Tips for Writing Effective Web Content

You are surfing the web and you have a question and are seeking an answer or solution to that question. Consider finding three different types of articles. One is a fluff piece that any third grader could understand, but provides on a general, basic overview of the topic. One is lengthy, provides pages of information, and goes into detail beyond what you wanted to know when ask the question and you have to wade through information that really doesn't matter to you to get to what you wanted to know. The third is a concise, detailed but brief overview with bullets or headings and focuses on the specific topic for which you were searching.

Most of us online will look first for the third type of article, and then on rare occasions will continue seeking additional information and search for the second type of article.

The important part here is that no one is searching for the first type of article, and yet that's the single most common type of web content available on the internet today.

Readers crave quality writing and content on the internet, but finding it is harder than you might think. Most of what is written online is intended for search engines and not human readers, because getting that all important placement in Google or Yahoo! is what drives most web content.

So how can you write quality web content that still gets good search engine placement while still appealing to your readers?

1. Choose good topics.

It won't matter how well written web content is if the content isn't something someone wants to know, needs to know, or that provides the answer or solution to their question or problems. Pick a good topic and be sure that when you write on that topic, you answer the most obvious and common questions someone would want to know about that topic in the writing.

2. Briefly discuss all points of the topic.

Make your web content the one-stop spot for the answer or solution the web surfer has. If the main topic you chose is too broad to answer all questions one may have on that topic, then narrow the focus of your topic and instead write more than one article or page about the same topic, but narrowly focus each piece of web content so that it covers everything the reader might need, or else be sure to provide links to other web content that provides the answers, preferably your content.

3. Link to related and credible sources for verifying the information in the web content.

Linking to reputable sources builds your credibility and trust your readers place in you. Linking to affiliate programs, sales page, or disreputable sources will not garner trust in your reader. Know your sources when you cite them and then link to them appropriately.

4. Use supporting graphics, pictures or other images.

If you're writing web content about a product, provide a picture of the product. If you're writing a tutorial for the computer, screen captures help your reader. If you're writing about a person, put a photo of the person on the content. People are visual, tactile and auditory, and every person processes information differently. If you can provide something visual as well as the written web content, you stand a better change of making an impression with the reader, bringing them back for more.

5. Write about what you know, or learn it so you know it before you write about it.

A reader is not stupid, most of the time, and they are going to know if you are writing just to turn a buck and get traffic or if you truly do know what you're talking about. If you don't know about something, don't write about it until you do. Someone who has some basic information on the topic you choose will know very quickly if you're full of it or not in your web content, so be sure to know your topic well.

If you're using a ghostwriter for your web content, know who your writer is and what their area of expertise is too. Use the right writer for the right web content to reach your target markets or consumers.