If you want to learn how to write for the web, let me Google that for you. Seriously, there is so much information on this subject it is mind-blowing and most of it is, in my opinion, very, very good. That’s because most of it relies on the seminal research done by the great Jakob Nielson who loves to do his homework.
Recently however, I dealt with a writer that really had no concept of writing for the web. She is a wonderful person, bright and talented, just not well versed yet in this area. And I thought back to conversations I’ve had with people I consider heroes in the writing world who argued at length with me that there is no difference between writing for print and writing for the web. I did then and continue to strongly disagree. For the most part.
I also find myself continually hunting down articles to send to people who are going to be keeping website content updated. It dawned on me that there is a better way. Buy a whole bunch of copies of the Yahoo Style Guide and read it. Of course you’ll still have to use AP or Chicago or whichever style guide your client or company requires, but at least there is verified research behind this style guide and it’s a great tool to have close by.
The most important points imho, continue to be:
- Keep it short
- Write in the active voice
- Know thy audience, but write clearly, concisely, and simply
- People like to scan, use headlines, bold text and bullets
- Use key words carefully