How to Write Great Content for Your Website

Websites are the ultimate advertisements. Done well, they can be a great place to showcase your products and engage new and returning customers.

However, most viewers have a short attention span. You have, at most, 15 seconds to catch and hold a visitor’s attention. Therefore, the wording, or content, is important to get just right. Here are some tips to help you write great content for your website and make sure that your audience stays on the page.

Look for inspiration

While you won’t necessarily have the budget to hire a creative team or a professional copywriter, you can get some great ideas from other award-winning websites. These homepages feature simple, scannable headlines, a lot of white space, minimal images and a clear call to action (CTA) that directs the person to the next step.

Start from the top

With Apple’s example in mind, think about your homepage content. That first section, called “above the fold” — roughly one scroll’s length down the page — is the most visible area of your website. As you create content for this space, consider the following questions:

1. Can you sum up what you do in a single sentence, or better yet, two to three words?
2. Is there an image that captures your services or one of your products?
3. Can you convey your message in five seconds or less?

This exercise can prove to be challenging, especially if you have a conceptual or complicated product or service. Try to focus on one element of your business that will entice a visitor to explore more of the website or a promotion you are running.

[Read more: How to Build a Small Business Content Strategy]

Write for a fourth grader

As you dive into other pages and write more content for your site, keep your copy straightforward and simple. Unlike a whitepaper or article, websites are often scanned, not read. Words need to be simplified and sentences shortened. Run your website through a readability test like the tools offered by WebFX or Yoast to check if your copy is too complicated for an average reader.

Add keywords

Website visitors may find you because an algorithm matched their search query with your website content. Writing naturally about your product, with commonly used terms or keywords, is the best way to attract visitors.

Not sure what search terms people are using? An SEO tool or the bottom of a Google search will show you related or long-tail terms. Integrating a few of these into your homepage or on a blog where you provide additional content can help boost your visibility.

Sell it: product descriptions

Clearly explaining your products or services is also a focus for content writing. As you write about each product, think of your value proposition, or the unique reason why this product shines over the competition. Good examples of product pages enable consumers to visualize themselves using your product. Each detail should answer the question, “Why does that feature/detail matter to me?”

[Read more: This Week on Entrepreneur: Content Marketing Tips for Businesses]

Write a compelling “About Us”

People buy products, but they also care about who they are buying from. More and more consumers are paying attention to the impact that their purchases have, opting for small businesses over big retailers. Write an "About Us" page that talks all about your passion, your company history and your mission statement. Here are a few examples from Wix of great "About Us" pages.

Don’t forget to check spelling

There is nothing more annoying than a misspelled word, grammatical error, broken link or inaccurate fact. Be sure to review your website for errors using a tool like Grammarly. And remember to update your content often to keep visitors coming back for more.

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