Web writing is critical, especially for the natural referencing of a website. It is also essential to provide a good user experience. What will change in 2020?
The importance of web writing to gain visibility. Raise important points to diversify its content: free paper with snacking content. The optimization of content by semantics and the lexical field, essential to a better position on Google. The inverted pyramid and voice SEO will also be featured.
Good reading!
Web writing
It’s always good to remember what web writing is about. It is about writing content for the Internet to gain visibility. Your content will be hosted on your website/blog and will be optimized from an SEO point of view to ensure proper positioning on the search engines.
We are in an editorial style quite far from journalism, but if you are a journalist, it is already a significant advantage from writing. It is then to adapt its content and web and follow the rules.
The rules are in this case enacted by Google and its significant algorithms.
There are do’s and don’ts of writing for the web. If you respect these rules and you master the writing by working on the lexical and semantic field of your keywords, you will have a few steps ahead.
The purpose is to bring users to your site, so they know your content and your product/service offer. To achieve this, you must have content on the first page of Google and if possible, in the top 3 results related to a specific query. The query volume on a question or keyword will be studied upstream.
In the end, integrate SEO as an inexact science … no one can promise you the first position or the first page. Just do the right thing and learn how to optimize your content, update it, densify it if necessary, etc. Finally, know the basics of SEO to work on content writing effectively.
The major challenge on the web: Make yourself visible
We do not produce content to produce content. Otherwise, we actively participate in the form of digital pollution. All content production has a purpose, and the most recurrent is, of course, the visibility that one seeks to gain.
Making yourself visible on the Internet means producing content that responds appropriately to users’ requests.
It will, therefore, be necessary to know the volumes of search by keyword and work around your primary keys by using different variants and angles.
Visibility is acquired over time and requires patience. We must obtain substantial capital content to hope to glean some right places. These places are those that will bring you organic traffic. Think about working on different sources of web traffic and more specifically on social traffic to obtain faster visibility and thus begin the development of your audience.
Visibility is a significant issue when you want to develop your business online. Creating a website is not enough because it must be fed regularly to have a chance to be found.
Changes for web writing in 2020
It must be taken into account that some things are likely to change the year ahead, concerning web writing and SEO. We can say that freewriting will take a much more prominent place. About 50% of readers read directly on mobile now.
Mobile writing is not the only point that will evolve. Let’s see in this article, the changes to come in 2020 for web writing and SEO.
Natural referencing is aside as studies! If years ago it was easy to find a job with the baccalaureate in your pocket, today it’s no less than a bac + 5 that you need to “hope” to get a job. In SEO is the same thing, the competition is becoming more, and the basics of SEO are not enough!
The criteria evolve, and you have to write more, be more relevant and more specific about your subject. The basics are re-evaluated continuously year after year.
Sometimes the answer to a request must be surgical to hope for a positioning!
It is with the time and the regularity that the efforts pay in natural referencing. Still, it is necessary to maintain a degree of relevance and always respect the rules in SEO.
Mobile writing more present
First of all, the year 2018 saw mobile traffic surpass desktop traffic globally. If writing for the web tends to long articles, mobile script asks for the ability to write short essays.
Desktop traffic is still ahead of mobile traffic, but it still accounted for 34% of total traffic, an increase of 49% compared to 2017. In 2019, no doubt, these figures will be even higher. It must also be understood that the use of mobiles includes dedicated applications and not necessarily websites or blogs.
If a blog offers a mobile app, see the download number to set a viability level or not. So is it necessary to have a mobile app for his blog? Internet access can be sufficient.
However, we can say that mobile use is a real trend for this new year 2019 and those to come, on which it will be necessary to work in terms of web writing.
How to write for a free reading?
The writing to a mobile change the desktop version. The contents will have to be shorter and aerated according to the size of the screens. If you consider the latest smartphones with very high resolutions, you should know that it is the definition on the screen that will prevail. In this case, do not expect a text about your decision, otherwise, you will have illegible content! A smartphone is tiny in front of a computer screen.
You will have an average of 8/10 words per line. Avoid long paragraphs that will give you the sensation of endless reading. It must be short, concise! And on this subject, an article of 300/400 words will be the maximum size to aim.
To avoid a loss of positioning on short articles, it will be necessary to alternate between the two: short and long. This will mean for many “write 2x more”. At the same time, you will develop a new audience; a mobile readership that will be active during rush hour and lunchtime.
Content runs to a name; happy snacking where to consume content quickly.
What are the topics to tackle in media snacking?
The topics to be written tend mainly to specific points that do not require a long development. A new feature that appears on a social network would be a sufficient point to process to write 200/300 words.
Also, remember that nothing prevents you from writing longer content in parallel, from offering your audience an alternative.
Some topics to be treated concisely:
- Updates of tools, solutions, social networks etc
- Highlighting a brand campaign
- Definitions if you have an online lexicon
- The figures of a study, around a social network etc
- Infographic with a brief introduction
- The answer to a specific question
- The advice in social media or other
And many more things. Consider that short post sharing is done at peak hours, to allow transport users to scan your content. Lunchtime is also a favourite niche.
Inverted Pyramid: Put a headline summary of your articles
We talk a lot about the inverted pyramid in SEO and web writing. Which would be like starting with the end. In reality, it is customary to put a summary of your article in the header. More than an introduction that ensures entry into the material, it is here to summarize in 3/4 lines maximum your article. It represents a reading of 10 seconds.
An exercise not so simple, but that allows the user to get to know your content quickly. If the reader wants to go further, he can continue reading.
Semantics and the lexical field to optimize your articles
It is imperative in web writing, to master the principles of the lexical field and the semantic field of your keywords. The repetition of an excessive keyword is irrelevant and will have an undesirable effect on reading and referencing. No need to over-optimize your content.
Work on the universe linked to your keyword and when possible, define your keyword (if necessary) from the beginning of your article (after the summary). Bring a context to the reader so that he can better understand your point of view.
To work on semantics and the lexical field, make a list of secondary keywords related to your main keyword (about 25/30 words) Learn to introduce them into your writing without distorting the text and its essence.
The ideal is to drag a definition of your keyword in post header, to brew a first part of the lexical field of your keyword. The explanation or the meaning of a word use in principle the lexical field, the universe to which it belongs.
Example: If you want to define web writing in a few sentences, you could quickly introduce words such as editor, editor, SEO, Google, optimization, content, positioning, SEO, writing, article, search engine, visibility, traffic, web, organic, semantic, lexical etc …
Voice requests say a lot!
The consumption of the content will pass more and more by the voice request. Saving time and especially the possibility of freeing your hands to do something else, voice search is today more and more present on our smartphones as through voice assistants; Alexa, Cortana, Siri or the Google assistant are undoubtedly familiar to you.
It is this artificial intelligence that answers you when you ask them about a query. Able to crawl the web like to fill you an appointment form, these assistants will be more and more present in our daily life. This whole dimension brings us to vocal SEO and how queries will be handled. When we perform a search, we are usually more specific in our need
The search aspect on the web is interesting on many plans, one of which is easy to understand: “We do not write as we speak” especially when it comes to entering a query on the search engine Google. In writing, we go to the most concise, avoiding linking words and even forgetting the degree of relevance of the request.
Curiously speaking, we ask instead of a direct and precise question which brings us to a clear and accurate answer.
Queries on specific keyword phrases may become more impressive over the coming months and years.
If a query entered on, Google lacks a majority of accuracy, orally it is more relevant to the search results.
The editorial line
It is essential to follow an editorial path in web writing, especially if you want to come out as an expert in your field. Avoid catch-all subjects like the lifestyle that brings together several topics in one. You would be forced to write several times a day to compete with your competitors.
Take a topic and set the tone and style by focusing on a problematic or direction of your content. Ultimately the editorial line will become your editorial identity.
Workflow and roles in web writing
The writing of articles in quantity within the companies, in particular, requires the setting up of processes. To help you in your book or if you depend on service, do not hesitate to set up this process. On your site, you can name editors, contributors and define rights by using a plugin that allows you to manage different roles.
A contributor will write its content without the possibility of publishing. Once the article is written, it will go into the draft mode, and a proofreader can come in to correct the text. The contributor will validate the corrections, and an editor will publish the content. The web editor will be able to edit but will be able to send his post to be corrected beforehand.
Beyond that, we can also have a community manager who will share the content on social networks.
How many words in an article?
We have previously seen the concept of snacking media or short content; let’s now see the content background or great content.
According to a recent study, more than 50% of the articles positioned on the first page and first position on a Google query, contain more than 2000 words.
This data raises the bar when it comes to web writing. The editors will have to rely on contents of 2000 words minimum if they want changes to position themselves on Google better. Paradoxically it is challenging to be read when it is long, but many Internet users are still looking for quality content and productive. So do not neglect them.
SEO optimization of long articles is usually more natural if you stay focused on the subject. The number of words has a definite impact on the positioning.
Learn how to write for the web
To be quickly effective in web writing, it is necessary to focus on the lexical field and the semantic field mentioned above. In my opinion, this is one of the essential points when you know how to write naturally.
The rest represents a set of rules to respect, from a technical point of view those directly related to the content. The use of tags, the segmentation of content into sub-chapters and the aeration of material contribute to good readability online. We must achieve writing naturally by integrating these points.
With practice and therefore time, it will become second nature.
The structure of articles
The structure of an item, especially in WordPress, must meet some rules in terms of markup and readability. The text should be as airy as possible for easy reading. Do not hesitate to make line breaks and separate your paragraphs by titling them with an H2 tag (see sketch below for access to the tags)
Within the sections use H3 / H4 tags … if necessary and especially if the chapter may belong. An article of 1500 to 2000 words should logically be segmented into 5/6 chapters titled with H2 tags. It will facilitate reading, and it will insert your keywords to optimize SEO.
Composition of an excellent article:
- Title article (default H1 tag).
- Chapô (1 to 2 lines) or article summary in the principle of the inverted pyramid (see the heading of this article).
- Body of the article where to insert H2 tags into paragraph titles and H3 tags into subtitles or subtitles.
- Insert photos in your article to illustrate your comments or topics. And tag them. Edit the photo by clicking on it and then click on the pencil icon. Insert in the field ” alternative text ” a title containing your keyword.
- Fill in the category (only one category) of your article and add some tags
- If Yoast SEO is correctly installed on your site, fill in the SEO title (slightly different from the title of your article by incorporating your main keyword) and add the meta description.
- Once the article is finalized, change the URL by removing the linking words and superfluous words. You can install the “Permalink Manager” plugin
Do not forget to tag the image at the front when inserting it (alternative title field)
The zone of articles under WordPress
Preview of the drafting area under WordPress. Be careful for those who write under the text editor Gutenberg, the presentation is different, and the content is managed by block.
In conclusion
Web writing evolves and fast! It is a question of websites and content that continues to grow over the years. However, people are still far from knowing how to optimize content for the web, which is to say that there are always places to take on Google.
The Google search engine itself evolves in parallel with the mass of content that invades the web. We must continuously redefine the canons of relevance, the entire post and optimize it as it should. This is not an easy task, and for some time now, we have seen tremendous fluctuations in positions.
More structured, more productive, and better-optimized articles are emerging where some of the old items have been elevated. As a result, you need to be able to copy your content and update it with fresh content and more recent data.
Impossible to rest on its laurels in web writing.
Each position of the top 3 is coveted and must be done sometimes long, very long and relevant to hope to caress the top of the first page. Solicit the help of a reference to put all the chances on your side.
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In 2020, roll up your sleeves and go the extra mile to build your expertise and keep your positions.
