Writing for the Web

Build your website

Writing for the Web is somewhat different than writing and preparing content for print documents and publications. Every page that you write on the Web must grab attention for the topic you have written on.

Resources are given below for your convenience to do research on different subjects so that you create targeted and fresh contents. The resources are links to highly authoritative articles, tips and information specific to content writing, development, and preparation for Web sites.

Content is King
Some developers might concentrate too much on the design aspect of the website, but more importantly it is the content that people will keep coming back to. Choose a topic you are interested in. Analogous to real estate slogan "location, location, location", in the Internet world it's "content, content, content."

The Objective Of Your Headline And First Paragraph
The objective of your headline is to make the reader move to your first paragraph and continue reading; you promised something in the headline, and you must start to deliver, or lose your reader. This means your first paragraph must contain information that leaves the reader in no doubt that the Website can deliver the goods and fulfill the promise.

How Little Do Users Read?
Jakob Nielsen over at useit.com discusses research showing visitors read about 20% of text on a web page, and at most 28%; scanning text; eye-tracking studies; real-life reading behavior, more. Great insight and points made.

The Difference Between Paper and Online Presentation
In print, your document forms a whole and the user is focused on the entire set of information. On the Web, you need to split each document  into multiple hyperlinked pages since users are not willing to read long pages.

How Users Read on the Web
Jakob Nielsen's insightful article about the unique ways people read on the web as against print. Although dated 1997, it's just as valid today as back then. The main point about the article is "People rarely read Web pages word by word; instead, they scan the page, picking out individual words and sentences."

Treat Online Guests with Respect
Rick Sloboda states that when you write for the Web, always treat your visitors as if they are your guest at your home. So treat them respect. Insightful article with 8 helpful tips to keep in mind so that you treat your website visitors with respect. Tips cover spam, approach, style, pop-ups, deceitful ads, moving or flashing content, slow-loading pages, automated sound.

Creating Targeted And Fresh Content
The article gives a few suggestions for creating targeted and fresh content. Content that is useful, valuable, informative, educational or just plain entertaining can attract and retain an audience better than anything else.

Resources to get Fresh Content for your Website
When you develop your website or blog, you have fresh content that you can blog on. After sometimes, may be six months or a year down the road, you run out of fresh ideas. Blogging is considered fun. To maintain that fun, you look for new ideas, online or offline, in a variety of media.

It is true - fresh, timely and informative content is a great way to entice visitors to come back and visit your website time and time again.

The most common question for website owners is the need for content on their website. The fact of the matter is the content of a website is what drives the search engines to your website and helps to rank your website.

Writing for the Web
Jakob Nielsen's research on how users read on the Web and how authors should write their Web pages.