Good web writing keeps users interested in what you have to offer, and is one of the determining factors in their decision to use your product. Most importantly, it will also determine whether they come back to your site.
Therefore, it’s important to know how to write good copy for the web and what pitfalls to avoid.
The first thing to consider is that the majority of people don’t read web content word for word. Instead, they scan; picking out individual words and sentences.
So, if you’re going to write copy that you want web users to pay attention to, you’ll need to write scannable text.
There are a few simple ways to do this:
- Highlight your key words
- Use meaningful sub-headings
- Use bulleted lists
- Only one idea per paragraph
- Start with the conclusion (this is the “inverted pyramid” style of writing)
- Keep your word count to half or less than if you were writing conventional copy
- Where appropriate, use some high-quality graphics
- Don’t use boastful language or subjective claims
- Make sure your writing is polished and error-free
- Web users are busy – they want to get the straight facts, so stay concise and stick to the point.
- Credibility is key when writing good web copy, so don’t be afraid to use external hyperlinks – they show the reader you’re not afraid to reference your sources, even if it means leading them to other sites.
Good web writing is key to your site’s success. The use of scannable text as opposed to conventional writing can be a very effective way to ensure users will pay attention to what you have to say.
