17 Ways To Improve Your Web Writing

By Dean Evans
17 Ways To Improve Your Web Writing | The Good Content Code | www.goodcontentcode.com
17 Ways to Improve Your Web Writing

This is an extract from The Good Content Code
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Copyright 2011 The Good Content Company (UK) Ltd
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Who am I? And what do I know?

Im a web copywriter, editor and regular blogger who lives and works mid-way
between the cities of Bristol and Bath in the UK. I have over 18 years of
writing experience across Internet and print projects, big and small.
As far back as I can remember, Id always wanted to be a writer. I started my
career on a little-known (and now barely remembered) videogames magazine
called PC Review. Since then, Ive worked on publications including Total Film,
Edge, T3, SFX, PC Plus, Official PlayStation Magazine and Digital Home.
In 2006, I launched and edited the giant technology website TechRadar.com,
before leaving to start my own writing business in 2008.
During my career, I've written hundreds of articles:
Features Profiles, previews, Top 10 lists, case studies and How Tos
News Press release rewrites, breaking news and analysis
Reviews Hands-on product testing and product reviews
Interviews Either face-to-face, by phone or by email
Columns Industry opinion and blog posts
Reports Industry research and sector analysis
Advertorials Editorialised marketing content and promotional copy
Books One-off special projects
I've also covered a wide variety of subjects ranging from computing, graphic
design, videogames and film to home entertainment, consumer technology,
business and SEO web writing.
My writing clients have included such big-hitters as: HTC, John Brown
Publishing, Future Publishing, Republic Publishing, The National Trust,
Orange and Tesco.
The information that follows is based on what Ive learned about writing for the
web during my career so far. It works for me. I hope it can work for you.
17 Ways to Improve Your Web Writing

There are some best practice guidelines for web writing that everybody agrees
on; some underlying rules that can be applied to everything that you write
online. And dont just take my word for it. Take a look around the web youll
see the same core approach across thousands of websites.
Why do these guidelines matter?
Web readers read web pages differently from traditional printed media. They
tend to scan the page, looking for subheadings, distracted by bulleted lists and
interesting images, or occasionally veering off on tangents to follow relevant
web links. Think about it. You probably do this too.
Unless you have a regular readership, most of your users will parachute into
your content from a search query, land on the information they're looking for
and then leave. Most of these visitors never come back.
Worse still, if they don't find what they're looking for, they typically hit the
'Back' button on their web browser, bouncing back to their search engine
results to click on the next site in the list. Your website is quickly forgotten.
Consequently, you have only a few seconds to make an impression, to answer
a question, to deliver value, to project trust and authority
Its a tough ask. So it's up to you to make your content as accessible and as
attractive as possible. Let's start with some general guidelines:
1) Write naturally
Try to use familiar words. This means avoiding jargon, tossing in unexplained
abbreviations and mysterious acronyms. It also means trying to be
conversational. Write like you speak and inject some personality into your
articles. Your personality and your approach to your subject matter is one of
the most valuable weapons that you can bring to bear. Its ultimately what
makes you unique.
Your writing style should also be appropriate to your audience. For example:
the BBCs news stories are opinion-free and ruthlessly factual, as befits a
national news organisation. On the other hand, technology websites like
Engadget and Gizmodo assume a certain level of technical knowledge and
throw in industry-standard jargon and acronyms accordingly.

2) Keep sentences short
Cut out unnecessary words. Do flowery sentences like this one really, truly
add anything to the very core of the content that youre producing? No. So
slice them out. Be ruthless.
You might find it difficult to delete any clever sentences youve written. Weve
all been there. But think about whether they really add to your message.
While some people may judge you on your writing style and return because
they like the way you package your content. The majority are interested in
WHAT you say, rather than HOW you say it.
Of course, theres a balance to be struck. Just because youre writing for
search engine robots, doesnt mean you have to write like a robot. Googles
algorithms categorise your content, they dont consume it, like it or get
inspired by it.
In George Orwell's 1946 essay entitled Politics and the English Language,
the author criticised ugly and inaccurate writing. Amazingly, his six rules
(listed below), still hold some value when you're writing for the web today:
1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are
used to seeing in print
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you
can think of an everyday English equivalent
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_and_the_English_Language
3) Keep paragraphs compact

If a paragraph has got any more than three or four sentences in it then it's
probably too long. Cutting back chunks of text helps keep website copy
scannable and skimmable for the reader. It also means that you can focus on
exploring one idea per paragraph.
If an onscreen paragraph strays over five lines, then its also too long and the
resulting unwieldy block of text could put your visitors off from reading your
content any further.
4) Show numbers as numerals, not words
A simple one this: for large numbers, don't write three thousand, write
3,000. Stylistically, some publications will often write the numerals 1-9 as
words (i.e. one, two, three, etc.) and display anything above that as numerals.
Writing numbers as numerals makes them easier to digest for skim-readers.
5) Use an active voice rather than passive one
I.e. David Beckham scored a fantastic free-kick rather than: A fantastic freekick was scored by David Beckham.
6) Talk directly to your reader
Use 'you' to make a direct connection with your reader. Dont be afraid of
using I and we when talking about yourself, your business or your brand.
7) Add extra links (both internal and external) to add value
Always think of the reader first. What other information would they benefit
from? What couldn't you fit in to your content that you can link out to? Is there
any other content on your own blog or website that could be helpful? If so, link
to that.
Whats the best way to link? The most effective method is to put links into the
body copy. Linking out to other resources is good practice and can be
important in showing the search engines (and your readers) that youre a
serious site.
Linking to other articles on your own website is also important. This helps
readers to find related content and can boost your own sites profile in the
search engines.
For internal linking, be sure to use a keyword/keyphrase that defines the page
youre linking to. I.e. if youre linking to an article about gas barbecues, the link
text (aka anchor text) should ideally be the primary keyword/keyphrase that
defines your page. With this in mind:
Read our article on gas barbecues.
Is a better link than this:
Read our article on gas barbecues here.

8) Use relevant keywords in your heading and sub-headings
Use meaningful, direct headlines and subheadings. Steer clear of clever,
magazine-style headlines or newspaper-style puns. I.e. Surf's up might be a
good title for a surfing story in a magazine, but it doesn't draw you in when
viewed in a Google listing.
9) Use relevant keywords/keyphrases in your body copy
We're treading into Search Engine Optimisation territory (SEO) here, which
can quickly get complicated. For now, just ensure that you are using the
keyword that describes and defines your content (i.e. gas barbecues) in the
following places:
Headlines
A subheading
Meta description*
Image caption
Image metadata*
Tags
*Found in your website content management system (WCMS). Your WCMS

could be Wordpress, Joomla, Movable Type or some other bespoke software.
Think about how your content looks

Presentation matters and there are a number of specific things that you can
do to make your articles more accessible and easy to read.
This section is all about 'entry points'. These are other devices you can use to
lure the reader into your article. Not only that, entry points provide ways for
the reader to dip into your content if they dont start reading from the top (or
lose interest).
For example:
10) Use sub-headings (H1, H2, H3) to break up the text

These can not only highlight key sections of your text but provide extra 'entry
points' into your copy for skim-readers.
Subheadings can also be useful for summarising the key points of the article
and as a secondary path through long articles. Use them every 2-3
paragraphs in any long article you write. They act as secondary headlines and
should be treated with the same care and attention.
Search engines look for H1, H2 and H3 tags and at the words in them to help
classify the content of the page. They're basically signposts, so use them as
such.
11) Use bullet points for lists
Which one of the lists below is easier to read:
Good content is: relevant, valuable, interactive, accurate, accessible,
trustworthy
Or...
Good content is:
Relevant
Valuable
Interactive
Accurate
Accessible
Trustworthy
12) Emphasise key points

Use bold or CAPITAL LETTERS to highlight key points or important
keywords. Its pretty straightforward this one. Just don't overdo it and always
avoid using flashing text if you can help it. Why? It's ugly and your readers will
hate you for it.
13) Use blockquotes for quoted copy
Make your quotes stand out from the rest of your text by using the blockquote
function in your Web Content Management System (WCMS). Dont have one?
Use bold, italics or an indent to separate a quote from the main copy.
14) Use images to add meaning

According to the old saying: a picture is worth a thousand words. By adding
an image (the top-left position is considered the most effective placement),
you can enhance the presentation of your articles and grab the reader's
attention.
Of course, this depends on what the image actually is. Unique, intriguing and
funny images work wonders. It's what http://failblog.org/ is based on.
15) Add a caption to describe your images
There's a good argument for labelling all of your pictures. Firstly, so readers
can understand what you're showing them. Secondly, so the search engines
know what your pictures actually refer to. The humble caption is also another
area where you can fit in your primary keyword/keyphrase to help your SEO
efforts.
16) Pie charts and graphs
If the article warrants it, try to catch your reader's eye with different visual
devices a pullquote highlighting an interesting sentence, a table, a graph, a
video or an image gallery. Something that breaks up your chunks of text. Just
like this:
Sales
1st Qtr
2nd Qtr
3rd Qtr
4th Qtr
17) Promote your other articles.

Include links to any other articles that you've written that are relevant. For the
reader, this provides extra information beyond the page they are currently
reading. For you, it enables you to tempt visitors into exploring your site
further. Using related links or popular posts devices can often work wonders.
Why do some sites break the rules?

Youre right. Not every website adheres to the tips Ive covered here. Thats
why theyre guidelines rather than rules.
It's easy to get caught up in the rules of writing at the expense of the one thing
that REALLY matters: good content.
Huffington Posts news articles dont use subheadings to break up the text
arguably the stories are small enough that they dont need them. The Huff
Posts blog content is longer and could benefit from a subheading or two to aid
scan reading. But its big-name bloggers have a draw that often overcomes it.
Engadget, meanwhile, regularly uses large blocks of text in its articles and
often doesnt use bullet points to list technical specifications.
Instead, it breaks the short sentences and ignores the be concise advice, but
has a conversational style that tech readers identify with. Engadget relies on
being first with its technology news, so spending extra time on presentation
(subheadings, picture captions, etc) would only slow the whole publishing
process down.
Dont just find what works for you. Find what works for your readers.
Writing for the web: A summary

Following the guidelines for effective web writing is part of the pattern when it
comes to creating good content. Remember:
Write in a natural way that's appropriate to your audience
Keep sentences short
Keep paragraphs short
Show numbers as numerals
Use an active voice
Talk directly to your reader
Add internal/external links to relevant content
Use relevant keywords in copy
10
Use relevant keywords in headings/sub-headings

Use bullet points to break up the text
Emphasise key words/phrases with bold, CAPS or italics
Use blockquotes for quoted copy
Use images to add meaning
Add captions to images, using keywords where possible
Employ visual devices (pie charts, graphs etc.) to break up unsightly
(and difficult to read) chunks of text
Some websites break the rules - find what works for you
Putting it all into practice

Its never too late to improve the accessibility and the visibility of your web
content. Thats the beauty of web publishing compared to print. A magazine
might take three weeks to write, design and edit, plus another two weeks
before its printed and shipped out to the newsstand.
And if you then discover that youve made a spelling mistake, got some
information wrong or written a weak-as-a-kitten headline Well, its just
tough. You cant change it.
In contrast, the web is fluid and interactive. Whats been published can be
tweaked, completely re-written or deleted as needed. Made a spelling
mistake? Change it. Got some information wrong? Simply update it.
Similarly, you can re-package your existing content to make it more
accessible, using bullet points and subheadings, images and info-graphics.
Much of what Ive spoken about here is common sense. But tie it together with
some thorough keyword research and youll be able to align your content to
the words and phrases that people are actively searching for.
After all, theres no point having good content if nobody can find it?
All of which brings me on to
11
The Good Content Code

Most writing for the web training tends to concentrate on the stuff Ive talked
about here the short sentences, the easy-to-scan text and the importance of
getting your keywords well and truly nailed.
It's vital knowledge. But it tends to work better when its packaged together
with tips on idea generation, how to use the right article format and web
promotion tactics.
This way you get the entire writing 'pattern'. You understand what to write, how
to write it, how to polish it until it shines and how to shout about it.
Thats what The Good Content Code is about developing a writing pattern.
Its a step-by-step guide to the whole content generation process and will give
you all the information you need to create content that's loved by readers and
search engines alike.
Heres what it covers:
1. Know who you're writing for and how people use the Internet, so you
can provide content that your audience wants and needs.
2. Find out what your audience wants and needs. Where can you find
inspiration for your posts and pages?
3. Discover the key characteristics of quality content and how to create it.
4. Understand the principles of good web writing, style, tone of voice and
why some techniques matter more than others.
5. Learn how to write an article (even if you don't consider yourself a
writer), get your tone of voice right and employ an arsenal of different
article types to grab people's attention.
6. Use keywords to optimise new or existing content so that gets the
thumbs up from readers and search engines alike.
7. Perform simple but effective checks to ensure that your articles are the
best that they can be.
12
8. Get your content noticed. See why the content generation process
doesn't stop when you click the 'Publish' button.
9. Do more of what works to create an effective on-going web strategy that
will help you get more visitors, acquire new customers, or sell more
products/services.
Whether you are developing a website for your business or taking the first
steps to starting a blog, this book will show you how to deliver the right content
to the right audience in the right way.
Its about creating web content that WORKS.
Once you understand and apply the principles of accessible web copy, great
ideas, perfect presentation and creative syndication, you can turbo-charge
your landing pages, blogs, articles, email newsletters and press releases.
Find out more at: www.goodcontentcode.com
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By Dean Evans

17 Ways to Improve Your Web Writing

Who am I? And what do I know?

17 Ways to Improve Your Web Writing

throw in industry-standard jargon and acronyms accordingly.

3) Keep paragraphs compact

Is a better link than this:

Read our article on gas barbecues here.

*Found in your website content management system (WCMS). Your WCMS

Think about how your content looks

10) Use sub-headings (H1, H2, H3) to break up the text

12) Emphasise key points

14) Use images to add meaning

17) Promote your other articles.

Why do some sites break the rules?

Writing for the web: A summary

Use relevant keywords in headings/sub-headings

Putting it all into practice

The Good Content Code

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