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17 Ways To Improve Your Web Writing PDF
17 Ways To Improve Your Web Writing PDF
17 Ways To Improve Your Web Writing | The Good Content Code | www.goodcontentcode.com
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17 Ways To Improve Your Web Writing | The Good Content Code | www.goodcontentcode.com
Im a web copywriter, editor and regular blogger who lives and works mid-way
between the cities of Bristol and Bath in the UK. I have over 18 years of
writing experience across Internet and print projects, big and small.
Features Profiles, previews, Top 10 lists, case studies and How Tos
News Press release rewrites, breaking news and analysis
Reviews Hands-on product testing and product reviews
Interviews Either face-to-face, by phone or by email
Columns Industry opinion and blog posts
Reports Industry research and sector analysis
Advertorials Editorialised marketing content and promotional copy
Books One-off special projects
I've also covered a wide variety of subjects ranging from computing, graphic
design, videogames and film to home entertainment, consumer technology,
business and SEO web writing.
My writing clients have included such big-hitters as: HTC, John Brown
Publishing, Future Publishing, Republic Publishing, The National Trust,
Orange and Tesco.
The information that follows is based on what Ive learned about writing for the
web during my career so far. It works for me. I hope it can work for you.
www.goodcontentcompany.com
17 Ways To Improve Your Web Writing | The Good Content Code | www.goodcontentcode.com
There are some best practice guidelines for web writing that everybody agrees
on; some underlying rules that can be applied to everything that you write
online. And dont just take my word for it. Take a look around the web youll
see the same core approach across thousands of websites.
Web readers read web pages differently from traditional printed media. They
tend to scan the page, looking for subheadings, distracted by bulleted lists and
interesting images, or occasionally veering off on tangents to follow relevant
web links. Think about it. You probably do this too.
Unless you have a regular readership, most of your users will parachute into
your content from a search query, land on the information they're looking for
and then leave. Most of these visitors never come back.
Worse still, if they don't find what they're looking for, they typically hit the
'Back' button on their web browser, bouncing back to their search engine
results to click on the next site in the list. Your website is quickly forgotten.
Its a tough ask. So it's up to you to make your content as accessible and as
attractive as possible. Let's start with some general guidelines:
1) Write naturally
Try to use familiar words. This means avoiding jargon, tossing in unexplained
abbreviations and mysterious acronyms. It also means trying to be
conversational. Write like you speak and inject some personality into your
articles. Your personality and your approach to your subject matter is one of
the most valuable weapons that you can bring to bear. Its ultimately what
makes you unique.
Your writing style should also be appropriate to your audience. For example:
the BBCs news stories are opinion-free and ruthlessly factual, as befits a
national news organisation. On the other hand, technology websites like
Engadget and Gizmodo assume a certain level of technical knowledge and
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You might find it difficult to delete any clever sentences youve written. Weve
all been there. But think about whether they really add to your message.
While some people may judge you on your writing style and return because
they like the way you package your content. The majority are interested in
WHAT you say, rather than HOW you say it.
In George Orwell's 1946 essay entitled Politics and the English Language,
the author criticised ugly and inaccurate writing. Amazingly, his six rules
(listed below), still hold some value when you're writing for the web today:
1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are
used to seeing in print
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you
can think of an everyday English equivalent
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_and_the_English_Language
If an onscreen paragraph strays over five lines, then its also too long and the
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17 Ways To Improve Your Web Writing | The Good Content Code | www.goodcontentcode.com
resulting unwieldy block of text could put your visitors off from reading your
content any further. 6
Whats the best way to link? The most effective method is to put links into the
body copy. Linking out to other resources is good practice and can be
important in showing the search engines (and your readers) that youre a
serious site.
Linking to other articles on your own website is also important. This helps
readers to find related content and can boost your own sites profile in the
search engines.
For internal linking, be sure to use a keyword/keyphrase that defines the page
youre linking to. I.e. if youre linking to an article about gas barbecues, the link
text (aka anchor text) should ideally be the primary keyword/keyphrase that
defines your page. With this in mind:
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17 Ways To Improve Your Web Writing | The Good Content Code | www.goodcontentcode.com
Headlines
A subheading
Meta description*
Image caption
Image metadata*
Tags
This section is all about 'entry points'. These are other devices you can use to
lure the reader into your article. Not only that, entry points provide ways for
the reader to dip into your content if they dont start reading from the top (or
lose interest).
For example:
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17 Ways To Improve Your Web Writing | The Good Content Code | www.goodcontentcode.com
Subheadings can also be useful for summarising the key points of the article
and as a secondary path through long articles. Use them every 2-3
paragraphs in any long article you write. They act as secondary headlines and
should be treated with the same care and attention.
Search engines look for H1, H2 and H3 tags and at the words in them to help
classify the content of the page. They're basically signposts, so use them as
such.
Or...
Relevant
Valuable
Interactive
Accurate
Accessible
Trustworthy
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17 Ways To Improve Your Web Writing | The Good Content Code | www.goodcontentcode.com
Of course, this depends on what the image actually is. Unique, intriguing and
funny images work wonders. It's what http://failblog.org/ is based on.
Sales
1st Qtr
2nd Qtr
3rd Qtr
4th Qtr
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17 Ways To Improve Your Web Writing | The Good Content Code | www.goodcontentcode.com
Youre right. Not every website adheres to the tips Ive covered here. Thats
why theyre guidelines rather than rules.
It's easy to get caught up in the rules of writing at the expense of the one thing
that REALLY matters: good content.
Huffington Posts news articles dont use subheadings to break up the text
arguably the stories are small enough that they dont need them. The Huff
Posts blog content is longer and could benefit from a subheading or two to aid
scan reading. But its big-name bloggers have a draw that often overcomes it.
Engadget, meanwhile, regularly uses large blocks of text in its articles and
often doesnt use bullet points to list technical specifications.
Instead, it breaks the short sentences and ignores the be concise advice, but
has a conversational style that tech readers identify with. Engadget relies on
being first with its technology news, so spending extra time on presentation
(subheadings, picture captions, etc) would only slow the whole publishing
process down.
Dont just find what works for you. Find what works for your readers.
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17 Ways To Improve Your Web Writing | The Good Content Code | www.goodcontentcode.com
And if you then discover that youve made a spelling mistake, got some
information wrong or written a weak-as-a-kitten headline Well, its just
tough. You cant change it.
In contrast, the web is fluid and interactive. Whats been published can be
tweaked, completely re-written or deleted as needed. Made a spelling
mistake? Change it. Got some information wrong? Simply update it.
Much of what Ive spoken about here is common sense. But tie it together with
some thorough keyword research and youll be able to align your content to
the words and phrases that people are actively searching for.
After all, theres no point having good content if nobody can find it?
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17 Ways To Improve Your Web Writing | The Good Content Code | www.goodcontentcode.com
Most writing for the web training tends to concentrate on the stuff Ive talked
about here the short sentences, the easy-to-scan text and the importance of
getting your keywords well and truly nailed.
It's vital knowledge. But it tends to work better when its packaged together
with tips on idea generation, how to use the right article format and web
promotion tactics.
This way you get the entire writing 'pattern'. You understand what to write, how
to write it, how to polish it until it shines and how to shout about it.
Thats what The Good Content Code is about developing a writing pattern.
Its a step-by-step guide to the whole content generation process and will give
you all the information you need to create content that's loved by readers and
search engines alike.
1. Know who you're writing for and how people use the Internet, so you
can provide content that your audience wants and needs.
2. Find out what your audience wants and needs. Where can you find
inspiration for your posts and pages?
3. Discover the key characteristics of quality content and how to create it.
4. Understand the principles of good web writing, style, tone of voice and
why some techniques matter more than others.
7. Perform simple but effective checks to ensure that your articles are the
best that they can be.
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17 Ways To Improve Your Web Writing | The Good Content Code | www.goodcontentcode.com
8. Get your content noticed. See why the content generation process 13
doesn't stop when you click the 'Publish' button.
Whether you are developing a website for your business or taking the first
steps to starting a blog, this book will show you how to deliver the right content
to the right audience in the right way.
Once you understand and apply the principles of accessible web copy, great
ideas, perfect presentation and creative syndication, you can turbo-charge
your landing pages, blogs, articles, email newsletters and press releases.
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