How to write website content is a concern for most content creators and marketers.

And why wouldn’t it be?

Websites are at the heart of digital marketing. Even with many new customer-facing channels opening up, websites remain an important touchpoint for brands. An impressive website speaks volumes about the site owner’s credibility.

And contrary to popular opinion that website design inspires credibility, it’s actually website content that fosters trust. No matter how well a site is designed, if it serves sub-standard content, it’s going to bounce visitors sooner or later.

Great content, on the other hand, keeps visitors hooked and moves them along the sales funnel seamlessly. That’s why it forms the backbone of content marketing.

Moreover, content quality is a key ranking factor for search engines, as mentioned by a senior search strategist at Google.

Good quality content keeps website visitors on-page longer, which is a good sign for search engines. When this happens on a regular basis, search engines push up your rankings, which helps drive more organic traffic. More traffic means more conversion opportunities, and eventually more revenue.

What’s more?

Great content tends to garner a lot of shares on social media platforms, which helps build your brand awareness in a big way.

But to get all of these benefits, you need to first write exemplary website content.

Is there a catch?

Yes.

Content consumption habits of users keep changing, which impacts web copywriting styles as well. Copywriters need to educate themselves on how to write website content that satisfies searcher intent and abides by latest best practices.

To that end, we’ve broken down the website content writing process into four broad steps that cover everything from SEO to readability. Check them out below.

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Disclaimer: This content contains some affiliate links for which we will earn a commission (at no additional cost to you). This is to ensure that we can keep creating free content for you.

How to Write Killer Website Content in 4 Simple Steps

Creating content for websites is not an easy task. You have to compete with thousands of websites, deal with ever-changing search engine algorithms, and cater to the needs of a fickle target audience. Still, it’s not impossible.

All you need to do is follow this strategy step by step:

1. Set Goals for Your Website

You must have set some goals when you first decided to start your website. It’s time to revisit them when you start creating your web content.

But why?

Only when you know your goals can you create content that helps attain them. Not only that, goal setting facilitates content testing as well. You can test your content objectively only when you know exactly what you aim to achieve with that content.

So, start the content creation process by identifying your website’s goals. Do you aim to increase your sales or attract new customers? Or, do you want to redirect traffic to your brick-and-mortar stores? Define your website’s objectives so that you know what to write and how.

2. Understand Your Audience

Now that you know your goals, it’s time to understand the goals and interests of your audience.

Why so?

Because your website content should fulfill both goal sets.

While researching your audience, you need to look beyond their age, demographics, and niche. Dig deeper and unearth hidden parameters, including their:

  • Attribution path: Visitors who land on your site after clicking on ads will have different expectations than those who come from search results.

  • Expertise level: If your visitors are technically savvy, you can write sophisticated web copy for them. But the same copy might fail to engage technically-challenged people.

  • Search intent: Your visitors’ search intent (transactional, navigational, or informational) will govern the kind of content you will serve them.

  • Content-consumption habits: Do they like long-form or short-form content? What kind of content do they share on social media? By answering these questions. You can create engaging and share-worthy website content for yourself.

You can use analytics tools like Alexa’s Audience Overlap to identify platforms where your audience is spending most of their online time. It also highlights their topics of interest by comparing their engagement on different kinds of content.

Alexa
Image via Alexa

You can also conduct surveys or dig into your CRM data to find qualities common in your frequent website visitors.

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3. Analyze Your Competitors’ Content

To create standout website content, you need to keep an eye on your competitors’ content strategies as well.

Why?

Because competitive analysis:

  • Gives you a competitive advantage.
  • Reveals industry trends in content writing.
  • Helps benchmark your website performance.
  • Inspires new content ideas.
  • Discover profitable traffic sources.

In short, you understand what kind of website content you’re up against. Armed with that business intelligence, you can create a superior product. Moreover, you can exploit weaknesses in their content to outrank them on search engine results.

To gather competitive insights, you can use analytics tools like SimilarWeb and Semrush.

4. Start Writing Content for Each Page

Now that you’ve done all the legwork, you are in a better position to start creating content for your website.

So how do you get started?

Just follow these steps:

Step 1: Identify Your Key Pages and Their Goals

Though websites differ widely in design and architecture, most of them have these five or six key pages:

  • Homepage
  • Products/Services
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Pricing (Optional)
  • Blog/Resources (Optional)

In addition, you may also have a few landing pages (with a single, well-defined goal). They prompt your website visitors to perform a desired action, such as:

  • Submitting their contact information
  • Purchasing a product/service
  • Clicking-through to another web page

Your task during this stage is to identify your key pages and landing pages and arrange them in a rough framework. Determine the goal of each web page and plan how the webpages will be linked to each other.

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Step 2: Find and Use Target Keywords

Keyword optimization is an integral part of website content writing. It makes your content more discoverable and helps attract traffic organically. In fact, moving up by one spot on the SERPs can improve your CTR by 30.8%. That’s huge, by any standard!

To create crawler-friendly web copy, follow these steps:

  1. Start the process by identifying some broad topics that your target audience looks for when searching content similar to yours.

    Think about your key services/products or pick topics that are your forte. Compare search volumes of all these topics (using web analytics tools like Google Analytics) and finalize the ones worth investing in.

  2. Once you have a list of relevant topics to target in your web copy, you will need to find keywords anchored to them. These will be broad, generic “seed keywords” like digital marketing, home improvement services, etc.

    To find seed keywords, think from a potential searcher’s perspective.How would they search for a site related to say digital marketing? Either they will type the keyword directly in search engines, or use Google’s auto-suggestions, or pick terms from “Related Searches” at the bottom of the search results page.

    Find and Use Target Keywords

    Another way to go about it is by comparing your traffic sources. Figure out which topics/content pages are driving maximum organic traffic to your website. Target these keywords and capitalize on the authority you’ve already created.

    You can also take inspiration from your competitors’ SEO strategies. Simply pick the keywords they are ranking for and create better content to beat them at their game.

    Narrow down your list of keywords by comparing their keyword difficulty and competition.

    In your final list, you should have a good mix of short, generic keywords (head terms) and long tail keywords (of 3 or more words). But for each page, there should be a single main target keyword and a few side keywords with decent search volumes and low to moderate competition.

  3. Now, we come to the most important aspect of SEO content writing: keyword placement. Where and how should you place keywords strategically so that they don’t look stuffed but still catch the attention of crawlers?

    • Page URLs. Even Google’s guidelines say URLs should be contextual.
      Page URL Google guidelines
      Image via Google

    • Page titles and subheaders. Front-load your titles with keywords and try keyword-enriching one or two H2s as well.

    • Meta descriptions. Introduce keywords as early as possible in your meta descriptions. Avoid boilerplate (repetitive) descriptions for related pages.

    • Meta titles. Instead of using vague titles like “home,” craft descriptive yet concise (under 60 characters) titles. Branding your titles is also essential.

    • Body content. Incorporate main and side keywords into your content as naturally as possible. Look for semantically-similar keywords to bring variety.

    • Image alt tags. Crawlers can’t capture context behind images if not told explicitly through tags. Don’t exceed 125 characters since screen readers can’t read beyond that.

Pro Tip: If your page allows, include an FAQ section in it. FAQs are an opportunity to include long-tail keywords in question format. This way, you can capture voice search queries, which tend to be questions, longer than textual queries.

Additionally, if you pick questions with a high search potential, crawlers can feature your answers in the “People also ask” section of the SERPs as well.

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Step 3: Determine Content Length and Write Readable Content

Should your content be long-form or short? While there’s no cookie cutter answer to that question, HubSpot’s research proves that long-form content (with a median length of 2,529 words) is the best for lead generation.

However, content length actually depends on page goals, page type, and topic complexity.

If your page is an infographic, you can’t go overboard with content length. Your content should be crisp and to-the-point. Blog posts, on the other hand, should be detailed and insightful so that they offer value to readers.

Whatever be your ideal page length, ensure that the content is high on readability. The best web content is written with humans in mind, not Google algorithms.

To write easy-to-read content, follow these best practices:

  • Break heavy content into digestible chunks by using bulleted lists and paragraphs.
  • Use proper H1s and H2s, and include a ToC in blog posts so that readers can skip to sections that interest them.
  • Catch readers’ attention by highlighting important information.
  • For actionable content, include a powerful call-to-action (CTA) at short intervals.
  • Write in an active voice and conversational tone to connect with readers on a personal level.
  • Stay away from jargon. Internal-link technical terms to informational pages.

One more thing…

Don’t forget the power of visuals in web content. They can help break the monotony, beautify your site, and engage website visitors. Moreover, people can retain and recall visuals better than plain text since the human brain is programmed so.

And here’s the cincher. Images, videos, and infographics are also known to increase conversions.

Need evidence?

53% of online shoppers say that images drive their purchase decisions.

But rich media can make your pages sluggish and slow to load. To keep them from disrupting the UX, you can try our image compression tool.

That said, let’s come to the crux of web content writing: content quality.

While visuals and white space can enhance your content’s presentation (and that matters a lot with click-happy web users), they can’t make up for content that lacks depth. Thin and duplicate content can turn off users, no matter how well it is packaged.

For online writing that delivers value at one glance, here are some things you can do:

Focus on Benefits, not Features 

When promoting products/services, highlight how they will benefit end users. It’s no use listing a million features if you aren’t going to explain how they help simplify users’ lives.

Keep Your Page Goals in Mind

Remember, the page goals we discussed earlier? Bring them back to focus and write content that drives users towards fulfilling them.

Use the Inverted Pyramid Theory

Deliver the most important information first because netizens have short attention spans. For instance, if you manufacture cameras, explain the USPs of your product first. You can always elaborate on lesser important things like how your camera works later.

Write Persuasive Copy

Using consumers as a vantage point, write content that they are looking for. What kind of concerns can they have regarding your products/services? Why should they buy from you? Then, create content that addresses their concerns. To do this, use social proofs (reviews and testimonials), refer to successful case studies, include an FAQ section, etc.

Push Your Limits

There are no hard and fast rules for web content creation. If required, you can stray from grammar rules or write titillating headlines. Even a micro-element like a call-to-action can make a huge difference to your content performance. So, experiment with all your website elements until you find standout content.

Write Action-Oriented Content

The whole exercise of writing web content will be futile, if it doesn’t prompt action from consumers. To avoid that, use plenty of action words like click here, get started, book a demo, etc. Use internal links to guide users towards your conversion goal smoothly. If nothing else, ask users to leave comments or share your content on social media.

Proofread, Proofread, Proofread

Typos and misspellings are blunders you need to avoid at all cost when writing content for your website.

To avoid them, use online editors like Grammarly to proofread your content. It not only flags wordy sentences and spelling errors, but also scores your content against global benchmarks (in premium package only). Plus, it pinpoints content’s grade level and suggests better word choices, simplifying your editing process to a great degree.

A/B Test Your Content

There’s always scope for improvement in content writing. Test your content rigorously and constantly.

Create iterations of each landing page headline and call-to-action, and test them on real users. Or, you can use a headline analyzer tool like CoSchedule to test your headlines instantly. You’ll be surprised how much difference a single word’s replacement can make to your overall content performance.

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FAQ

Q1. How do I write content for my website?

A. Here is a four-step strategy to write great content for your website:

  • Identify the goals for your page.
  • Understand your audience’s search intent.
  • Analyze your competitors’ website content.
  • Write readable, authoritative content for your website. To do that:
    • Find target keywords and use them strategically in titles, URLs, and meta descriptions.
    • Write catchy headlines and test them using a headline analyzer tool.
    • Use white space, numbered lists, and paragraphs to break content.
    • Deliver important information first.
    • Incorporate visuals into your content in relevant places.
    • Focus on explaining your product’s benefits to end users.
    • Use compelling CTAs.
    • Test your content rigorously.
    • Proofread again and again.

Q2. How do you write content?

A. Online writing can be simplified by using a step-by-step approach.

  • Identify a content topic with a decent search volume and low competition.
  • Check the best-performing content for your topic to analyze the competition.
  • Conduct keyword research and create keyword-rich content titles and URLs.
  • Write readable and high-quality content, with ample visuals and social proofs.
  • Proofread and test your content.

Q3. What are the basic contents of a website?

A. While website structure can vary widely, most websites contain these key pages:

  • Homepage
  • Products/Services/Features
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Pricing (optional)
  • Resources (optional)

Q4. Which content is best for a website?

A. Great website content has the following qualities:

  • Readable: It is scannable.
  • Keyword-optimized: It is searchable.
  • Unique: It offers new information or a new perspective.
  • Valuable: It delivers value to readers.
  • Authentic: It’s information is conceptually correct.
  • Compelling: It has sufficient social proof.
  • Action Oriented: It prompts readers to perform a desired action.

Q5. How can I write effective content for a website/blog?

A. To write effective content for your website or blog, follow these steps:

  • Identify a content topic with a decent search volume and low competition.
  • Check the best-performing content for your topic to analyze the competition.
  • Conduct keyword research and create keyword-rich content titles and URLs.
  • Write readable and high-quality content, with ample visuals and social proofs.
  • Proofread and test your content.

Q6. What makes good content?

A. Great website content has the following qualities:

  • Readable: It is scannable.
  • Keyword-optimized: It is searchable.
  • Unique: It offers new information or a new perspective.
  • Valuable: It delivers value to readers.
  • Authentic: It’s information is conceptually correct.
  • Compelling: It has sufficient social proof.
  • Action Oriented: It prompts readers to perform a desired action.

Q7. How important is website content?

A. Website content is a gamechanger for digital brands. It fosters consumer trust and helps convert random website visitors into loyal customers. Not only that, great content keeps visitors engaged and enhances the UX, which helps improve search engine rankings in a big way. That’s why content quality is an important ranking factor for search engines.

Q8. Why is website content important for SEO?

A. From an SEO perspective, website content plays an important role in boosting your search performance.

One, keyword-rich content boosts on-page SEO, raising overall search rankings.

Two, quality content keeps visitors engaged and reduces bounce. Search engines perceive this as a sign of good UX, which is a key ranking factor.

Three, good content provides interlinking opportunities which helps boost weak content and stretch dwell times.

Q9. What is the most important part of a website?

A. Content is undoubtedly the most important part of a website. Authoritative, useful content has the potential to boost your search engine rankings. At the same time, the importance of content presentation can’t be undermined. Great content, if packaged unattractively, will fail to engage website visitors.

Q10. How do you write attractive content?

A. Attractive content is easy on the eye and easy to digest. To create it, implement these tips:

  • Use proper H1s and H2s.
  • Break chunky text into paragraphs and lists.
  • Use ample white space.
  • Use formatting and typography to catch attention.
  • Intersperse text with visuals.

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Final Thoughts

To sum up, start the content-creation process by goal setting. Try to align your business goals with searcher intent. Next, analyze the content that already exists on the web. Then, proceed with keyword research to figure out what to write about. Last, start writing content, keeping best practices in view.

Once you practice our four-step strategy again and again, you should be a pro in writing website content. Don’t forget to share the challenges you faced, in the comments section.

Disclaimer: This content contains some affiliate links for which we will earn a commission (at no additional cost to you). This is to ensure that we can keep creating free content for you.