Now that your publishing schedule has been planned and your content is organized, it's time to create some content. The majority of online content that users interact with is text, which means careful consideration should be taken when writing for the web.

How users read and interpret content on the web

People rarely read web pages word for word but rather quickly scan the page for relevant words or phrases.
Therefore plan elements like:

• Highlighted text's hyperlinks to other pages on your site
• Meaningful sub-headings
• Bulleted lists
• One idea per paragraph
• Shorter more concise sentences
• The pyramid style of starting with the conclusion
• Smaller word count than conventional writing

Copy vs. Content

A copywriter basically lays out the text for an advertising campaign. Therefore copy is pretty much sales scripts, product description, catalogue copy, reports, brochures headlines, billboards, ad copy etc.
Content, however, is a bit more complex. Content contains all the steps laid out in the previous lessons; from the content audit, to the analysis, to the strategy, the publishing schedule and finally the writing process. Content is the stuff people want to read, it carries emotions and establishes connections with them. Great content tells a story that is relevant and in some cases even relatable.

The role of a web writer

A web writer is involved in the entire content process. The web writer's mission is to create useful, usable content that is also enjoyable.

When to call in the help of a web writer?

If the writer is already an employee of your organization then they should have no problem churning out compelling content as soon as possible.
If you will be outsourcing your content writing to freelance writers or agencies, you might want to consider having them present during the strategy sessions. Keep in my mind that writing is just a small part of the entire content strategy and goes hand-in-hand with each part of the entire process, from audit to analysis, strategy to the publishing schedule and everything inbetween.

After your site launches you will still need the help of the web writer. After all who knows your content better than them right? So for content audits and upkeep the web writer you used to write it all in the beginning is the best choice.

• Advise on the current content through their unique expertise.
• Scan content for updates and quality control.
• Collaborate with the project manager to ensure updates are delivered timely.
• Work with a SEO specialist to ensure all your content is search engine friendly (metatags, links and headers).

The last point is particularly important because the algorithm implemented by the search engine's that determines your content's search engine ranking changes frequently, and therefore needs constant monitoring.

Style guideline

This is particularly important if you're employing more than one content creator. The style guideline should be pre-determined according to your organisation's desired online identity.
The style guideline should include the following:

• The length of pieces published as well as the different topics covered
• Examples of the desired tone and structure
• Examples of things to avoid
• Grammar, punctuation and language guidelines
• Terminology consistency

The style guide will make writing content easier and ensure your entire organisation's content follows suit.

Content delivery
Content delivery refers to how you will make your content available. The single greatest source of company content should be your website, however why stop there? Consider these mediums for content delivery:

• Email campaigns
• Landing pages
• Banner ads
• Press releases
• Company blog
• Videos
• Social media
• Mobi sites

Keep in mind that having an effective content strategy will tell you what content is more appropriate for which platform.
Writing for the web requires much consideration in terms of what image you want to create in the eye of the user, however the only way to achieve this type of uniformity is by integrating the entire process with your content strategy.

Previous article in the series: Creating a Killer Publishing Schedule; Next article in the series: Content Maintenance Phase

Got any cool tips for writing on the web? Share them with me here or at @JulianKarstel!

This article was inspired by the book Content Strategy for the web by Kristina Halvorson, 2010.

Julian Karstel is a Digital Marketing Consultant for Sound Idea Digital | @JulianKarstel| Julian@soundidea.co.za | Sound Idea Digital is a full service digital agency | www.soundidea.co.za |