Web writers know the importance of conducting thorough research for their subjects, particularly when they are in unfamiliar territory writing about a subject they have little knowledge of or interest in. While most of us are sure we know all there is to know about research—after all, we have been doing it probably for years—the truth is there is probably something we could all learn about researching our articles. First of all you will need to assess the basic purpose of your research.

While this may seem like a no-brainer, ask yourself if you are looking for only objective facts or if the subject lends itself to subjective opinions and descriptions. The answer to these questions will determine whether a personal home page could be appropriate for your research or if you need a more factual source. Decide where the most credible information for your particular purposes will come from, remembering governmental and university sites tend to offer more factual source material if you are looking for simple facts or statistics.

Don’t Quote Unreliable Sources

How do you determine whether a website is reliable? Even if you are unable to articulate the answer to that question you likely have learned to be fairly discerning when researching articles. One simple way is to look at the URL for a hint about the overall reliability of a given website. The last three letters tell you whether the site you are looking at is a commercial site (.com) a government site (.gov), an organization (.org) or an educational site (.edu). While there are plenty of .com sites which offer factual and reliable sources, it can be difficult sometimes to tell which ones do and which ones don’t. And while an .edu site seems a pretty safe bet, in some instances these sites have the work of students posted which may compromise the overall reliability of the information.

If you notice a personal name within the URL you should definitely look a bit closer to determine its trustworthiness. If you are unable to determine the publisher of the web content, try to find a link to the “About” page to see who is behind the website. This can be important if you were writing an article about the negative effects of genetically modified foods and landed on a Monsanto page. You never want to use information that is obviously biased as a basis for your article. If you find content you believe will be useful in writing your article, determine whether the content is quoting from another source. If so, go to the original source to verify the information since there is nothing to keep people from changing facts to suit themselves.

Final Thoughts on Research

Look for a “last updated” date on the pages you are considering using to ensure the material is current. If you can’t find when it was updated, search diligently for a date of some sort. Many times you may be shocked to find facts which sound relevant and true but were actually written seven, eight, ten or even fifteen years back. Research can be one of the most important parts of writing a successful article which offers quality and value to the reader however to avoid being stuck in research forever you must learn to conduct your research quickly, using an outline to find out what you really need to know. If you write often about a particular subject, it’s a good idea to keep a file on your research material. This can save you untold amounts of time because you don’t have to start from scratch or try to remember complicated statistics every time you revisit the subject. Finally, remember that while the Internet is an invaluable resource, in some cases you should use it sparingly

Most writers are aware that when writing for the web they must get their point across in the quickest, most succinct manner if they want to keep their reader on the page. Most web readers scan the content quickly to determine whether they want to keep reading or will click onto another site which has more what they are looking for. In fact, you generally have less than ten seconds in which to grab your reader’s attention and hold onto it for dear life. Your paragraphs must be short and snappy with engaging headlines.

More importantly you must get your primary point across quickly, in the first paragraph. Even if you believe your topic is worthy of a several-hundred page book, you still must figure out how to keep it short and sweet. While adding personality to your article or blog is fine, remember that the main focus is and must remain, the message you want to send to your readers. If you fail to get that message across quickly, it won’t matter how much personality your article has because it will never be read.

What is Your Goal?

The goal of most website articles is to encourage your reader to take some sort of action. You want them to purchase a product, try out your service, or navigate to another one of your webpages. The impatient reader will click the “back” button in the blink of an eye if they don’t see what they are looking for. If you primarily want your reader to try your specific service then you want to tell them immediately what that service is and what it can do for them. If it’s a product your selling, do the same thing—tell your reader immediately what your product is, how it is different from its competitors and how they can get it.

Keeping it Short

Effective web writing is short—at least 50% shorter than its print counterpart.  Short words, short sentences short paragraphs—all these together equal short pages. Short words means you avoid using long words your readers may not be familiar with when a short word will get your message across just as clearly. Keep your primary content front loaded—in other words ensure the most important content resides in the upper-left part of the computer screen and that the second-most-important information is at the top of the page. Prominent headings, boldface and other visual cues help your reader to know what you believe to be the most important part of your page.

Don’t Lead up to the Point of Your Story

Although print media spends time leading up to the climax of the story, you don’t have that luxury in web content and must get it out there quickly. Supporting information takes secondary position on your page and it goes downward from there until you reach your summarizing paragraph. On the off chance that your reader actually scanned your entire page and still failed to grasp the main idea, use your last paragraph to quickly summarize the high points. A short bulleted list can have the same effect, wrapping up the primary ideas of your article in a short sound bite.

Remember These Tips:

• Keep it simple
• Keep it short
• Use common words
• One idea per paragraph
• Strive for a lower reading comprehension level that you expect from your readers
• Delete fluff
• Work toward direct, objective text rather than promotional copy

Don’t forget these tips and once you’ve written an article return to it later and ruthlessly edit your words. Look at your work objectively and always be able to answer the question of what your reader will gain by reading your words.

While the actual content you write must be of the highest quality and must hold the interest of your readers, in order to get them to actually read all the way through you must learn to use compelling images and snappy headlines to “hook” your reader. Images draw readers into the story, helping connect them to your words while the headlines give your readers a quick overview of what your content holds.

The Goal of Your Headlines

Because of the very few seconds a reader spends determining whether they will continue to read your content or will click away to a more informative one, you have little opportunity to make a favorable impression. Without the kind of jazzy headline that turns a casual browser into a solid reader, the remainder of your article might as well be invisible. While a headline’s first job is certainly to grab attention, a truly great headline will also communicate what your entire article is about to your potential readers.

Even better, aside from being attention-grabbing and informative, the very best headline makes a promise of benefit or reward for the reader. In other words, your title says to your reader—“If you take your valuable time and read this article all the way through, I promise you will get the answer to that nagging problem.” Wrapping all of these things into a few small words can seem next to impossible.

Different Types of Headlines

A direct headline goes right to the meat of the story with little attempt at cleverness. This type of headline is most often used for sites which are selling a product. If you have a website which sells homemade vanilla extract, then a direct—and effective—headline could read “Gourmet Vanilla Extract—30% off.” On the other end, the indirect headline is a bit more subtle and is meant to create a question in the minds of the readers which will be answered by the ensuing article. News headlines are used for product announcements or a content scoop.

The headline which may work the best is known as the “How-to” headline and, obviously, starts off with “How to…,” explaining how to in the article.  A question headline asks the reader a question they are able to relate to such as “Does Your Husband Ever Fold the Laundry?”  Finally, there is the testimonial headline which can be extremely effective as it presents outside proof that what the reader is about to read will be extremely valuable to them.

Using Pictures to Individualize Your Web Content

The human brain will more easily remember images than words, therefore if you include a compelling photo along with an interesting, well-written article, your readers can recall the photo, then the words will also come back to them. A great photo is an excellent way to get your readers to pause at your article, and may even entice them to go ahead and read all the way through. This means the photo must be relevant to your subject and must be persuasive. If you are writing for yourself, then on the days you are feeling less-than creative—or even downright lazy—adding a great photograph can give the illusion of a longer blog.

We all have those days when creativity seems very far away, and in some cases finding the perfect photo to illustrate your blog may even spark your own mind, giving you new ideas for the accompanying article. Photos and images are also really good ways to break up big chunks of text. When readers see a long, unending stream of words, they often click away without even scanning to see if that text answers their question. A well-placed image can draw their eye into the story, making it more likely they will read it through. In the end, both images and headlines can be the most important aspects to your page simply because they convince readers to read your words.

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.

While the SEO mantra is “more content,” when that content is “thin,” or light on crucial information and quality, simply adding content just to add content can actually work against you. If you are not quite sure what “thin” content is, consider the following examples:

• Excessively short content, meaning less than 300 words is definitely considered thin. Any webpage with fewer than 300 words which is filled up with pretty or flashy graphics needs some fleshing out in the content department. Whenever possible, strive for at least 500 words per webpage. Should you wonder whether there is such a thing as “too long” where content is concerned, Google’s algorithm is rumored to actually have a cutoff point so to speak where it feels you are running on a bit too long. And yes, content that is too long can nonetheless be thin on substance.  Beyond search engine considerations, when you’ve lost the attention of your reader, your content is too long and you should never ramble on simply to add word count to your page.
• Content that fails to get to the point quickly and give the reader the answers they are looking for in the shortest amount of time is definitely thin. In fact, any content which is vague or ambiguous should be ruthlessly cut from your article. Ambiguous content never quite realizes the promise of the jazzy headlines in that you can read the entire article and still not really know what the main idea was. This kind of writing can go in circles or back and forth and its hallmark is a dearth of flowery, high-level words which sound good but leaves the reader scratching his head.
• Thin content in the form of poor spelling or grammar can actually cause you to be penalized by the search engines—yet another reason for endless proofreading prior to publishing. Walk away from your content for at least a few hours, then come back, print out a hard copy, and you may be amazed at the mistakes you can see so clearly that were not visible to you before.

How Do You Know if Your Content is Thin?

If you are not quite sure of how to judge your own content, first take hard look at your bounce rate. Those pages with an excessively high bounce rate could be losing visitors due to thin content. In the same vein, if your content is not engaging enough to keep your visitors reading to the very end, then you will see very short amounts of time on each page. This can also relate to keywords which are failing to target the users you expected them to target.

When people type in a search query they expect to find something very specific. If they land on a page that has nothing to do with what they are searching for, they will leave the page quickly. Of course rate of conversion can also be a good indicator of thin content or content which is vague. Each article should be very clear and direct as far as the intended action of the user. If users are not following through, then the content could be thin.

Thin content can have severe consequences to an otherwise great SEO plan. Low rates of conversion means you are not doing a proper job of informing the search engines that you are an expert in your particular area which may in turn lead them to consider your competition’s sites more relevant.  Thin content can be remedied, but you must learn to recognize it then take steps to correct it by fleshing out your articles with highly informative and engaging information.

You’ve probably heard about content that “works for a living,” but may not be entirely sure what that means. In truth, web copy is largely written by people who are not truly writers, don’t have sufficient time and under circumstances which are far from ideal. Considering the financial state of our nation, this is not a trend that is likely to improve any time soon. What we can do is insist that anyone who touches our cop—whether it is the writer, the proofreader, the editor or the owner of the website—makes sure that every chunk of text is actually doing something concrete. All copy should have a specific goal in reaching the targeted visitor.

Most of us have typed in a search query and somehow landed on a page that appears to have absolutely nothing to do with what we were looking for. Other times we encounter copy which is baffling enough or poorly written enough to send us hitting the “back” button as fast as we can. Users encounter jargon, buzzwords and fluff in overwhelming amounts with meaning which is apparently hidden so deeply as to be unrecognizable. Don’t do this to your own web visitors, rather make absolutely certain that your copy both has a goal and is consistently meeting that goal.

Look at Your Site, Then Answer These Questions

If you can answer the following questions in a meaningful way for each and every page on your legal website, you will have reached the level of excellence you were striving for—if not, never fear, there is help available. First, who is the product or service for, and can that targeted group clearly see that you are speaking directly to them. Can people who are not within the targeted audience tell that you are not speaking to them quickly and easily? What exactly is your product or service? This sounds like a no-brainer, but have you clearly spelled out—in simple language—exactly what your firm is and what you do?

Remember that your nouns should be as concrete as you can possibly make them. What does your particular service actually do for your target client? If you can’t answer this question from looking at a specific web page, then your user won’t be able to either. If your service’s primary features and benefits are laid out clearly and concretely, then it will be readily apparent what you will do for a potential client. Finally, does each page tell your user why your service is better than the vast array of available alternatives? Do you have evidence to back up your claims, and have you presented that evidence in a clear, professional manner?

Using Your Title Tag

The title tag is meant to build your visitor’s expectations, giving them an honest peek into the content located on your pages. The primary reasons website visitors leave a page is because the title tag misled them into thinking they would find what they were looking for, yet leaving them disappointed. Be as descriptive as possible in creating a title tag so as to eliminate any guesswork on the part of your visitors.

Further Thoughts on Content

Next, the content on your pages must fill a specific need, must be a practical solution to a serious problem and must give your reader an idea of how you can help them. In addition to all that, your content must also be interesting and capture the attention of your reader, coaxing them to spend more time on your website and, ultimately, to return. Your content must not only be unique, it must be organized in such a way that your users can easily scan through the pages, finding what they need. Finally, consider the fact that people like clicking on buttons and getting the desired result because it is a form of communication and it gives them quick results. Use this fact to create interactive content related to the subjects on each page and you may just be able to hold the web user’s attention long enough to garner a conversion.

Writing captivating website content is likely much less a product of incredible imagination and skill and a bit more tied to perseverance and a thorough understanding of the best practices for web content writing. While print writing allows the author to slowly build up to the crux of the story, web content dictates you get your main idea out there right off the bat. Web readers have little time to spend on a specific page and almost always have a goal of locating specific, high-quality information in the most expedient manner possible. Writers must be aware of the “formula” and follow it consistently in order to hold their reader’s attention. In part one we discussed the importance of thoroughly researching your target audience then spending the necessary time and effort writing those oh-so-crucial headlines and subheads. Now it’s time to actually write the body of your content. With your headlines and subheads in place, you should have a solid idea of what each paragraph will contain.

The Crucial Hook

After your headline, your immediate hook is likely the most important part of your content, requiring your very best writing. The hook isn’t required to be more than four to six sentences, and if you follow the most widely accepted guidelines, creating the hook can be a straightforward process. In short, your hook is created by artfully describing the symptoms of the issue you plan to solve with your writing. Rather than starting out talking about the actual issue or the subject of your content, seek to describe in great detail the current experience of your intended reader. At the end of your hook, hint that you have a solution to what ails by saying “You don’t have to put up with this…” or something similar. Once you’ve mapped out awesome headings and your initial hook, it’s time to move on to the actual body of your content.

The Primary Sections of Captivating Copy

You’ve hooked your reader with your headlines and the actual hook, now it’s time to detail the actual problem or issue which causes the symptoms you just explained in your opener. Next, you will give more detail about the particular issue and why it might keep cropping up then it is time to offer a solution. At this point you are likely less than halfway into your total word count. While in a print book the actual “solution” to the problem would likely come much further into the book, remember this is the web, and web readers want quick solutions, so now is the time to ante up the resolution. The remainder of your content will be dedicated to telling your web reader how they can turn your ideas into result or how to apply what you’ve just taught them. When you have faithfully followed the above formula you should have solid, persuasive, high quality content which will be highly optimized for search engines, resulting in increased highly targeted traffic.

Summing It Up

In order to write web content which captivates remember to focus on your target audience constantly asking yourself how they can benefit from what you are about to write. Stress the benefits of the information you are offering and make sure you are consistently using action verbs and active sentences. Spend the necessary time on your keywords and headlines rather than adding them as a slapped-on afterthought. Add images when appropriate, but use them judiciously and only add an image when it will both grab the reader’s attention and add another dimension to your writing. Finally, remember why you are a writer, and enjoy what you do for a living.

What is it about certain web content that truly captivates the reader, compelling them to read to the end of the piece? Think of it like a spellbinding novel that you were simply unable to put down until you reached the very last sentence, then found yourself disappointed that the journey was over. Unfortunately, as most web surfers are aware much of the focus tends to be on the website design while the actual content gets thrown in almost as an afterthought. Captivating content not only engages your reader, it effectively builds trust with each website visitor.

When your web content lacks hype and offers useful information, credibility is established. Should it answer your reader’s most burning questions, they will return time after time. What writers—especially those in the early stages of their career—may not realize is the secret to incredible content is rarely genius levels of ability rather is found in structure, planning and thorough research. True, these words can sound a bit boring for the writer itching to make his or her mark on the web, but like the tortoise and the hare story, success may lie in the steadier approach.

Know Your Audience

Before you can captivate your readers you must have a clear idea of who those readers are.  This is not to say you should toss out some vague demographic about your target audience being single mothers age 20-35—although that information can be helpful. Ask yourself what those who will be looking up your particular topic are interested in. Knowing what those who land on your article are looking for can help you narrow the focus of your writing, preventing you from veering off course. It’s important that you keep up with any breaking news or changes in information regarding your particular topic—when it is clear from your writing that you take the time to stay on top of things, it helps readers trust your content. Read what other authors are saying about your subject—you will likely learn something. Of course you must never plagiarize another author however learning from their style or content is always acceptable.

Using Proven Headline Formulas

In the fickle web world, your first ten-fifteen words can count more than the 500 plus words that follow. In other words, writing captivating website content can all boil down to whether your headline and subheads grab your reader’s attention or simply take up space. Many experts feel that your headline is so important that it can actually count for as much as 50% of the success of the entire page. Yet many headlines are written in haste, more as an afterthought than as a critical piece of the overall content. While coming up with one great headline after another may seem about as appealing as going to the dentist for a root canal, there are formulas in place which can help you facilitate writing your captivating headlines.

Generally speaking, create a headline which is question rather than answer-based. Ask yourself whether your headlines evoke the necessary level of curiosity which makes your reader want to continue reading. A direct statement headline can be particularly effective as can a simple how-to headline. Since readers are generally seeking specific information, the how-to headline can assure them their questions will be competently answered. The guarantee or implied benefit headline can also be very effective however you must ensure that your finished article delivers the promise you are making or implying. Your primary headline, along with your subheads can truly make or break your web content, so give them the respect they deserve. For more information about writing website content which captivates, see part two of this article!