5 Tips for Writing Effective Web Copy
Online Communication Best Practices
While you are thinking about your next blog post or article remember: content drives readership. The quality of your Web copy will determine whether your message is read or overlooked.
Organizations with the propensity to be prolific can hinder site readership. If your article is too long or looks like a lot of work to read, visitors will be quick to hit the back button.
What Web surfers want today is easy-to-read, scanable content.
Keep these 5 tips in mind when writing Web copy and your content will more likely be read:
Lead with the main message
Journalism 101 teaches us to use the inverted pyramid: who, what, when, where, why and how - in the lead paragraph ending with the least important information. Web copy is the same. Your readers should get the important parts of your message from the first paragraph.
Be concise
Chop, chop, chop. People today are busy, so respect your readers' time and get to the point quickly.
- Don't use two words when one will do
- Cut out flowery segueways
- Delete unnecessary adjectives and adverbs
- Don't repeat
Try reading your article out loud. Hearing your words spoken might reveal awkward or convoluted sentences.
Use bullet points
Web readers love to scan. Bulleted lists are easy to understand without having to read every word in the article.
- Separate sequences with bullets
- Break up thick paragraphs with concise lists
Shorten paragraphs
It's hard to read long, dense paragraphs. But on a computer monitor it is even worse. Limit paragraphs to one thought or subject. Don't be afraid of paragraphs with only 1-2 sentences.
Write bold headlines and subtitles
Include a subject and verb in headlines.The title of your Web page or article shows up in search engine results, links from other websites, RSS feed readers, and (hopefully) hundreds of other places online.
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