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Articles @ Long Grove Web>> Writing for the Web
When writing so people can find you better on search engines, keep it simple. Some advice from Web experts:
- Use short, precise words, not complicated ones--words people know. Big words and long sentences are for books. This is the Web.
- For your main pages, make a long story short. Tell people more if they want to know, but give the basics first.
- Usability expert Jakob Nielsen says "speak the user's language." He says the Web-writer's first duty is to write to be found.
- He also said, "Old words rule because people know them intimately. Familiar words spring to mind unbidden. Thus, users are likely to employ old words when they boil down their problem to a search query, which is typically only 2-3 words long. "
More rules:
- Use bullets or "chunked" text, indented passages that are easy for the eye to pick up and read.
- Don't make up words or use buzzwords for their own sake. Nobody likes corporate speak.
- Don't exaggerate.
- Don't be too salesy.
- One idea per paragraph. Readers skim.
- Use search keywords and keyword phrases wherever possible.
Decent ranking is just half the battle. Getting clicks depends on users understanding headlines and summaries and they will skip past the ones they don't understand. When the writing is done scan the page for ease of reading, the use of logical categories and meaningful summaries, and clear navigation rules.
Published in sections: Marketing Articles :: |
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