The realm of writing for websites differs greatly from traditional writing. The prime reason being is that the attention span of an online user much is fairly low. In order to generate effective website content, you need to adhere to some principles:

1. Flow: The online user is not very likely to put a real effort in going through a webpage. So, it is critical to maintain an effortless flow and cohesiveness in the content, so that the user can easily wade through it. To introduce the aforementioned elements in your writing, you must use conversational tone and direct speech.
2. Economy of words: Wordiness absolutely mars the readability of any piece of writing. Website content must be to the point, concise and consistent. Remember that the online user is always in a hurry.
3. Accentuate: In order to enhance the readability of your content, you must supplement it with images, hyperlinks, bullet points, headings and subheadings. There can be overwhelming amounts of content on a webpage, making an arduous task for the user to find what he/she may be looking for. Therefore, the content should be laid out in a well defined structure with clear and concise points illustrated with images.
4. Adapt: While writing, you must be aware of the kind of user would be reading your content and where exactly the content would be placed. It is important that the content on the webpage confirms to the overall theme of the website and the audience it would cater to.
5. Invert It: The age old principle of inverted style of writing holds good for website content writing too. Position the crux of the content right at the beginning and shift the accessorial details to the bottom.

In all probability an online users is going through a web page because he/she needs a ready access to useful information laid out in a simple fashion. A content writer for a website must serve this primary and basic need of the online user.

Search Engine Optimization or SEO as we know it, is the skillful manipulation of keywords in a website content so that it receives a high ranking from the search engines and hence, attracts more traffic. Here are the 5 things one must advertisers and content writers must know about SEO copywriting-

1. The Right Keywords – SEO works on a basic principle- insert the right keywords at the right places in an article. Do a short research and find out the keywords that relate to your business that are most likely to be searched on the various search engines, Google, Yahoo, MSN etc. Insert the keyword at times 3-4 times in your article, in headlines as well as subheads.
2. Analyzing Competitor Websites – SEO is a race of its own kind. It’s your approach towards SEO copywriting that will win you the race. To get it right, go on to your competitor’s website occasionally and get an access to what is making Google rank their website on the top.
3. Title Tags and Meta Description Tags – Title tags have enormous ranking value. Be the attention seeker, if you have to survive in this market and make your links clickable by using unique title tags on every page of your website and optimizing them.
4. Content of an Article – The quality of content must be top notch. SEO copywriting relies on the use of the right keywords at the right places. It may put you in the spotlight for some time but it is up to the content whether you stay there for long or not. The quality of your content decides your customer’s interest.
5. Writing Links – Build links that are perfectly search engine optimized and are reader-friendly. Building user friendly links will enhance your site’s ranking. Also ensure that you get your keywords into the link text.

SEO copywriting can fetch you great results if you get it right. The world of web may be over used, but it is here to stay, leaving the only option to marketers – Grab the attention!

Image courtesy InternetNewZealand.com

For someone who has always abhorred and dreaded the concept of matrimonial sites and wedding planners,  could it get better than being awarded the task of scripting content for one of the many spawning ‘ matrimonial sites’? Well, I guess just like marriages this was also destined. No offence, but although I don’t believe in this institution, I have absolutely no qualms writing on and about it. And, with the inquisitive fire in my belly about why would somebody who is a nobody to you will provide you with what the matrimonial sites and wedding planners call ‘services’, I began my new assignment on ‘writing for a matrimony website’.

The Beginning

 It all started with a two day long search. I set my mind on short-listing the best of the references available on the internet and using them later while penning down the content. Why did it take me the entire two days? Well, my search was quite elaborate, 60 short-listing to be precise. Sadly, I used only 6 of them. But, then that’s what search is all about, stocking up on the best of the stuff available, be it sites or matrimonial profiles.

The End

 I am not very sure whether it is the end or just the beginning, because although my work is done and dusted, the feedback remains. It was a week long assignment (guessing) which has been completed with the help of some really good references and a little creative genius. Keeping fingers crossed for the feedback.

Everything In Between

 Having written for almost 5 or 6 websites now, I can say that my confidence about understanding the client requirements has increased from a scale of 4 on 10 to 7 on 10. While working on this particular assignment I took a backward to forward working approach starting with the technicalities and then came to the main pages that required me to add frills. This way I understood the entire process and functioning better; therefore, the chances of factually going wrong were thin. Searching for taglines and writing quotes for a matrimonial site was another thing on my ‘to-do’ list. Having written around 10 of them and getting a ‘rejected mail’ for all of them, I penned another set of 10. Hard work it was but then it was also fun. In the process I also stumbled upon a few like ‘for getting the right one, for get the wrong one’.

The take home for me and all of you who have made an effort to reach till here reading this post is that, always make your research as elaborate and wide as possible. Relate to the purpose and vision of existing players in the market and try to understand ‘Why’ are they promising so. Try to understand what the audience is looking for and what kind of services will appeal to it. Only once you understand the psychology behind the initiative shall you start scripting the website content.

Loose it. Don’t lose it.

We understand the question in your mind right now which is, ‘what is there to wonder about this title?’ Well, there is. When it comes to writing for web/digital space, the content is not just what is visible but what is sorted, recycled and to be taken home (No, not exactly. It’s the idea of perceiving). And there comes the thought of ‘loosening’ a bit.
Do not get me wrong with the last phrase, by loosening we do not suggest the language to be frivolous. The idea is to be smart and not uptight. Let’s just say how many times you have preferred leaving a website’s homepage because the content was not engaging enough (We get the virtual nods). Hence, you know where to set the right foot forward. Some of the suggestive tips are as follows:

•    Think beyond the rulebook. If the content has to be technical, deal with it in a separate arena and not on the landing page.(It can be troubling and often perceived with disinterest)
•    Introduce yourself right. Share the relevant information.
•    Make it personal and interactive (In the meantime, not losing the essence of the subject)
•    Be innovative at times. Talk of what is there to offer instead of figures and statistics. (Claims that are not certified backfire)
•    Bring the gist or highlights of different sections of the website on the landing page. It helps the traffic to breeze through with what might hold their interest.

Keeping these by your side you manage to let the ‘traffic’ stay and not bounce. Rest will follow, and so will the profits.

Tips on writing for the web can be a tricky (to the power infinity) task. Well the writing part resembles much to writing for any other medium but the problem here lies in understanding the ‘core purpose’ behind writing for the web. Good web content writers and great web content writers are separated by a fine line, which is the understanding of the audience on web. Here is my personal collection of notes that I have memorized in case I need to refer the same while writing for the web:

1)     Keywords Is The Key: Writing for the web largely entails working with and upon keywords. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is what we are targeting while utilizing keywords. Depending upon the keyword density and organization into the content the rank of the webpage/content page on the World Wide Web is decided.

2)     Profound Research Is the Motive: Doing research is the most helpful way of getting an idea about what people on the net like to read. You will get a better picture regarding the language, structure as well as topics that are most searched and read on the internet. Try and follow a similar pattern but do not restrict your own creativity. Take an idea from them and don’t follow blindly.

3)     Blogging/Writing Is the Function: One you have decided your audience you need to share your work and research with the rest of world. Social media and blogging allow you to convey your message in a quick manner to a greater audience. Be crisp and clear in your writing. Use simple language and make it interesting to read. Use humor but know the limits.

4)     Sharing Is Promoting: Rather than waiting for people to come and view your works promote it by sharing it with others in the same blogosphere. Share their content as well and form a content utility network.

Writing for the web can be great fun once you know that tricks of the trade. Keep your content alive by regularly breathing freshness into it. Keep content updated and regular.

Writing website content is becoming a big challenge these days. People pay a closer attention to what is written on the websites they visit. Therefore, it becomes important to deliver good content to the readers so that they find it helpful and at the same time are engaged while reading the content. In order to make your website content helpful it is important that you follow the do’s and don’ts for effective writing.

Do’s 

Keep it Short and Simple: always make sure that website content should be written to the point. This is because most of the readers would not like to spend time reading something that is long. Readers would be ready to read short and brief content, clicking on links and may end up buying something.

Follow SEO Writing Rules: it is important that while writing content for website, you keep SEO in mind. This is important because you must have written the most engaging and interesting content for the website, but until and unless it does not appear in the search engine results then no one would be able to see it. Therefore, SEO keywords are extremely important for you to be able to make your writing visible in the results.

Importance of Titles and Subtitles: It is important that you break down your content into titles and subtitles. This is will make your content appear more organised, and the readers who are just visiting the websites for a few seconds can actually read the subtitles to get an idea about the entire write-up.

Don’ts

Never Use Sales Language: Avoid salesman pitch when writing for web. While giving all the information about the products, your language should be action oriented and not sales oriented.

Do not Sound very Formal: Remember you readers would like to read something that answers their problems in a friendly manner, therefore, use conversational style of writing.

I had been quite a fervent writer since my teenage years, but for some reason had no interest in maintaining a diary. No matter how many times I was told to keep my writings in an organized manner I would fail to do so. May be it was a careless attitude or a disinterest in reading from a hard bound book that kept me from maintaining a journal.

Blogs were a breather for me, for when they came I was a little more mature the importance of preserving my works. And, yes they provided a relief from the scribbling ink onto paper too. At the age of 20 began the craze for blogging and no wonder I became habitual at it. Here are some of the learnings that blogging imparted to me:

1)    Knowing Your Reader: This is the first most important lesson that I learnt prior to starting a blog. What I came across was the truth that numbers do matter. I also learned a few tricks like the time of posting a blog, time when web traffic is highest etc. Apart from that I memorized the fact that a reader will read what he likes to read. This lead to my learning number 2.

2)    Give The Content a Face: Everything from the content to the design of the blog to the picture that speaks the story must complement each other. More importantly a user-friendly blog would get much more viewers than the one using an extraordinary but complex theme. Whether your blog is at wordpress or blogger rarely matters if the content is a hit amongst the audience.

3)    Keep It Short and Sweet (KISS): This is a strategy that I always follow when writing something that has a heavy subject. Basically I work by theme method. So, if I am working on content curation, I would probably break down the entire topic into 6 or 5 blogs on different aspects of content curation.

4)    Link With Like-Minds: This way you will have an abundant reservoir of knowledge and information about the subjects that you are interested in. Sharing opinions and views will help you gain a deeper insight into the matter.

These are a few tips that I often keep in mind while blogging. Apart from these, the basics really matter to me a lot while blogging.  Proofreading, editing and organizing content, therefore, come naturally while writing a blog.

A writer will always vouch for reading. No form of writing has been inherited and is rather a result of toiling hard. No writer will proclaim that he was gifted with the power of creating pearls of wisdom with the ink-dipped pen. Moreover, they have been generous enough to share their secret with the world. And, all they give credit to for their exceptional works to is the exceptional work of previous writers. There are a number of reference writings that even great writers refer too and all began as a reader first. Here is a list of 5 books on writing for writers:

1)    Zen In The Art of Writing: This is a different soul curry for writers. Where other writers stretch and manipulate the difficulties that writing poses, Ray Bradley in his book brings a fresh perspective to the world. The book points out at the emotions that must go into the writing. By this book the author wants to highlight the importance of taking work as fun.

2)    Weekly Writes: The book is an excellent example of a help guide for writers. The book will take you on a journey for becoming an extraordinary writer in a fun filled way.

3)    The Elements of Style: The book has been authored by William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White; and is a masterpiece. You will be itching to right while reading the book and it will set your direction right.

4)    Reading like a Writer: Authored by Francine Prose, this book has the power of distinguishing good writing from very good and very good from excellent. It will help you out with the technicalities and philosophy of writing.

5)    On Writing: The book is an interesting mix of a writer’s autobiography and teachings on writing. Contrary to Zen in the Art of Writing, the book talks about the other side of writing.

Adding these books to your shelf will mark a new beginning in your writing arena. Reading them will be the start of a new you. And, following them would bring to life a great writer. Apart from books one should read blogs from writers, to keep a track of the writing styles that are emerging and those that are fading away.

Change has not spared any thing or any one. No, not even poetry has been able to retain its original flavor. For good or for bad, things in the literary world have changed and that too like never before. Here is a poetic expression trying to unfold the many shifts that have made an irreversible impression on poems and prose.

The bygone era, no longer lingers, the coming one has no mention about.

Thoughts don’t stay for more than a second, and go away at the click of a mouse.

It may not be the best of poetic lines that you must have read, but is a sincere effort to bring you closer to the crux of this blog. In an era where everything is coming and going like a flash of light, including emotions, an encapsulating poem is a rare gem to find.

There was a time when even a poem lacking in purpose managed to spin a meaning out of it. Nothing lacked on the moral factor. When compared as of today, I feel there is always something or the other lacking. Is it the expression, the motive or the adressal, that is lacking, knows only the writer.

So why did Poetry Change in the First Place?

The answer to this question lies in the fact that poetry is born as a residual of moods and emotions. Adding to it is contemplation that further requires one to keenly observe ones acts, behavior, thoughts and actions. Research points out and literary geniuses support the reason that a combined effect of public neglect and rising careerism have led to this situation that is often termed as spiritual stagnation. A fast paced life topped with little or no place for emotional splurging has further diminished the attraction that poetry once held.

Is it all that bad?

Luckily enough, there is an amusing way in which the best of works always survive and flourish. Same is the case with poetry as some manage to keep its charm alive till date. So what if the world is changing, change is not all that bad. Language may have taken an entirely new direction, words may have become something that we type daily on key boards, but there are still some souls on this planet who believe that everything is Rhythm.

Needless to say, Social media as a marketing trend has proved to be a blessing for businesses around the world. Being on social networking websites has helped many businesses improve their brand image and personality. Go on the search tab and you would find each and every brand present with many followers. While busy planning their social media marketing strategies aggressively for Facebook and Twitter, what many brands are missing out is an equally effective networking giant- Google Plus.

Google plus has a lot of offer to each business for growth and for instant recognition. Ahead of other networking giants in terms of control over privacy and its SEO features, here is how Google plus can help a great deal in promoting a business-

Share- You can create your own company or brand page on Google plus and it gives you the freedom to share updates, promotions, links, pictures, news etc. This helps you stay in touch with your customers and clients in a convenient way.

Circles- Circles is probably the most talked about feature on Google plus. Circles let you segment your followers in different groups. A company can divide its clients, employees and customers in separate circles to have a more focused and targeted approach.

Measure- Google plus is much ahead of its counterparts, when it comes to privacy and at the same time it allows a business to measure how its follower’s interactions are affecting the brand and the overall business.

Hangouts-The hangout feature is probably the most useful for businesses spread across the globe. It enables video chat with over ten people at a time, a feature that can eliminate the high costs of web conferencing. So, next time you have to interact with a client or customer from another country, you know whom to rely on.

SEO- Another useful trick for businesses working hard for generating traffic is the SEO feature. Google plus gives some links to its users that Facebook and Twitter don’t. It helps a website or a blog improve their overall search engine rankings for the growth of their brand.