Writing for the Web
Tips from Professionals for Website Writing
Make it short.
Make it hot.
Make it memorable.
The new breed of reader doesn’t go in for long, drawn-out sentences. They don’t want complicated explanations. They want answers, plain and simple.
It’s possible many readers never really enjoyed having to decipher their information before digesting it. It’s possible readers tolerated digressive writing only with the mantra: “The next sentence will have the answers I seek, the next sentence, the next…”
On the other hand, maybe poor writing and lack of clarity is one of the driving reasons for low levels of literacy in America and worldwide. Until the World Wide Web, most information-based writing was boring, long-winded, and academic. In other words, reading was a chore.
Reading Online
Modern Internet readers often seem to be in a hurry. They have twitchy fingers just itching to swipe or click to the next page. If you want to get a message across to readers of your web page, you’ve got to connect with them in the first few seconds — or you will risk losing them, permanently. There’s always another website waiting to give them what they want.
Internet readers are not going to wait for your perfectly set-up payoff. They want information, and they want it now. Successful journalists often make the best web writers because they’ve learned to give readers answers at the top of each article. Bury the lead, as they say in the newspaper business, and you lose your readers.
An article with a good lead will hook readers, drawing them in to read, and learn, more. Craft a good lead, and your readers stick around to discover your more in-depth information. At Ray Access, we know how to write for the web. We can make your website lead the pack.
But Wait; There’s More
While many people rely on the Internet to research topics, others use it like a phone book. They too want it now, and they don’t want to have to search for it. Make it easy on them — provide your phone number, email address, or location right up front.
You don’t have to sacrifice quality for efficiency. At Ray Access, we know how to incorporate the important information like your address and hours of operation into the first page and still hook your audience to they keep them reading. The writing has to be so good, they’ll want to know more. The page has to be so well organized, it’ll be obvious where to find everything.
So give your readers what they want, whether it’s your mission statement or your physical address.
They’ll stay.
They’ll look around.
They’ll learn something.
They’ll come back for more.
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.