Websites are a dime a dozen - www.internetlivestats.com estimates that there are currently around 1.8 billion of them, and counting! Some studies show that on average 55% of internet users spend less than 15 seconds reading text. With this information in mind, you will quickly realise how important it is to stand out from your competitors with well-written, concise and easy-to-understand texts. Interesting texts that the reader enjoys reading are the only way to beat this average value, as this is the only way to make the visitor curious.
However, it is not only the reader who is pleased, Google and other search engines also recognise independently whether texts contain the important information that the search engine user is looking for. Google analyses and evaluates all your texts and will improve or worsen the ranking of your page accordingly. However, avoid optimising your text specifically for search engines, as this method often leads to unnatural texts, which Google can now also recognise. More information about Search engine optimisation can be found in our SEO GUIDE.
In order to provide you with a guideline, I have summarised 11 principles below that should definitely be observed when writing texts in order to captivate visitors and arouse their interest!
1. address your audience
Sounds logical - but is far too often simply ignored. The most important thing is that you address your audience and know exactly who you want to reach. Who is my primary target group? What is my secondary target group? How do I address both without offending the other? Do the target groups influence each other's copywriting? You should answer all of these questions and eventualities BEFORE you get started in order to target the right people. To give you a good example: Imagine a reputable law firm for celebrities that displays the following sentence on its homepage: "You've come to the right place!" - doesn't fit, does it?
2. the principle of the inverted pyramid
As readers on the Internet have a very short attention span, you decide in a matter of seconds whether they will find the information they are looking for on your website or whether they will search on another site. Therefore, structure your content like an inverted pyramid. The core message, the most important information and the most important keywords should be displayed as high up as possible. Only then should the background and details be mentioned. In this way, the reader continually gains information with each paragraph and does not lose interest in the text.
For example, if you are writing texts for a website about a specific event, the most relevant information such as a description of the topic, the date and the venue should be at the top of the page. This is followed by further information such as speakers and their respective presentation topics. Only at the end should secondary information, such as conference organisers or partners, follow.
3. write short and simple sentences
Internet users are impatient, and you will overwhelm your readers with endlessly long sentences. Make sure you form short and concise sentences. Depending on the subject area, you should use a maximum of 20 words in a sentence, in exceptional cases even 30. You should find a good mix, only extremely short sentences with 3-4 words are of course not easy to read. To make the texts "scannable" even faster, you can use bulleted lists for information. These are easy and quick to understand.
I recommend that you check your texts at www.textanalyse-tool.de. The tool assesses readability and can give you helpful tips for improvement.
4. address your readers directly
Use active instead of passive verbs and address your readers directly. Instead of "The products can be ordered on our website", write "You can order the products on our website".
This allows you to create short, concise and meaningful sentences that contain a direct call to action. This can drastically increase your conversion rate.
5. include examples
Use examples to show your readers what you want to express. This makes it much easier for readers to understand and visualise what they have read. We remember images much better than text, even if it is only an imaginary image created by a catchy example.
An example of this can be found in the example under point 2.
6. avoid technical terms
The web is accessible to everyone - assuming your target group is not exclusively technical experts, you should make sure that the texts can also be understood by non-experts. Write out abbreviations the first time they are mentioned and explain the meaning of complex or niche-specific terms. Ideally, you can link to further information on the respective terms, where the reader can find more information.
7. mix up your choice of words
Words are like biscuits - we all have our favourites. But when it comes to writing engaging copy, we should make sure to include variety. Find new synonyms for overused words, but make sure they are easy to understand. The exception here are the keywords of the website, which should of course occur frequently.
8. use images, graphics and videos
As mentioned in our article "7 reasons why you should avoid stock photos", a picture (or a graphic or a video) is worth a thousand words. Visual information is processed 60,000 times faster. Take advantage of this opportunity and ensure that the reader's interest is stimulated by appealing visual information.
9. integrate suitable content into your website
Incorporate existing content from your website into the new text and link to it. This will motivate the reader to continue engaging with your website and spend more time on it. The more time they spend on it, the higher the chance of closing a deal. Another positive aspect is that Google and other search engines react very favourably to relevant internal links.
10. actively encourage readers to take action
As explained in point 4, you should address your users directly. However, don't forget to include a direct call to action. This can be in many different ways, whether you want to achieve an order in your online shop, a registration in a portal or a contact - actively encourage your users to do so!
Thank you for reading and I would be delighted if you could leave me feedback on the article below. If you don't feel like writing your own texts: Contact us and we'll take care of it!