3rd October 2008
Mark Moon

Writing for the web is different to writing for any other media because you need to ensure that the page content stands out from your competitors. in order to do this it needs to written to allow search engines to pick up various keywords and phrases easily and simply.

The easier it is for a search engine to pick up these phrases, the higher your website is likely to appear in the search rankings. The higher your website ranking, the more business you are likely to attract. Prospective customers are more likely to look at sites ranked on the first page of their chosen search engine than on other pages. Writing clearly and concisely for the web is part of a greater process to ensure high rankings called search engine optimisation.

if you are planning to write some content for your website, here are 5 simple tips that may help.

1. The content needs to be easy to read and well written. Although this doesn't affect how a search engine selects a page, it does matter to potential customers. Even if a customer does link to your site, if they then see a poorly written site they are likely to turn away. Spelling and grammar is as important in your online content as it would be on a report or in an official email. if there are mistakes a customer is likely to assume that your company is unprofessional and that the quality of service may be lacking.

2. The writing of the web page must be logical and presented in a manner that is easy to read. When customers visit a site they often scan through the material and make an instant decision as to the quality of the service provided from what they see. The web content needs to be written with this in mind. You need to use such things as headings, sub headings, bold and italic text to full effect so that people can get the information they want quickly.

3. Links on your site need to be thought about very carefully as they help the customer to interact with your site. The more that they interact, the more interested they become and the more likely they are to make a purchase. They become drawn into the site. However the links must also be logical and linked to things that the customer may actually want to see. Redundant links are a waste of time. When creating links it is possible to have the linked page open in the current browser window or another window. it is often a good idea to have links to sites other than your own pop up in a different window, as this keeps your site open in the background and in the back of the customer's mind.

4. You need to think about the overall look of your site and the placement of the text. Once again this is due to the 'glance' factor. A jumbled, confusing site with excellent written content is still going to be navigated away from. You need to think about the colour of the text and the colour of the background. Unless you are a very creative web designer, it is probably a good idea to keep your page simple and have black text on a white background. The spacing between the lines themselves needs to be considered, as does the location of images and menus.

5. Finally, you need to be aware of which keywords search engines are looking for in your particular field. There is plenty of software available that can help identify what these keywords are. it is wise to try and put as many keywords into your text as you possibly can without it becoming an unreadable mess. The limit is about 10 keywords.