How to write effective web content?

What is web writing?

Definition

Web writing consists of creating content for a website by meeting the requirements of search engines. We tend to think that web writing is only blog articles. But web writing also includes:

The pages of your website:

each of your pages should have a very specific purpose. Each of them should have their content optimized for this purpose.

The landing page:

the goal of a landing page is to encourage the visitor to fill out a form or click to the next step (example: a call to action).

The FAQ:

it allows you to answer questions from visitors and users of your services or products.

White papers:

it's like a long blog post on a specific theme that must answer a problem. It can be referenced even if this is not the rule.

As a web editor, you have two roles:

1 - The writer: You write web content with high added value for your audience to meet their needs.

2 - “SEO content Expert”: Writing content for the web requires SEO (Search Engine Optimization) knowledge to make your content visible. You must know the basics of natural referencing and keep yourself informed of updates to properly optimize your content

To summarize:

A web editor writes blog posts, landing pages, or written content for the pages of a site. He will have to optimize these elements so that his web content appears on the first page of Google.

The mindset of web editors

Today content marketing is essential for a business’s marketing strategy and his website SEO to be effective.

Writing content has become more and more important. It has also become more competitive because everyone wants to get the top spot.

Don’t forget that creating content just to have content is irrelevant.

You must be in a competitive state of mind.

When you write content, you want to be first on Google. And do better than your competitors.

Most think that being in the first place takes time. It’s not.

If you optimize your content properly, you will see the results very quickly.

The elements for effective web content writing

If you want to stand out with your web content, you must work on these few elements first.

Know your target

No matter what type of content you create, you need to know your target audience.

You have to define your personas to create quality content and answer to the issues of your readers.

It is a requirement for writing blog posts. But it is also valid for any type of content, your home page, a landing page for a google ads campaign, and even your contact page.

Specify your objectives

In order for your content to be the best and to reach the first page of Google, you need to set goals.

Goals are important to have a clear vision of the results you want to achieve. This will allow you to challenge yourself and improve your articles if you see that the results obtained are not what you expected.

Don't be too ambitious about the goals you want to achieve. Choose SMART goals: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound.

Define your KPI

You have to define goals and follow specific KPI: article rank, number of visitors, time spent, etc.

This is necessary to observe the results obtained and to see if you have achieved your goals.

This will allow you to observe the progress of your content on Google and the difficulties it can have. From your observations, you may be able to make improvements to strengthen your positions.

For example, with a blog post:

For the first few weeks, you can track their progress on the search engines. That is to say, follow the position and page number on which is your articles.

If they are poorly positioned on Google, they will not be visible and therefore not read by your target.

As soon as you see traffic on your article, you need to track the time spent by your visitor. This will allow you to see whether or not people are reading your article. You can also track the number of unique visitors and observe the progress.

If your articles have lead magnets (content to download in exchange for personal data), you can relate the number of people who read your article to those who downloaded the document.

Tools for measuring SEO performance: infographic

To track the performance of your content you need to use SEO tools. The best known are Google analytics and Matomo analytics.

There are many more. To help you use the right tools, we have made a list of SEO tools to use according to your needs ⬇️

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11 steps to optimize your web content

The steps that we are going to see are valid for all the pages of your site and not just for a blog post.

You should not neglect any of its steps if you want to ensure the visibility of your content.

To properly optimize your web content, several elements must be taken into account:

1 - The background of your pages: definition of the keyword, URL customization, the title tag, and the meta-description.

This applies to all the items you will find in the back office of your website.

2 - Optimizing the page itself: the lead-in, the H1, H2, and H3, keyword variations, the ALT tag, and the internal mesh.

Step 1: Identify the right main keyword

Choosing the right keyword is essential to have the chance to rank the pages of your site on search engines and thus be found by users. Be sure to define your personas and their issues to be able to identify the right target keyword.

To do this, you can use Ubersuggest. This tool allows you to identify the right keywords to fill in your content. It also gives you all the keyword variations and long-tail searches to use.

Step 2: Enter the keyword in the URL

The URL is used to find a page of your website on search engines. By entering the target keyword, search engines will better understand the topic discussed and thus promote SEO.

Step 3: Fill in the title tag

A title tag (not to be confused with the H1 tag) is an HTML tag. This is the title of the page that appears on the search engine when it generates results from your query. This is a very important element for your SEO, so you must fill in your target keyword.

Step 4: Fill in the meta description

The meta description is the text that appears on search engines below the URL. It shows users what will be on the page. It must not exceed 160 characters and include the target keyword.

Step 5: Define the H1 tag

The H1 tag is the title of your article. It is important for search engines because it indicates the beginning of your article structure and is a great SEO aid. It must have your target keyword.

Step 6: Work on your page introduction

It is important for the reader and for SEO. Your introduction should be short, punchy, and should include your target keyword in the first few lines.

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Step 7: Define H2 Tags

The H2 tag is the second title of your pages and must include the keyword or its variations. It allows you to indicate the major parts of your pages. The structure is important because you will also have to define your subparts with the H3 tag.

Step 8: Define H3 Tags

H3 tags are the subparts of your H2 tags. They define the structure of your web page and contribute to the SEO of the article. Use H3 tags to add keyword variations.

Step 9: Introduce variations of your keyword

The content should include variations of the target keyword to allow users to find it by other terms. Don't hesitate to include long-tail keywords.

To identify keyword variations, you can use the following SEO tools:

- Answer The Public: This tool allows you to identify all the queries made by internet users in different forms depending on the keyword you insert.

- Google Suggestions: These provide all the searches associated with your initial search.

You can also use the Ubersuggest tool.

You have to intelligently introduce other keywords to meet the needs of your audience.

Step 10: Fill in the ALT tag of your images

Putting images in your article brings diversity of content and boosts its SEO thanks to the ALT (alternative text) tag. By entering the target keyword (or variations) in the tag, you describe the image to search engine robots that will reference it.

Also, the video is highly rated by search engines. It brings diversity of content, helps boost your SEO, and encourages the reader to spend time on your site.

Step 11: Work the internal mesh

The internal mesh is the links you enter in your article to redirect your readers to other pages of your site. The internal mesh is extremely important for natural referencing as well as for your readers.

It makes it easier for your readers to navigate on your site and find the information they need without going through a search engine again. It also allows them to progress in their journey from one subject to another.

Optimizing web content: schema

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