While the quality of your content is essential, if it isn’t presented in a visually appealing manner that attracts—and keeps—the attention of visitors, no one will stick around long enough to read it!

3 Website Content Tips for Visual Appeal

• Create Short Paragraphs: Website visitors don’t stop and concentrate on what they’ve found unless something draws them in when skimming a page. Long paragraphs may have great information, but they can easily be overlooked by the website visitor. With short paragraphs, it’s more likely that the information a visitor is looking for will “pop.”
• Use Bulleted Lists: Using bulleted lists to present key concepts can be a great way to make important information catch the attention of visitors who land on your page. Visitors’ eyes will automatically be drawn to bullet points, making them a perfect tool for capturing attention.
• Separate Content with Subheadings: When visitors glance at a website only to see what appears to be an endless stream of continuous paragraphs, the idea of reading through the information can seem overwhelming. Separate the paragraphs using subheadings and you’re much more likely to capture the attention of visitors and draw them into reading all of the information provided.

Mary Gormandy White is co-founder of Mobile Technical Institute, where she works with clients throughout the U.S. as a professional trainer, consultant, and speaker, focusing on topics related to HR, management, and public relations. She has extensive professional writing experience and is the author of 101 Human Resource Management Tips and 101 Successful PR Campaign Tips in the LifeTips book series.

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A blogger at ContentMarketingToday.com offered a great critique of a website that does not stay on task. The content is all over the place. It provides no depth and it’s not immediately clear from the words and pictures what sort of service the company provides. (And the company name gives no clues, either.)

For instance, the home page showcases a photo of windmills, leading readers to think it might be some sort of alternative energy company.  Read a bit further, and you can surmise that they provide web design services. Maybe?

The company, it seems, is no longer around, so we won’t waste any more time mocking it. Instead, let’s look at ways you can keep your marketing content “on task.”

1. Define your purpose. How can you stay on task if you don’t know your task? Define your company’s purpose, the unique selling position, the message you want to convey to prospects. Then, before you post any piece of marketing content, ask yourself (and your co-workers, colleagues, mentors or focus groups) if the content clearly conveys that purpose.
2. Keep it simple. Web readers don’t have a lot of time. Your content should be easy to read and understand.
3. Go in depth. One of the reviewer’s major criticisms of the Metwell website was that none of the content really scratched beyond the surface of basic information. Tell your website visitors a story. Give them insight they didn’t have before. Make it memorable.

The key to viral marketing content
Simple. Deep. Memorable. That’s the key to viral marketing content—and if any of your content is going to go viral, you want to make sure it’s representing your company in the best way possible. Stay on task and get your message out there.

Dawn Allcot is a full-time freelance writer and blogger. She frequently writes about technology, business, parenting and paintball.

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Don’t assume it’s there
One service provider began getting significantly more emails after adding a call-to-action to his landing page. What did it say? “Contact me,” with a link to an email window. Sometimes, simple works best.
He’d had other links to his email and contact information on other sections of the website, but placing it right below benefit-oriented landing page copy made it easy for people to take the next step immediately after they were sold on his services.

Highlight benefits to improve conversion
One info-product marketer doubled her conversions by highlighting a benefit in her call-to-action. Instead of just saying, “Sign up for my newsletter,” she wrote: “Subscribe and be the first to hear about special deals and events!” She’s still got a call to action (“subscribe,”) but she’s also promising a benefit. Not only that, she’s making people feel special—subscribers won’t just hear about special deals and events, they will be first to hear about them.

Small changes, big results
While clear, optimized content can improve conversion by 69 to 112% or more, according to a study by MarketingExperiments.com, a better call-to-action can improve conversion by 150% or more. Your call-to-action could be the most important words on your website. What does yours say? How can you make it stronger?

Dawn Allcot is a full-time freelance writer and blogger. She frequently writes about technology, business, parenting and paintball.

Image from northridgewest.org

How internal linking improves a website:

1. Users’ experience on the website is improved by providing them with easy access to detailed information.
2. When the text that is linked is a keyword being targeted for the page, the internal link helps improve search engine rank.
3. When the search engines index the page there is a greater likelihood that the sub-page will also show up under the site’s main entry on the search engine results page, allowing potential visitors to enter the site on the exact page that contains the information or product they are searching for.

Rules of thumb for placing internal links:

1. The link text should flow naturally in the content.
2. The page linked to should relate directly to the term or phrase linked.
3. The page linked to should contain more information related to the term that will improve the user’s understanding of the subject and clarify what the term or phrase refers to.
4. Place as many links as are needed to improve the users’ experience but do not load every page with tons of internal links.
5. Internal linking is just as useful in blog posts as it is in website copy.

A great internal linking strategy has the end user in mind and strives to improve the user’s experience on the website.

Jennifer Gniadecki loves to write. You can find her on any given day writing lists, blog posts, articles, assignments, outlines or fleshing out story ideas on her laptop.

Image from dimox.net

Information Architecture and Usability

The internal linking strategy is optimized for the placement of the links on the page. SEO professionals will track users’ navigation within the website to know what link placements perform the best, provide an improved user experience and which help most with SEO.

Brand Strategists and Online Marketing

Companies are finding that they have to compare online search data to language used in other forms of advertising while unifying the branding, voice, messaging and content across different mediums. Online language use is often less formal than what is required in print advertising like brochures, magazine ads, etc. If a site has been tracking traffic from search engines the best data is the historical data the company has collected.

Content Writers and Quality Assurance

When it all comes down to it, the content writer is the one charged with the task of implementing the keyword strategy and internal linking strategy in a way that makes sense grammatically and contextually. Keywords and links should be placed within text that is the most relevant so that someone reading it will be able to find out more about that topic. Final copy should always be proofed by several layers of editors and if specific technical knowledge is communicated, an appropriate expert should also review the final copy and links in that copy for relevance and accuracy.

Jennifer Gniadecki loves to write. You can find her on any given day writing lists, blog posts, articles, assignments, outlines or fleshing out story ideas on her laptop.

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Be Thorough

Be sure to describe the product well and in detail. When shopping online, most consumers are most likely to purchase from the site that provided them the information that was needed to make the buying decision.

Know What’s Above the Fold

The phrase “above the fold” is an old newspaper term that refers to the part of the paper above the center fold. In other words—the most important part. Nowadays, this term refers to the part of the website that is seen by a visitor without having to scroll down. This is the area visitors see first and it should contain the images and content that is most important.

How Does it Solve the Problem?

Let the prospective customer know exactly how the item will solve a particular problem or fill a certain need. Listing features and benefits is necessary and useful but telling the consumer how it will solve his problem will drive home the feeling of need.

Keep it Simple

If technical specifications are needed, make sure they have their own section. For most products, the technical statistical details can be confusing to buyers and do not factor into the buying decision. By clearly stating the facts in a separate section the information is presented but does not become an exit point from the site.

Align Keywords with Products

Make sure that landing pages for each item are optimized specifically for that item. Do not target the same top level or broad keyword phrases as are targeted on home pages or product category pages. Use brand names and technical specifications that may influence searchers.

Jennifer Gniadecki loves to write. You can find her on any given day writing lists, blog posts, articles, assignments, outlines or fleshing out story ideas on her laptop.

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So you’ve realized that the overused pop culture adage “If you build it, they will come” doesn’t ring as true as you hoped it would. Some websites can lead a long life and never once reach top ranking on a search engine. This doesn’t mean they never get visited, it just means they’re flying too far below radar to really get noticed. If you want to get serious about raising your website’s profile, you’re going to have to get serious about SEO writing.

But Wait, What’s SEO Writing?
SEO stands for “search engine optimization,” and it’s just a fancy technical term for maximizing your site’s visibility in the search results of places like Google and Yahoo. One of the most effective ways of doing this is by writing online articles or blogs that are rich in SEO content—or words and phrases that someone who’d be interested in finding your site might punch into their Google search field.

The Write Stuff
Maybe you fancy yourself a pretty darn good writer—and who knows, maybe you are? If J.K. Rowling taught us anything, it’s that you don’t have to be classically educated or run with the intellectual elite to have what it takes to hammer out an appealing story or two (or seven). Here are just a few SEO writing tips to help get you started.

• Make your content relevant and informative.
• Get creative. There’s no better method of chasing readers away than being dull.
• Don’t just string a bunch of keywords together. People hate this. Google hates it more, and will flag your site as potential spam if you take this approach.
• Hire a writer. Companies like ideaLaunch have experienced SEO writers on hand that can dramatically improve your search engine ranking.

Vince Font is a freelance writer with a burning desire to teach the world the difference between there, they’re and their. He currently resides in Utah with his wife, two dogs and a mouse he’s convinced the D-Con didn’t get rid of.

Image from www.eisforerik.com

Trying to decide on a marketing agency for your content marketing strategy can be scary. But don’t just rely on great writing and a recommendation from your cousin who’s never owned a business to keep your content marketing strategy afloat.

Look for the brains behind the good looking copy, and you’ll see that a great marketing agency can provide services that integrate the tactics of several approaches to ensure the effectiveness of the content marketing strategy. Through content creation, optimization and testing a marketing agency provides a solution to content marketing that improves the bottom line of the company.

Content Creation Services
A marketing agency should provide content creation services that meet the needs of your audience and speak the language of your customer. A marketing agency should base content marketing on the goals and strategy already present on the site and in offline marketing.

Content Optimization
A marketing agency optimizes the marketing content to increase the overall effectiveness of a site and company’s marketing. By optimizing marketing content to tactically support the overall strategy of the company’s marketing the content marketing strategy will augment the overall strategy of the company’s marketing as well as improve the rankings of the company’s site in the search engines.

Content Testing
Content marketing strategies should be a process, not a one-time push. A marketing agency will provide continued monitoring of the content marketing strategy to make sure that the most optimal strategy is being employed to increase conversion of prospects into customers.

Jennifer Gniadecki loves to write. You can find her on any given day writing lists, blog posts, articles, assignments, outlines or fleshing out story ideas on her laptop.

Are you trying to improve conversion rates from your landing pages? Here are three mistakes could be costing you visitors and sales.

Landing Page Optimization: 3 Mistakes To Avoid

1. Don’t dazzle me with automation. Most web users hate to feel like they have lost control of their browser. Avoid too many flash intros, auto play music or dancing, flashing graphics. The most common response to over the top web special effects is for visitors to immediately close their browsers in order to regain control.
2. Don’t ask me for too much information. Lengthy registration forms can kill the conversion rates of your landing pages. Some experts estimate that you lose 30% of your respondents for every registration field you ask visitors to complete. Stick with the minimum requirements you need to effectively communicate with your potential customer going forward.
3. Don’t end the conversation abruptly. Once I’ve filled out your registration form, will I find myself on a simple “Thank you for registering” page, or will you give me the option to go further? Provide me with links to more information or invite me to download a free eBook. Maybe I can follow you on Twitter or become a fan of your Facebook page. Whatever you do, don’t be the one to hang up first.

Landing page optimization should be focused on simple design, while always considering a possible next call to action for your visitors.  Most important, always be testing!

Britt Reints is a freelance writer living in Orlando, Florida. She is leading a statewide crusade against auto play music.

Image from webbuildinginfo.com

Look at any good, SEO-optimized site and you’ll find all the puzzle pieces in place; good keywords, quality articles and other content written for humans to read (and not just search engines) and a good-sized database. But what about the “hidden” aspects of a website? Do you have images and media included on your SEO-optimized pages?

If you’re including images within your SEO content, don’t neglect the search engine value of giving the right filenames to those images. If you’ve paid for a set of five articles of car insurance, give the images the same filenames as the post itself, or name the images using one particularly strong keyword. This gives you added Google power, but also increases your discovery potential in other ways–you can pick up some “collateral search results” via searches in Google Images once your pages are properly indexed.

Naturally your first concern should be attracting quality traffic, but with that said, the extra traffic you pick up by using keywords in your image filenames could result in a small amount of conversion. Consider it some additional free advertising which is available just by using the right filenames on your images and other media.

Joe Wallace has been a writer/editor since 1992 and is always open to fun new ways to market online businesses. In addition to running Freelance-Zone.com, he blogs about music at Turntabling.net and runs a small press specializing in snarky t-shirts.

Image from www.opticianonline.net