Use Headlines

Headlines are in a bigger font and bolder, which makes them easier to read. More importantly, they tell the reader what the following paragraph is going to be about, they break up the paragraphs and they make the page scannable- which you want. Lastly, when you use keywords in your headlines Google will notice and your REALLY want this.

Use Color!- When it Is Appropriate

Color is another way to make headlines more effective. When web sites have headlines in a different color I read better. I don’t know if it is because it breaks up all the black words or what, but when there is a lot of copy it makes headlines even more effective and scannable, in my opinion. Of course you want to use colors that help maintain the professionalism (or craziness of your site, depending on who you are). For example, lets look at Problogger.net. If Darren Rowse were to use the color purple for headlines it really wouldn’t work…in fact, it would look terrible!

As you can see Darren knows how to combine the colored headlines and links to increase the effectiveness of the blog. Which brings me to my next point, colored links are always a logical choice, in my opinion. Choosing the right color for the links is the only real task you have.

Break Up Your Copy Into Smaller Paragraphs!

Try to avoid long paragraphs because they are difficult to read on the net. After about 4-6 full lines of text you should try to break the paragraph up. This makes your copy easier to read and easier to scan.

Plus, your web visitors will most likely read more if the paragraphs are easier to read. The more they read the better chance you have of selling your services or products.

Use Bullets and Numbered Lists!

Bullets and numbered lists are beneficial for many reasons:

• They make a lot of information easier to read and scan.
• When readers are looking for services they can find them much easier in a bulleted list than in a paragraph.
• It cuts done on the amount of writing.
• It puts everything in the face of the reader; remember Web Visitors Do Not Want to Work or Think More Than They Have To.
• Bullets allow you to present multiple services, tips, information or anything else your need to present in an effective way.
• The search engines really notice the words in bullets, so try to add keywords in your bulleted lists.

Make Everything Easy For the Reader to Understand!

Not everyone is an expert in your field and some people just won’t have a clue period! So, make it easy for them. If you are discussing a term or a subject link over to something that will clearly explain it to them. Your reader will appreciate it.

For example, if you are not into SEO you may not know what an Alt-tag, Anchor Text or a Source Page is, but you have an opportunity to know now, right? If you are discussing something, and I mean ANYTHING, your reader may not understand try to link to somewhere to help them understand the term or concept your are discussing.

Linking within your site is best for optimization purposes, but if you have to link out of your site do it for the reader (and read Anchor Text to see the most effective way to do this).

Another option is to create a definitions page and every time you discuss a term you can link over to the specific definition.

Good luck! 🙂

Melissa Fach- SEOAware.com

Sarasota, Florida