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The Four Types of Writing

Mark Bloom

And How They Apply to Your Website

Since Ray Access is in the business of providing content to businesses, the principals know a thing or two about writing. The various research, writing and editing projects the company undertakes always has a clear purpose behind the scenes. No client is going to pay Ray Access to produce a word unless that word serves the business in some way.

The same is true for online content. All writing has to help you gain an audience, maintain your customers or build your brand. These are specific reasons for you to hire Ray Access. But there are four general types of writing, whether you do it for business or for yourself. Whenever you put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, you do it to:

  1. Explain
  2. Persuade
  3. Sell
  4. Entertain

Let’s explore how each of these types of writing play into your online presence. You may intuitively understand that a social media post is fundamentally different from a website page, you may not understand why. That difference is its purpose.

1. Writing to Explain

This style of writing always involves the facts. You’re writing to explain a concept, a definition, a process or a procedure. This kind of writing belongs on specific web pages, where visitors want to learn about a specific topic in which your business has expertise.

Like all types of writing, you must know your intended audience well and write in their language. Your goal is to explain the primary points or the various details, depending on the readers’ desired level of knowledge. Additionally, format the content so that it’s easy for your readers to absorb the pertinent information, as people don’t consume online content like hardcopy content. They scan, instead of reading it straight through. Use plenty of formatting tricks, such as:

2. Writing to Persuade

Also known as rhetorical writing, this type of writing has as its lofty goal nothing less than changing readers’ behavior. When you’re writing to persuade, you make arguments in favor of a certain course of action, whether it’s to buy something, click a button, provide an email address or vote a particular way. To reach its goal, to actually get readers to change their behavior, persuasive writing has to touch an emotional level. To do this, it has to contain more than just facts.

Rhetorical writing presents unassailable reasons for taking a specific action. Some web pages use this; others are just informational. After visitors know enough about your business to trust it, your deeper website pages can push them to take action. That’s the reason for call-to-action buttons and links. You want visitors to take that step since lead generation is the purpose of a compelling website.

3. Writing to Sell

While this and writing to persuade are similar types of writing, this type tends to be more forceful. You’re pushing readers to buy something you think they want or need. You see this type of writing in advertisements, and it doesn’t belong on your website. If you come off as too sales-oriented, you may scare away all but the neediest visitors. Save sales types of writing for your ads and mailers.

You can’t sell anything until prospective customers trust you, your product or your service, even if they really want or need what you’re offering. Remember, there’s another vendor around the corner of the internet. If you’re a known commodity, you can push a little stronger. Otherwise, you have to spend time building trust and providing social proof.

4. Writing to Entertain

While it may seem counterintuitive, there’s room in business for entertaining writing. Just as a little humor in a business meeting can help break the ice and engender goodwill, a little levity in business writing can earn kudos from its audience. The right kind of entertainment, aimed at its target market, can actually help your company sell its products or services. Entertaining types of writing:

This type of writing may not find a home on your website, but it definitely has a purpose in social media, in relevant blog posts and in newsletters, especially as an engaging opening. Writing to entertain reminds potential customers that there are real people behind your business. And people like to do business with companies and people they like.

These four types of writing sometimes overlap in their purpose. Use all four wisely. Mix and match where appropriate. Wield your words with authority and sense of purpose, and you’ll help your business establish a loyal customer base. But if it’s too much to consider, hire Ray Access to do the hard part for you.

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.

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