Digital Content

What to Expect From a Good Web Content Writer

You have come to the conclusion that your website needs more and better content? But you are not sure how to find a good Web content editor? Here are a few tips on what is important and what you should look for.

The Internet: A Mass Medium

For many companies, the Internet has become one of the most important marketing media, because these companies actually do business in one way or another over the Internet. True, there are still some companies out there who see their presence in the World Wide Web merely as mandatory, their websites functioning as online versions of business cards, nothing else. But one by one, even those companies are realizing the importance of their web appearance within their marketing mix.

Depending on the look and feel as well as the content of your website, you will be able to not only create attention and attract new potential customers to your site, but actually make money with your website. Many companies have understood that a good design is important in this very visual and competitive world. Some of these companies, however, have not achieved their planned return on investment. They have invested in a good design and graphics, but their websites lack good content.

While 30 years ago, it might have been sufficient to just have a nice looking Internet appearance, today’s market does not work that way any more. Search engines rule the Internet world. Whereas in our parents’ generation, a 20-volume edition of an encyclopedia on the book shelf was more or less common, today we look things up on the Web. Search engine brand names have even made it into our active vocabulary. Instead of saying “I looked it up on the Internet”, people say “I googled it”. Whatever people are interested in, whatever they want to find out, whatever they need to know, they use search engines. Therefore, you need to make sure that your website is found by search engines.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization, i.e. optimizing your website in a way that it is found by search engines, is vital in today’s market. With more than a billion active websites worldwide (2024), you cannot simply rely on your brand name or a nice Web design. You do need good Web content, too. Ideally, you define a number of keywords that are important to you and under which you want to be found. Think of combinations of keywords your target group would enter in a search engine to find your product or services.

Good Web content editors will write articles containing those keywords. They know how long an article for the Web should be, and how the ratio between keywords or keyword combinations and the rest of the text should be. Also, if you are planning on selling ad space on your website, good Web editors will produce relevant content that will attract ad customers. They will also suggest new keywords and ideas for articles.

Promotional and Editorial Content

Good Web editors know the difference between marketing language and PR language and can write both, according to your needs. They will promote your products or services in marketing-oriented articles. They will also write more matter-of-fact, editorial articles that will serve your marketing objectives by creating attention for your website or by giving your site authenticity and a professional look and feel. They will write for your corporate website just as well as for independent websites, from where they will draw attention to your site.

Click Rates and Visit Duration

Many websites do integrate keywords, but they lack interesting content for users to actually stay on those sites for a while. The more authentic and interesting a website is, the higher the chance that visitors will return. The longer visitors stay on a website, the more likely are they to click on your content, sub-pages as well as banners and advertisements. Good Web editors write content that will result in higher click rates and longer website visit duration.