Archive for the ‘Lawyer Website Content’ Category

The Power Behind Your Words

Tuesday, June 19th, 2012

Many writers are not fully aware of the influence their content can exert on those who read it. Human beings are incredibly susceptible to the opinions of others, and on the web those opinions come in the form of words on a page. As one example, if you buy frequently on Amazon then you likely read the reviews for any book or product you are considering buying. I absolutely refuse to buy a book with less than four stars—after all could all those people really be wrong?  Even though I am aware this is sheep behavior, I still follow those self-imposed dictates. If I am looking at a product which received glowing reports I am much more likely to hit the “buy” button than when looking at a product which looks largely similar but has no ready feedback.  What you should garner from this example is that the way your content is written is extremely important in framing the expectations of your readers therefore web content should be managed in a professional and scientific manner.  Whether you know it or not, your web content can create waves in the real world, so you must always take it seriously.

What is Your Purpose?

Plenty of sites—business, consumer and blogs—have lots to say and, generally speaking, say it well. While most of these writers follow at least some of the “rules” for web writing such as integrating snappy headlines, short sentences and chunks of text into their content, it is unlikely they fully realize the power their words may possibly wield.  There are several things you must remember when creating content which could potentially have a profound effect on others. First, does your writing have a clear purpose? Once you can identify that purpose—and if you can’t, stop writing until you can—you will incorporate themes and messages that flesh out and define that purpose.

Who Are You Writing For?

If you know who you are writing for—your targeted audience—it becomes much easier to understand the impact your words could have on that audience. You figure out the human being on the other side of the computer screen then craft your message to engage that audience. When your content is completed, then you can go back and carefully place keywords and other web-friendly techniques to ensure your words are actually found. While some disagree, great content and web-friendly editing can co-exist harmoniously.

Writing Great Content

Remember that great posts aren’t read then shipped off to the content boneyard to languish and die. Great posts are copied, linked, talked about and borrowed. This is what you are aiming for—a great post that everyone reads, re-reads, and tells their family and friends to read. The Internet is full of sites which may be ranked highly, yet their visitors stay on the page for a mere few seconds. Your goal is not just to get visitors, but to give them something so special, so memorable, that they will stay on your site reading page after page and having their view of the world altered in some way by your words.

Who Reads Your Web Content?

Monday, June 18th, 2012

Today’s web reader has a very big appetite for information. We get information from a variety of sources such as cable or satellite television, cell phones and home computers with Internet connections. We have tablets and reading devices and smart phones which make many of us suffer feelings of inferiority. In other words, our lives are full of gadgets whose primary task is to bring the widest variety of information our way. Research says that the more information we have at our fingertips, the less overwhelmed we feel when attempting to make a decision. Our human nature makes us want to explore and communicate with others in as many ways as possible. Less than 20% of those surveyed said they would mind giving up their daily newspaper, while over 80% said they would be lost without their access to the Internet’s quick, comprehensive information.

Know Your Audience

Writers whose business it is to add content to the web should have a good idea of who their true audience really is. The most engaged group regarding Internet information and technology are those who are young—average age of 22—and tech savvy. They interact with the Internet through downloading music and videos, participating in online groups and creating online content. Older baby boomers account for roughly six percent of the population; this group are very active gatherers of information while also searching for news and work-related information. This group—with an average age of 52—also spends money freely online. The 36-46 age group tends to have less online experience that the first two groups, however they are quick to embrace information, goods and services. Finally, senior men with an average age of 70 and who have been using the web for at least a decade contribute to a significant percentage of overall web users. This group uses the Internet primarily to gather information, shop, pay bills and handle finances.

A World of Fickle Web Readers

Because all these groups can be impatient and fickle, they may land on your content, take a glance and be off to the next site. If you have a good idea of who is reading your content and what it will take to make them take notice before they have time to hit the back button, your writing will be way ahead of the game.  Keywords should get visitors to your content while not making the content illogical or inane. Your titles and headlines must be accurate, on-topic, snappy and engaging and your text must be delineated chunks of highly informational sentences—which should be short and concise. Throw in an original approach, information that is easily verifiable, a dynamic style and a bit of nerve and you have created content that scores of web surfers will stop and read. The “bit of nerve” part centers around throwing just a bit of attitude into your content. So much of what is on the web sounds much like hundreds of other pages so it’s critical that your content really stand out from the rest.

Keep your content interesting, never boring and give readers a real reason to come to your pages. Stay away from monotonous writing—no matter how boring your subject matter is—as well as content that sounds stuffy and academic. Pick a side when writing on a particular subject—no fence sitting allowed. When you know who your audience is and what they want, your job becomes significantly easier.

How to Shorten and Strengthen Your Sentences When Writing for the Web

Friday, June 15th, 2012

Most web writers are aware of the very limited window of opportunity available to grab their reader’s attention. Web readers are both busy and fickle, and they average reader spends less than ten seconds determining whether or not they will continue reading or move on to another site. Should you have mastered the art of amazing and compelling titles and headings, congratulations—this is the first step in ensuring your reader stays firmly on your page reading your words. After the titles and headings, however, you have to keep your reader’s attention through the use of short, snappy sentences which pack a punch. There are several ways to strengthen each and every sentence you write, keeping them to a minimum length while still ensuring your message gets across.

Avoiding Jargon

If you are not clear what “jargon” really means, it is generally the specialized or technical language used by members in a specific profession. While using jargon may, at first glance, give your readers the impression that you are an expert in your field, many times those same words will muddy up the meaning of your sentence rather than clarifying it. When web readers are scanning a page quickly, looking out for key words or phrases, they may decide your article is simply too difficult to read should they encounter obscure terms. Determine whether your readers will understand your jargon, or if they really need to know insider terminology. Jargon can also be unfriendly to many readers, and you certainly want to avoid appearing snobbish or unfriendly in your writing. Read your content critically, and replace anything that smacks of jargon with a simpler word or phrase, or one that is more common. If you must use jargon, make sure you explain the meaning to your readers, perhaps through the use of an analogy.

Remove Redundant Phrases

When you read over your content you may notice many common or redundant words and phrases that can be replaced with words which are just as familiar but are also shorter and potentially more direct. You must make sure that the shorter option doesn’t cause confusion, however most of us have the tendency to clutter our writing. Redundancy as defined in the dictionary is the superfluous repetition or overlapping of words and should always be avoided in the interest of clear communication with your reader. Focusing on the substance of what you want to impart to your readers is your primary goal.

Starting Strong and Staying Strong

Just as you learned in your high school English class, begin all sentences with the strongest subjects or verbs. Tell your readers who is acting and what he or she is doing. This technique puts the very most important words of the sentence right out front—instead of saying “There is no charge for the service,” replace that sentence with “The service if free.” You’ve said the same thing, but the second sentence is much stronger, shorter and just as clear. Using verbs that are weak or indirect can easily dilute the strength of your sentence and of your message, so use more direct verbs. Finally, clear out any “deadwood” meaning words or phrases which can be omitted with no loss in overall meaning. Adding such words as “as a matter of fact,” serve no real purpose other than increasing your word count, so ensure your sentences are tight and compelling.

Finding Your Writing Style When Writing for the Web

Thursday, June 14th, 2012

Finding your writing style is much like finding your writing voice. Excellent writing demands a distinctive style and voice and must reflect both the writer and the audience. It is your style which will ultimately connect you to your readers and keep them coming back for more. Even if your readers disagree with your opinion on a subject or even if the topic doesn’t necessarily appeal to them, they will respect the job you do as a writer, trusting you to deliver time and time again. Developing a writing style not only takes time, it takes a command of the craft of writing and a good dose of self-awareness.

Is Writer’s Instinct Enough?

While it’s true that many writers simply write from their gut, letting their instincts guide them—and some do quite well using instinct—most writers need more than instinct to create truly outstanding content. The craft of writing is the nitty-gritty nuts and bolts—not necessarily talent, because it can be learned, rather learning the tools and techniques which go into writing which truly excels. Think about how you get your words to convey what you want—the information, the tone, the emotion. Ultimately you want your readers to recognize your particular style and want more and more. Think of your writing as having a conversation with a friend or acquaintance. How would you approach your subject if you were hanging out in the park talking to another person? You will approach your writing in the same way, letting your unique style shine through.

How your Choice of Words Contributes to Your Writing Style

Every word you choose when writing a new piece of content speaks about you as the author. Think about that. Suppose you have a truly impressive vocabulary—do you use those big words with your closest friends or your family? The answer is likely “no” simply because you don’t want to come off as being pretentious or you don’t want to make people you care about feel bad that they don’t know all the words that are rolling off your tongue. Writing is exactly the same. Just because you know lots of important words doesn’t necessarily mean you must use them in your writing unless they truly add to the overall quality of your writing. Your writing style is almost like a fingerprint in that no two writers tackle a writing topic in exactly the same way. We all bring our backgrounds and beliefs to the table when we write, and those factors will find their way into your overall style.

How Do You Reveal Your Material?

Some writers reveal information in a witty manner, others in a straightforward manner, and still others implement some level of sarcasm as they impart their information. Some writers tend to favor in-depth examinations of a single point while others will go with a broad overview. Of course the material you are writing about will certainly bend your style; if you’ve developed a style that is funny with little bite to it that style could work well for a variety of subjects but would not work at all if you were writing about the increase in murders in a particular area. Obviously you have to adjust your writing style—once you find it—to the subject you are writing about.

However your writing style evolves remember to first know your audience then to always respect them. In other words, your writing style must be true to yourself, your readers and your subject—no easy task, but one that gets easier with time and words.

Why Titles are Crucial in the Success of Your Web Writing

Tuesday, June 12th, 2012

You’ve probably heard it time and time again—the title of your article is critical to the success it gains on the web. Ignoring the importance of that title can be very detrimental to your writing—after all the majority of readers determine whether or not they will read your article based on the title, and the search engines will not be able to accurately identify your site’s subject matter, hindering the flow of traffic. Those who work at larger newspapers are well aware that titles of the newspaper articles are considered so extremely important that there is often a title editor on the job.

This person’s sole function is to constantly come up with compelling, interesting and enticing headlines for the stories run by the newspaper. As readers have less and less actual time to read an article which catches their eye, they turn to skimming to determine whether the information they need or want is contained within a specific article. If you are a newspaper reader, you likely look at the front page, skimming the headlines to determine what you want to read, then continue through the paper from page to page, skimming headlines and stopping occasionally to actually read through an article.

Words That Draw Your Reader’s Attention

There are specific words which will naturally draw the eye of your reader—the most common, of course, being “sex.” Obviously unless you are actually writing about sex you can’t just throw the word in randomly in order to get readers. There are other words considered “high engagement” words however it’s important not to overuse them. Readers will quickly recognize they are being manipulated rather than being able to clearly see what the ensuing article is really about. If you are writing for a specific genre, such as the art world, including words such as gallery and exhibit can draw your reader’s eyes quickly to your article, giving them a hint of something they want to read about. Keywords should be used in your titles, but only in a natural manner, not in an obviously contrived way.

Titles Geared Toward Search Engines

In addition to having a good idea of what words human beings will look for when writing your titles you will also need to know the words search engines rely on. For instance if humans typically type in “backache” rather than “back ache,” then you will want to use the former in your titles to ensure they can be found by the search engines. Additionally, the search engines rely heavily on article titles in order to determine what the content is about, so the title is indeed, crucial. Every page in your site should have a unique title which clearly describes the content on the page rather than the overall site.

Title Tags

So you understand the process for writing a title for each page, now think about your title tags. In terms of search optimization, the single most important sentence you will write for your website will be the title tag for your primary website page. The title tag tells the search engine what the page is all about, and, in the case of your primary page, what your website is about. Your primary keywords or keyword phrases should appear in the title tag with the most important words appearing near the beginning of the sentence. Most guidelines state that you should limit the characters in your title tag to 70, and although only the first 70 characters will show in the top bar of the browser, search engine robots can read the remainder and there is no penalty for going over that number of characters. Think of your titles and title tags as the gateway to your compelling content—if neither humans nor search engines want to open that gate, then the rest of your content will never be seen.

Creating Learner-Friendly Content

Tuesday, June 5th, 2012

If you know why you are writing each piece of content you publish, then it is likely that your writing reflects that passion. Whether you are writing for yourself about issues which center around your work, your hobbies, your family or your feelings, or you are writing for a paycheck, you must always write for a reason. People across the globe are literally fascinated by details; if you can write in a way that shows why the subject matters to you, it is likely it will also matter to your readers. Many websites are not learner-friendly; they may have a lovely design, be very accessible, have usable interfaces yet can lack the learner’s goals or needs. This is assuming that the writer is even aware of what the learner’s needs are.

If you take a look at the entire industry of the web, you will see that as writers we may not have worked hard enough to create content-rich websites which allow exploration and learning. In other words, even though we all know the importance of keywords, compelling headlines and short, snappy sentences and paragraphs, this is not enough. Our readers are also learners who want an interactive, discoverable environment. Does your writing provide that environment, or is this an area of your content which might benefit from a little tweaking? First, take a look at your narrative then build on that for learner-friendly content.

How Storytelling Benefits Your Content

Narrative—also known as storytelling—is crucial to learning. A huge portion of the communication we as humans have with one another revolves around telling a story. We use this technique to provide information as well as to make an emotional connection. We use storytelling to align what we know about our world with what our readers know. When people enter into an exchange of a story, trust is built as readers work their own narrative into the content you’ve provided. Storytelling allows readers to easily move from one portion of your content to another, and helps bits and pieces of information turn into actual knowledge.

Interact With Your Readers

Once your narrative has created a bond with your readers, the next step is to interact with your reader in a way that changes them or prompts them to act. Learners jump into content-rich sites in the hopes of being changed in some way. They hope that what they find in your words will change their outlook on a specific subject, shift their view of the world, or give them something they did not have prior to reading your content. Learners need context in their reading to allow them to integrate what they already know with what they are now reading. The greater amount of context you provide, the more your readers will learn from your content.

How Your Readers Will Discover When Reading Your Content

As you are probably aware, different people learn in different ways. While some learners require exceptionally organized blocks of information others will take a more random path of exploration and investigation. Some readers will want to satisfy their curiosity rather than following a prescribed path, and discoverability which is built into your content can allow them to do just that. In short, content which is discoverable allows readers to choose their own path, build their own adventure. Sites such as Wikipedia are highly discoverable in that readers can move from one block of content to another as their interests take them. Ideally, every piece of web content will be a piece of the huge puzzle which, together, creates a rich landscape of exploration for all readers. So long as writers write for a reason and know why they write, learner-friendly content will be the result.

What’s the Perfect Length for Web Content?

Thursday, May 24th, 2012

Opinions vary considerably regarding the “perfect” length for website content. You know, that magical number of words which will guarantee the search engines will love your content, indexing it promptly and moving it up quickly in the rankings. The most recent comments out there seem to go with the idea that either 500 or 1000 words will get you noticed , but experts believe the “ideal” length of a web article is anywhere from 400 to 1200 words, depending on your subject matter. EzineArticles.com believes that 400-750 words are the “ideal” number to shoot for, with keywords judiciously placed every 75-100 words. While there really is no magic number there are several factors to consider when writing your web content in regards to the length.

Keeping it Short and Concise

First, always remember when writing for the web that web users scan and seldom read anything word-for-word. In fact, studies show that nearly 80% of all web readers scan a page quickly, deciding within ten seconds or less whether to continue reading or exit and look for a more informative article.  With this fact uppermost in your mind, organize your page content in the most logical manner to make it easier to scan. Also, with ease of scanning in mind, keep your sentences and paragraphs much shorter than you would for a print source, concentrating one main idea in each paragraph. No matter what you are writing, ask yourself what your user will gain from taking the time to read your article. Is there something you want them to do after reading the article, or what purpose does the article hope to accomplish? Your headings are of utmost importance—they must entice the reader by immediately communicating the content of the

Earn the Trust of Your Readers

Back in the early days of the web anyone who had a .com domain and a pretty website were automatically considered trustworthy, and the web owners were required to put little effort into showing why they are the best solution to the user’s problems. Today, blogging is much more about building relationships with visitors meaning the author must let readers know there is a real person behind the content. If you are working on your own site, include an “About” page and make it clearly visible.

A picture is a nice touch to give readers the sense that they are not dealing with a phantom site rather there is a real person behind the service or product. If you are writing for others, you might suggest they include an “About” page which makes them approachable to their clients or readers.  Make the leap to social media; Facebook and Twitter can bring lots of benefits to your site if they are utilized properly. Another great way to build trust with your readers is to always answer questions and e-mails promptly and possibly even to offer regular question and answer sessions—in other words offer your services for free every now and then to get and keep loyal visitors.

Remember the Mechanics of Reading from a Computer Screen

Reading from a computer screen or handheld device is at least 25% slower than reading from a paper source. You want your content to be digested and understood quickly and the best way to accomplish this is through the overall structure of your content.  Always place the most important information—the primary fact you want your visitors to take away—near the top. Once you’ve written your content, go back and edit ruthlessly, omitting any unnecessary words to create a lean, highly informative article. The truth is, the exact word count is much less important than how those words are used, so make sure every single word counts.

The Idea Behind Summarizing Articles

Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012

The old adage goes that if something is worth saying, then it’s worth saying again and perhaps nowhere is this so true as in web content. Most experts believe that you have less than ten seconds to grab your reader’s attention and persuade them to remain on your page and continue reading. Our lives are so incredibly busy that the typical web user is looking for something very specific when they type in their web query. They need help or advice and they need it quickly. If they scan your article and don’t immediately see the answer to their pressing question they will hit the back button in an instant. So assuming your headline is stellar and your paragraph headings are crisp and engaging enough to convince your reader to keep reading, then what would be the purpose of a summary at the end of your article?

Because web readers scan rather than reading, it’s always a possibility that no matter how carefully you crafted your first paragraph, the point you meant to get across was somehow lost. The summary of your article is your last opportunity to fully convey the message you want to send. If you are issuing a call to action, the summary is your last ditch effort to get your readers to take the first step. If you have written an article which is primarily for information, your summary gives you the platform to succinctly sum it up, leaving your readers with a positive final impression.

How to Write the Perfect Summary

Once you have crafted your article with short sentences and paragraphs and front-loaded information and have reached a natural ending, try summing it all up in a few short sentences or a bulleted list. First write an overall statement about the article then follow that with two to three sentences summarizing the primary focal points of the article. Your ending sentence should give your readers a very clear understanding of the point you meant to convey and should never be vague rather should get right to the point.

In your summarization remember why you wrote the article in the first place and write in a direct manner as if you were speaking to your audience. Many writers believe the summary paragraph could have worked just as well as the introduction paragraph except it ties up any possible loose ends and develops naturally from the article. If at all possible, the summary should also inject a little surprise for your readers by ending with the perfect quotation or a statement that is just a bit startling.  In other words, although you don’t want to add anything that is too new in your summary you can include some sort of surprising twist.

Ending up Well

If you can’t think of any particularly surprising summary sentences then try to circle back to your opening paragraph in your summary.  Remember that the best ending ties together all the discoveries presented in your article while remaining concise and snappy. If your article was an informative piece, you might summarize through a bulleted list which quickly details every step of your original article, or if was an article describing a particular product, then you might want to quickly summarize the key points of the product and why your product is better than the competition. In the case of a product you might introduce the element of surprise by offering a free gift for those who order, or in the case of informative articles you could offer a free white paper or newsletter. No matter how you end your article, make sure your summary does justice to your entire piece.

Writing About What You Know

Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012

Many experts believe the best way of ensuring your web content is interesting and compelling is to write about what you know rather than simply presenting a litany of dry information and facts. The fact is that authors who try to cover an unfamiliar topic without much information to go on will likely present that information in a mediocre or totally unconvincing manner. And since there is little window of opportunity for grabbing your reader’s attention, being unconvincing can result in a user who quickly clicks away to another website.

Writing What You Know—For Others

The problem with writing about what you know is that scores of web writers write for websites which belong to others. This means that on any given day web writers are writing about a slew of subjects they likely know little about and in some cases find the subject so uninteresting that they really don’t want to know that much. Authors take heed—try your best to never, ever approach a subject with that attitude or it is bound to come through in your writing. Just because you may not find the various types of environmentally-friendly paint a particularly compelling subject doesn’t mean you can’t write about it in such a way that will interest your readers.

And how do you do that you may wonder? Well, suppose you could care less whether your paint is environmentally friendly or not, but your readers actually do care? Approach your subject from your reader’s point of view. What would they want to know, what would make them care about this particular subject? Then, once you have those answers find out all you can about the subject until it actually becomes one of the things you know—then you can write about what you know. Writing about what you know does not limit you to writing only about encounters you’ve actually had, products you’ve actually tried or humans or animals you’ve actually met, it simply allows you to build on the foundation of what you know about life and humanity in order to create a compelling story. And after all, isn’t a compelling story the goal of every web writer?

Writing What You Know—For Yourself

If you are not limited to writing what other people pay you to write—not a bad gig, all in all—but are writing for yourself, they you have the opportunity to not only write about what you know but also to write what you want. One of the greatest benefits of having your own website or blog is that you are able to write about a subject which is very near to your heart. Writing for yourself gives you the freedom to use your unique life experiences and share them with your readers.

In some cases you may not know a lot about the subject you decide to write on, however it will likely be a subject which greatly interests you therefore the research is much less tedious than doing research for a subject which holds no interest for you. Aside from what interests you, write about the things that matter to you. If a subject matters deeply to you then you should be able to write about it in such a way that causes it to matter to your readers as well.

Venturing Outside What You Know

The flip side of writing about what you know is that this technique—unless you work hard at learning lots of new things—may never really stretch you as a writer. Writing out of your depth or about subjects you don’t know can actually take you into new and exciting territory if you open your mind to the possibilities. That being said, it is likely that you know lots more about lots more subjects than you even realize and in the end, every single article you write is just waiting to be shaped by your specific knowledge and imagination.

Meeting the Objectives of Your Web Content

Monday, May 21st, 2012

Most new websites start out with a clear set of goals and objectives. Sometimes along the way while attempting to keep content up to date those objectives can end up lost in the shuffle. If this situation is not corrected both your revenue and your traffic can start to suffer.  Most goals can be accomplished if the proper objectives are backing them up—even those goals that are a little vague or have expectations that are a bit too lofty. While it may be easier for you to tie the individual portions of your website to specific objectives, tying your content to a particular objective can be a bit more difficult. What are the typical objectives for website content? First and foremost, search engine optimization is the goal of most content and this does not mean simply scattering the requisite keywords throughout each article. Your content must be relevant to the keywords your users are typing into their query search.

Data Collection

The next typical objective for web content is to collect information about prospective customers and clients. Specific information guides of other valuable forms of content can be offered in exchange for filling out a simple form which provided details about users. You must be very clear about how this data will be used—and how it will not be used. People are hesitant these days to hand out their personal information, so you must be very straightforward about the fact you will only be using this information to send them valuable, free content. You’ve met one of your content objectives if you’ve been able to convince users to allow you to better target them based on their preferences. This allows you to provide more relevant services.

Sales

Most everyone who adds content to their site is looking in one way or another to encourage sales of a product or service. The quality of your content should correlate with this objective. You may think that because you are not selling a specific product that this objective doesn’t relate to you, however you are still “selling” yourself as an expert in your field, so in effect selling is always a valid objective. Websites typically introduce, inform, advertise and sell, so one or all of these will become objectives of your content. Most people come to websites looking for specific information, so ensure your content is not too technical to allow those objectives to be met. A business objective of sales means that you can’t simply give a vague indication of your product or service—your content must be strong enough to explain the benefits and convert those casual visitors into loyal customers.

Goals and objectives with few teeth are those which are simply too vague to implement or are unrealistic. If your goal is that you want your article to be memorable to readers, then that is simply too vague. How do you want it to be memorable—in what specific ways? How do you expect readers to think about the subject after they’ve read your content? Answer those questions and you have measurable objectives. Never create a goal simply as a reaction to a direct competitor. This means that if your closest competitor appears to be bringing in customers right and left, you can’t simply say that you want your content to do the same thing. You have to have a clear understanding of why your competitor’s content works, then find ways to make your own content work.

Goals vs. Objectives

Many people don’t understand the difference between goals and objectives, and, in fact, I’ve used the words somewhat interchangeably. In fact, a goal is the primary expectation and the objectives are the smaller pieces which together will accomplish the goal. In other words, if your goal is to get five hundred visitors each month, then your objectives might be to update your site three times per week with fresh content, to tie your content into Facebook via a contest, or to share your site on Twitter. Work on goals and objectives which are realistic and that you know you can complete and your content will benefit.