Writing Content for a Website – Four Basic Tips to Impress Users (and Search Engines)

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There are many things that can be taken into account when building a website for search engine friendliness. In this article, we’re looking at the absolute basics of this – creating quality content for happy website viewers.

By creating quality content, you’re giving your website a massive head start when it comes to impressing users. And impressed users impress Google.

Sure – it’s possible to use artificial techniques to rise to the top of search engines, at least for a while. But in our experience, the sites that consistently rank the highest are those that primarily provide excellent content for users – and this ties in perfectly with Googles core aims:

The key to creating a great website is to create the best possible experience for your audience with original and high quality content. If people find your site useful and unique, they may come back again or link to your content on their own websites. This can help attract more people to your site over time.”

Google: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/6001093?hl=en

So. Where to begin with creating quality text?

TIP 1: Write unique text
Many websites simply copy content from other sites and paste it onto their own. This may save time, but it’s unlikely (at least for long) to result in great rankings for that page – Google can, and does check for duplicate content, and will penalize pages or sites with much of it.

Would you be more impressed if you read something unique and interesting on a website, or if you read a copy of something you’d already seen?

TIP 2: Write your text as a useful resource for all viewers – not just customers
If you are writing about a product or service, consider how this information could be presented so that it is useful and interesting to customers and non customers alike.

The best content is engaging and interesting, not just a hard sell.

TIP 3: Don’t try to “game” search engines. Try to impress users instead.
Google’s main aim is to provide quality results to users – it wants people to use Google’s search engine and services (and be shown ads…).

People are not impressed by text that is stuffed full of keywords for search engines, but they are impressed by text that answers their questions.

TIP 4: Ensure your text is up to date
Ensure your text is up to date and relevant for what people are searching for *right now*.

Feel free to contact us with any questions.

If you would like an indepth examination of your website, including Google Pagespeed, Google Mobile Useability, search engine optimisation, broken link report, and a general report on useability – take a look at our Professional Website Critique.