There is considerable difference between writing for the Internet and composing a piece for a magazine or newspaper. What works well for one, may be wrong for the other. Readers of Internet sites, articles and blogs usually scan first before reading the entire piece. This means their attention has to be grabbed right from the start.
Seasoned journalists, who are familiar with capturing their reader’s attention in the first paragraph, already have the first basic rule of web content writing under their belt. On the Web, maintaining that style will be even more vital as we cannot count on readers scrolling all the way down the page to read the conclusion.
Breaking up web content into short paragraphs will capture the website visitor’s eye more than elongated passages, which are more difficult to scan. Here are some examples of simple Internet writing techniques that will get you noticed:
Break up content into shorter segments:
o Capture the essence of what you have to say first, and then explain briefly.
o Layer information and present only one idea per paragraph.
o Use descriptive headings and sub-headings frequently. Keep them meaningful rather than clever.
o Create links to more detailed information if segments are getting too long.
Make text more readable:
o Using hypertext links, typeface variations, and color, highlight keywords
o Take advantage of bulleted or numbered lists.
o Use appropriate, readable fonts - not everyone has perfect vision.
o Verify the contrast between text and background colors. Light mouse gray colored words may disappear on a white page.
o Unless using fair-sized font sizes, avoid using bold shadows or italics. Not everyone likes them.
o Insert illustrations to break up the text and make it look more inviting.
Goal Oriented Writing
Excited about their new venture, some website owners and e-merchants dive in with both feet. Unfortunately, that may not always be a good idea, because, like with all commerce, you will need some kind of business and organizational plan in place. You need to define the purpose of your website, your goals and objectives, and you need to know your audience.
Understanding the people that will visit your site will not only help you decide what content to write, but it will also guide you in the way you should present it. This is vital, because if you do not properly navigate your visitors through the site, they will never take action and buy your goods and services. So, organize your information in the order your audience will most likely need it and label the choices you offer clearly.
Be consistent and uniform
If you are busy conducting business, it will be tough to constantly refresh your website content. In that case you may have to hire multiple writers. It is convenient solution and you get lots of different viewpoints to share. However, do not lose track of the uniformity and clarity of your website. Different writers may also mean different styles and vocabulary, and these variations in consistency may end up confusing your readers.
Establish writing standards for your projects and create a style guide for your writers. This guide should stress issues in regards to the tone and voice of the content, file and structure format, as well as text layout. Also, streamline corporate slogans, terminology and make sure all writers are consistent in their spelling (e.g. web site/website)
Keep it clear
Keeping your content and buttons clear and understandable prevents confusion. When you introduce a link to a certain product line, make sure it goes there and not somewhere else. The same thing counts for “call to order” features. If you offer your guests a “contact us now” option make sure it leads to an address, email or contact form, and not your “check out” page. To prevent these damaging incidents from happening, check your links and pages frequently. If you don’t, visitors will quickly doubt your credibility and professionalism, and with one mouse click they’ll be gone!
Conclusion
The extra time you invest in creating great web content will help ensure your online audience will complete their tasks properly and in a timely manner. They will enjoy their stay, tell their friends, and best of all, they will keep coming back for more.
