In my previous article I gave some tips on doing your homework before interviewing potential Web designers for your project. This week I’m going to touch on how to prepare content ahead of time for your website.

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “Content is King” and it’s even more important to keep this theory in mind when writing for your website. The Web is great and a curse at the same time. While you can find an answer to just about anything you Google these days, there’s SO much information out there, how do you decide what to choose to read?

For most of us, we choose to read sites that are fast loading, clean, easy to navigate and more importantly search engine friendly (since they’re the first ones to pop up after our search right?). Besides using good grammar and spelling, here are some tips to consider when creating effective web content:

1)   Make it exciting. Think about the last five websites you visited. Why did you stop by their website? Did you decide you were up for a five-hour reading session one day? Were you looking for something to cure your insomnia? Probably not. I’m sure there was an exciting header that grabbed your attention, a humorous statement that made you laugh, or a particular site that contained that exact keyword you were searching for. So how are you going to convince people to stop by your website? By engaging the reader with a mix of humor, short descriptive paragraphs, and keyword-rich content, you can create the same type of environment that draws your attention to sites when surfing the Web. Stuck trying to think of interesting words to use within your own content? Check out Thesaurus.com! It’s a great resource.

2)   Put yourself if your client’s shoes. What would make you want to buy your own product or service? Why are you different than your competitors? Do you have any customer feedback that gives you insight on what makes your product more superior than someone else’s? Brainstorm ideas and use customer feedback to help develop your competitive advantage – instead of guessing.

3)   Keep your content short, sweet, and engaging. We live in a world where everyone seems to be in a hurry and reading websites is no exception. The average person spends about two minutes reading website content before moving onto something else. Which means, your website needs to get to the point, fast. Creating snippets of engaging content will increase the chance a user will stay longer on your site and the possibility they will return. Have a lot to say? Supply critical information on the main pages of your website then start a blog to dive into your discussions further.

4)   Organize your information. Use bold headings, bullets, short paragraphs, white space, lists and tables to organize information that can be read quickly and easily.

5)   Write content that’s SEO friendly before your website is designed – not after. Google spyders will start searching your website as soon as it’s launched so why not have everything prepared at the start? Writing content that’s SEO friendly can be a blog topic of it’s own (and may be in the future!), however, here are a few tips to keep in mind:

1. Your content should be relevant to your business and should sound natural.
2. Use important keywords in your titles and in your first sentence.
3. Make your links part of the copy – especially if your links include keyword phrases.
4. Don’t overuse keywords. Once again, make everything sound natural.

6)   If you’re not much of a writer, hire someone to help. Save time, and money in the long run, by hiring someone to write strong, SEO-friendly content the first time around. That way you can continue to focus on your business instead of trying to figure out how to write relevant copy on your own. It might cost a little more up front, but in the end it will allow you to reach your website goals faster.

So you’ve taken all or our tips above and have developed some awesome SEO-friendly content for your website. Now what?

Bundle up all that great content and pass it along to your web designer. Try and submit all of your content at one time and in Word documents. That way the designer can extract the information from Word and paste it directly into your site.

The great thing about a website is nothing is set in stone. Unlike printed pieces, there are minimal costs (if any) to making tweaks to your copy once your website is launched. So don’t fret that your copy isn’t perfect or might need a few changes down the road. The more important thing is to have everything ready upfront so the design process moves quicker and smoother.

We hope you have found these content tips useful! Remember, content is king so check and make sure your website is up to par. Need help developing exciting, SEO friendly copy for your site? Throw us a bone!

Tags: GDBD Creative Design, GDBD Design, Good Dog/Bad Dog Creative Design, internet marketing, online marketing, tampa website design, web site type design, website design, website development, website effectiveness, website solutions, writing for the web, writing website content