Websites and why size matters

Size matters, eh?  That’s usually accompanied by a phrase like … “it’s not what you’ve got, but what you do with it”.

When it comes to websites, both apply.  I’m not talking here about small websites – your website can be as big as you like.  It’s how it’s presented that matters.

Use columns on websites  

When you’re choosing a website design, try to find something which organises your text into columns.  Why?  Because it’s much easier to read.

Think about a newspaper.  They’re not laid out in columns simply because someone thought it looked good.  Wide lines of text are hard to read.  It’s bad enough on something printed, but when it’s on-screen, it’s even harder.

A wide line of text makes it difficult to find the start of the next line.  When someone hits your website – you must make it easy for them.  If you don’t – they’ll leave and go to your competitor’s site.

Ideally your text width should be an optimum of around 50 – 75 characters, including spaces.  There’s a very helpful blog post about line length on the Baymard Institute’s website.

Paragraph length

Packing your website with long paragraphs is guaranteed to put your visitor off.  They won’t have the appetite for it – much better to divide your copy (the text) into bite-sized chunks.  It will be visually more appealing and much easier to read.   Try to limit your paragraph to around three sentences or five or six lines at most.

Sentence length

Professional copywriters use shorter sentences.  Long sentences ramble on.  By the time the reader has struggled to the end, they’ve forgotten how the sentence started.  Try to limit your sentences to a maximum of 20 – 25 words.  Vary the length – use some very short sentences and some a bit longer.   This makes it more interesting to read.

Your website is a marketing tool – it must earn its keep.  So when you’re thinking about your website – remember size does matter.  Your readers will thank you for it and you’ll reap the rewards.

SEO copywriting and why you need it

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.  Your website is not a fashion accessory – it’s a marketing tool.  And it must deliver a return on investment.

Sadly, there are more poorly performing websites than there are effective ones.  And the bottom line is … if your site isn’t optimised, it won’t work.

If you’re not convinced, think about your car.  If you don’t fill it with petrol, you can’t go anywhere in it.  Your website is the same.  Instead of petrol, a website needs ‘Google juice’ to get it started and keep it running.  And like a tank of petrol, SEO doesn’t last forever.  You have to keep your tank topped up.

Copywriting and its role in SEO

Copywriting plays a vital role in your website’s optimisation.  Make no mistake – SEO copywriting is a highly skilled job and one best left to the experts.

A good SEO copywriter understands what keywords are, how and where they should be used, and the impact they can have on your website.

At one of our copywriting masterclasses, we ask the question: “Who is the most important visitor to your website – the search engine ‘spiders’ or human visitors?”  The answer is predictable: the search engine spiders.  Wrong answer.  I’ve yet to meet anyone who has sold their products or services to robotic computer software programmes.

This means to work properly, your copy has to be written for your human audience and to satisfy the search engines.  This takes skill and experience. We regularly see websites which have been ‘optimised’ by unskilled writers.  Instead of being a powerful message which is easy to read and understand, it becomes a jumble of keywords which make no sense to the human reader.

Keeping your SEO tank topped up

As I said above, your SEO doesn’t last forever.  While your site might perform well today, if you don’t keep it updated with fresh keyword-rich content, you’ll find it drops down the rankings tomorrow.

Choosing an SEO copywriter

So how do you go about finding a good SEO copywriter?  Most copywriters will profess to be experts in the field.

1. Speak to the copywriter.  Have a conversation about SEO and listen carefully to what they say.  Do they sound informed and give you specific advice or are they waffling?
2. Ask if the copywriter does the keyword research.  Then ask what ‘keyword density’ they work to.  You are looking for an answer of around 3% – 4% here.  If they don’t understand what you’re talking about, move on.  If they give you a high density figure of around 8% – 10%, move on quickly.  ‘Keyword stuffing’ can get your site penalised.
3. Ask for examples of their work.  Look for ‘keywords’ in the headings.  For example: if a heading on an account’s website says something like ‘tax advice for the self-employed’, keywords have been used.  If the heading says ‘Our services’, they haven’t.
4. Ask if they write metadata and again, ask to see examples.  Each page should have its own individual metadata.  For example: check the length of the page description.  If there are consistently more than 150 characters in the descriptions (including spaces), be wary.
5. Ask for links to sites they have worked on recently.  Then do a Google search.  Are they near the top or several pages down?  You need to remember, there are other factors which affect a site’s ranking, of course.  But a well written site will perform better than others.
6. Finally, ask for references.  Look at the copywriter’s own website. If they can’t optimise their own site, what hope is there for yours?

Invest in your SEO copywriting

If you want your website to work, it is important to invest in professional copywriting.  Remember your car – if you want to drive it – you must fill it with fuel.  Do the same with your website and see where it takes you.