More than 20 years after businesses began getting online, content remains a black box to most organizations—and often to many digital marketing and design professionals as well.
Even now, we see websites that fall short of the targeted, strategic content you need to get results in today’s crowded information economy.
When it comes to content, good enough isn’t really good enough. Faced with low traffic, poor conversion rates, and boring copy, you might be tempted to fling up your hands and accept that great website content just isn’t your thing.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
Ideally, to get great website content you’ll want to hire a professional with expertise in:
- Content strategy
- Persona research
- Targeted site navigation
- Online user experience journeys
- Effective calls to action
- Strategic copywriting
More on all that later. In the meantime, we tracked down a few quick wins that anyone can put in place to improve their website content.
Make it accurate.
Review all of the content on your site to fact check and make sure it reflects your brand.
Make it clear.
Unless your target audience is made up of highly technical industry insiders—and even then—most websites benefit from a heavy dose of editing. Each sentence should be clear, precise, and easy to understand.
Make it skimmable.
The average internet user scans websites rather than reading word-for-word. This is even more true for mobile users. Read over your content to see if you can get the main ideas just by reading the headlines and sub-headings.
Make it short.
Use line breaks to keep blocks of copy small. Aim for no more than five lines per paragraph in mobile view, which works out to about 225 characters or less.
Make it easy to find.
The average person may not be able to put a full SEO strategy in place, but there are a few things you can do. Think about what your ideal customer might Google to find a business like yours. Then, use those words or phrases to write descriptive title tags and meta descriptions in your website’s CMS. Use those words and phrases carefully in your content, but be careful! Search engines penalize overuse, and it can be easy to go overboard if you’re not a professional.
These best practices won’t guarantee great website content, but they’re a good start. Taking small steps is a great way to start improving your website, even as you search for the right partner to help you take your progress further.
TBH Creative has more than 15 years of expertise in premium design and professional content. Our digital marketing agency delivers comprehensive solutions—including great website content that gets results.
