Writing Great Content for the Web - Different Reading Styles Require Different Writing Styles

Contrary to popular belief, writing good content for print and writing good content for the web are two very different animals. Just as good print writers and editors knows that there are certain rules and guidelines to follow for publishing good print content, writing for the web has its own set of rules that should be followed for publishing online.

Although it???s usually recommended to hire editors and writers with experience writing for the web, the transition from print writing and web writing can be made rather painlessly with a little understanding and flexibility in your writing. Once you understand the principles of web content, and the reasons for their differences, modifying the way you write for more digestible web content is within reach. This article will try to outline some of the most important ??? and most often overlooked ??? differences between these two publishing mediums. And as an added bonus, good writing for the web automatically increases your search engine optimization, since most search engines look for concise thoughts and relevant phrases.

Think Quality, not Quantity

The ever-increasing number of websites out there coupled with the increasing level of browsing experience the average web user is logging is resulting in shorter attention spans for lengthy text and fancy marketing lingo. Web users know there are a million places on-line to get information, and they are most interested in the ones that can help them find the answers they want in the fastest, most accessible way possible, with as little marketing fluff as possible.

Most web surfers don???t even attempt to get through a whole page of content. They quickly skim through the page, looking for headings, images, bulleted lists, bolded text, or links that indicate that the page they???re on actually has what they want. A long scrolling page of text with no visual breaks or information ???summaries??? is likely to lose a visitor before they have even read anything on the page.

Even printed material is often skimmed before it???s read. Admit it. Before you decided to actually read this article, you gave it a once over to see what it contained. Your eyes went to the bolded headlines and pulled quotes before they even glanced at the paragraph contents. In that respect, the web is no different. The difference here is that you can put this article down on your desk and get back to it later. Once someone closes their browser window, the chances of them coming back to search for the information they couldn???t find right away are slim to none.

Ways to Web-ify Your Writing Style:

Break up long bodies of text into smaller, more concise paragraphs. Users have adopted the attitude that ???www??? stands for the ???Word Wasting Web???, and simply won???t read it. They know they can find the information somewhere else in less time with less filtering, and if you present your case in a clunky, cluttered way, they will do just that.

Smaller, bite-sized paragraphs, which convey specific thoughts or ideas, will help your visitor to find the information they want quickly. Make your introductory sentence meaningful and thorough. Burying your important thoughts within acres of text will only help your visitor decide to move on in the hopes of finding what they need elsewhere. The concept of ???one idea per paragraph??? works well in a web environment. With a quick scan, the user can look at the lead sentences and easily see a clear picture of what information you are offering.

Be Direct!

Resist the temptation to revert to the kind of writing that years of print work have taught you! Be clear with your headings, and try to stay away from cutesy but vague headlines. On the web, they are meaningless to a reader who is quickly skimming a long article to see if it contains the information they are looking for.

Short, descriptive headlines are an invaluable way to point the reader towards the information they want. A good example is the headline to this paragraph. In print, it works. A better heading for this paragraph would have been ???It takes longer to read from a computer screen than on paper???. A little boring though, right? With a little creativity, you can find a good compromise with something like ???Lose the Lingo ??? Avoid Vague Headlines ???.

Extra Extra! Read All About It!

Good headers can easily be the deciding factor as to whether or not a web surfer stays on your site to see what you have to say, or move on to hopefully greener pastures. Make them count. Step back from your work and look at the headlines you have written. Forgetting what the paragraphs are about, would you be able to tell what information is presented in your content by scanning the headlines?

Also remember that the Internet is NOT limited to English speaking users, so be careful with your use of metaphors and symbolism. Web users whose first language is not English, this can be confusing and sometimes misleading.

Other Headline Tips:

* If you are alphabetizing a list of articles, avoid using ???A???, ???An???, or ???The??? as the first word in your headline. This can be hard to read, and can confuse the reader.

* If you???re using your headlines as link text, keep them especially short. A long sentence that goes on and on is visually unappealing and makes the page look cluttered.

Hype is NOT Hip

In this world of ever-increasing e-businesses trying to make a buck or get that click-through point, web readers have become jaded to marketing ???hype??? language, and often don???t trust it. They will be just as quick to ignore it, or worse yet, be suspicious that they are about to get tricked into something. Once your site loses credibility, you???ve lost them for good.

Less is More! It???s tempting to try to dress up your website text with the same kinds of padding and flowery text that you would use in an off-line brochure or article, but study after study proves that reading from a computer screen is about 25 percent slower than reading from paper. That means that you should try to cut your text down to at least 25 percent less than you would if you were writing for print. In fact, it???s recommended to clip your content to more like 50 percent less to be even kinder to monitor-weary eyes of your readers.

Surfers don???t like to scroll

In addition to the web being populated with ???Short Attention Span Theater??? users, it???s also a commonly known fact that most web users don???t like to scroll. In fact, those newer to the web don???t even know they are supposed to scroll! That means that anything below one screen???s worth is likely going to go unread.

The Web is Based on Interactivity ??? USE IT!

The web is founded on the ideas of interactivity and movement. Users faced with a long, static body of text often get restless, and feel the need to click around so they are getting the most bang for their surfing buck. Be sure to include pertinent links to other documents that relate to the subject you are talking about. This is also an excellent way to drive traffic within your own site. This method of ???cross-pollination??? is one of the most effective and user-accepted ways to draw people deeper into your site.

If You???ve Gotta Go Long??? If you are publishing content that, by its very nature, is long ??? for example, news articles, scientific reports, tutorials, or editorials ??? be sure to break up the text into smaller pages with links connecting them. Even a web user who is looking for lengthy, detailed information will feel their stomach churn as they watch the right-side scrollbar grow longer and longer as the page loads. Make sure to break the story in a place that makes sense, not in the middle of an important thought.

When linking the sections together, use link text that gives the user some idea of what to expect in the next section, and ALWAYS avoid using link text such as ???Next???, ???Previous???, or page numbers. You should think of your readers??? interest and time as a precious commodity and always let them be the one to decide if the information you are offering is important to them. Having a more user-friendly website where the reader feels like they are the ones in control will pay off with return visits and reader loyalty.

Additional Web-ifying Tips:

* Incorporate meaningful graphics into your content to break the page up. The use of ???pulled quotes??? is also very helpful to draw the users??? eye to important information and break up longer sections of text.

* Once you???ve edited your text for the web and you think it???s as short as it can be and still be useful, cut it down by another 25%.

* Have a friend or peer who has not yet read your content give it a quick glance. See if they can figure out the main points of the information without reading any details. They should be able to get a pretty clear picture. If they aren???t sure, or if there are gray areas within the content, go back and refine your headlines and intro text.

* NEVER WRITE CONTENT USING ALL CAPS. IT???S HARDER FOR THE EYE TO RESOLVE CAPITAL LETTERS AND TAKES THE USER CONSIDERABLY LONGER TO READ. IT???S ALSO OFTEN PERCEIVED AS ???SHOUTING??? TO WEB USERS WHO PARTICIPATE IN CHAT, MESSAGE BOARDS, OR INSTANT MESSAGING. AND ITS PRETTY ANNOYING, TOO.

* One word. Spellchecker.

* Emphasize important sentence segments by making them boldfaced. Be sure to use this sparingly however, as overuse will detract from its impact.

* Try to avoid using italics in web publishing. Italic text on a monitor is very hard to read.

* If your content runs long, and you have broken it up across a few pages, be sure to offer a ???printer friendly??? version which will allow the users to print the entire article from one page without the normal page layout. Also be sure to include the URL that the article is located at on the printer friendly page so that can come back to it later if they wish.

* Never use ???Click here??? as link text. This is very confusing to text-based browsers.

Alison Gianotto http://www.phpchick.com

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