helps you brand your company.

As such, it’s important to find ways to imbue your personality into this key page, and ensure that you speak to your reader (and potential client) about your priorities, goals, and objectives as a company. This is a great spot to include some information about your founders, partners, staff, and how you got started as a company.

Take a look at how we do this on our “Who Are We?” page at Express Writers:

We recently did a case study on how much our site conversions improved after we changed our site copy around and included a Values page! Check it out here.

7. Social Media Profiles

Think social media profiles don’t have anything to do with your website? Think again.

When people come to your site, they want to find other ways to interact with you. One of the best ways to learn more about your company is through your social media profiles. This means that when you launch a website, you should have clickable links to your various social profiles in a place where would-be customers can see them.

Before you launch your website, take the time to set up at least a Facebook and Instagram page. Most marketers use more than two social platforms, but the ones you choose to pursue will depend on your brand and personal goals. Keep in mind that you don’t want to over-commit to social media, so you should only establish the profiles that you can maintain. A stagnant profile is much more damaging than a non-existent profile. Once you’ve created your profiles, link them to your blog, so that your followers can get instant updates about all your new posts.

We’ve had new clients find us from our Twitter feed, @ExpWriters, which is managed by a dedicated social media manager. Because of the high quality that she dedicates to writing and sharing content there, the referring traffic have included high-level inbound leads that went straight to purchasing after talking to one of our team members.

Here’s a look at our Twitter feed. You can see that we even join in quite a few Twitter chats, besides maintaining our own:

8. Service Descriptions

No matter what you do, you want to include some information about the services your company offers on your website. Make sure each service description is comprehensive and detailed. Bonus points if you can provide an example of services you’ve provided or jobs you’ve completed in the past.

Although there is some debate about whether you should publish your prices, many experts advocate doing so. This is because publishing your prices makes it easier for customers to get all the information they need the first time they visit your site, which helps make your site more valuable to them.

Besides being upfront with pricing on everything in the Content Shop, we have an overview pricing page. In an industry where very few competitors are transparent, we get consistently good feedback from new leads that can find our rates in a few minutes after landing on our site for the first time.

9. Home Page Content

If you’ve ever sold a house, you know that one of the first things every realtor will advise you to do is improve your home’s curb appeal. The curb appeal is the way that the house looks from the curb, and it’s one of the most important things in the world of real estate.

Think about the homepage copy of your website like the curb appeal of your house: it’s the first thing people see when they pull up. As such, optimizing your home page content is essential. This isn’t a place to skimp.

For an example of excellent homepage content, check out KISSmetrics:

This copy is informative, attractive, easy to read quickly, and it features social proof.

When you write your home page content, strive to strike a balance between being approachable and professional. The text should give readers an immediate idea of who you and your company are, and what they can expect from the rest of your online material.

10. Good Data

One of the most powerful things you can use to convince people about something is data. With this in mind, you might consider including some data about why your service or product is valuable on your website.

For example, if you sell a back brace that helps people heal from back injuries, you might include some statistics about how common back pain is and how support is effective at treating it. These data points should feature prominently on the home page of your site, where they’ll be most visible to your customers

Your New Site Doesn’t Work Without Exceptional Content

Your focus shouldn’t be unequally divided on development. Don’t be that business owner that drops all focus on their copy because “we didn’t think it was necessary.” You can lose every quality lead that’s on your site, due to poor copy.

Think of launching a website is 50% tech (development), and 50% content.

It’s easy for new website owners to get so wrapped up in launching their site that they get sloppy with their copy, but this is a death sentence.

The more professional and cleaned up your site looks when it launches, the easier it will be to get off to the races with your new business or website.

While these forms of content will help make your site feel complete and unique, you’re not done here. Be sure you have an editor and a writer involved, so you’re not missing any critical typos that will make your brand look bad.

Is it time to invest in content for your new website? We’d love to help. Talk to us today!

How to Optimize Your Product Description Copywriting for Conversions

March 21, 2017/4 Comments/in Website Content /by Julia McCoy

If you run an e-commerce site where you sell things online, you know just how important your product description copywriting is.

Unfortunately, many marketers miss the bar when it comes to crafting product descriptions that actually sell and return on their copy investment.

If you think about a product description objectively, it’s clear that they’re the first experience customers have with your product or service.

While it’s one thing if a customer can pick up your product and feel it in person, selling takes on an entirely new flavor if that physical contact is impossible.

When the magic of incredibly good product description copy happens, that’s like the Holy Grail of online content – a visitor reads and buys, over and over. Your investment comes back 100x.

If you’re interested in learning how to overhaul your product descriptions and boost both their SEO and customer appeal, read on!

5 Typical Product Description Copywriting Mistakes You Should Never Make

While product descriptions may seem simple, they’re some of the most common things that marketers mess up.

With that in mind, here are the five most common mistakes new and experienced marketers alike tend to make with product descriptions:

1. Falling Victim to Bland Copy

If you think about it, product descriptions are meant to get people excited about your products.

Copy that doesn’t excite won’t inspire conversions. Being too dull or boring will sink your ship quickly. The best product descriptions include some degree of enthusiasm and urgency that makes people want to buy your products right now.

While this is not to say that you should be overly salesy, it is to say that getting excited about your product and letting that show through your descriptions is an excellent idea.

Check out how Dollar Shave Club brings the fun into their descriptions, with phrases like “butter up” to describe applying their shaving cream:

2. Not Providing Enough Information

If a customer can’t pick up your product, try it on, and feel it for themselves, it is essential to give them as much information as possible to ensure that they have what they need to make their purchasing decision.

Unfortunately, one of the most common mistakes marketers make is to offer the bare minimum of information in their descriptions.

If you look at clothing websites like Backcountry, you’ll see examples of detailed, in-depth product descriptions that leave nothing to the imagination.

Backcountry incorporates lengthy user reviews on the page along with their very detailed product description, answering every question you could probably have on the subject, for example with this Patagonia men’s sweater jacket:

Instead of providing a skeletal, textual product description, these companies offer images, videos, and real-life measurements of their models so people can get an idea of how to size the clothing they’re purchasing. Follow this model to make your product descriptions as valuable as possible.

3. Sloppy Writing

One of the deadly sins of online writing, product descriptions included, is to be sloppy with your grammar or facts in your language.

Because product descriptions aren’t quite as glamorous as other forms of content, like blogs or social media, they often get overlooked. That’s a dangerous mistake since product descriptions are some of the most critical forms of content on your website. Plus, the facts within the descriptions can make or break the sale.

Overlook them, and you risk creating sloppy material that alienates customers and may even cost you some sales.

Treat your product descriptions as a high priority form of content. Draft them, and then go back to re-write and edit them. The more attention you pay to your product descriptions, the better they’ll turn out in the end.

4. Not Including All the Critical Details

As a general rule, a product description is not the place to assume that your customers know anything about your product.

Instead, it is a place to give them all the information they need to be educated about your products, goods, or service.

Provide as much information as you have about the product, including background information. For example, if you are a company that sells baby carriers, you might provide information about the baby carrier, and how different women in different cultures wear them.

From there, you can transition to talking about the fabric of your baby carrier, its various carrying options, and how much weight it can safely carry. While most marketers assume this kind of information is overkill, it’s critical to help inform your customers at every turn.

Look how Tula does this with their baby carriers. They even bold the phrases that most parents will probably look for when selecting the best baby carrier to purchase, like positioning, baby weight limits, and key ergonomic and comfort phrases:

How To Write A Product Description That Sells: 6 Actionable Tips

Whether you’re a new e-commerce company just getting started, or you’re looking to improve your existing product descriptions, these guidelines will help.

1. Know Your Audience

The first and most critical step in any good writing is to know who you’re talking to. You have to understand the audience for each product description before you write them.

Who is going to be buying this product? Is it a mom with a toddler? Is it a person looking for inexpensive cleaning solutions? Is it a teenager?

Knowing the answers to these questions will allow you to target your product descriptions accordingly, and ensure that each one you write speaks directly to the customers who will be interested in the product.

2. Get Comprehensive

As we discussed above, the more complete your product descriptions are, the better. Keep in mind, though, that there is a right way and a wrong way to be comprehensive. Consider one of the critical lessons of selling anything: don’t talk about the features, talk about the benefits. This applies to your product descriptions just like it would any other form of online content. Instead of telling your clients what your product does, tell them how it will help them.

How will it make their lives better? Which problems would it solve for them? An excellent way to ensure that you offer a comprehensive list of benefits is to start by writing down all of the things that make your product unique before you write your product description. This will help you hit all the nails on the head and be as compelling as possible for your readers.

3. Write Like You Speak

Lots of brands have the wrong idea about product descriptions. While it’s true that they should be professional and informative, they should also offer an inside glimpse of your brand.

For an excellent example of a company that does this well, let’s go back to Dollar Shave Club:

Although their product descriptions are informative, they’re all so funny, which is arguably a large part of the reason the company has exploded in value over the five years since its Inception.

Their internet-famous “Our Blades are F***ing Great” video racked up 4.75 million views in just three months after it went out, netting 12,000 subscription signups in just 48 hours. (Entrepreneur)

Take inspiration and infuse your voice into all the product descriptions you write. This will help keep them approachable and relatable and will prevent your audience from becoming bored stiff.

4. Make Them Scannable

These days, people don’t read many things from start to finish. This goes for product descriptions just like it does blog posts and other forms of content.

With this in mind, it’s smart to make your product description skimmable.

This involves using a bulleted format to showcase critical details of your product, using bolded headers and sub-headers, and dividing the product description into sections like “features” and “compatible with.”

5. Optimize Your Text For Persuasiveness

The most compelling text focuses more on the customer than it does on the product. To bring this into your product descriptions, use the word you more often (third person).

Source: SlideShare

This shows that you value and understand your customers.

It’s also smart to keep the wording of your product descriptions simple, avoid jargon, remove generic phrases as much as possible, and replace weak words with more specific ones. Once you’ve done all of this, read your copy from the point of view of a customer. Does the product description make you want to buy? If not, what can you do to make it more compelling?

6. Optimize All Your Copy For SEO

Last but not least, you want to optimize your content for SEO. One of the best ways to do this is to use your keyword phrases in the headline, sub headers, and body copy of your contents. Just like you would with any other type of text, be sure to keep your keyword inclusion natural rather than stuffing it as full as a Thanksgiving turkey.

Make Magic Happen With Thorough, Fun, Branded Product Descriptions

Creating irresistible product description copy can sometimes feel like working a miracle.

Take inspiration from our tips, and know that in essence, product descriptions are a formulaic type of content everyone can learn.

Most of the mistakes made with product descriptions are simple ones: dry language, a lack of detail, a focus on the company rather than the consumer, etc. – all of which can be fixed with some attention and time.

The more you understand what makes a great product description, the easier it will be to ensure yours live up to the bar every time.

Need help writing product descriptions that make your items fly off the shelves? Check out our product description copywriting today!

Death of the Fold: Why Content Writers Don’t Have to Worry About Scroll Time

January 30, 2017/0 Comments/in Website Content /by Julia McCoy

You’ve likely heard of the phrase “above the fold,” if you’re even slightly into internet marketing and copywriting.

According to collective wisdom, we’re supposed to top-load the content that appears “above the fold” if we want to succeed.

If you’re unfamiliar with the term “fold,” it essentially means the place that a reader would have to scroll to see more content or the bottom of the visible page.

For years, this has been a battle cry in the world of SEO, and it’s one that’s rung loudly with writers, web designers, and others. But what if that call is wrong? What if “the fold” has fallen out of vogue and, today, it’s nothing more than a myth that you don’t need to worry about quite so much. Today, we’re going to dig into this, and help you understand why “above the fold” could be a dead term.

Read on.

What “Above the Fold” Content Looks Like

Whether you know it or not, you’ve seen above the fold content. You can find it on virtually any small software company’s website.

It looks like this:

On the FreshBooks website, which sells small business accounting software, the viewer gets a visual, a headline, a few sentences of text, and a call-to-action button – all without having even to touch their mouse.

That’s it. You can’t scroll down.

Let me take this moment to say that there’s not anything wrong with this layout. The website is visually appealing, uncluttered, and compelling. That said, though, there is something wrong with the intense declaration that every call to action on every web page in every industry must exist above the fold.

This has been going on for a few years – this insistence that everything should be above the fold. In fact, Kissmetrics explored it in a 2012 article:

Kissmetrics question to their audience is:

“What if the premise is wrong? What if calls to action below the precise work better?”

Let’s explore why that may or may not be true, by today’s standards.

Death of the Fold: The Real Benefit of a Below-the-Fold CTA

CTAs tucked into the bottom of pages may perform as well if not better than their above-the-fold counterparts. In fact, a page with a CTA tucked into the bottom footer of the page out-converted (by 20%) a page with a prominent CTA positioned above-the-fold (Unbounce).

While it may seem contradictory that a CTA tucked down low on a page (where presumably nobody would see) it could out-perform a CTA placed in the most prominent portion of a page, it’s true. I know, it seems even more unbelievable when you consider that the majority (80%) of people read headlines, while only 20% click through to read body content. So, what’s this fascination with below-the-fold content?

The answer comes down to a few things and, surprisingly, the fold isn’t one of them.

At the end of the day, the all-powerful fold is just a technicality in the content conversion process.

Here’s why: users are happy to keep scrolling to reach your CTA, if the material they see above the fold interests them enough.

In other words, the conversion rates of above- versus below-the-fold content has less to do with the actual position of the CTA than it does the quality of the content on the page. In other words, readers will keep going if they feel motivated to do so, and this has nothing to do with the position of the CTA. Instead, it has to do with how motivational your content is and how much it drives your reader toward your CTA.

According to the aforementioned Kissmetrics article:

“Higher conversion rates have nothing to do with whether the button is above the fold, and everything to do with whether the button is below the right amount of good copy.”

How Much Copy is Enough Copy?

Now that you know why the fold is a myth let’s talk about how much copy you need to provide your readers with “good copy.” Of course, there’s no one-size-fits all rule for this, and the answer depends on your various audience segments. Assuming you’re dealing with calls-to-action on landing pages or websites, here’s how you should arrange your content to appeal to each different audience segment:

1. Leads who are ready to buy.

These people get it. They know what you’re offering, and they know why. They also know they want it. They’ve read enough of your content to feel compelled by it and convert at the highest rate if you stick your CTA at the top of the page.

2. Information-gathering prospects.

These leads are relatively familiar with your company, and they just need a bit of a nudge to hop in and convert. For best results, give them a bit of educational text and a prominent CTA. This isn’t so much about positioning your CTA above the fold as it is ensuring that the content you offer them is prominent and educational enough to convince them to dive in with your company.

3. New leads.

If you have someone who is brand-new to your landing page or product, you’re going to need to do more legwork. This will mean that your CTA coincidentally falls below the fold, although, again, this has less to do with placement than it does the amount of content you’re offering before the CTA. To hook these readers, give them a solid value proposition, well-written educational copy, and a precise definition of benefits, costs, etc. A compelling CTA at the end of all of this will help seal the deal.

Why Scrolling Isn’t so Bad After All

Today, people scroll almost intuitively.

Think about it: we scroll in everything we do. We scroll through the contacts on our phones, our text messages, our music libraries. We scroll through books and magazines on our Kindles and scroll down product pages to locate what we’re looking for online. Scrolling is second-nature, and people aren’t nearly as afraid of it as they once were.

Because of this, people aren’t automatically turned off if they need to scroll to locate your CTA. In fact, they may be more automatically turned-off if they navigate to a top-heavy landing page that’s apparently been designed to cram everything into the top six inches of a page!

Still not convinced that people don’t mind scrolling? Here are some stats to help you get your head around it:

According to Chartbeat, 66% of people’s attention on webpages is dedicated to the content below the fold.
76% of people scroll on web pages, and 22% of people scroll to the bottom of a page, regardless of how long it is.
50% of mobile users begin scrolling through a page within 10 second of landing on it
Apple removed their visual scrollbar from their Mac OS X software in 2011, proving that people of today are scrolling natives, and don’t need to be reminded to do it.

The Death of Above-the-Fold Content is Upon Us

While it used to make sense to position content above-the-fold, the rise of mobile devices like smartphones and tablets has changed the way that people interact with web content. It’s also changed the way they think about scrolling. Today, scrolling is natural, and most people don’t bat an eyelash at the thought of doing it.

As such, it doesn’t matter where a CTA lives (as long as you’re taking your various audience segments into consideration as you lay out the page) or how long the page is. Instead of seeing a CTA crammed into the top of a page, people only want to see some valuable content they can interact with. By delivering this, you can easily grab your readers’ interest and keep it, regardless of where you put your CTA.

That said, don’t discount space above the fold. It still matters! It just doesn’t matter as much as people once thought it did. Instead of seeing all your content crammed into the top few pixels of your site, readers want to land on a site that is laid out according to their stage in the buyer’s journey. They also want to feel as if a page is dedicated to featuring valuable and informative content, rather than just focusing on stacking all of a its content into the top few inches.

Death of the Fold: Let us Know what You Think!

So, there you have it: while above-the-fold content served a purpose once, it’s less important today.

Right now, readers are looking for value and relevance rather than SEO tricks. If you create great long-form content, it will still get read. If you put your CTA at the bottom of the page, it will still get clicked.

With that in mind, ditch your concerns about staying above the fold and focus on being informational and valuable through your content, instead. Readers will thank you and your conversion rates likely won’t suffer!

What do you think of this not-so-new-trend? Let me know in the comments!

10 Deadly, No-Good Scenarios That Could Happen If You DIY All Your Web Copy By Yourself

December 27, 2016/0 Comments/in Website Content /by Julia McCoy

DIY web copy: it’s not the worst thing in the world to do yourself, right?

I mean, half the DIY projects on Pinterest that are in the intermediate-advanced level would be 10x harder, right?

Actually, you might be surprised.

Do-it-yourself web copy is a fate that befalls many business owners, but it can be seriously dangerous if DIY’ed without thought, skill, or care. Worse than you know.

(Cue the Addams Family Values theme song…)

While there are plenty of people out there who are perfectly capable of creating their own online web copy, there are many who don’t know how to do it, or who think they can handle it all by themselves and realize in the middle of a publishing schedule that they can’t. Don’t get lost in one of these scenarios: keep reading to find out why (and when) the DIY line for web copy stops. Save yourself, before it’s too late! (/end cue)

10 Deadly Scenarios that Could Happen to YOU If You DIY Your Web Copy

Don’t make the same mistakes others have done (RIP, copy that never converted a single soul).

Read our ten deadly scenarios that could happen to you if you DIY your own web copy:

1. You could die

I’m not kidding. DIY-ing your web content can be deadly!

It’s deathly exhausting, and, if you don’t call for help, you may soon find yourself buried beneath a pile of papers, fingers stuck to the keyboards, struggling for breath.

30% of marketers spend between 1-5 hours each week on social media content creation, for example, and people who don’t ask for help can quickly find themselves overwhelmed and overworked. With this in mind, save your content and your life by asking for help from a team of skilled writers. Not only will your content come out better, but you may save your sanity in the process.

2. Or, Google could kill you

If you don’t kill yourself first (literally and figuratively) from all the hard work of content writing, Google is a pretty all-powerful internet entity, and you don’t want to get on their bad side.

Unfortunately, this is easy to do when you DIY your web content. Simple things that can easily get missed: citing low-quality sources, plagiarizing content, or simply writing badly can land you in hot water with the Google Gods. Write and publish bad content, Google doesn’t want you showing well in their search engine. Death–by robots.

Just another way that DIY-ing your web content can be dangerous, and it’s one that every professional writer everywhere wants to save you from.

3. Die the death of bad writing

This is one of the most real threats of DIY-ing your online content – you could just suck at it. And here’s the really terrifying part: you don’t even need to be a bad writer to suck at it! Online writing is complex, and few people (aside from those people who are professionally trained in the industry) know how to do it well every time.

While writing badly may not seem that awful, it can have a big, ugly impact on your rankings, and could actually cause bad thing #1 and #2 on this list to happen to you!

4. Miss out on good keywords, and thus, you die (exist online without traffic)

Did you know that optimizing content for online writing is vitally important?

That means picking, finding, and researching the best keywords for your copy, the ones that actually have a shot at being included–long-tails, to be specific.

If you did, the chances are good that you don’t actually know how to optimize your online content. This is one of the worst sins of DIY content, and it’s also one of the easiest to avoid. Have a professional writer do it for you, and avoid this deadly and embarrassing scenario.

5. The world could end as you know it

There’s so much low-quality on the web already that I would not be surprised to see the poor interwebs simply stop spinning one of these days, so weighed down it is by all of the crappy content in existence.

Don’t be the one that pushes it over the edge!

A professional writer can give you high-quality, professional material. Copy that won’t make the world as we know it come to a screeching halt.

6. You could plagiarize something, and thus, die

Even if you’re not copying and pasting someone’s site, plagiarism (duplication of someone else’s content) happens.

It happens in the form of copied meta descriptions, paraphrased content that sticks too close to its original source, and non-cited quotes and copied material.

Plagiarized content has devastating effects on your Google ranking, and more, so it’s critical to avoid it entirely. Besides Google, if someone catches wind that you “copied” your content off someone else, the reputation results are dire.

Don’t let these fates befall you!

7. You could lose readers, and die

Writing boring, flabby, or icky content at any point?

Any existing reader you had will leave and, when they do, you’re going to wish they hadn’t – there goes the lifeblood of your online content (the real, alive, human reader).

Keep them around by writing better content from the get-go, with the help of a professional writer. It will save you time and money and will boost the effectiveness of your content across the board.

8. Stagnation in topic areas you know (death from boredom)

If you’re DIY-ing your content, but you’re in a rush, you’re not pushing yourself to get better. That means stagnation of the worst kind–content that gets repetitive, boring, and useless.

With this in mind, skip the sad effort altogether and outsource your content to a reliable writer. They’ll make it great again and you’ll get to succeed in the other areas of your business!

9. You could make an embarrassing typo, and die a grammar convict’s death

Ever seen someone picked apart online for a typo? It’s happened – even to major brands.

You wouldn’t want to make the mistake of typing “pubic” rather than “public” throughout all of your content, but that’s what so many DIY-ers end up with. Save yourself the embarrassing typo and ongoing repercussions by hiring a professional writer at the outset.

10. You could miss the mark

DIY-ing your content presents one big error: that you’ll miss the mark. Nobody will like and share and your content will be left high and dry, to fend for itself out in the wild web. When a professional writer comes in, though, you can avoid this fate and ensure great content all the way across.

The Case for Not DIYing Your Online Content

While many people believe they can DIY their online content, this is one place you should definitely bring in a professional. In addition to the fact that DIY online content can be low-quality, it’s also time-consuming and difficult for small business owners to manage on their own.

With this in mind, avoid the many problems that come with DIY content by simply hiring a professional writer. These writers can come in, work with your company, and help you craft really outstanding online content that doesn’t result in death or dismemberment by the Google gods. What’s more, they can also save you time, money, and grey hairs.

What’s not to love?

If you’re looking for quality writers to help you develop your online content, visit our Content Shop to get started today!