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Creating engaging and attractive content is one of the most important parts of getting a website built. Website content is successful when it appeals to both viewers and search engines; however, catering to both is challenging when you’re unsure where to start. Make sure to follow these tips when you’re writing, refreshing your website, or compiling content for your new website, and reap the benefits when your site goes live!

Don’t: Copy Content From Competitors

No matter how tempting it may seem, copying content from other sites can result in your site being penalized or even removed from search engines.

Do: Use Google for Inspiration

Look for websites with content you admire and take inspiration from them. Remember to stay away from plagiarism, though!

Don’t: Write long walls of text that are too complicated.

The average reader doesn’t appreciate convoluted messaging. They want their answer as soon as they can get it. Additionally, you don’t want them to feel inferior to you or misunderstand you with your language skills. Even though you might be an expert on the topics your website covers, you need to remember that your customers might be less knowledgeable.

Do: Make the text easy to understand for the average reader

Humans and search engines alike appreciate short and sweet content. If possible, try to keep paragraphs under 80 words or 4-5 lines long. Breaking up text with bullet points, lists, and visuals can make it skim-friendly. Your content should speak to your site visitors on their level.

Don’t: Repeat yourself ad nauseam

Those who visit your website do so to learn about the topic you cover. Learning something new shouldn’t be filled with the same terminology or concepts all the time. It’s also unnecessary to repeat your business name multiple times in the text. Overly repetitive content could be labeled as keyword stuffing by search engine crawlers which will hurt your SEO. If you’re not offering your audience new and useful information that makes sense, they won’t visit your site.

Do: Focus on the topic/service that you are describing and use keyword research

Visitors already on your website are assumed to know which company they are viewing, so you don’t have to repeat it too often. A reminder (or two) is sufficient. The descriptive text must be clear, intentional, and unique between pages or sections. Make sure you include keywords in your text so that you can be found in search engines when people are looking for your business and services.

Don’t: Randomly pump out content

You will most likely end up doing double work when you try to write content without knowing your customer journey or a clear goal. Writing content without knowing your target audience, their likes, and dislikes, and their reason for coming to you will only hurt your business if it doesn’t serve the audience’s needs.

Do: Know the goal for each page’s content

Make sure the content on each page will answer their questions, point them in the right direction, and convince them why interacting with you is worth their time. Part of this process is streamlining your visitors to the answers they need. When you write your content and design your website with the user in mind, everything will be easy to find. No one likes a slow search for answers!

The digital market space is flooded with similar brands and businesses, so it’s important you have good website content to help you stand out! Michigan Creative prides itself on being innovative problem solvers. If you need help creating quality content, or need a new marketing plan (like the MC Greenprint), give us a call. Contact us today or subscribe to our monthly newsletter, The Creative, for more information.