9 Edge Pieces of the Quality Content Puzzle

Why You Need the Edge Pieces

As you may know writing for the web differs from print. Both of them have common goals, however writing on the web allows the writer to take concepts further.

Ideas can instantly be expanded when you ‘click here’, therefore they need to be laid out in a simple format, and made easy for busy readers to scan through.

Here I present some basic pieces to help web based writers put together quality content.

The Quality Content Puzzle Pieces:

You don’t have to be Mark Twain to write web content, you have to be better. If you understand the basic building blocks it becomes more like a puzzle. As long as all of the pieces are there you can put them together and be successful.

1. Keyword research – Before you do anything you need to understand your market. Keyword research is essential to understanding which words people use to search for your industry. It doesn’t stop there, in fact it never stops, keeping an eye on which terms people actually use to find you allows you to cater your content specifically to reach that market.

2. Utilize a wide range of keywords – Although it is important to focus attention on the highly competitive keywords within your industry, any keyword a reader uses to find you is important if it could lead to a potential sale. Appealing to a wide range of keywords not only keeps the writing more interesting, it helps attract those who aren’t as search savvy.

3. Clever titles catch attention – The most essential ad copy of any page is in the title. Keep it as few words as possible while including your target keywords and a dash of impact.

4. Dictionary – With spell-check few of us use a dictionary anymore, so my point here is this: there is no excuse for misspelled words, period. One spelling error destroys credibility and will instantly prompt a high percentage of readers to navigate away from your site.

5. Thesaurus – It may seem like a basic instrument, but I have already used my thesaurus several times just writing this article. It is a great tool to help with writing eye-catching titles.

6. Direct communication with customers – You want people to read your site, but the end goal is generally to convert that reader into a customer. Nurturing lines of communication with your potential customers gives you access to useful feedback.

Keeping up with and replying to comments helps you to better understand which elements will increase conversions / sales. Reading and answering reader questions allow you to assess usability issues and address them immediately.

7. Reading about writing online – Staying up on the best blogs and latest information is the best way to keep track of new ideas and technology. The internet advances exponentially every day, so the more you read today the more prepared you will be tomorrow. For a good list of reads, check out my article on the 10 Best writing blogs.

8. Use the holidays – Any reason to post is a good one. A cheerful holiday hello is a great excuse to post a few lines and to keep yourself in your readers field of vision.

9. Keep pages short – Readers are daunted by long pages and big paragraphs, limit paragraphs to one idea and keep your text free of fluff. Utilize heading tags for impact and bold important phrases, most people don’t have time to read pages, but they will scan them to read the important bits.

As you can see I violated number 9 in this very article. There will be times when longer text is necessary in order to convey information to your readers. This is where formatting becomes essential, bolding key points, and inserting useful links allows readers to quickly scan the page and read what appeals to them.

Have a missing piece to the puzzle? Drop me a comment and let me know.