Writing for the web – 10 basic tips

Writing for websites is different from any other kind of writing.

Visitors to websites don’t spend a lot of time reading text on a website. They quickly scan the page with their eyes and will leave in just seconds if they don’t see anything that interests them or that answers the question they had.

Web content has to ensure people quickly find what they’re looking for. They have to know immediately that they’ve come to the right page, otherwise you my have lost them forever.

Here are some important web writing tips to start with:

1. Organise and structure your copy in a logical way.
2. Immediately cut to the chase. Don’t use more words than necessary. Keep sentences short.
3. Put the most important information right at the top.
4. Use active, not passive voice.
5. Use bullet points, subheadings and bolded text or different colours to make it easy for visitors to quickly ‘scan’ a page with their eyes (everyone is in a hurry).
6. Use a friendly, personal tone of voice. Say “you” and “we”, not “the client” and “the company”.
7. Target your writing directly to the visitor of your website, your potential customer.
8. Optimise content for search engines (search engine optimisation or SEO) and use relevant keywords and keyword combinations to help increase your search engine ranking.
9. Use hyperlinks in the text to help visitors get to related pages. Make sure link labels explain clearly where the visitor is taken (e.g. don’t link the words ‘click here’).
10. Add a clear call-to-action button at the end of each page to guide people to the next step you’d like them to take.

Many company owners or staff who write their own content don’t approach it from the point of view of the visitor or customer. There’s industry jargon, vague ramblings or the all-important keywords are missing (the words people use to search for your products or services).

A professional web copywriter, like me, approaches your content from the point of view of your target audience, your potential customers, and makes sure the web content speaks directly to them.

By getting your words right, you’ll get more visitors on your website, they will stay there longer, visit more pages, come back more often, and are likelier to sign up to your newsletter, contact you with a question or buy your products.

My name is Micky Stuivenberg. I’ve been writing successful website content since 1999. Why not discuss your website content with me – an experienced and professional SEO-certified web copywriter – and see how I can help you? Get in touch.