The Internet is an extremely diverse source of information for the millions of users however this diversity can present a challenge to those who write web content in figuring out how to write in order to reach the largest number of readers. In many cases significant portions of the web can end up falling outside the interests or comprehension level of those who land on the site. This can happen when a person who is an automotive mechanic searches for legal information or when a person with a medical background is looking for information on building a rammed earth home.
Because of these possibilities, it is always better to present material that is less technical and uses more common, everyday words than to aim for loftier content. In short, if you are not fully aware of the interests of your targeted audience as well as how they will search to find what they need, then you will miss the mark in your content time after time. You must learn to immerse yourself fully in the persona of your targeted visitor then learn to answer the questions that visitor would ask.
Visitor vs. Reader
First of all, there is a difference between a visitor and a reader. Your visitors usually arrive to your content through a search result or from another site which featured a link to your blog or site. Visitors generally arrive with a preconceived notion of what they are looking for. They know what question they need answered and they believe they will find that answer on your site. Visitors have little interest in how trendy your web design is or how much information you’ve managed to cram into each page.
They will scan your pages in mere seconds, and if they don’t see the answer they came for they are gone just as quickly. A reader, on the other hand, returns time and time again because they have learned your site offers them something of value and substance. Readers begin to feel as if they know you—they like your writing style and your subject, and they return because you repeatedly offer them something they want. The reader likely tells others about your site, lingers on your site or blog and actually used all the links you provide in order to delve more deeply into your content.
Pleasing as Many as Possible
While it’s true that you can’t please everyone, your goal is to please as many visitors and readers as you possibly can. Of course you want to keep those readers coming back time after time and telling their friends about your spectacular, high-quality content, but by the same token you want to continuously bring in those visitors and wow them so thoroughly that they become readers. Pleasing your readers, then angling to nab all the visitors you can will become your goal, but how do you do that?
You must learn the characteristics, interests and behaviors of your “average” reader, then use that information reel them in. Ask yourself critical questions regarding your visitors and look closely at incoming and outgoing visitor stats compared to the average amount of time spent reading your content. Determine which keywords bring visitors from the search engine to your content, then ask yourself what that tells you about their interests and whether those interests are high tech or low tech. What would you imagine the age, lifestyle and habits of your “average” visitor to be? When you combine this information with your stats, you can put together a fairly comprehensive overview of who you are writing for. Once you know who you are writing for, your content can become much more targeted and much less vague. When you truly begin meeting the needs of your visitors, the number of readers will begin to increase exponentially.
Tags: Lawyer Website Content
