When I write content for a website or for a blog, I don’t use the same style as I do writing for a magazine or a white paper or a report or a chapter in the book.
The topic of the website often determines what style I’m going to use for writing. If the topic is breast cancer or Parkinson Disease or some other serious illness and the website is mine, my style will be informally serious. I don’t want to appear academic but I want to provide accurate information. I want readers to be comfortable if they want to contact me and ask a question.
If I’ve been hired by others to write content on their website or blogs I’m going to build on their style, For instance do they approach their career informally or formally? If they are attorneys do they want to use legal language or interpret the legalese and take an a more friendly approach If they are a physician and they want to provide information to their patients about supplements do they want the information to read like a chat or a medical textbook?
Whether I’m writing a page, a blog post, or a small report writing for the internet is different from writing for print – although in some incidents not that different. If you try and move your client’s printed reports directly to the web site it is going to look awkward and sound awkward to the reader. The primary reason is that typically, people scan when they read on line. They don’t read a page from start to finish. They seek out relevant items and print pages or the parts of pages they want. You need to use a style of writing and a style of formatting to your web content that considers this type of reading.
Your first task, however and wherever you are writing, is to use the language style that your reader wants to read. On the other hand, you can’t afford to buy your message so deep that the reader scanning your material. These are the ingredients I use in my content when I’m writing on the internet for myself or for a client.
Your first paragraph is an executive summary of the information for the story. That was the name I learned when I first started writing stories for magazines and news media. Put the main points of your project or blog post or eBook in the very first paragraph so that readers scanning your pages won’t miss you major
Be concise. I write the story and then I edit to eliminate words and phrases, and to shorten sentences or omit a paragraph entirely. I almost never use a paragraph of lists. I use bullet points or numbers and create any list from those formats.
Know what your keywords are for the topic. What words will the reader use to enter Google and find more information about a specific topic? Use those keywords in your post or document bolding the major points, using the keywords in your subheads.
However, don’t put the style before the content. It’s that content that will bring readers to your website or blog. It’s your message that is most important. If a reader thinks he’s going to find the information he wants on your blog, he is going to read each and every word from beginning to end. When I find good information on a site, I copy and paste the information I want. Make it easy for your reader to do the same.
Think of writing you content this way when you are publishing anything on line. You should be reaping great benefits in a short time.
To your success with content for the internet
Ruthan
Ruthan Brodsky is a copywriter and Content Creator.
She provides content for professionals and small businesses and
manages many of her own blogs. Check out one of her newer blogs about changing careers in mid life.
