828-280-1686

10 Tips for Writing for Online Readers

by | Dec 15, 2015 | Writing

Learn How to Write Online Content Like a Pro

Earn Your Readers’ Trust & They’ll Come Back

More and more people, especially those under 30, prefer not to touch paper. Instead, they do all their reading online and through an electronic device. But read they do.

people read on their devices

And the better the writing, the more they will read. Writing for online audiences just takes a little forethought and consideration, very much like authors have been doing for ages.

Whether you are preparing to write your first ebook, an online post for your business or an article for an online magazine, follow these 10 online writing tips from your friends at Ray Access to engage your audience:

  1. Make the page scannable. Consider how the page looks. Add subheadings, bulleted lists, numbered lists, bolded phrases and white space to make it easier for online readers to scan.
     
  2. Keep sentences and paragraphs short. Clear, concise sentences and tight, small blocks of print are much easier to digest on a screen. Writing for online audiences requires clarity and brevity to the max.
     
  3. Understand your readers and what they’re looking for. Don’t try to pack each post with too much unrelated information. It’s better (for readers and search engines) to create multiple articles and post them on different days. You’ll keep your readers engaged at the same time too.
     
  4. Create and stick with your personal tone. If your readers expect witty prose or gut-busting gags, don’t disappoint them with a dry entreaty. On the other hand, if you’re known for your serious and informative writing for online posts, stick with what readers expect.
     
  5. Give your readers the main idea of the article right up front. Write for online readers just like a journalist using the inverted pyramid. The who, what, where, why and when should be clear right from the start.
     
  6. When you repurpose information you’ve found on other sites, rewrite it so that you don’t use more than three words in a row from the original to avoid plagiarism dings. And if you’re quoting hard copy info, break it up so that it’s easier to digest for online readers.
     
  7. Writing for online search engines means you should create clear headlines and subheads. The headers are not the place for your witticisms. You can put them in later in the copy. Headlines must be clear and tight to get picked up and understood by both search engines and online readers.
     
  8. Add links to references so that readers can see the original source easily. If your writing is tight, informative and easy-to-read, they will come back.
     
  9. Use an active voice. Be commanding when writing for online audiences. If you take a stand, then say so. Make your points with conviction. And never start a sentence with “I think.”
     
  10. Let another pair of eyes review your writing before you hit Send or Publish. Good writing always is the result of good editing. That’s true for both printed and electronic words.

Now that you know some of the secrets of online writing, go share your message to the world! And if you need ideas, want some writing help or even need editing services, contact us for expert writing services.

Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote or discuss your needs. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.