Your business’s website content should not only be well-written. Your content should be effectively targeted to the audience your business serves. Writing content that works for the web can be difficult. It isn’t something that comes naturally to most people. This article will help you understand website content readability as it relates to search engine rankings.
A Great User Experience
Unintelligible copy on your website makes for a bad user experience. If you want people to understand your business, clearly state it. What services do you offer? What is your mission? Your website could have all of the latest technology and responsiveness for ease of navigation. The WORDS must be understandable and helpful. Nobody likes to read something that’s difficult to follow, boring and/or overflowing with keywords. All of your online copy should be aimed and focused on your audience. It should be providing them with the information they need, a solution to their problem, or an answer to their question. If you can do that, your audience will have a great user experience. Google will love you too. Wasting time trying to trick the Google algorithm into high ranking your website isn’t necessary. Just give your audience what they’re looking for!
Bottom line – Don’t repeat keywords because you think that’s what will draw people to you. Give helpful, intelligently-written content that lets visitors know they’ve come to the EXACT right place.
Get Your Site To Rank Higher Organically
You may think your content should be angled at “the bots”. Search engine bots are looking for cues to your site’s content on behalf of the search engine. It is MORE important that you provide great copy for your site’s visitors. THEY are the ones who USE the Search Engine’s to find you in the first place. The user-experience on your website has a direct effect on your site’s organic SEO. Google analyzes user signals (behavioral patterns) to determine how visitors relate to your site. For instance: if a user puts website design into Google’s search tool, Google gives them results that fit with that search. If the user gets there and doesn’t find what they are searching for, they will bounce back to Google. This is a signal that the website does not fit the search query. It’s a sign to Google that the website they served up for that search is WRONG for it. Google uses this type of information to determine whether your site should come up for that specific search query. The content on your site needs to immediately show that it relates.
Bottom line – Thoughtfully written copy and strategically placed images should directly relate to the keywords that your audience will use to search for you.
Getting Higher Rankings On Google
There used to be a time when jamming keywords into your copy would improve your website’s rankings. Those times are long gone. Nowadays, you really need to consciously spread around your keywords in ways that read well. Google has gotten really good at recognizing quality content. It now recognizes synonyms, understands which words, entities, and content are related to each other. In addition, search engines are becoming better at predicting what people want to read. Whether you like it or not, those cookies (and we don’t mean chocolate chip) you pick up when you visit websites are being served up to search engines so they know more and more about what you’re looking for. Search engines use that information to predict where users want to go. There is no guarantee for higher rankings. No SEO expert can promise that you’ll be at the top of the list. Getting higher rankings on Google is possible if the person writing your content really knows what they are doing.
Bottom line – keywords are very important, but use them carefully and be sure they flow with the surrounding content.
Google’s Algorithm
Overall, Google’s algorithm is trying to mimic a human. It tries to read text like a human would. As Google becomes more capable of understanding and scanning texts in a human-like way, readability will become even more important for your rankings. So, long story short, the trick to getting higher rankings on Google is writing easy-to-read content that is focused on your businesses purpose AND using keywords naturally and reasonably throughout your content.
Bottom line – Keep your copy smooth, concise, and interesting. Is that too much to ask? If you’re thinking so, GET HELP FROM AN EXPERT.
Accessibility Is Important
Keep in mind that not everyone who visits your website will experience it in the same way. Some people will visit on their phones while waiting for an appointment. Reading lengthy text on a small device isn’t fun, even if the site is mobile responsive (which it SHOULD be). Much like Google itself, mobile users rely on the proper use of headings to understand what your text is about. Accessibility is important not only for mobile users, but any visitors to your website.
Bottom line – Well-written headers will lead your visitors right where they want to go and not scare off any mobile users.
Well-written headers will lead them right where they want to go.
See also The Importance of Mobile Optimized Websites
Readability For The Average Person
One of the most important things to remember with website content readability is making sure that the average person understands what you’re talking about. If I’m writing a blog about content writing (and I am), I won’t start throwing out a stream of tech terms and internet jargon that you folks may not have ever been exposed to. If I do use a tech term like Google’s algorithm, I’m going to hot-link it to an explanation of what it is. ;) In addition to that, the typical person visiting a website will scan through its text. They’ll read subheadings and the first sentences of the paragraphs they deem relevant. It’s very important that you get to the point and get there FAST. Again, remember – All the things people do while reading your text are things Google will also do. That means that the structure of your text and the way you write your paragraphs becomes increasingly important. Core sentences – the first sentence of every paragraph – will need to contain the most important message. Making text easy to read and having a clear and logical structure in your text will be invaluable.
Bottom line – If your site considers the readability for the average person, it will be beneficial to the overall user experience AND the site’s search engine likeability.
Let’s Be Clear
Let’s be clear: your rankings won’t immediately soar when you improve the readability of your content. Improving your website content readability is an essential part of every SEO strategy. Strategically written content will result in more returning visitors and a higher conversion rate.
If your business needs help with your website content readability, consider hiring a professional marketing and advertising professional like Creative Juices Marketing Agency. We’ll use our creativity and experience to make sure your business is in the right position to compel your customer base, improve and build on your brand, and ultimately increase your revenue. Contact Denise Hood at 434 964 7511 or send us this CONTACT FORM.
