Writing web content isn’t easy for everyone. Not everyone is a writer. Heck not everyone even LIKES to write.
Except me of course, I love doing it… you could say it’s a passion! Or a hobby.
Wait but I actually get paid to do it, so that’s not really a hobby is it?
But for those of you for whom writing is not a passion there are ways you can still keep readers engaged and keep them coming back for more. Even better they are super simple methods, so you need not feel as if you’re about to climb Mount Everest or run a 10k or something equally as hard and scary. I promise… it’s easy.
1. Focus on quality over quantity or excessive keyword stuffing. Yes, I know it’s important to use proper SEO and optimize for keywords. However I subscribe to the when and where you can and when and where appropriate modus operandi.
In other words, I don’t use keywords prolifically within my content unless they happen to occur there naturally. I don’t stuff them in so that the content is virtually unintelligible. And I make sure that everything I write offers something valuable to a potential reader.
If I tell a story, I make sure there is a moral behind it. If I talk about something I do in business I talk about why and how I do it. Always make sure that when your reader read your content they can walk away from it and say hey… I learned something. Or hey… that motivated me or made me laugh, or WHATEVER.
2. Keep it simple. Remember that a huge portion of web readers are operating on an 8th grade reading level. This means that using highly technical jargon or big fancy words is a no-no. Small, simple ones often suffice just as well in your web content.
That doesn’t mean write in such simple language that you almost begin to make fun of the reader. That’s bad. It just means don’t get carried away with geek speak or write like a college English professor with 12 Master’s degrees. Keep it simple.
3. Stay on-topic. Or at least primarily on-topic. And if you do wander off-topic make sure the reader knows you did it on purpose and wander straight back. There’s nothing worse than trying to read an article where the writer goes off on long, winding tangents that aren’t at all applicable to the topic at hand.
You lose your readers when you do that and it’s likely they will never return. You DO want them to return right? So stick to your topic, keep it simple, and give them some value.
4. Finally, inject a bit of personality into what you write. People like to connect with what they’re reading. They like to connect with the person behind the words. Don’t be afraid to say something funny or express a point of view.
You’ll resonate more with people by being authentic and honest than you will by trying to be perfect and proper and ‘only say the right thing’.
And if you have no personality? Buy some!
Sorry if that sounds harsh and if that’s you, but seriously… don’t torture your readers if you can’t write with a bit of personality and authenticity. Hire someone to ghost for you and call it a day. No one will hate you for it and you might even retain a reader or two!
Cori is a wildly hire-able freelance ‘ghost’ and the creative brains and dubious brawn behind her blog Big Girl Branding. She’d also like to note that ‘big’ does not mean what you think it means. It was meant to indicate being a grown up. Sigh… Of course you probably didn’t get that, and it totally loses its effect when she has to explain it. I guess she’ll just have to put her ‘Big Girl’ panties on and deal with it. Ta-taaaa!!!












































