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Writing
for the web
No
company is without a website today. And it’s easy
to see why: there has never been a cheaper, more immediate
information delivery mechanism.
But with this opportunity comes a risk.
Before
requesting a brochure, people will look you up on the Web.
Before giving you a call, customers will commonly visit
your web pages. In effect: the website is now responsible
for a large share of the first impressions that your company
makes. And, as we all know, first impressions count.
Consequently,
if it is not easy for readers to locate the information
they are looking for on your site, then it will have a negative
impact – just as a poor quality brochure would.
That’s
why it’s vital that you pay the same amount of attention
to the content that goes online as you do to the content
that goes into print. And as with all marketing copy: understanding
the reader is essential for effective web writing.
Writing
for the Web: reader
What makes web writing so fundamentally
different to writing more traditional business communications
is the patience of the reader. Web surfers operate a strict
zero tolerance policy. In fact, you won’t even get
three strikes and you’re out. If a reader doesn’t
find what they are looking for quickly, they won’t
persevere – they’ll leave your site.
Good
web content immediately gives the reader the impression
that they are gaining something valuable by continuing.
The key thing to keep in mind is that the reader
is looking for answers. Whether they concern your
company history, contact details, product guides or simply
what it is that your company does, the online reader is
looking to find a particular piece of information.
Consequently,
web pages needs not only to supply information clearly but
to lead readers to it. Readers need to be able to tell at
a glance what the page is about, and so identify whether
it is relevant to them or not.
Online
copy, therefore, has to be extremely focused on the reader
– and indeed it provides an excellent opportunity
for such focused writing. Because you don’t have the
costs of printing, you can write content for very specific,
targeted audiences and allow them to select the
information of most value to them.
For
instance, you could write a page about how your services
are particularly useful for the public sector – something
that you wouldn’t want to print.
Once
you have their interest, it’s time to apply all the
skills of high quality writing, that are equally applicable
to online content as printed copy. There’s no need
to assume, for instance, that just because you’re
writing a web page you have to keep it short: credit your
readers with the intelligence to stick with copy that interest
them and gives them value.
Obviously,
providing clear titles and subheadings
when writing web pages helps, as does highlighting
key words and phrases. By applying these techniques
intelligently, you can win the reader’s interest,
provide valuable signposts to readers scanning through the
pages, and enable them to very quickly move away and find
a page of more relevance to them.
Linking
it all together
That’s
where linking comes in. Links take readers to where they
want to go but they need to be applied judiciously. Links
are, in effect, a writer’s way of being the tour guide
around a website, encouraging people to stop and take a
look at the things they should see.
By
using links well, readers can move quickly through the site
to find the information they are after and locate other
areas of interest. But don’t link too soon, or you
will risk your readers leaving the page before they have
read the key messages.
Your
links must also set appropriate expectations. After all,
if links don’t reflect the pages that they link to,
or give no clues, then readers are going to become frustrated
– and the last thing you want is to annoy your audience.
Writing
for the Web: with Writing Machine
At Writing Machine we understand
that there is a need for more than just polished copy when
writing for the Web – everything from the page layout
down to sentence construction needs to be taken into account
and focused around the online reader.
Moreover,
we understand the limiting factors and the great advantages
of website writing and how to use the technology
to best advantage. From coherent site design to
clear and powerful web copy with intelligent links, we provide
exemplary writing for online audiences.
Consequently,
our web writing services have been highly successful for
clients such as Nortel Networks, Hyperwave, ESRI, Jacobs
Rimell and iOra.
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