Writing online requires five distinct layers of content. Combining these layers is not always easy.
I want to describe how to put these five layers of content on a web page without interfering with the creative flow of writing unique and well-formed content.
Excellent web pages contains five layers of content
Web page content is accessed in many different ways, meaning five layers of content are needed.
We can disentangle the five layers by considering how web page content is accessed.
Robots view web pages to search for frequently occurring key words or phrases in the content and meta tags. They use this information to decide what the web page is about. Often the first view humans get of your page content is in search returns. They only see a sample of the web page content and from this must decide wether or not to visit the page. If they do visit the page they may only look at the contents of the top screen view of the page before they move on or they may scan the page’s headings; only a few will carefully read the whole page content.
The five layers of web page content
1: Content for robots.
Searchbots work to match searchers needs with the contents of relevant web pages. They are particularly interested in the <meta> title and description tags, alt tags for images and recurring words and phrases at the top of the web page and in headings and emphasised text.
2: Description of your web page content on search returns.
Searchers will use this to decide if they should vist your page. Your <meta> tag description often contributes to this but also random pieces of text from the page will be chosen. Look how search returns display your pages.
3: Top screen view.
This is the only view many people will get of a web page; it is the only chance content writers get to grab the attention of visitors to the page.
4: Headings.
Viewed by people who scan down a web page to see if it contains what they are looking for.
5: Foundation content.
The unique and well constructed, detailed web page content that, unfortunately, only a few people will read completely but is the content that gives web pages their reputation and attracts links from other sites.
When creating web page content count down for excellence.
5. Excellent web page writing starts with good foundation content
Writing good foundation content is the first step in producing excellent web pages. Writing this layer of content before the others, provides a firm foundation for the rest of the layers. It allows writers to write with feeling, passion and enthusiasm on topics they enjoy. The style will vary with the topic of the page: poetry, how-to manuals, fiction, news and so on.
4. Put the message in the headings
Many people who visit web pages simply scan down through the headings. If you want to spread your message, the answer is clear, put it in the headings. Move away from headings like: History, Benefits, or Communications. There is no message in these headings and no hint at why anyone should read the paragraphs below them.
3. The top screen view provides two seconds to let visitors know they are on the right page
Because many visitors will only pay fleeting visits to web pages before they click on to another site, the content of the top screen view must let visitors know they are on the right page. This means putting a meaningful and well-crafted summary or introduction at the top of your page. Do not waste this valuable location on flashy gimmicks or meaningless comments that make visitors think “so what”.
2. Create keywords and phrases from search terms
Imagine a searcher who is looking for exactly the content on your newly created web page. What terms would they type into a search engine? These terms are best terms to use as keywords or key phrases for the page. They help tell searchbots what the page is about and allow search engines to match the page up with real searchers. Also the more often these phrases occur near the top of you page the more likely they are to appear in the content of the search return desciption.
Keywords need to occur frequently in the headings and first few paragraphs of a web page and represent at least 5% of the words on the page. The foundation content and headings will need adjusting, but this provides a great opportunity to review and re-craft your work. Google also recommends putting appropriate keywords in the alt tags of any images on the page.
1. Write a meta tag title and description that describe the content and contain your keywords.
Web bots read the heads of web pages as well as the visual pages. The page titles and descriptions are particularly important. Search engines display page titles and often the meta description in search returns. This means that <meta> tag titles and descriptions for web pages must represent the content of pages to both robots and human readers. For robots, this means they must contain the pages keywords, for humans, they must represent the contents of the web pages in human readable form.
I hope this article helps you to produce excellent content for your web pages. Of course, pages can only be excellent if they meet the purposes you planned for them. You might find it useful to write a brief Statement of Purpose before you start the writing task. This does not take long and really gives you a boost when you start creating your pages.
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