I have a client who is going to implement a blog to his website and he has informed me that he has a Harvard graduate to write for the blog. My response was, "Great! Does she know how to write web content?"
I have a high respect for great writers, and I hold an English minor myself, but it took me a long time to get used to the concept of web writing and retrain my brain to use shorter sentences and vocabulary at the 8th – 12th grade level.
There are many resource websites that do need great writers, but business writing on the web is a little different and, if you want an article to be found in search engines, keyword optimization plays a big role in how you write.
If you're a Harvard graduate, you definitely can write at the 8th grade level, right? Well, let's see…
I actually found one great resource for web content writing, EtheosWeb.com, which states the following facts:
1. People don't like to read on the web because it is tiring to the eyes, so you have to keep it short.
2. People are impatient and don't like information overload when reading on the web.
3. Readers on the web scan content, so it's important to use short headings with keywords to guide the reader.
So, when we look at the web we read differently, and, when we are searching for information or a product or service, we want to know about it in as little as 30 seconds.
Decisions are made in the matter of seconds today. Before the Internet graced the world with its presence, we would shop around for days before making a purchasing decision. The reason I say "we" is because we, as writers, must put our own behavior as well as consumers at the forefront of our writing on the web.
The next objective is to write with search engine optimization (SEO) in mind so that "we" find the articles, products, or services "we" are looking for. This is only done through keyword recognition. Here are the best practices:
1. In blogs, web pages, or articles, they should be 300-500 words in content.
2. There should be a keyword/phrase in the heading and subheadings.
3. There should be a 2-4% keyword density ratio of those keywords in the body content.
To analyze your keyword density, you can go to http://www.live-keyword-analysis.com. This is a great tool for optimizing web content and I've mentioned it before in a previous post. Just don't over-do it and keep best practices in mind.
To summarize, keep it short, interesting, and appropriately optimized.
Desiree Bryant is the CEO of Bryant Media Group, a leading Internet marketing consultancy based in California offering SEO services, Website Design services, Media Relations, and a full set of corporate Internet marketing programs.