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Content writing for online marketing is writing with a twist. The difference is one of format rather than style. What do I mean by that? Let's take a close look. There are four things that separate writing content from all other forms of writing: 1. Consideration of one's audience attention span; 2. Consideration of one's purpose; 3. Simplification of one's writing; and, 4. Optimization, optimization, optimization. I will talk about each point separately. Audience Attention Span Photographers shooting ads for magazines are aware that images have 0.25 seconds to grab audience attention. The competition for viewing is that intense. The internet is not much different. If your article doesn't grab attention within the first couple of seconds, it will not be read. When a potential visitor is searching for information through a search engine, the competition for attention is quite robust. I just searched for Content Writing for Online Marketing. That search revealed 18,000,000 hits. Of those, only the first 30 or so will gain visitors. Getting read begins with understanding the brief attention span of your audience. Thinking Purpose Articles have several purposes. Each one, however, can have but one. So what is it that you want your audience to do as a result of reading your article? 1. Sign up for your email list? 2. Make a sale? 3. Provide information and name recognition? As you think about how to write for a purpose for Content writing for online marketing, the purpose itself must be clear to you. If it isn't clear to you, it will never be clear to your audience. Simplify your Writing The age-old acronym KISS, or keep it simple stupid, is something to keep at the front of your writing. You aren't writing for an academic journal where jargon is used. No, you are writing for public consumption. Newspapers have a general rule, keep your writing at around a 6th-grade level. Ernest Hemingway wrote in short sentences and actively chose short words. An old English teacher of mine often quipped, "Never use a short word when a diminutive one will do." Keep paragraphs short, sentences short, and the piece brief. While doing all that, make sure you share important information with your audience. Optimize, Optimize, Optimize Being discovered on a search engine, Google, Bing or Yahoo, you MUST optimize your article. This means that your content must first be valuable. You must concentrate on a single keyword or phrase, and you must follow guidelines. Frankly, if you are diligent about the first three suggestions in this article, you're well on your way to optimization. I have a specific goal in mind for keywords or phrases I use. I want to optimize for the keywords so that I rank on the top three search engines within 45 days of the start of a campaign. It is a realistic goal and will drive organic traffic to my website. After all, why else would I spend the time to do all this? ---------- Roger Fischel is the managing partner of The Fischel Group, an internet marketing company, and website design company. Synergectory/Writing Profitable Content is a Fischel Group company specializing in Writing Content for the internet.
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