Compelling Writing for the Web

You want your web writing to make visitors want to read everything that you have to say. Web writing is personal and informal. Your job is to make sure that it is also compelling.

The revolution of social media itself has changed online writing – putting it more in touch with the average person. Your online writing is not only geared toward your audience but is also written with search engines and social media sites in mind.
 
Online writers can communicate with their readers in many ways, not just through traditional news articles. Blogs, wikis, and discussion boards eliminate the barrier between writer and reader, establishing an informal and interactive writing environment. Take advantage of this opportunity and distinguish yourself by writing in a clean, active, conversational style that will make your readers feel as if they are speaking with a close friend when they read your words.

When writing for the web, you should ask yourself some questions. When existing and potential customers visit your site, does your content help them to find what they are looking for? Do they find it immediately, easily, and in a manner that successfully promotes your business goals?
 
The following tips are designed to help you make your web writing more compelling and thus, draw customers who are more valuable and also attract a larger number of customers.

Get the readers’ attention
When writing content for the web, enticing web surfers to stop and read your content is one of the most difficult things to accomplish. You need a title that will grab the reader’s attention and make him or her want to read more. Most web surfers skim headlines and titles to find the information that they need, and if the headline doesn’t grab them, they will skip right over your content.

Keep them interested
If you can successfully interest visitors in reading your content with a fantastic headline, you still need to hold their interest. Give them information of value right away and make the information easy to read and easy to understand.

Make the content easy on the eyes
In addition to providing valuable information in a concise manner, the format of your web content will also determine how successfully it holds the attention of the readers. Because the majority of web surfers like to scan through information, using bulleted headlines makes it easy to find information. This is a good way to keep the reader’s interest.

The shorter, the better
Readers like writing that doesn’t waste their time. You, as the writer, should communicate through simple, direct language. Also, make sure that your paragraphs are short because readers tend to skip over large blocks of text.

Make sure that your content has a casual tone
Your choice of language helps to make web content compelling. A good way to help your readers to respond to your message is by using positive and encouraging language. A casual tone is preferred in web content because it puts the reader at ease and is not difficult to understand. It is best to stick to general terms and language.

Use the Active voice
Save the passive voice for situations where you aren’t very familiar with the subject, such as crime and court reports. Even in those situations, try to use the active voice as much as possible. If your writing uses a group of verbs that don’t seem powerful, write a new draft that uses strong nouns and verbs. The writing will most definitely engage your audience.

Attribute sources
If you don’t reference original sources in your writing, the reader will assume that you made it up. That will negatively impact your credibility. Attribution gives you credibility and your demonstrated transparency shows the readers that you aren’t hiding anything from them and they will trust you.

Contextual hyperlinking
Online, a writer can link readers directly to the sources of his or her writing. Note the URLs of those sources when reporting and work those into your piece with contextual hyperlinks. When referring to the original sources, link the URLs to relevant proper names, keywords, and phrases. It is a good idea to avoid putting “click here” in your content.

Tell them what to do next
Compelling web content contains a strong call to action, which drives readers to want to do something after reading your message. Even before writing your content, you need to decide exactly what action you want readers to take — it could be to buy something, visit your website, join your mailing list, or any other action that helps your business. Clearly state what you want readers to do and explain why doing so will benefit them.

Make your web content work for you
Keyword density is important for boosting your website’s search rankings. However, remember that keywords aren’t everything. Compelling web content can greatly contribute to your business’ success, as well as the success of your website, by appealing to the readers who need what you have to offer. When you employ these tips to create compelling, quality content, you give visitors something of value and you also help to market your website at the same time. 
 

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