9 important points for effective website texts

In the digital age and the sheer endless amount of information online, the quality of website texts is extremely important! Well-written content not only plays a key role in search engine optimization (SEO), but is also essential to appeal to and convince your target group. In this blog post, I'll show you how to write effective texts for your website.

1. determine who you want to address and how

Precise knowledge of your target group is the basis for effective website texts. If you don't manage to specifically address the needs of your target group, they will quickly leave. This is because visitors don't usually come to your website by chance, but are looking for a solution to their problem. For this reason, it is extremely important that you clearly state in your text what benefits the reader can expect from you. At best, you build trust by showing that you understand the reader's problem.

A clear definition of the target group influences your linguistic tone, style and the selection of relevant information in the text. The better you know your target group, the more targeted and effective you can address them.

The answer to the following questions should be reflected in your writing style. Imagine a specific person reading.

• Which language does my target group prefer?
  Is a formal, informal or perhaps even a humorous tone more appropriate?
• What is the language level of my readers?
  Should the writing style be simple and easy to understand or more complex and technical?
• Are there specific terms or jargon that my target group uses?
  The integration of industry-specific terms can strengthen the connection to the target group.
• What kind of content does my target group prefer?
  Do you like short, concise sections or do you prefer detailed explanations?
• What emotions do I want to evoke in my readers?
  Should the writing style be motivating, informative, entertaining or reassuring?

2. get to the heart of your message

Formulating a clear message is crucial to attract the attention of your readers and convince them. Focus on emphasizing the benefits for the reader. Avoid self-centered platitudes and instead focus on how your products or services can help your target audience. Clear, concise statements are more effective than general blah blah blah.

"Write your text as long as necessary, but as short as possible!"

3. structure your website texts

The visual presentation of texts is often underestimated! However, it plays a crucial role in improving readability and keeping the reader's attention. Use subheadings to structure the text, use paragraphs to visually break up the text and integrate bullet points to emphasize important points. Graphics and images can also help to break up the text and create visual interest. Never write too much text in one go!

4. use headings correctly

Headings are the heart of your text. Both for your reader to quickly grasp the content and for the search engine. Please note the following points for your headings:

• Structured content 
  Use <h>-headings to divide the text into meaningful sections. This not only makes it easier for readers to understand, but also for search engines.
• Hierarchical structure
  Use the <h>-tags hierarchically, starting with <h1> as the main heading, followed by <h2>, <h3>, etc. This reflects the structure and hierarchy of your content. If you leave out a hierarchy level, this can have a negative impact on search engines.
• Relevant keywords
  Integrate relevant keywords into your headings, preferably near the beginning. This helps search engines to better understand and index the content.
• Clear reference to the content
  Each heading should clearly reflect the content of the section or page. Avoid misleading headings that do not match the text that follows.
• Use of phrases and questions
  Formulate headlines as phrases or questions if this fits the content. This can help to grab the reader's attention.
• Natural use of language
  Write headings in such a way that they sound natural and promote the flow of reading. Avoid overusing your keyword. This impairs readability and is often even annoying.
• Responsive design
  Make sure that long words in your headlines in particular are also easy to read on mobile devices.

5. say the most important thing first

Place the most important information at the beginning of a text. As many internet users tend to skim through texts before delving deeper into them, it is important to place the key messages at the top of the visible area ("above the fold") of a page. What your reader sees there at first glance, without having to scroll, usually determines whether he or she continues to browse or leaves immediately.

"Write your text on a page in such a way that the reader understands the core of your message without having to scroll!"

6. call your readers to action

Have you written a text that is supposed to motivate yours to take action? Then give him the opportunity to do so, at least visibly in the text (highlight the text visually). A call to action is essential to achieve the desired reaction from the reader. Whether it's to get the reader to contact you, subscribe to a newsletter or buy a product - the call to action should be clear and appealing. Ideally, you should make it as easy as possible to take concrete action: a button, a form, a telephone number or even pre-formulated text in a WhatsApp message.

If you don't tell your readers what to do, they won't do anything.

7. take SEO optimization into account

Considering basic SEO principles is important to ensure that your text is easily found by search engines. This includes the integration of relevant keywords (terms for which your text should be suggested as a search result) in headings, texts and image descriptions. Optimizing meta descriptions and permalinks also helps to improve visibility in search results. If you write your text according to these instructions, most of it should already be a great fit for the search engine.

Check the SEO quality of your page for your keyword with a free provider such as https://www.seobility.net/de/keywordcheck/

8. do not copy texts blindly

Copying content from other websites is not only ethically questionable, it can also have legal consequences: Search engines will also penalize you for it and make your site virtually untraceable. Since every author has their own writing style, it is usually easy to notice if content has been copied because there is no consistent narrative style on your website. This quickly comes across as confusing and unprofessional. Unique content is not only appreciated by readers, but also rated positively by search engines.

9. pay attention to your spelling

It is clear that precise spelling and correct grammar are important for the credibility and professionalism of your website! Of course, you yourself (or a second person) should read through your text several times. But you can also use free tools such as https://rechtschreibpruefung24.de/ to check your texts.