Guest Post by Webcopyplus

Poorly written web writing misleads visitors and wastes millions of hours daily. For today’s more than one billion Internet users, that translates to frustration. For your web design clients, it means missed opportunities. Gain insight into highly effective web writing tactics that will help promote positive online experiences with every website you design and develop. Visitors will reward your clients with more leads and sales, and make you look good along the way.

1. Website Architecture Matters

Internet users are constantly bombarded and overwhelmed with endless layers of disjointed information on the Web. Don’t fuel the chaos. Instead, structure information and lay out task steps in an intuitive manner to help visitors find the information they need and complete tasks, so they can get on with their busy lives.

When writing for the web, use

• shorter sentences, words and paragraphs
• one idea per paragraph
• concise text – half the word count (or less) than writing for print
• the inverted pyramid style, putting the most important point or the conclusion first.
• simple words
• objective language to build credibility, rather than exaggerated claims or overly promotional words like “great”, “tremendous” etc.
• bulleted lists
• highlighted text (bold or color, also hyperlinked text) for scannability
• meaningful headlines and subheads, avoiding cute or clever lines

Write better web content. Understand how people (don’t) read on the Web

1. Reading on the web is too much work!
   Reading from a computer screen tires the eyes. People read 25% more slowly on the web than they read print material.