Get to the Point When Writing for the Web
Posted by Rhiannon Louise on June 07, 2007
Filed Under Writing for the Web
It’s a cold hard fact that with more and more ways for information to be supplied to us and for us to have instant access to facts and data, the less time we seemingly have to digest that which is thrown at us and even that which we go out and actively seek.
Nowhere is this more the case than on the internet.
Web readers have an attention span shorter than the average goldfish’s memory according to many sources – although others refute this fact, claiming that actually internet readers have a greater capacity for concentrated attention but that we prefer not to use it.
Whichever theory you’re more inclined to agree with, it’s a fact that web readers generally prefer to dip in and out, surf and scan stuff on the internet - which is why it is essential to get to the point when writing for the web.
Oooops – I’m writing one of those articles again where I realize I don’t always practice what I preach…
While university students may find it particularly hard to get used to this idea – after all if you’ve ever had to write a dissertation or paper of a given long length, be honest, how many of you have dragged out the facts and padded out the theories with excessive and extraneous fluff? Whereas traditional media and paper based journalists on the other hand may already be used to cutting their copy down to all but the basics because of restrictions on column length for example…
But no matter what your background you need to know and keep in mind these five essentials when writing for the web: -
1) Why use 10 words when you can use 2?
2) You can actually say less and communicate more.
3) Try writing 1 article for 1 fact – if you have a hundred facts to convey then populate your site with 100 articles!
4) Make your readers’ lives easier – get to the point quickly.
5) Give answers, don’t raise more questions.
In conclusion, be kind to your readers, supply them with data, facts and information to answer their questions and do so in as web-reader-friendly a fashion as possible.
(Note to self – this means no more fat and no more fluff just well written, factual copy.)
