Web writing is more than just a marketing pamphlet
put online. It's also more than just a list of bullet
points about a topic. Use these tips to create Web
content that is appealing to your readers and fun
for you to write.
Don't just copy the paste printed materials
One of the most common mistakes that a beginning
website owner does is to just copy and paste the
marketing materials from the pamphlets onto the
website. Writing for the Web needs to be different
from writing for print. The way the Web works is
different from print and the writing needs to reflect
that.
Write for all readers, not just a particular category
It's not a reflection of how smart your readers are -
it's a fact that the Web is international, and any
page you put up is going to be viewed by people
with all levels of English knowledge. If you write to
a lower level audience you'll be sure to keep people
interested because they can more readily
understand.
Write articles in an inverted pyramid style
If you think of your content as a pyramid, the
broadest coverage of the topic should be listed
first. Then move on to more and more specific as
you get further into the page.
This is useful to your readers, as they can stop
reading and move onto something else once you've
gotten as specific as they need. And the more
useful you are to your readers the more they will
want to read your content.
Write content, not fluff
Resist the temptation to write in "marketing-speak".
Even if you're trying to influence your readers to
take a specific action, they are less likely to do it if
your page feels like fluff. Provide value in every
page you write so that your readers see a reason to
stick with you.
Keep your pages short and to the point
The Web is not a good location to write your novel,
especially as one long page. Even a chapter is too
long for most Web readers. Keep your content to
under 10,000 characters per page. If you need to
write an article that's longer than that, find sub-
sections and write each sub-section as a stand-
alone page.
Focus on your readers, not on search engines
SEO is important to get readers. But if your writing
is to obviously geared towards search engines you
will quickly lose readers. When you write for a
keyword phrase, you need to use the phrase
enough so that it's recognized as the topic but not
so much that your readers notice. If you have the
same phrase repeated in a sentence, that's too
much. More than twice in a paragraph is too much.
Use lists and short paragraphs
Keep the content short. The shorter it is, the more
likely your readers will read it.
Solicit feedback from your readers
The Web is interactive, and your writing should
reflect that. Asking for feedback (and providing
links or forms) is a good way to show that you
recognize that you're writing for the Web. And if
you include that feedback in the article the page
stays dynamic and current and your readers
appreciate it.
Use images to expand on your text
Images can be tempting to sprinkle through pages.
But unless you're a photographer or artist, having
random images spread through your documents
can be distracting and confusing to your readers.
Use images to expand on the text, not just decorate
it.
Don't apply these rules blindly
All of these rules can be broken. Know your
audience and know why you're breaking the rule
before you do so. Have fun with your Web writing,
and your audience will have fun with you.
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