What Is Content Writing? 10 SEO Friendly Web Content Creation Tips

I can hear you howl in frustration.

All of your content writing chutzpah vanishes when you tackle the task of getting the buyer interested in travel insurance to Ecuador. Sad but true that much of content writing is grunt work. Often, the topic of the articles is less than inspiring.

However, great storytelling is not always about telling a great story. Everyone can seem interesting when they tell a story about their visit to Everest base camp.

But, have you noted how some folks can amuse others with the simplest thing that happened to them that morning? It was something relatively mundane, but they tell it engagingly, with excellent delivery and emotion.

All they are talking about is getting handed a ticket by the police for a broken taillight. But you can almost see the cop in front of you. Why is his story riveting? Because it is vivid. Paint a vivid picture with your words. It is easily said but not so easily done. Plug away.

The content sounds dead when the underlying research is paper-thin. Unless you get your hand on information, the raw material of content writing, how will you write an exceptional article?

The facts have to be recent, supported by sources where needed. Also, the facts have to be presented enticingly.

Don’t engage in death by bullet points. While bullets look good, an overabundance of facts in rapid succession results in the reader getting disoriented. Most of your readers are not pursuing a Ph.D. They have a short attention span and tend to get bored quickly.

Do your research, and present the facts in a reader-friendly manner.

This brings us to the next point. You have to know your audience.

Assume you are writing for a tech blog. In that case, you would presume that the reader is a nerd (not to offend nerds, I am one) and feels ebullient upon reading that the Canon 5Ds is “an ergonomically brilliant masterpiece.”

However, apart from nerds, the blog also aims at ordinary mortals. It would suffice to say that the Canon 5 DS fits nicely into your hand.

Of course, if you are writing an article intended for a CxO or an investor and similar people with above-average ability to grasp big words and abstract concepts, then definitely be obtuse and indulge in wordplay; otherwise, being lucid is the best policy.

There is a popular notion that keywords have to be used in the first hundred words. Whether it is correct or not, I have no clue. There are many such myths in SEO that are hard to prove or disprove. However, what does matter is the fluent use of keywords. What is natural insertion when the keyword is “how do I find a free pdf converter.”

I accept wholeheartedly that long-tail keywords are the most difficult keywords to include in the text. The technique is not to plug in the keywords when you are writing. Trying to include them would stall your momentum.

Complete the work. Take a break. Now go to work with the keywords. Of course, they cannot always look natural but make them as close to unnoticeable as possible.

Okay, maybe that was a not so perfect adaptation of the Clinton 1992 election credo “It’s the economy, stupid.”

I wandered away, but I have to make this article interesting for you. So bear with me. The H1 is the main heading, and the H2 and H3 are subheadings.

How you frame the latter two defines your content. So to say, they are the framework of your content, and the words and stats reside on that skeleton. Your H2 sub headers must smoothly lead form one to the next, tying the narrative together.

The H3, if used, should expand upon the H2 to which it belongs. It is like a symphony, quite literally. You are the conductor of the orchestra. And it’s your task to make the sum of the parts appear greater than the whole.

To be honest, it makes the content page look quite ugly, in fact, just as unappealing as Wikipedia.

The plus point is it makes the content that much easier to read. Instead of scrolling through 1600 words and reading every H2, the reader gets an idea of precisely what your article contains at the start. Clicking on the appropriate link takes him to the intended subheading.

It is convenient, makes the content easier to read, and more SEO friendly. Though, I would personally like to see every article have a Table of Contents, in practice that is not feasible. Many articles have aesthetics needs, and a ToC spoils the look.

Insert it when you can convince the client that it is a must-have for convenience.

There is a lot of focus on backlinks, but if the website has numerous blog posts and sections, it makes sense to use internal linking to its maximum effect.

Just like keywords, it should not be forced. If the article is about dentures and you have to slip in a link about veneers (entirely unrelated to dentures), then introduce veneer as an aid to a beautiful smile, same as dentures. And of course, add a link to the page describing veneers.

Don’t force is the key strategy. Make it natural and free-flowing. The minute you try to import without any groundwork, it becomes staccato, and you unknowingly lose your rhythm.

If you have ever heard a commencement speech, you know that it begins slowly and picks up the tempo, gradually ending in a climax. Writing often moves in the other direction – a forceful and catchy start to hook the reader’s interest, followed by the points arranged by their importance.

The end is never as important as the beginning. If you divide the article into four quarters, the first two are more information-rich than the last two. This is because readers have neither the patience nor the attention span to read a lengthy article carefully. They fall tired as the word count accumulates.

Thus it is better to lay the message out in the first quarter, build on it in the second and make the third and fourth quarters enjoyable but not indispensable. In a 2000 words article, you should have accomplished your objective by the first 800.

A content peppered with acronyms is annoying. Some acronyms are almost as famous as Coke. Suitable examples are FBI, CIA, HTML, HIV, NASA, UN, and similar.

But forgive a reader for not knowing that the NHS stands for National Health Service (UK). You are not writing for an expert. While you would be happy if an expert appreciated the adept content, it is meant for a layperson looking up the internet to buy insurance or start a website.

You are writing for the average Joe, and to impress him, you have to be adroit in the use of jargon. Minimize their usage, and if you have to, provide the expanded form without fail.

Of course, I can break my own rule and use an acronym because you should know what CTA is.

CTA has a vital function. It takes the decision on the part of the reader. Have you never responded to “Order Now only 2 in stock” messages? Most of us have an instinctive reaction to feeling scarcity upon reading it.

It evokes a lack and provides a way to fulfill the lack. Most people vacillate. They are not men (or women) who can make a big decision quickly. They pause and ponder over which brand of ketchup they want to buy.

This makes forceful words such as “Buy Now,” “Download Today,” “Limited Period Offer,” “Donate” quite helpful in taking the fatigue out of decision making.