How to Write a Good Text

How to Write a Good Text for a Website

People read about 20% of the words on a website. Since there’s really no telling which words they’ll read, you can’t just have a few sentences designed to act as winners. They all need to be winners. So a bit of good editing will help you create SEO-friendly content.

Editing programs, like Hemingway Editor or Grammarly, cut to the heart of grammatical and readability issues. You won’t need to read the piece with a fine-toothed comb, just fix the problem areas that the editors highlight.  You can then take it a step further and run the piece through a tool like SEMrush’s SEO Content Template for specific SEO recommendations.  

Note that polished writing doesn’t represent a single form. In fact, business blogs, comedy websites, and news articles all require different tones, levels, and styles of writing. So if you’re trying to break into a crowded space, push the boundaries of acceptable content.

Add humor, edge, intelligence, confidence, sarcasm, or charisma. Loosen up the writing and let the metaphors sing. Add soundbites in-between text for interactive content. Shorten up paragraphs and use bullets. Use loose and colorful prose. Find a unique, engaging voice that mimics the demographic lingo. Use Long-form & Short-form Content, but don't forget that with increasingly crowded web spaces and demanding searchers, Google’s algorithms have begun privileging longer and longer content.

If your goal is to satisfy the searcher’s query, and you get to pick between a 250-word article and a 3,000-word article, there’s generally a higher chance that the 3,000-word article contains something in it that satisfies the intent of the searcher.

Yet, sometimes that 250-word article delivers the bullet point answer in a beautiful featured snippet, and those other 2,750 words are no longer needed and definitely not read.

According to an aggregation of research, the ideal content length for high-ranking pages should be around 2,000 words. This is a good starting point and a great place to gauge your word count, but it isn’t the holy grail.

You need to A/B test with your specific visitors to see which kind of content they like best – short or long.

Find clear-cut answers to any question. Photo by Elena.

Originality versus Authority

On the one hand, you’ve been told to value citing sources, authoritative links, expert advice, and claims that are backed up. On the other hand, you’ve also been told to value original research and content that adds value through new claims. Basically, you need to avoid scraping content and avoid unverified claims. Go ahead and lean on the experts, but exceed them. Never overwrite your links and research, but add something new and original, something your specific audience would want.

You need the sources to back up your content, but you need to go beyond the sources to tell a new and compelling story. A few creative links and a compelling story will help your content walk the line between authority and originality.

Mobile Traffic

Mobile traffic is a big business, though keep in mind that mobile searches are generally more specific and targeted than desktop searches. Phone searches are generally more integrated into lifestyles, and things that people are already doing.

If you’ve got content that people will mostly access from a desk, focus on those long-form pieces and keep the shorter informative responses for the mobile users.

Make the Form Match the Content

When we talk about form, we’re talking about:

• Word count.
• Structure of the content.
• Tone of the piece.
• HTML tags.
• Title and meta tags.

If you understand what the content seeks to communicate and what kind of search the content satisfies, you can develop the form of the page around the content.

If its a technical article about plumbing or stock trades, get right to the point in the opening paragraph. If you’ve got a comedy listicle, your audience will be a bit more forgiving about slow starts.

Google’s advice to “make pages for users, not search engines” is still some of the best advice you can get.

Creating a good outline for your content before you begin plugging words into a page will ensure that the article maintains integrity.

The best articles don’t just read like a nice essay, they look like a crisp painting, with tags, titles, font, and headlines that create a unified piece.

Source: searchenginejournal.com/6-tips-for-creating-the-best-seo-friendly-content/314813.

Follow the guidelines for good texts and you'll be able to travel every day of your life! Photo by Elena.