CMS Websites: Professionals Must Learn Website Writing Techniques

Website content development is a profession that has grown in earnest for the past 10 years and has been widely practiced for this amount of time or longer. Until recently, website developers and professional writers were the main source of content creation for the web.
Lately, the popularity and availability of CMS (Content Management System) websites has allowed the non-technical user the ability to update a website with ease. Many CMS’s are custom built. Some are easy to use, while others are clunky and still require the user to input basic code. To use a CMS, no technical expertise or knowledge of writing html code is required. The skills needed to upload new content to the World Wide Web in a well-built CMS are similar to those used to operate Microsoft Word.
With such newfound ease in content management, organizations, companies, and individuals should be posting regularly to their websites to receive maximum exposure on the search engines. Many stakeholders in companies and organizations are excited to implement CMS websites at first. Soon enough, many managers and executives begin to realize that the quality of the website writing is either disorganized or lacking – something.
Actually, developing content for a website is more complex than simply assigning the duty to writers in command of standard written English. Even professional writers with little experience in website writing can benefit from additional training. Employees with duties related to content development for websites need to be trained specifically in website writing, in order to be most effective at writing content for a CMS website.

Companies and organizations that do not consider this vital element in transition when implementing a CMS website are in danger of producing content that is not up to website writing standards.

Here are a few techniques professionals must master to be effective website writers:

1. Writing with links: A good website writer will write with both internal and external links. The external links will act as a bibliography for the writing, citing sources within the text. The internal links will effectively point the visitor to other places on the website where related information can be found. When search engines crawl a website, they look for internal and external links.

2. Writing effective headlines, subheads, tags, and photo captions. Many professionals who are proficient at writing proposals, business letters, and memos, fail to understand the importance of snappy headlines, succinct subheads and pithy tags. These attention grabbers not only break up text, they also allow the reader to easily view the text in parts. Photo captions, with individuals pictured identified from left to right, are good form for website writing, or any kind of writing. Yet unless they have a background in journalism, some professionals remain unaware of the requirements for photo tags. Professionals in many fields have not been schooled in headline writing. Nor do they understand that casual website visitors may need to scan the material when they are in a rush.

3. Writing brief chunky paragraphs: Reading a website is different than reading a book. The visitor expects to obtain information quickly. Website writing is concise and to the point. Often, business writing is quite the opposite. It is lengthy, verbose, and jargon laden. Again, professionals who are excellent writers and experts in their fields need to be taught to summarize, shorten, and abbreviate writing. These same professionals need practice eliminating or explaining jargon so the reader receives the necessary information easily. The visitor should not have to read extensively, or comb the website for what he or she needs.

4. Using keywords and search engines for research: Many beginning website writers could benefit from learning how to use search engine filters more effectively to find the information they need quickly. Learning how to use keywords in on-line research is an important tool for the website writer, who must research information. Becoming adept at the skill of using keywords to refine research parameters also saves time.

5. Keyword Writing: Using some primary keywords in website writing materials can help bring the desired persona to a website, or even to a specific page within a larger website. Learning how to identify the keywords visitors are most likely to use is a skill in itself. Business writers who are assigned writing duties for a website need to acquire this skill if their writing is to be found by the desired visitor consistently.

There are other issues with the implementation of CMS websites. Many of them are related to content development. Check www.sidhecommunications.com for other articles and blogs related to website writing, website promotion, and website content development.

Elizabeth Kirwin is co-founder of http://www.sidhecommunications.com, a traditional PR/Marketing Firm that specializes in website development, website promotion, search engine marketing, and keyword writing. Ms. Kirwin is also a part time Literature and Language instructor at UNC Asheville. She recently developed and created a class on Website Writing to the City of Asheville. Email her at ekirwin@bellsouth.net.