1. How to write good
(Getting your point across quickly and efficiently without unnecessary amounts of drivel
which causes the reader to switch off and without including pointless details and
making it all look natural while pleasing search engines so that you don’t end up with
spammy writing, spam writing, writing like a spammer or cheap Viagra)
7. What they read
• THIS MUCH is enough for users to decide
whether to read on.
• Readers use the first two words to assess
your subject.
• Web pages are read in an F shape.
• Only you and your mother will read
through to the end of your blog post.
8. Your first words
Good start Bad start
• NEW TODAY • PAINT WAS
• EXCITING PICS • I’M BORED
• CHECK OUT • DON’T KNOW
• WHAT IS • 1,496 DAYS
• BLOODY MURDER • BUY VIAGRA
PLEASE NOTE: There are notes on the slides – these are intended to be read at the same time as the slides. Thank you!
Ian McEwan, John Steinbeck, Mark Twain
By understanding what people want and what you can give them
Google is a tool that humans use. It is becoming more and more complex and reading more and more like a human, but remember that in the end it is human beings, your customers, who you are writing for. Google will catch up and change, humans will stay the same.
What will your customers/readers type in here? Take these keywords and phrases and think about ways to develop content around them.
The more you write around a topic the more long tail keywords you will pick up. E.g. People searching for Walt Disney World car hire etc.
Be consistent, have a style, if it helps imagine your brand as a person. Remember that you are representing a brand. Don’t swear. Don’t libel anybody.
You have car hire locations around the world, presumably you are allowed holidays occasionally, if you go somewhere, or you know somewhere write about it. Maybe there’s a little restaurant you found that did particularly good local food, or better yet, a scenic road you drove down. Nothing on the internet is more valuable than exclusive information. Give readers a reason to come to your website and read your copy above others.
If you have all these things remember to tell people about them, once people know, if the quality is good enough, they will naturally link to you.
Mark Twain wrote 12 novels in his lifetime over the course of 34 years. He did not have to write a blog every day. What you write on a blog today will be old news tomorrow, you do not have to win a Purlitzer while you do so. If you are spending four hours every day writing a post you are wasting your time. Product pages etc. will be read many more times, so take longer to write them. Scale your effort to the quality needed.