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Writing for the online audience is far different from writing for an offline audience. Here's why- Studies have shown the way one reads on a computer screen is slower and more difficult than reading on paper. The structure of words on the screen is important. Also, even more importantly, the audience you're writing for is no longer just an audience. It is composed of active participants in the environment you are trying to market to. These visitors have a way out of your site that is as easy as a click away. Good content is the key to keeping visitors around. Here are seven tips on how to have great content: 1. Make each paragraph short. Long paragraphs fill up the screen. Think of the last time you were at a website and read through a long scrolling screen of text. You probably didn't read the whole thing, right? These large text blocks act almost as roadblocks, requiring that you either stop to read, scroll past, or get out. Short paragraphs help visitors skim more easily to see if this is the page they want to be at. Ideally, a paragraph should be 2 or 3 lines. You'll certainly have paragraphs with more, but this is the best for reading purposes. 2. Have a good title. If you look at the very top of your Internet Browser, you'll notice a line of text. That is the page title. Page titles help a visitor decide if they want to go to your page or not, via a search result pages. Also, the title should make sense outside of its page. For example, don't just call a page "Introduction", call it something like "Blue Widgets- A Technical Overview". Start with words that show why this page is unique. Don't start every title with the same word (like a company name) because it will look like the same page over and over on the search results. Try to include important keywords in the title as well. 3. Use Headlines and Sub-headlines Headings help readers know they are on the right track. A heading predicts the content that will follow, allowing visitors to decide if they want to continue or not. Use two or three levels of headings- a general page heading, a sub-heading, and perhaps a sub-sub-heading. This helps readers skim for your main ideas. It also allows visually impaired visitors to understand your content. 4. Don't Use Marketing Fluff Visitors generally mistrust anything that looks like an ad. So, to earn trust, turn down hype. If you are marketing a product, point out features and benefits in simple, direct language, without going overboard. Visitors like to be treated like a person. 5. Use Visuals Charts, graphs, lists and a few images help more visual readers see what you're writing about. A chart or graph helps to compare and contrast data, while a few images here and there can make your site more visually appealing, and keep the visitor interested. Any series should be turned into a bulleted list, to allow visitors to skim more easily. 6. Be Active, Not Passive. If you're trying to generate leads, use active words, as opposed to passive. For example, don't say "New Widgets", say "Check out the new widgets everyone's buying!" This is a call to action, and visitors are more inclined to look longer. 7. Use keywords in the text Using keywords in the text is one of, if not the most, important method of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). If a keyword appears in the text of your site it is far more likely to appear in results of a search for that word. For example, if your site sells widgets, and you don't ever mention the word "widget" it will likely not appear when one searched for it. Do include keywords in a natural way. Using certain words over and over will get your site banned from search engines because the search engine reads the site and knows this is suspicious. Write the content as natural as possible, still while trying to include these words. essays papers
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