Category: Strategy

I’ve trained hundreds of people to write effectively for the web. And I read a lot on the web — the good and the bad.  As this year wraps up, I’ve concluded good web writing isn’t a common skill.

Because  we;re in the holiday giving season, here are a handful of free tips, hints, and pointers. (The next session will be a charge…)

The fundamental truth:

• People don’t read online. They scan online. Your site visitors survey the page layout. They read down the middle. If they don’t find what they’re looking for, quickly, they move off your site.

Corollaries to the truth:

• Be direct. Be powerful. State your point. Don’t hold back the punch line.

• Make copy “scannable.” Use bulleted lists, hyperlinks, and subheaders to boost readability for basic page content.

• Use short paragraphs. Short paragraphs are scannable. Long paragraphs aren’t. If you burden visitors with long paragraphs, you’ll lose them.

• Use subheads, section titles, and anchors for longer content pages. If you have to pour a lot of information on a single page, create anchor links so readers can go to the relevant section. (Example: every FAQ page you’ve ever read.)

• “Phrase” hyperlinks. That means avoid linking to your favorite blog. Do link to your favorite blog, The Huffington Post.  It’s easier to spot a linked phrase than a single word.

• Avoid Web clichés. I still see this one: “Click here to find out more!” Why? Embed the hyperlink in text. People know what it is.

• Use the serial comma before the “and.” This slows down the reader and gets their attention.

Now go, and bore no more.