Many people wonder about how to write online. Website copywriting is somewhat different from other types of writing, so there are a few things to pay attention to and remember. Here are a few tips and pointers for website copywriting.
When you’re writing online, it’s important to remember that people read differently when they’re reading on the Internet than when they’re reading print media such as a book, newspaper or magazine.
How do people read differently online?
People scan more when they read online. Rather than reading every paragraph or even every word, they quickly scan the article or post for what is important to them. This is even more true on mobile devices. Since most people quickly scan online article, it means that they’re less likely to pay attention to long and complex paragraphs and sentences. It also means that they’ll likely leave your page if they don’t find what they’re looking for quickly.
So what does this mean for your writing? It means a few things.
Tips for Writing Online
- • Use shorter sentences and paragraphs to make your content easier to scan.
- • Break up your text with headings, so people can tell what you’re writing about without reading all of it.
- • Make sure that your headings have optimized heading tags (H1, H2, etc.) Not only does this make your content easier to scan, but it helps search engines understand your content better and rank it more appropriately.
- • Use lists (like this one) where appropriate.
- • Make sure that every page of content you write includes otimized page titles, descriptions and keywords (meta tags). This helps for SEO, but it also makes it easier for visitors to know what your page is about when they’re searching online.
Write for People, Write for Search Engines
A lot of people struggle with whether or not you should write for people or write for search engines. The answer is both.
Modern search engines are designed to rank content based on its usefulness to people. Google, Bing and other search engines are good at understanding when content is well-written and relevant.
As long as your content is created with care and that you keep these web content writing tips in mind, you’ll be on the right path.
If you have any questions about writing for web or if your looking for assistance with web content writing, please feel free to contact us today! We’ll be glad to help.