Writing Unique Website Content
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> Writing Unique Website Content
Writing unique website content is essential to the success
of your website. There are two main reasons, search engines will
visit your website more often to index your pages in their search
results. Also, your website visitors are looking for information so
the better your information and the more legible you write it the
more they are likely to return or complete a purchase.
What I've covered below are some of the more
important areas of writing useful content along with
methods to make your website legible to more readers.
It's important to read this before you start making your
website.
Unique Website ContentWriting website copy is one of the
easier things to do especially if you're familiar with the topic
that your website is about. WebsiteToad.com is all original
copy because of the fact that I've spent many years working with
websites so I'm extremely familiar with all aspects of building a
website.It's important to
have unique content because search engines don't like websites with
duplicate content. Using plagiarized information can you trouble in
your search engine rankings along with the owner of the original
information.
Lastly, it builds
creditability. Users will see that your content is unique and
that you know what you're talking about so it builds credibility
and increases the odds that they'll purchase from our or come
back again when their looking for something related to your
website.
Use Legible Website FontsAlthough it looks neat to use some
of the fonts on the market is hard to read. People using older
computers or older internet browsers may not be able to allow the
newer fonts on their machine so I'd recommend using some of the
basic fonts such as Arial, Verdana, Times New Roman. I personally
use Verdana in a size 10 font and find that it's extremely easy to
read online.
Limit The Number Of Images On Your WebsiteTry using more
text than images. Sites that have too many images take longer to
load. Even though you may be using a broadband service many people
still use Dial Up so sites that take you 5 seconds to load can take
minutes for dial up users.
Avoid Using Flash If Possible
Avoid flash at all means. Flash looks great but if you're trying to
rank a site well for search engines, Flash has absolutely no value.
This is also part of the previous mentioned dial up users. Flash
files are generally large and take time to load so people most
likely will just leave your site. Lastly, although flash is very
popular, many people don't have a flash player loaded on their
computer. For this reason, I don't use flash on any of my sites at
all.
Write To Draw Visitors Interest By Using Headlines
As I mention below, visitors don't want to have to scour though a
ton of content to get the information that they want so if there are
certain things you want them to read you'll need to draw their
attention.
Using headlines is a great way of doing this. Using a headline such
as 'I made $100,000 last year on my website and you can too!' is a
great way to get someone interested. It's important to try to
portray a personal feeling such as using 'I', 'You' and 'We'. This
helps make your reader feel that you're not there to just sell
something.
There are certain techniques that just scream of
amateur or spammer. Using all capital letters is one technique that
I recommend that you avoid along with 'exclamation points!!!!!!".
I'm not saying to not use an explanation point but just use one!
If you can't write an effective headline you may be missing out
on potential sales so be sure to take the time to write effective
headlines.
Write Using Effective LayoutsYour layout can make or break your
website. There are standards that you'll find at most websites and
through the years people have become accustom to those layouts. One
thing to consider is your navigation. I use a left hand navigation
because it's easy to notice plus it allows me to place the links in
order of importance or in my case from beginner subjects down the
line to more advanced subjects.
Another effective area to place your navigation is along the top.
This is an area that is certain to draw the attention of your
website visitors. I use the top navigation to link to additional
resources that I'd like to draw attention to aside from my website
building pages.
When I say that the layout of your website can make or break your
website it holds true to the fact that if your website visitors
can't easily find the information that they're looking for that
they'll go elsewhere.
My suggestion would be to visit quite a few different websites,
even websites with different topics. Find what you feel is easy to
read and navigate, from there you can build on that to give your
website the layout that it needs to be easy to navigate and easy to
read.
Look At Your Website Through The Eyes Of Your Visitors
Building a website that you like is like painting your house
pink because you love pink. You may love it but your neighbors may
hate it.The same holds true for web design, it's important that
you look at your website through the eyes of your visitors. Ask
yourself questions like do the colors fit the theme of my website,
is the font going to be easy for nearly everyone to read, do I have
too many images on the page which may be difficult to load for those
visitors with dial up, etc.
When I put a new website online I'll just onto three of the
forums that I belong to and find the section for 'Review My Site'.
I'll then ask for unbiased reviews of the website. Many times people
will say things you don't want to hear but don't take it personally,
they are just giving you what you asked for.
From there build on the reviews that you were given. You'll find
that the reviews will give you ideas and problem areas that you
hadn't considered.
People Won't Read EverythingI'm sure you know exactly what I'm
saying here. People don't want to spend ages reading through
paragraphs of text to get the information that they're looking for.
As you can see from the nature of my website I have taken the time
to break the categories into headers that first describe what that
section is about.
This gives my readers an easy way to determine if they're interested
in that topic. If not, they just move to the next section. I think
that this is a way to keep your readers from getting board.
Even after the headline I just write a few paragraphs about that
subject that gets right to the point. It's important to write useful
information without a bunch of fluff that will bore your readers.
Granted it's tough to write about certain topics within a couple
of paragraphs but people just want to scan for information without
wasting an entire evening so keep your visitors interested by giving
them what they want and cut down on un-necessary paragraphs.
Additional Resources
Although I've covered some of the more important topics, I certainly
haven't covered them all. I welcome you to visit our
webmaster forum to find further information or run questions by
some seasoned webmasters. |
