Do you find yourself being asked by blog and website owners to read “War and Peace” novel articles with forever scrolling content? I call these novels a "Wall of Words". The sheer thought of reading it sends me in search for the big red X or the back button. Admittedly, I have written my fair share of terribly long articles in the past, but no more.
Are You a Tease?
Plus, most real estate web sites fail to use proper structure. Failing to use sub headlines (designated with a Headline tag-h3) to help tease the site visitor to what the paragraph will say is a missed opportunity on so many levels. Your website backend editor should allow you to designate your sub headlines with an h3 "tag". If your current website editor prevents you from having the ability to designate sub headlines in this fashion, you are handicapped and it may leave you on the “long end of the search engine results“. Having the ability to easily edit your headlines, sub headlines and body content really is important if you want to be near the top of the search results.
Format Your Copy to be Scanner-Friendly
I also strongly recommend you format your copy with the following structure (when practical). You might be asking why? Your website copy must be scanner-friendly! Site visitors all have a terrible case of ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). Consider using this format for your content:
- Page Name=Headline (h1)
- Short intro paragraph
- Sub headline (h3)
- Short content paragraph with complimenting image (images give the reader's eyes time to rest plus it adds interest to the page)
- Use bullet points so the reader can scan and easily find the information they are looking for
- Sub headline (h3)
- Concluding paragraph containing a "call to action"
Avoid Using Multiple Font Styles, Colors and Sizes
If you long for your website or blog to look like it stepped out of the 1990's, go ahead add all the weird font styles, colors, words bolded and underlined! Just know that you will probably be the only site visitor who hangs around long enough to read your content. Using these tactics to format your copy is so unprofessional. Now add spelling mistakes and you'll get an "A" for making your site and it's information look less than reliable.
Ask the Site Visitor to Take Action! (this is an example of a Sub headline with an h3 tag)
In your concluding paragraph, always include a strong call to action (request this information, read this article, search homes now....). When should the reader take action….NOW!
Don't Forget Those Geographic Keywords!
So the next time you write copy or have real estate web copy written for you, think “geography” and then add the geography identification to the copy. Once you have written the copy 21 times using these techniques, it will become a habit and you’ll write great, reader-friendly, SEO-rich copy formatted properly without missing a beat!
What's Stopping You Now?
Be sure to leave a comment now (I practice what I preach!! - call to action) and let me know what is preventing you from taking action (and control) of your website (and its content). Implementing these best practices TODAY, you will begin to see better results.
Bobby Carroll - Dakno Real Estate Marketing
Follow Bobby Carroll on Twitter (@rewebcoach)
P.S. Have you visited Dakno.tv? You really should!
Update!
See my next AR post on easy instructions to adding h3 tagged sub headlines to your AR post!
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