There are very precise challenges in writing for the Web, wholly separate from making sure your writing is concise and economical. There is the matter of clarity, which can both be sacrificed in an attempt at artificial wordiness, as well as an attempt at brevity. And while brevity may be a writer’s best friend, it must not come at the expense of clear writing. What good is a message, after all, if no one can understand it? Throw in the added troubled of keywords and targeting for search engine optimization, and it becomes even more difficult to make sure you’re getting your point across.
If you are looking for some ways to inject life into your Web writing and still keep an audience, you’ve come to the right place. Here are five great ways to clean up those articles and keep your readership coming back for more.
1. Keep It Truthful. You might think-what does telling the truth have to do with writing clearly? But it actually has a lot to do with it. We have a tendency to ‘overthink’ and overwrite things when we don’t know what we’re talking about, or when we know what we’re saying is BS. Your audience will know it, too. Whenever possible, stick to what you know, and stick to what’s true.
2. Get To The Point Already! A lot of writers have a tendency to fall in love with their words as they flow onto the page. Those rich phrases and words may be great for that 18th century potboiler you’ve got cooking, but they won’t do you any good when writing for the Web. Surfers, potential buyers, and your normal, everyday readers don’t want to be bothered and taxed by flowery, incomprehensible drivel. If you have a word sitting in your article that you haven’t heard used in speech in the last week, chances are you can find a better word. Your writing will be the clearer for it, and therefore better.
3. Keep Your Writing Edgy. This doesn’t mean you have to start peppering your articles with four letter words or controversial opinions on the Holocaust. It just means making sure what you’re writing is something that hasn’t been said already, most likely a million and one times. If you’re bored writing it, chances are the reader will be bored reading it.
4. Make Sure You HAVE a Point. If you’re one of those writers who likes to get off on tangents that have little relevance to the thrust of your article, it’s time to nip that particular bad habit in the bud. It might be fine for the first draft, but it won’t do for the final copy. While we’re on the subject. . .you are writing at least two drafts, right? Right?
5. Write a Good Summary. This is an easy one, but it’s something missing from more web articles than you’d believe. You’ve brought the reader all this way, so don’t leave them hanging at the end of the article. Let them know why they just read what they read. Make them understand why it’s important. Otherwise, they might think you just wasted their time, and that’s not good for repeat readership.
So, speaking of summaries, that’s about it. Writing for the Web has a plethora of advantages over writing for print mediums. You can turn a concept into an article in a day, and have people reading it tomorrow. But there are other differences as well, and that includes the style of writing. Make sure you understand those differences, and apply the rules above to your writing. Your readers will thank you, and your writing will intrinsically improve.
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