Rank Vs Readability
In today’s day and age, communication is faster than ever. To that end, we’ve seen significant changes in the way that even our colloquial styles of speech and writing are used. Thanks to BlackBerries, the iPhone and social networking sites everyone is texting, poking, LOL’ing, or friending a new digital face at some point throughout their day. So, where does this new way of speaking to one another leave us web marketers? What’s the best way to successfully reach the audiences we target via the web? With so much to consider, like catchy headlines, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and the latest marketing fads, well; how do we write superstar copy for websites? The biggest conundrum we encounter when writing for the web is whether to take the old school copywriting approach or the SEO approach to copywriting. Obviously, the answer is both. The hard part, however, is finding a balance between the two to make sure you’ve got the attention of both your readers and those search engines. As a freelance copywriter, I will always argue that good prose should be your primary focus. My partner and SEO extraordinaire, on the other hand, will always tell you otherwise. That said, we’re going to explore good prose first (sorry Lex). Maybe it’s similar to the chicken or the egg argument, but, in my opinion, SEO is useless if your site doesn’t compel visitors enough to stick around. As web marketers, we do this in two ways – we sound interesting and we sound smart. I’ve designed my own little ABC approach to writing good web copy based on the key ideas that are out there. A is for Attention. This is the #1 rule of thumb for writing great copy. Whether it’s for a website or for print, you have got to get your reader’s attention. This is done mostly in the headline and sub-headline. How you go about sounding interesting is really up to you. I’ve heard of doing everything from picking randomly worded flashcards out of a hat. B is for the Basics. When writing for the web, readability is key. In order to achieve readability your prose need to stick to the basics. Remember to use short sentences and clear, everyday language. Brevity is of the utmost importance. Making use of bullet points is a great way to implement this (it will also help with SEO). C is for a Call-to-Action. In print, this is the line that starts with, “Call today” or “Fill out the attached …”. On the web, these are the “Click Here” links that bring us to the next page or location on the web – whether it’s to check out a new product or actually buy something, we’re taking an action that increases our involvement with the brand. Now that you know the ABC’s of writing good copy for the web lets take a look at SEO. Our goal with SEO is to include key words and phrases that apply to our target audience so search engines will notice our website. The hard part is using enough of these words/phrases in the right spots on the page without interrupting the message or degrading your prose. This can be achieved using a few simple steps. 1. Place key phrases in the title tag of the html header of the page. 2. Avoid interrupting the flow of your writing by including key terms and phrases in the headers and sub headers wherever possible, preferably within html header tags (<h1> & <h2> tags). 3. Put key words and phrases in bulleted lists in specially formatted text (like bold or italic) and in hyperlinks and image titles or alt tags. 4. Include 2-3 key terms or phrases per paragraph – but make sure it still reads well! Bottom line – there needs to be a balance when it comes to copywriting for websites and for SEO. Moving up on Google’s rankings list is like walking down the red carpet. You can work hard focusing solely on SEO to get recognized, but if you look like crap when everyone’s finally looking at you, you’re site will go from rank to stank faster than you can twitter or text the news to your boss.
Tags: Rank, Readability, SEO
