When Writing For The Web...

If you are here, looking for a guide on writing, then do not read further. If you think by reading these few words, you can become a writer, wrong again. No one can teach you to write, it comes naturally, make it exciting and focused.

A good writer develops over the years and it requires you to work consistently and practice. It is like developing any other form of art.

I learned the Need

When writing for the web and before one begins to write, it is crucial to understand the topic well. It will require research as well as personal input and most importantly inspiration. Your writing style must be bold, customer-focused and readable.

My Philosophy

Is this content going to help my readers at all?

Is it going to make the web a better place?

If you can tell a story in an interesting way, create food for thought, using different types of content, be helpful, moreover, if you deliver qualitatively rather than quantitatively then you are on the right track. The readers are smarter, fast and critical, today.

Types

Writing content is a complex process and multiple ways to market the content. Here are various types of content written today:

·         SEO Friendly articles

·         Blog posts

·         Infographics

·         Descriptive Videos

·         Guides for products

·         Reviews for products

·         News articles

·         Social Media posts

·         Creating lists

·         Research

·         E-books

For each of these contents the writing style is different. Let us see, how different it is, to write a few of them.

1.      SEO friendly Articles

When writing for the web, write ‘Anything that sizzles, will sell’. Hence, it is time to shift the focus from the meat to just the sizzle.

Plan your SEO-friendly articles well, optimize them using keywords, so that, people can find them easily. Market and promote your articles on the web, to drive website traffic this will increase the revenue.

The length of the article varies on the industry needs; 500 to 2000 words that show industry expertise, with an aim to boost the website on search engine ranking. They are different from Blog posts, aimed at engaging customers rather than ranking.

Here is what is required

The SEO friendly article must be of high-quality and engaging; however, the keyword must be strategically placed. The content must be valuable so that it can catch the reader’s attention, moreover, it must be entertaining at the same time.

The other important aspect of an SEO friendly article is that, if it is exceptional the readers will share it. You can encourage your readers to share it on social media. Creating a write up that adds new value requires understanding the target audience.

How to create a good SEO-friendly article

When writing SEO friendly content, add more and better value with research, examples, anecdotes and improving quality and create an impact; in simpler words, write an article with an impact. Writing short sentences with good vocabulary is of equal importance.

The article must be subjective keeping in mind, what will drive anyone to read. It is like when you read about a subject you simply do not read everything, you may skim through some articles read as they grab and hold your attention.

Enhance your article with Keywords

The article must contain the ‘keywords’, however, stuffing it will not help, it must be strategically placed and woven in. For example, it is good to use one important keyword in the title, up on a search, your article is found. If there are more than one important keyword, it is good to use them, in such a way that, the most searched keyword is visible upfront.

Create an impression

The images create a good impression on the mind, so use it well. It is a way to break up walls of text in a better way and create an outline. Another way, to break up walls of text is, with the use of subheadings.

Other types of articles

Writing a newspaper article is different as it requires a good amount of research, conducting interviews, checking facts and compiling them. It is important to know the audience and find an angle to present. It is important to state the facts as they are.

While a technical piece for the tech savvy readers is another ball game altogether as one must be able to grasp technology, write clearly. If you are good, then you can write tutorials, user guides, product manuals, as well as step-by-step task lists to guide the new users.

2.      Social Media post

Writing for social media platform is different and aims at a certain group of people with a common interest, as they engage their attention with variety. It is more conversational mainly aimed at sharing everything that is good or bad. Ask the right questions and real.

The length of the content is usually up to 100 words, absolutely short, delivered in a matter of minutes.

What is required

The social media post gathers ‘value’ in terms of ROI and engagement, therefore, it is important to write them at specific times of the day to drive more traffic.

How to create a good Social-media post

A good social media post is one that is to the point, evokes emotions that are strong and positive, with punctuations. Free form of writing is cherished.

The content may be anything yet it needs to be in the right context:

·         A Quiz and it may include images

·         You need to Optimize

·         Ask opinions

·         Ask questions

·         Good effective title

·         Use proper grammar and spellings

·         Reveal slowly

·         Use #Hashtag

Here is an example of a successful article

There are many articles published and shared every day on several websites. Some of the exceptional content is on Hubspot. It has 5 articles and 7 blogs in 7 different categories, so a total of 35 articles every day. It will surprise you to see the number of articles shared on social media each day, here is the data worth looking at:

·         35 blog posts

·         25 tweets on Twitter

·         3 posts on Facebook

·         1 email

·         10 posts on Instagram per week

·         22 videos on YouTube per month

·         2,400 pins on Pinterest

This brings a massive audience to the website.

·         930k fans on Facebook

·         655k followers on Twitter

·         30k followers on Pinterest

·         20,000 subscribers on YouTube

They are successful because they have categorized their readers, content managers, and lead magnets so that they target their audience well with a variety of content like guides, templates, e-books and more. Their content marketing strategy is subtle and definitely an easy way to increase revenue.

I will Conclude here

Writing may sound easy; however, it requires more than just stringing up a few words from various articles, checking grammar and creating a write-up ready to be posted. Viola! It is done.

Ask yourself- ‘What is your style and what type of content are you comfortable creating? What is the purpose?’ It is good to try writing different types and see what works for you the best and create your own writing rules.

The content speaks to the audience, so, care for those who read, listen and share; hence, it requires some preparation, to create an engaging masterpiece each time. It is good to try different types of content; each one uses different opportunity levels to market it.

There will be great challenges as well as room for improvement, and you can easily meet it, by reading other writers and working on writing for the web and create an audience. As no one can teach you to write, it just comes naturally when you write for the web.