There are many very capable professional writers out there on the net, offering their services to any company that can afford them. Many businesses take advantage of these services, needing the skills of a professional when it comes to their site’s content. However, not every writer has the skills you need to craft good internet content. Being a gifted writer is not necessarily enough. Great authors like Henry James may have struggled to write for the net because what is required is dependent on the medium concerned. There is a big difference between writing for the net and writing for print. Despite the high quality of writing generally available, writing for some websites falls down. The reason is that while many writers have professional training and experience in print, most have only a little experience in writing for web sites. Businesses that attempt to provide their own content can be in even worse trouble, with in-house writers whose experience extends to business reports and marketing materials. This is not necessarily a reflection on the quality of the writing, but rather its focus.

The main difference between print writing and internet writing is immediacy. While in print, a writer can take time to transmit information in an elegant manner, on the net information needs to jump out at the reader. This is where a thorough knowledge of how keywords work comes into play, as keywords are important terms that help the user identify what the article is about. Internet writing also needs to allow the reader room to breathe, which is where use of white space comes in.

If you are considering sourcing your content from a professional, there are a few things to consider:

• Length: Web content should be 50% shorter than print content. Sentences should be short (unlike those of Henry James) and paragraphs also. This is important to know when commissioning content.

• Style: Internet writing needs to be friendlier than print. A businesslike tone can put your site’s users off. Your content needs to reach your site’s users at a personal level, but at the same time needs to match with other content on your site. It can help to draw up a style guide.

• Substance: While it’s important for your content to be catchy, it needs to transmit information. Print-style headlines don’t work because they don’t provide enough information. They also don’t serve your search engine optimisation plan as they rarely contain keywords.

• SEO: Last, but far from least, is your site’s search engine optimisation strategy. It can be incredibly difficult and sometimes impossible to insert SEO techniques into a piece of content after it’s written. It is far better for the writer to work with your keywords, but even then it takes skill to insert them seamlessly. This is why many businesses rely on their SEO companies for content provision.

Web writing needs effective writers with a difference, and this is why many businesses consult their SEO companies for writing services. You can talk to our experts at SEO Consult about your site’s content.

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