Optimizing Writing for the Web

 

By Martin Wiles

I noticed the acronym SEO when I started using a program to manage a friend’s website. But what did it mean? I soon discovered that optimizing writing for the web is critical if we want people to see what we write, which makes sense if we put it on the web. And yes, this requires editing, but more so in the formatting area than in the PUGS area (punctuation, usage, grammar, spelling).

I decided to research the acronym and discovered it stands for search engine optimization. I knew what a search engine was and that optimizing meant making something the best it could be for its intended purpose. But what did that have to do with writing a post?

Sure, some of our writing entails self-catharsis, but we want others to benefit from it too, especially if it somehow relates to promoting God’s kingdom. However, we must ensure a few things are in place for prime optimization.

WATCH THE TITLE

Our post’s title should reflect the writing’s theme and ideally appear in the first paragraph and at least two to three other spots in the writing (Note that my title is in the first paragraph.) ChatGPT is a wonderful tool for taking our proposed title and generating suggestions that will rank highly in Google and AI searches. 

WATCH SENTENCE LENGTH

Shorter sentences are ideal—twenty words or fewer. At the same time, we don’t want our shorter sentences to sound like choppy first-grade writing, so we must write them smoothly.

WATCH CONSECUTIVE SENTENCES

We should have no more than two consecutive sentences that begin with the same structure.

WATCH THE THERES, HERES, AND ITS

When possible, avoid beginning sentences with there, here, or it—often followed by a form of the verb be (am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been). This structure makes for weak sentences.

WATCH THAT PASSIVE VOICE

This is a biggie. When possible, avoid passive voice. Let the subject do the action. “John ate the cake” is always better than “The cake was eaten by John,” unless the story is about the cake and not John.  

WATCH THOSE TRANSITIONAL WORDS

Paragraphs—and perhaps sentences within paragraphs—need transitional words so that one sentence flows smoothly into the following sentence and one paragraph transitions well into the next.

WATCH THOSE SCANNABLES

Finally, our writing will benefit from bullet points or all-caps headings. We live busy lives, and many readers scan rather than read every word in a post.

When the above is in order, the SEO analyzer will give a green light, meaning a search engine will more easily discover the writing—a good thing for us writers. Even if we don’t use a web host that incorporates an SEO analyzer—WordPress has an SEO component that measures the optimization—making sure the above are present will yield the same results.

Now, think of what would help you optimize your writing so you can offer God and others your best.

Photo by Merakist on Unsplash

Martin Wiles is an author, pastor, English teacher, and freelance editor who resides in Greenwood, South Carolina. He is the administrator/assistant editor for VineWords: Devotions and More and the Managing Editor for Christian Devotions. He is the founder/editor of the internationally recognized devotion site, Love Lines from God (www.lovelinesfromgod.com). His most recent book, Don’t Just Live … Really Live, is available on Amazon. He has also been published in numerous publications. He is the husband of one, the father of two, and the grandfather of seven.