Great online content writing doesn’t come naturally.
But don’t worry — help is at hand! The tips below are easy to follow and should improve your online writing skills in no time.
So if you ever need to write a company blog, a website article or an information page on your website, these tips will help.
Before you read the list, keep this in mind: the name of the game is keeping people’s attention. That’s the one big insight that lies behind all the tips that follow.
Web users have a limited amount of disposable attention. Keeping them interested is the key to making sure they stick with your content rather than leaving your site to go and find something more interesting.
But that’s enough preamble; let’s get started…
1. Make it scannable
First up, it’s important to remember that when people are online, they scan rather than read. This means that they quickly make an assessment as to whether they want to stay on your page or not.
So, how the page looks at first glance is really important. It needs to look appealing, in the sense that it won’t take too much effort or energy to digest what’s on the page. At the very least, this means that long, dense paragraphs are a definite no-no (more on this shortly).
From eye-tracking research, we know that people tend to scan in an ‘F-shape’ (see the heat map pic below). It makes sense then to work with this, rather than against it.
- Make your headline relevant and interesting.
- Use sub-headings to break up the text. Some research shows that even nonsense sub-headings increase engagement (although nonsense sub-headings are probably a bad idea, for obvious reasons!).
- Use bullet points where appropriate (as I’m doing here, in case you hadn’t noticed).
F-shaped pattern of web reading (Image: Nielsen Norman Group)
2. Keep it short(er)
As part of making your content easily scannable, try keeping your paragraphs fairly short. 3-4 lines is about right. This may sound too short but just check out the BBC News site for some examples — there’s rarely a paragraph more than a few lines.
Not only will your readers appreciate shorter paragraphs, they’ll also appreciate shorter sentences. Shorter sentences make your content more digestible. Long sentences make it hard to keep track of everything that’s being said.
Try and keep the average length of your sentences under 20 words. Under 16 is ideal. This takes a lot of practice and will feel awkward at first but believe me: the full stop (‘period’ for my US readers) is your friend.
Keeping it short also goes for the overall length of your piece. I’m not saying it needs to be sparse and minimalist, rather that you should say what you need to say and then stop. Over-explanation usually makes readers more confused. Say what you want to say concisely, and say it well.
3. Start with what’s most important
Most of us were taught to write in a way that leaves the ‘conclusion’ – the interesting stuff – to the end, after an argument has been developed. The best online content writing turns this on its head. You need to start with the most interesting stuff.
Online readers want the information they’re looking for and they want it quickly. Don’t frustrate them by leaving the good stuff to the end.
Ideally, the reader needs to be able to tell, from the headline and first couple of sentences, what the page is about and what they’ll get from reading it.
4. Give the details later
This follows on from the point above. You can provide detail, just do it after you’ve given the reader the main point.
If you’ve made it clear at the start what your post/page is about and they’re still reading, then they’re most likely interested in hearing the details. Just make sure that as you write about the details, you follow the tips above about shorter paragraphs and shorter sentences.
You can even put the really detailed stuff on another page and link to it. (See Steve Krug’s Don’t Make Me Think for excellent advice on how to structure the pages of your website to create the best user experience.)
5. Stick with the subject
As I’ve already said, people have a limited amount of disposable attention. You’re competing for that attention with your content. If it starts to get irrelevant or uninteresting, they’re more likely to go elsewhere.
Staying with the subject will also help your search engine rankings, as long as you use relevant key words and terms. It’s not just online readers that like relevance — Google likes it too, and will reward you for it.
6. Write the way you speak
By this I mean a couple of things.
First of all, try and use leaner and more simple anglo-saxon words instead of longer, latin ones. For example, use buy rather than purchase, or very instead of significantly. These kind of words are easier and faster to understand, perfect for online content writing.
Secondly, try and use a conversational tone in your writing. Don’t be afraid to address the reader as you. Try asking the reader a question or two (e.g. Don’t you wish online content writing was easy?). Keep the language fairly informal. All of these techniques will make the reader feel like they’re in a conversation and keep them engaged with your content.
But just one point of clarification before we move on: there’ll be some instances when it’s not a good idea to write the way you speak (e.g. some corporate websites). The important thing is to make sure that the tone of voice you use in your writing is appropriate. But generally speaking, online content writing could do with being more conversational in tone, not less.
7. Be an editor, not just a writer
To accomplish great content writing, you’ll have to get in the habit of editing your work. As I said at the start of this blog, great content writing doesn’t come naturally. Editing can take your writing up a notch, to the level of greatness. The quality of your online content will improve rapidly just by one round of decent editing.
Once you’ve written a draft of your blog, web page, or whatever it is, go back over the list above and ask yourself if you can put a tick next to each of these tips. Delete, rephrase or reorder as necessary.
It also helps to read your piece out loud. This is a surefire way to identify parts that don’t make sense or are too wordy.
As a final step, it’s always worth getting another set of eyes on what you’ve written. Get someone else to read it and get their feedback. If possible, give it to someone who fits the profile of your target audience. And try and give it to someone who’ll be honest and not just tell you what you want to hear. Which means feedback from your mother doesn’t count.
Good luck with improving your online content writing!
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