She’s attractive, talented, and her name is instantly recognized by much of the population. She composes mega-songs that become award-winning hits. Taylor Swift can write, however, you’d never consider having her write for your blog or website, would you? Many businesses post content written by people who are similarly poor matches.

Blog and website writing is a specialized type of writing. It’s closely related to other types of marketing writing, but has its own unique demands. Top-notch web writers excel at their craft through experience, research and constant compliance with exacting requirements.

Can You Draw the Lumberjack?

If you’re old enough to remember the art skills tests on matchbooks, you probably recall that it’s not as easy as it looks.  Because the internet has spawned an everyone’s-a-publisher mindset, everyone believes they can write compelling web copy.

Everyone can’t.

So when you look for a wordsmith, think about the myriad skills that are required for the best, most effective copy. Your writer must know how to:

• Instantly capture the audience’s attention. Website visitors are notoriously impatient, so content must persuade them to stay long enough to thoroughly absorb your message. You have less than a minute of their time to accomplish this. Every post (and page) must accomplish this goal, since today’s SEO techniques can send visitors to any corner of your site.
• Keep visitors on the site. Good visitor retention is essential. The longer your visitors keep reading and clicking, the more likely they will be to contact you. So the best writing keeps visitors interested and leads them to additional pages, subtly guiding them along the path you want them to follow.
• Educate readers. People come to your site looking for something. They may be searching for a solution to a problem. They may want to learn or be entertained or delighted or enriched in some way. Well-chosen words will help them discover – quickly – that they’ve come to the right place.
• Incorporate your SEO strategy. Weaving your targeted keywords into your blog content isn’t always easy. How often should they appear? Where? Professional website writers know; they can make SEO work naturally within your content. And they stay current with the changing SEO environment.
• Convert visitors to customers. All of these functions have a common goal: conversion of website visitors into customers. Your employee or contractor must be well-versed in standard website-writing guidelines, must understand the critical need for captivating titles and subheads, for example, and for compelling calls to action.

Everyone Has To Start Somewhere — But Not With You

You’d never hire a songwriter to compose your website or blog, any more than you’d ask a plumber to do heart bypass surgery. So before you hire anyone to deliver your content, make sure that he or she has done this kind of specialized work before. Skill, experience and a verifiable track record are all essential.

Video, photos and flashy graphics can catch your visitor’s eye, but good, concise writing will keep them there.