It may not happen every time, but I’ve definitely gotten some side eye when I talk about writing website text.
You see, for people who are decent writers, it seems like a no-brainer. If you can write, you can write for a website. Those skills have to be transferrable…right?
The honest answer is, it depends what your goal is.
If your goal is a website full of text, YES, you can do it!
If your goal is a website populated with consistent messaging in keeping with your brand voice, formatted to best practice for search engine optimization (SEO) and accessibility, mindfully crafted to ensure maximum readability on desktop or mobile device…NO. You probably can’t do it on your own.
This isn’t a personal failing, or criticism of your writing skills. You don’t know what you don’t know. I don’t know what I don’t know. No one does.
No, this isn’t a criticism of your skills. It’s an acknowledgement that there are specific guidelines to follow when writing targeted, keyworded website text, and certain structures to consider.
Why does this even matter? Let’s talk about organic traffic.
Let’s get back to basics for a moment. What is organic traffic?
Organic traffic is traffic (visitors) being driven to your website by search engine results. This does not include traffic driven by ads or other paid marketing, or by direct traffic (ie: people typing in your URL or visiting from your social media).
Organic traffic can be a valuable asset to a small business or organization. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) focuses on identifying and using words and phrases that are meaningful to the target audience in order to help them find the content they’re looking for.
Particularly for those in niche or high-demand industries, there’s a ton of value in having an optimized site.
It’s about the looks too…
There are other layers to creating effective website text, too.
There is a significant overlap between SEO best practice, accessibility* best practice, and performance best practice.
*in some industries, compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) mandates are required, and it all ties in to the very topic I’m talking about now.
Some small business owners (or other website owners, of course) choose not to focus on SEO. Either their keywords are obscure and won’t show well in search, the bulk of their client base is found through word-of-mouth, or they just don’t think it’s important. And that’s okay!
The thing to recognize is that a fair amount of the things I do to bolster SEO are also highly relevant in crafting effective website content, period. There’s a lot of overlap. I’ll explain a bit more…
As of 2024, it is estimated that 58.21% of global web traffic comes from users on mobile devices.
Sites like Facebook and Pinterest have mobile apps; small business and organization websites have responsive themes – or should! A responsive theme is simply a layout that auto-formats to accommodate the different screen size and use of a mobile device versus a desktop.
Effective website content creation requires knowing how to note just WRITE but also FORMAT to make the message clear and the text legible, no matter what size screen it is viewed on.
Yes, there are guidelines (I hate to call them rules, though some may). I know how to take a dense, dry block of text and format it to make it easy on the eyes, AND engaging.
Finding your voice
Finding the tone of your brand is one thing. Will be it friendly and casual, using modern vernacular and leaning into online meme culture? Will it be professional to the max, never deviating from its stated purpose? Will it reflect the owner or practitioner’s personality and feel more like a personal conversation?
This is a valuable question that should be considered in the early stages of crafting a brand identity.
When you get into website content creation though, there’s another wrinkle to consider. Now you’re not just finding your brand’s voice, you’re finding how to translate it into a language that is attractive and accessible to your target audience.
I’ve had numerous clients laugh when I tell them the guidelines I follow in order to implement best practice! And I understand why. It sounds so silly if you’re unfamiliar. But these things – these little points in terms of structure, voice, and format – these have been shown, time and time again, to build content that brings in traffic and encourages response.
You don’t know what you don’t know. I don’t know what I don’t know.
And that’s why I love working with the smallest of small businesses. You get to focus on the things you do best (which there’s no way I know the way you do) while I get to focus on these silly sounding, tedious things I understand (which you’ve had no reason to know).
Creating website text is an art and a science
Crafting effective website content is about more than being a decent writer. Just like you wouldn’t write a research paper in a text message, and wouldn’t comment on a friend’s Instagram photo the same way you’d write a business email, there are certain structures and strategies that are just more appropriate in specific uses.
Creating effective website text is an art – there is skill and experience involved in writing masterful text that paints a picture and drives engagement. It’s also a science – these strategies have been weighed and measured and data drives accepted best practice.
If you’ve read this far, first off, thank you. Secondly, I want to point out that you’ve just read a post that utilizes a lot of the strategies I’ve referenced.
It also makes mindful decisions to ignore some, because they simply don’t fit with the casual nature of my tone and my own personality. Yes, in my own writing, I will ignore some best practice snippets because they don’t reflect what I want.
And that’s okay. The key is in the word mindful. You don’t want to make careless errors or fall into messaging by accident. It’s all about making purposeful and mindful choices that keep your goals in mind and move you towards them, while making respectful use of your resources.
Want to learn more about how you can keep doing the things you’re best at, and letting me worry about the fussy stuff like SEO implementation and formatting your website content? Contact me today and let’s set aside a few minutes to talk.