It probably comes as no surprise to anyone familiar with reading on the web that narrow text column widths are preferable to wide ones. Because web designers pay attention to resolutions and screen sizes, most templates are designed so that the active window is the appropriate column width. The length (inch-wise) of an article is more important to the webmaster.

The frequent question is, “How long is too long?” Is it better to expect your reader to scroll down or to expect them to click to another page in a longer article? Or would it be better, to keep articles to a length that allows the reader to complete reading without needing to either click or scroll?

The definitive answer is that there is no definitive answer. Just as writers develop their own individual writing styles, readers develop their own styles of reading. Some readers prefer long articles that are more detailed and others like their information in a nutshell. Some favor clicking from page to page and others find the need to click annoying no matter how long the article is.

You’ve probably read or been told to “write for your readers”. If you write for your readers, you’ll develop a following of those who enjoy your writing style. Of course, the first step in developing a following is to know not only what information your readers are seeking, but also how your readers read.

Make Reading Easy

The experts tell us that before you begin reading a web page, your eye canvases the screen for something of interest. Now, this canvas is ‘above the fold’, so if you must scroll to access the meat of an article, your attention may wane before you find the point that piques your interest in the topic.

Although the more white space you use, the less area you have for ‘above the fold’ content, being generous with white space makes finding that ’something’ easier for your reader. That’s also why headings are important to good content. They make eye-catchers out of the main points of your content.

As you read down this page, notice what your hand is doing. It’s probably on your mouse, scrolling the page as you read. Reading on the web differs from reading the print word where you eye travel downs the page.

What happens is that when reading on the screen, your eye finds its point of interest and fixes on that point of interest, reading while you use your mouse or keyboard to scroll the page, helping you maintain your focus on the page even as you search for the next major point of interest. That’s what the experts mean when they tell you that Internet readers scan a web page. There’s more to it than that, but reading while scrolling is a big part of scanning.

Bulleted and numbered lists are also great attention grabbers that allow your reader to scroll and scan while quickly accessing the most interesting and/or most important parts of your message.

Some self-proclaimed gurus will tell you that the tendency to scroll is indicative of the short attention span of those who read on the web. The truth is, that readers, whether reading print media or reading on the screen, are just regular people that bring their normal attention spans to your web content. Your topic draws their attention. How you format your content, holds it.

Give Your Reader a Chance to Click.

They already have the itch. Notice your own urge to click while reading long content. How many times have you right-clicked unintentionally or clicked on a link that you really didn’t mean to click?

Turn your reader’s urge to click to your advantage. Give your readers the opportunity to click to other areas of your site and eventually through your sales process to conversion, using text links within content and breaking longer articles into shorter sections.

Aside from making important areas of your content stand out, contextual links scratch the itch to click and allow your readers to move on to another area of interest or a more specific definition of their present one.

If your topic is broad, divide specific points into separate pages. Keeping web pages relevant to a particular aspect of your message not only gives your readers a chance to click, it also helps you create optimized pages that hold single-topic information that search engine spiders love to eat.

Breadcrumb navigation helps readers advance through a site while providing them with the ability to go back if they choose to do so. It also allows readers to bookmark a page of specific information, something that they can’t do on a one page article.

Whether your goal is to entice your reader to click on an affiliate link or your contact page, sooner or later you want your reader to click. Give him/her plenty of chances to satisfy the urge.

Popularity: 21% [?]

One question that plagues many new freelancers is, “How much should I charge?”

Some freelance copywriters price by the word, but I’ve found that when doing so, your coverage of your clients’ topics can be limited by word count. Additionally, when you’re paid by the word, who pays for the research you do on each topic?

The best way I have found to calculate my prices is using an hourly model. An hourly model gives you the freedom you need to research and write the most compelling copy you can deliver. You also eliminate price haggling when you deliver 510 or 550 words of content instead of the ordered 500.

While the obvious answer is to charge what your market will bear, when you’re new to freelancing, it’s hard to know what that number is. Two resources I’ve found helpful in determining my prices are the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) and Neil Tortorella’s simple spreadsheet rate calculator (just $2.50 USD).

Use the OES link to learn what others in your field earn. The OES search options include national, state and metropolitan estimates as well as industry-specific wage estimates. Use the mean figure for your area of expertise as a starting point in determining your prices. In my opinion, the median is a good place to begin since it puts you in the middle of your market instead of either the bottom or the top.

Then download Tortorella’s rate calculator to determine whether that hourly wage is one you can bear! This nifty spreadsheet has all the bases covered. Start by multiplying your proposed hourly rate by the number of hours you intend to work each week. Then, all you need do is fill in the blanks with your estimated expenses, days off (sick days and holidays), and the profit percentage you’d like to see at the end of the year. The spreadsheet does the rest and shows you how many billable hours you’ll need to chalk up each week to meet your business goals. You’ll not only know how many hours you’ll need to work to earn your desired wage, but you’ll also have written a draft of a budget for your business.

Popularity: 31% [?]

Writer’s block is a pox on the busy copywriter. At some point, all of us see a huge billboard pop up in front of our faces with the words “Write No More” blinding us in migraine-causing white light on a red background!

Although most agree the best way to cure writer’s block is to take a break from writing, when you have five projects in the hopper and clients e-mailing you for their content, long breaks just aren’t possible.

I’ve added a new category to Older-Space that’s meant to help you break through writer’s block. Blockbreakers is meant to give you some alternatives to start the creative juices flowing again. Here are some of the things that work for me.

1. Blockers - A silly little game, but if you can’t punch through writer’s block, at least you can take a few minutes to smash some blocks!
2. What do you know? - I’ve heard that taking a walk can be a remedy for writer’s block, but it isn’t your body that needs the change of scenery, it’s your mind. There are hundreds of short quizzes on the Internet that will help you reset your focus. Who knows? Taking a trip through trivia may help you find the inspriation you need to complete the task at hand. Try mine and see if it works for you!
3. Phrasefinder - Sometimes, you may find you’re looking for a word or phrase to put a new spin on an old topic. I’ve found Phrasefinder to be a big help in staying creative. It’s an online thesaurus that generates a list of phrases from words you put into a query.
4. CopyBlogger is a great source to find cures for whatever ails your copy.

As I find more Block Breakers, I’ll be adding them to the list in the sidebar! What are your favorite Block Breakers?

Popularity: 36% [?]

Keyword density is always a hot topic and to quench the webmaster’s thirst for keyword density knowledge, a lot of other webmasters have developed keyword density tools. In fact, a search for “keyword density tool” brings up 1,900,000 listings in Google. Even the top SEO programs, such as IBP and Web CEO have keyword density tools.

Calculating Keyword Density

Just about every keyword density tool calculates keyword density differently than the next. Some keyword density tools count stop words, such as ‘the,’ ‘an,’ and ‘it’ in calculating keyword density; some tools do not. Some keyword density tools calculate single keywords and some calculate keyword phrases that contain up to four words.

Depending on which keyword density tool you use, how it calculates the density, and which ‘expert’ you believe, optimal keyword density can be calculated from anywhere between 1% and 9% of your content word count. The problem with on-page optimization based on percentages is that if you optimize at 3%, your competition may go for 4% and so on up the ladder.

Here’s an example:

Suppose you write 500 words on hidignablios (that’s just a word I made up - could you tell? ) How many times do you suppose you would need to repeat it to rank well for the word hidignablios in the SERPs? My guess is that once would be enough.

However, more often, targeted keywords are common words that may have many different meanings. For instance, the word ‘toast’ can mean ‘make a toast’, ‘toast bread’, or “You’re toast!” So to be sure that your content ends up on the right SERPs, you’ll need to optimize your page using keyword phrases.

The mistake many webmasters and keyword density tools make with keyword phrases is that you needn’t keep words in keyword phrases adjacent to each other. The sentence “White bread makes good toast” will fair just as well in search engine results as the phrase “white toast”. Creative use of keyword phrases makes your content both more informative and a more enjoyable read for your visitors.

Keyword Placement

Keyword placement is far more important than keyword density. Heavily weighted areas include your title element, headings (h1 - h3 are best), contextual links, bolded or emphasized text, possibly alt text and possibly title attributes - probably in that order. These are the same things that draw your visitor’s focus to your content so make sure they are visitor friendly as well.

Write your content for your visitors. They are the final judge of how well you describe your topic. Optimize your pages for what you believe your targeted visitors will put into a search query. If your page is visitor friendly, it should prove to be search engine friendly as well.

The way to write keyword-optimized copy is just to write content that covers your topic and then reread your content to find the spots where you could better describe your content with the addition of a keyword or two. For instance, get rid of as many of the pronouns as you can and use your keyword phrases instead. That is the true measure of good keyword density.

Popularity: 19% [?]