Writing for the Web can't be improvised! You can have every editorial quality possible, but without a good dose of technique, your articles will flop on Google.
How to write quality articles ? How to optimize your writing for search engines?
Discover editorial best practices and web writing examples for your industry.
The 14 best practices in web writing
Before showing you more specific web writing examples, here are the basic SEO techniques to know for all your web content.
1. Optimize your web writing
The first step for SEO writing is to find the most relevant keyword.
It must perfectly match the search intent of your target audience if you want to reach the top results on search engines.
Then define its lexical field (long-tail keywords, synonyms, occurrences, associated expressions…) to help search engine bots understand your content.
2. Polish your headline
Your headline is the king of your article, the one that makes users want to click. It should be attractive and explicit.
Your future reader must have a very clear idea of what to expect, and you need to spark enough interest to make them want to read on.
3. Refine your introduction
Get to the point! A short introduction is preferable to a long spiel. Don’t forget that these opening sentences are what push your audience to continue reading.
Show your audience that you understand their problem and that you alone can provide the solution.
4. Break up your content
Reading on screens, especially on mobile, is tiring. Avoid large blocks of text and leave line breaks between paragraphs, which should not be longer than four lines.
5. Include visuals
As everyone knows, images are worth a thousand words and help make a text easier to understand. An added benefit: they also help break up your content!
6. Keep it simple
Unless you’re targeting a very specific audience, avoid using too many technical terms and professional jargon!
Your web writing should be easy to understand, so favor simple words.
7. Keep it short
Like your paragraphs, your sentences and words should be short. Avoid long, convoluted words that make your sentences too complex and unreadable.
Cut your sentences and use full stops as soon as possible. The ideal sentence length is between 15 and 20 words.
8. Get to the point
Don’t ramble just to reach the recommended word count or because you’re naturally verbose.
Stay focused on your topic and give your audience only concrete information.
Don’t go into too much detail at the risk of losing their interest. Remember that your readers come looking for solutions and nothing else!
9. Use bullet lists
Bullet lists are highly appreciated by readers because they:
- Make reading easier and encourage it
- Give your editorial content more breathing room
- Organize the essential information
To lighten web reading, this rule is often applied: capitalize the first word of each item and don’t use punctuation.
10. Add emotion
The storytelling is a well-known marketing technique among advertisers, and for good reason: emotions are a very powerful driver of engagement!
- Use strong words
- Carry your reader through your narrative
- Be punchy to stick in their mind
- Stay familiar so your audience can identify with your story
- Convey the right emotions to hold their attention
But beware, for storytelling to work you must know your audience perfectly to determine which emotion to focus your strategy on.
11. Engage your reader
If you want to keep your reader until the end, apply the AIDA method :
- Attention: capture the consumer's attention
- Interest: arouse their interest
- Desire: awaken their desire
- Action: trigger a purchase or an action (for example, following a link)
Whatever your editorial strategy, provide your reader with relevant, verified information.
Demonstrate your expertise through your writing and support your points with examples, statistics, testimonials…
12. Polish your conclusion
The conclusion of your content is the last impression you will give them. It's better that your audience finishes on a high note rather than on a bland, uninteresting one!
Start by summarizing the main idea, then encourage your readers to continue by reading another article on your website or direct them to a product page.
Don't forget to include a CTA (call to action) at the end of your copy to prompt them to act.
13. Structure all your content
Whether you're writing a product page, a blog post or a web page. It's essential to structure your texts to aid understanding, both for users and for crawling bots:
- An title (H1)
- An intro or lead (no more than 10–15% of the article length)
- A photo (with your keyword in its alt attribute)
- A heading for each paragraph (H2)
- Paragraph subheadings if needed (H3)
- A conclusion
Also remember to insert internal links and earn backlinks for your SEO.
14. Proofread and edit
No, you're not finished yet! Proofreading your written content is essential to spot typos and vocabulary mistakes.
Rest assured, there are magical tools like Antidote, paid but incredibly effective, or free online proofreaders such as Bon Patron.
6 web writing examples sorted by topic
If you follow our previous advice, your web writing should improve considerably.
But since every field has its own specifics, we have selected several recurring themes across the web so you can adapt your content to your industry.
1. Health, beauty and wellness sector
It is today one of the largest markets on the web.
Major consumer brands, beauty institutes, perfumeries, hair salons and even clinics and hospitals have a presence on the Web.
To stand out amid such strong competition, you absolutely must produce high-quality content with significant added value.
Whether it’s a product page for a cosmetic item or a blog post about a spa, writing about health/wellness is not something you improvise.
You need to know your target audience inside out and adapt your writing style according to a very specific customer category.
2. Real estate sector
The real estate sector is also highly competitive. To gain visibility, your content must be rich, engaging and perfectly optimized for SEO.
Faced with industry giants, you will need to refine your SEO strategy, master the real estate lexical field and its specific jargon, and have solid knowledge of SEO optimization.
Whether it’s a homebuying guide, a property listing, or an article on the latest laws in force, your content must reflect your company’s professionalism and inspire consumer trust.
3. Fashion and decoration sector
Selling in the fashion and home décor sector means staying up to date with the latest trends.
Your editorial team must be passionate about the world of fashion, about all the decorating tips and DIY projects that internet users particularly love.
Your content should spark your readers’ curiosity, offer styling advice, and provide home design ideas…
It’s a lively, dynamic field where the exchange of ideas is especially valued.
4. Environment and ecology sector
The environment and ecology are major topics today, and writing about them requires great precision.
Writers must produce in-depth, well-documented editorial content.
Articles are often supported by data and figures, so sources must be reliable and thoroughly checked.
5. Tourism and travel sector
The web writing specialized in tourism, travel or holidays is particular.
You must be able to transport readers to a dream destination, an adventure on the other side of the world, the discovery of an atypical village…
Your descriptions or blog posts must portray places or stays with relevance and skill to make your customers dream and encourage them to book your products or services.
6. Insurance and finance sector
Insurance and finance are two topics where subjects are generally very technical. The work of web writers is to make the content accessible to everyone.
They must be clear and accessible, which requires editorial teams to have a strong command of technical terms and precise knowledge.
Our tip
Knowing how to write for the web requires SEO skills and strong writing abilities.
As you can see from these web writing examples, to attract traffic and customers to your website, your content must be authoritative and well-targeted.
So, if you want to gain visibility, there's only one solution: hire specialized web writers !
