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SMB Article:

"Content Writing for the Web"

Content or "Copy" in a website not only describes your company, products and services, but when seen by a search engine could make or break your website's relevancy but mean the difference between getting visitors or remaining an unknown!  The written copy is as important, if not more so, that the design of the website itself.

The saying "Content is King" is so true. Take it to heart. 

What needs to happen:

  1. You need to now your product/service intimately, so you can write about it descriptively.
  2. You MUST know what words and phrases in-particular people will use when trying to find your product or service and then include those words and phrases in your copy, as appropriate.
  3. Spelling errors can kill your copy. Spell check and proof-read your copy over and over, before settling on the final edit.

Optimizing copy for search engines - the right way:

Google, currently the world's largest search engine, is all about relevant search results - it is part of the massive business model that has made Google one of the wealthiest and most powerful companies to ever exist. If you search for something on Google and you were to continually get results that did not pertain to your search, you would soon try another search engine. To keep you on their site and deliver the targeted advertisements that keeps them alive, Google continually adjusts its algorithms to deliver the most relevant search results anywhere. Recently, Google has created an algorithm that has taken some poorly SEO'ed (search engine optimized) sites and basically condemned them to the abyss amongst millions of other web pages that may never be seen in a search, by anyone.

Search Engine Optimization (usually for Google) includes many things, one of which is written copy, or content. Intentionally including key words and phrases in your copy to get your web page to show higher in a search result has become a delicate balancing act. With the new algorithms in use, too many words or phrases can make your copy appear like it was written with the search engine in mind first, and the reader a distant second. Doing this now can not only cause your site or page to fall far down in the results, but also to be expelled from the search engine, sometimes permanently.

So, research your keywords and phrases, know your product or service and when you write your copy geared to the reader, the keywords and phrases will work themselves into it more smoothly and naturally.

It all boils down to this: Web pages that are optimized for the reader and not the search engine, are finding their way to the top of search results now, so good copy writing practices are starting to pay off. What are good rules for writing descriptive copy for print, are good practices period.

For the best result - hire a professional copy writer with a proven record. If not, at least educate yourself on some of the finer points of writing descriptive copy.

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